5525 put to the test

[magyarbacsi]

The weather finally cleared and had a chance to begin cleanup of the many trees and branches the last storm brought down on my 9 acres. My 5525 is equipped with a 509 BH and FEL. I made a set of pallet forks that was very handy in moving the endless piles of branches. I calculated about 4 days of solid work, but in the end, after sore muscles throughout my body and a sore back, got most of the work done in two days. Still have maybe a days worth left, but the rain moved back.

I was not surprised by the 5525's performance . but rather expected it since I was used to the power of my comparable '74 MF 165. What I did not like about the Mahindra is that shifting in and out of gears was not a smooth as I expected. Had to wiggle the stick now and then to get it into gear. Yes, the clutch is set as it should be . I noticed that idle is set right around 900-1000 rpm which explains why it used more fuel than my 204 Perkins with 3700 hrs.
I can idle the Perkins down to 600 rpm.I hope once the motor breaks in the consumption improves.

The BH worked just perfect and the FEL never bogged down. I have a set of bucket teeth mounted that I found to be in the way when I was just pushing the branches into a pile. If I did not have it perfectly flat, it would dig in. The same problem with the pallet forks as I could not see them from the seat, the tips would dig in get deep. With experience I think things will work smoother, but all-in-all, the tractor did just fine. I also have the Bradco fixed thumb that I did not have the chance to use and will give it a chance in a couple of weeks when I return to finish clean up before the grass begins to grow. Think I'll keep it , but will also hang on to my old reliable MF that is set up for above ground work, i.e. mow, box blade, etc. Now all I need is a auger to complete my collection.

 

[flusher]

The weather finally cleared and had a chance to begin cleanup of the many trees and branches the last storm brought down on my 9 acres. My 5525 is equipped with a 509 BH and FEL. I made a set of pallet forks that was very handy in moving the endless piles of branches. I calculated about 4 days of solid work, but in the end, after sore muscles throughout my body and a sore back, got most of the work done in two days. Still have maybe a days worth left, but the rain moved back.

I was not surprised by the 5525's performance . but rather expected it since I was used to the power of my comparable '74 MF 165. What I did not like about the Mahindra is that shifting in and out of gears was not a smooth as I expected. Had to wiggle the stick now and then to get it into gear. Yes, the clutch is set as it should be . I noticed that idle is set right around 900-1000 rpm which explains why it used more fuel than my 204 Perkins with 3700 hrs.
I can idle the Perkins down to 600 rpm.I hope once the motor breaks in the consumption improves.

The BH worked just perfect and the FEL never bogged down. I have a set of bucket teeth mounted that I found to be in the way when I was just pushing the branches into a pile. If I did not have it perfectly flat, it would dig in. The same problem with the pallet forks as I could not see them from the seat, the tips would dig in get deep. With experience I think things will work smoother, but all-in-all, the tractor did just fine. I also have the Bradco fixed thumb that I did not have the chance to use and will give it a chance in a couple of weeks when I return to finish clean up before the grass begins to grow. Think I'll keep it , but will also hang on to my old reliable MF that is set up for above ground work, i.e. mow, box blade, etc. Now all I need is a auger to complete my collection.

I have about 10 hours on my new 5525. Traded a little 2005 Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine) as part of the deal.

I had to get used to the gear tranny after 3 years with an HST tractor. The 5525 gear changes can be a little touchy. I found that the tractor has to be fully stopped before shifting. Getting into reverse without grinding the gearbox is my biggest challenge. You have to wait until the tranny spins down before doing the shift. Not as convenient as HST by any means, but I do OK if I slow down a bit and don't get too anxious.

I find gear trannies to be fun to drive. I have a 1964 MF-135 diesel, so I'm pretty familiar with gear tranny funnies.

Also had to learn to use the FEL a little differently. With HST I could creep up to the pile and drive the bucket in smoothly while curling up to load the bucket. Now, with the 5525 in 1L and throttle at the PTO speed, the tractor is moving at 1.7 mph. At that speed the bucket hits the pile pretty hard and I have to clutch and curl the bucket essentially simultaneously. Need more practice to get the hand/foot coordination down.

I think a better FEL loading method might be to drop the engine rpm somewhat (to say 1500 rpm) and drive the bucket into the pile with the foot throttle and then curl the bucket to grab the load and clutch nearly simultaneously. Need to practice that way also.

With nearly 3 times more hp with the 5525 than with the 7510, I notice that there's a lot more diesel exhaust blowing out from under the hood. If I'm moving into the wind, the fumes bother me. So I wear a HEPA respirator with charcoal filters. Helps a lot, although it takes a day or so for the diesel exhaust smell to get out of my work clothes.

I'm not complaining. The 5525 is an excellent choice for my needs.

 

[magyarbacsi]

flusher,
Once the tractor warms up I dont smell any fumes. Believe me, I am very sensitive to diesel exhaust. I remember the 14 hrs of chumming fish on a diesel boat. My MF is gears and I am used to that. I still like the 5525 but my MF will be the primary maintenance tractor as I only need to mow the field twice a year. Is your 5525 set at about 1000 rpm at idle. Wish I could lower it, but maybe this motor needs the high rpm. I do like that foot pedal when needing momentary boost for the FEL or speed. I run at 1500 when using the back hoe. Not having one before, I will need some time to run both the FEL and BH efficiently. I dont regret the 25K I paid for the 5525 with custom BH mount and FEL. Like I said, it has saved me a lot of hours, but still got a back ache by the end of the day as I had to hop off-and-on to keep adjusting aligning items (tree trunks ) so the forks can grab them.

 

[flusher]

flusher,
Once the tractor warms up I dont smell any fumes. Believe me, I am very sensitive to diesel exhaust. I remember the 14 hrs of chumming fish on a diesel boat. My MF is gears and I am used to that. I still like the 5525 but my MF will be the primary maintenance tractor as I only need to mow the field twice a year. Is your 5525 set at about 1000 rpm at idle. Wish I could lower it, but maybe this motor needs the high rpm. I do like that foot pedal when needing momentary boost for the FEL or speed. I run at 1500 when using the back hoe. Not having one before, I will need some time to run both the FEL and BH efficiently. I dont regret the 25K I paid for the 5525 with custom BH mount and FEL. Like I said, it has saved me a lot of hours, but still got a back ache by the end of the day as I had to hop off-and-on to keep adjusting aligning items (tree trunks ) so the forks can grab them.

My low idle is below 1000 rpm. I'll get the exact number next time I start the tractor. I don't pay much attention to low idle. I start the engine at 1200 rpm or so, let it idle there while I do my checklist (30 seconds approx) and then bump it up to 1500 rpm and go.

 

[weldingisfun]

I went to the Mahindra Web site to confirm if the 5525 has the Forward-Reverse Synchro-Shuttle feature, it doesn't. Reading your posts, makes me appreciate my 4500 4WD with the Forward-Reverse Synchro-Shuttle feature all that much more.

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

The 25 series tractors are tough work horses but they are very basic tractors, Mahindra's economy line. The transmission is just a sliding gear type transmission and has no syncronizers, there fore, stopping to change gears is just the nature of the beast. Just keep that in mind and you will get many many years of service out of that tractor. Good luck and have fun.

 

[flusher]

I went to the Mahindra Web site to confirm if the 5525 has the Forward-Reverse Synchro-Shuttle feature, it doesn't. Reading your posts, makes me appreciate my 4500 4WD with the Forward-Reverse Synchro-Shuttle feature all that much more.

The 5525 has a partial constant mesh tranny, 4F/1R with Hi/Lo range making it an 8F/2R tranny. 2nd and 3rd gears are constant mesh. I assume 1st and 4th are sliding gear type. The 6025 has the full constant mesh gearbox.

 

[BobG_in_VA]

I'm guessing that you have a foot throttle on the 5525. You really don't need to run at PTO speed (which I believe is about 2050rpm or so). I've got a shuttle on my 4wd so I don't need to fool with shifting gears when using the FEL. This may be another reason you are having issue with "grinding" when shifting. Suggest you set your throttle at about 1100rpm or so (you'll get the feel of where it should be), then use your foot throttle to increase/decrease especially when you shift as it doesn't need to spin down so far. Give it a try. BobG in VA

 

[flusher]

flusher,
Once the tractor warms up I dont smell any fumes. Believe me, I am very sensitive to diesel exhaust. I remember the 14 hrs of chumming fish on a diesel boat. My MF is gears and I am used to that. I still like the 5525 but my MF will be the primary maintenance tractor as I only need to mow the field twice a year. Is your 5525 set at about 1000 rpm at idle. Wish I could lower it, but maybe this motor needs the high rpm. I do like that foot pedal when needing momentary boost for the FEL or speed. I run at 1500 when using the back hoe. Not having one before, I will need some time to run both the FEL and BH efficiently. I dont regret the 25K I paid for the 5525 with custom BH mount and FEL. Like I said, it has saved me a lot of hours, but still got a back ache by the end of the day as I had to hop off-and-on to keep adjusting aligning items (tree trunks ) so the forks can grab them.

I checked the low idle speed on my 5525. It's 900 rpm.

 

[flusher]

I'm guessing that you have a foot throttle on the 5525. You really don't need to run at PTO speed (which I believe is about 2050rpm or so). I've got a shuttle on my 4wd so I don't need to fool with shifting gears when using the FEL. This may be another reason you are having issue with "grinding" when shifting. Suggest you set your throttle at about 1100rpm or so (you'll get the feel of where it should be), then use your foot throttle to increase/decrease especially when you shift as it doesn't need to spin down so far. Give it a try. BobG in VA

Yep, the 5525 has a foot throttle. I have to move a pile of fill dirt this week. I'll give your suggestion a try. Thanks for the help.