Buying Advice John Deere or Massey Ferguson

[Travis_R]

Hello everyone,
I've had great service out of my MF 231 and it's still a great tractor, but sad to say, it's almost time for it to go. I'm gonna be upgrading (or some might say downgrading) to a 4x4 compact tractor with loader. Not sure about new or used at the moment. Would like to find something with low hours still under warranty.
I'm looking at the Deere 3038E, ag tires and loader or the Massey Ferguson 1739E, ag tires and loader. Problem is there is only 2 Massey dealers in my state and both are over 1.5 hours away. There are several local John Deere dealers and even a couple local ones on our way to the camp in another state. I like Deere and Massey both but I'm also concerned about long term parts support with the Massey. Parts are getting scarce for my 231 and some you can't even buy anymore. No local dealers and long term parts support are what's concerning me when it comes to the Massey. The Deere 3038E has an aluminum rear end and that also concerns me.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Tractorable]

Why limit the choice to Deere or Massey? Plenty of great options from Kubota, Yanmar, Kioti, LS, Branson, and TYM as well.

The E series Deere's don't have quick attach loaders nor are they SSQA (Skid Steer Quick Attach) compatible without an adapter. They have Japanese Yanmar engines.

The 1739E is a Japanese Iseki design with a Japanese Shibaura engine. Heard nothing but good things about them.

Would recommend you build a spreadsheet with all the specs of similar models.

What kind of work do you need to do with the tractor?

 

[Phillip w]

Everyone tells me I bash massey ferguson/ agco. I will say I have had lots of trouble out of my massey ferguson 1531 and little to no support from dealer and agco. I find it hard to believe you having parts issues. You may have to order them, or go with after market parts. I can still get parts for stuff I have that is 40 + years old. I have people. Say to stay away from the John Deere "E" series but don't really know. I have heard people say this new 4 tier emission stuff (or what every it is called) if causing a lot of guys trouble. Personally I am in the same boat. My massey ferguson 1531 is salvage material. No tractor left to sell or trade. I don't want another tractor situation like that massey. Don't know exactly what I'm going to do, I'm pretty gun shy. I'm kind of leaning towards case-ih.

 

[jeff9366]

Why limit the choice to Deere or Massey? Plenty of great options from Kubota, Yanmar, Kioti, LS, Branson, and TYM as well.

The E series Deere's don't have quick attach loaders nor are they SSQA (Skid Steer Quick Attach) compatible without an adapter. They have Japanese Yanmar engines.

The 1739E is a Japanese Iseki design with a Japanese Shibaura engine. Heard nothing but good things about them.

Would recommend you build a spreadsheet with all the specs of similar models.

What kind of work do you need to do with the tractor?

Excellent post by TRACTORABLE.

How many hours are on the clock of your MF 231? Are you the original owner? This will give us an idea of your usage.

Do you have a budget in mind for your replacement tractor?

How many implements do you have? Will implement weight and widths be an input to your tractor model decision?

 

[jeff9366]

I'm looking at the Deere 3038E, ag tires and loader. The Deere 3038E has an aluminum rear end and that also concerns me.
Any advice is appreciated.

The Deere 3038E's aluminum rear end is regularly criticized by owners here.

LINK TO T-B-N ARCHIVE: Deere 338E aluminum housing site:www.tractorbynet.com - Google Search

 

[Travis_R]

Deere and Massey are what I grew up around although I've owned Mahindra and Yanmar in the past.
I dont want to look at anything other than Deere or Massey. I trust those 2 the most but that's personal preference.
My Massey has 1,331 hours. Bought it with 480 hours 9 years ago.
There's been too many times I've needed a loader and not had it. The new tractor will have one.
I'll be hauling the tractor back and forth to our camp. My 231 is too heavy to make that haul during grass season. I need a lighter tractor.
What else does John Deere offer that's similar to the 3038E? Any older used models worth looking at?

 

[airbiscuit]

Why limit the choice to Deere or Massey? Plenty of great options from Kubota, Yanmar, Kioti, LS, Branson, and TYM as well.

The E series Deere's don't have quick attach loaders nor are they SSQA (Skid Steer Quick Attach) compatible without an adapter. They have Japanese Yanmar engines.

The 1739E is a Japanese Iseki design with a Japanese Shibaura engine. Heard nothing but good things about them.

Would recommend you build a spreadsheet with all the specs of similar models.

What kind of work do you need to do with the tractor?

Excellent post by TRACTABLE.

How many hours are on the clock of your MF 231? Are you the original owner? This will give us an idea of your usage.

Do you have a budget in mind for your replacement tractor?

How many implements do you have? Will implement weight and widths be an input to your tractor model decision?

All good points. If you want a more deluxe John Deere, the model 3039R has a 3 speed hydro, cast iron rear housing, mid PTO, extendable 3pt links,'better loader, more refinements, etc. But it costs a fair amount more.

The 3038e is a fine machine, but has limitations as already stated.

There seem to be more posts about dissatisfied Massey Ferguson owners. Plus, they seem kind of dorky (the tractors, not the owners).

I don't think you would be out of line to also consider Kubota. They are the gold standard of CUTs.

Start writing down the pros and cons of each, and try them out a few different times. You will learn from each hands on experience.

 

[Wagtail]

The E series Deere's don't have quick attach loaders nor are they SSQA (Skid Steer Quick Attach) compatible without an adapter. They have Japanese Yanmar engines.

The 1739E is a Japanese Iseki design with a Japanese Shibaura engine. Heard nothing but good things about them.

Would recommend you build a spreadsheet with all the specs of similar models.

What kind of work do you need to do with the tractor?

What a load of bollocks, Tractorable! You should be ashamed of yourself for bashing a colour like that. I don't care what Front End Loader you talk about, none of them 'come with a quick attach'... you have to ask for SSQA, or GlobalQA, otherwise the bucket/implement is simply bolted on. JD does have their own QA system too... and if you didn't know that you do now so please refrain from offering advice about things you have no knowledge of.

The YANMAR engine is a fine, worry free engine with plenty of back-up from the manufacturer and JD.

 

[Tractorable]

What a load of bollocks, Tractorable! You should be ashamed of yourself for bashing a colour like that. I don't care what Front End Loader you talk about, none of them 'come with a quick attach'... you have to ask for SSQA, or GlobalQA, otherwise the bucket/implement is simply bolted on. JD does have their own QA system too... and if you didn't know that you do now so please refrain from offering advice about things you have no knowledge of.

The YANMAR engine is a fine, worry free engine with plenty of back-up from the manufacturer and JD.

Easy now, my point is that the industry has moved to loaders that are easily removable, quick attach loaders. John Deere is the only manufacturer that I've seen that has loaders on their economy model tractors that are not easily removed. The industry has also moved to SSQA connections on their loaders. John Deere offers GlobalQA or an adapter for SSQA. Potential customers should be aware of this.

I'm probably the biggest Yanmar fan in here growing up in the marine industry. I merely advised the OP that John Deere's have Yanmar engines. It's a fact. I never said anything negative about Yanmar.

 

[DK35vince]

I don't care what Front End Loader you talk about, none of them 'come with a quick attach'... you have to ask for SSQA,

Yes they do.
Many of the LS and Kioti tractors and probably others come standard with SSQA on the loader