. . . . and it's broke again. . . motor this time

TheLandofSnipers · Jan 18, 2021

Got it back on Friday evening.
Things replaced/fixed:
Camshaft sensor
Computer reset
Engine Wiring harness, all of them
External Oil pump
Put ~10 hours on it since Friday and it seems to be working fine . . . except some new noise in the hydraulics.

I'm soo glad to have it back. We had a major wind storm and ~50 trees are down on our property. I cleaned up ~20 down trees in the last ~10 hours and fixed the ruts in our ~1/2 mile driveway.

Please Baby Jesus let this be the end of my issues with this beast.

grsthegreat · Jan 18, 2021

TheLandofSnipers said:
Got it back on Friday evening.
Things replaced/fixed:
Camshaft sensor
Computer reset
Engine Wiring harness, all of them
External Oil pump
Put ~10 hours on it since Friday and it seems to be working fine . . . except some new noise in the hydraulics.

I'm soo glad to have it back. We had a major wind storm and ~50 trees are down on our property. I cleaned up ~20 down trees in the last ~10 hours and fixed the ruts in our ~1/2 mile driveway.

Please Baby Jesus let this be the end of my issues with this beast.

same wind storm hit our area. We were out of power for about 2-1/2 days. Some people are now on their 5th day without power. My 20 acres of trees seemed to have been spared this time. Not so last year. I have not walked entire place, but we look pretty good so far.

oosik · Jan 18, 2021

That is most unfortunate for you guys in ID. That storm went thru here and I have no damage and no power outage. For a fact - the wind was not as strong here as in North ID. I saw a max of 23 mph here at the house and maybe 20 mph higher out in the open. The house and all the out buildings are protected by a semi circle of gigantic Ponderosa pines.

City folks always wonder why when I have my land selective cleared for lumber - I didn't let the contractor touch a single pine in this semi circle. If they were ever out here in a wind storm - they would understand.

As to the OP's endless problems with his tractor. I'd button it up and be trading for another brand. Just remember - with proper maintenance - a tractor should, easily, last a lifetime. It should NOT be a lifetime of constant repairs.

JWR · Jan 19, 2021

oosik said:
That is most unfortunate for you guys in ID. That storm went thru here and I have no damage and no power outage. For a fact - the wind was not as strong here as in North ID. I saw a max of 23 mph here at the house and maybe 20 mph higher out in the open. The house and all the out buildings are protected by a semi circle of gigantic Ponderosa pines.

City folks always wonder why when I have my land selective cleared for lumber - I didn't let the contractor touch a single pine in this semi circle. If they were ever out here in a wind storm - they would understand.

As to the OP's endless problems with his tractor. I'd button it up and be trading for another brand. Just remember - with proper maintenance - a tractor should, easily, last a lifetime. It should NOT be a lifetime of constant repairs.

The OP's problems are hopefully behind him now. I disagree on tossing out the tractor. My own experience has been that once the bugs are out, my MF is a tireless reliable workhorse. There is NO good excuse for this reality. I do not understand how the farm tractor industry gets away with foisting off the debugging of their brand new machines onto the customer who is paying rotten high prices. But it sure as heck is NOT just MF. There are no brands you can walk out, buy one and expect it to be trouble-free like a new car.

ray66v · Jan 19, 2021

JWR said:
There are no brands you can walk out, buy one and expect it to be trouble-free like a new car.

Except, the same thing happens with new cars. Why do you think there are lemon laws?

To keep profits up, all manufacturers buy parts form the cheapest supplier. Most of the time they come out ahead. Sometimes they don't.

They all also have the same engineering, and labor issues from time to time.

There are more expensive brands that have more profit to work with, that can do better. But, even they can experience the same issues.

irvingj · Jan 20, 2021

Something I used to tell people; "Nobody has a monopoly on lemons."

We had a 1980 Honda Civic Wagon... yes, a "bullet-proof" Honda! that, when the head gasket blew for the third time, was immediately traded in. Driver's side floor had already been repaired due to rust-through.... It was 7 years old, but not that many miles on it. First head gasket blew when it was still within its first year.

ray66v · Jan 20, 2021

irvingj said:
Something I used to tell people; "Nobody has a monopoly on lemons."

We had a 1980 Honda Civic Wagon... yes, a "bullet-proof" Honda! that, when the head gasket blew for the third time, was immediately traded in. Driver's side floor had already been repaired due to rust-through.... It was 7 years old, but not that many miles on it. First head gasket blew when it was still within its first year.

Engineering mistakes are going to happen. (The engineers of course blame them on the budget people). I love how the show, Engineering disasters, never says the engineers made the mistake, they always put the blame on "the engineering", as if it is a separate entity. :laughing:

I can live with mistakes, most of us make them.

What I often have an issue with, is how they are handled by the company.

TheLandofSnipers · Jan 23, 2021

ray66v said:
I can live with mistakes, most of us make them.

What I often have an issue with, is how they are handled by the company.

I've sort of got the same attitude.

Tractor is still working fine with ~12hrs since the repairs were done. Calling it all good for now.

Thanks for the moral support folks.

shooterdon · Jan 23, 2021

TheLandofSnipers said:
I've sort of got the same attitude.

Tractor is still working fine with ~12hrs since the repairs were done. Calling it all good for now.

Thanks for the moral support folks.

Best of luck moving forward.

Having a good dealer helps a lot when things go south. I learned my lesson with my first tractor...a beaten up JD855. Spent over $2000 the first year but the lesson was....do not buy from my closest JD dealer. I shopped both machine and dealer when I upgraded.