Massey 2660HD rear brake issue

[sawtooth]

I got a direct phone number from my dealer in WV who is no longer in business. That was for Randy Kocher of Newark Ohio. I talked to him just now and he is still with Massey. He says that Dave Sumner is probably the regional guy covering your area. Randy says that if your dealer is stumped or the both of you need support that the normal route is for the dealer to establish a "support case" with the central people out in Kansas and get on the schedule for the regional service rep to come look into it. A lot of Q&A would get done by phone before an actual visit of course. You may also be able to get the AGCO Answers people to get a case going for the problem.

A number for Massey was 678-534-3199 which, back then, forwarded me to "AGCO Answers." They have an email address which was agcoanswers@agcocorp.com

All that said it makes a big difference whether the dealer mechanics feel confident they have nailed the problem OR are not sure what it is.
Putting myself in your shoes, and knowing it is your nickels being burned, I'd watch for that indicator (they know or don't know) before it goes on much longer. If they aren't sure (esp. having had the rear axle apart!) you'd be "in the right" to ask them to have a talk with the regional service rep and to keep you in the loop discussing it. These regional service reps are in the business of dealing with the more difficult issues and are well paid to try and solve things. I've dealt with 3 (2 in Massey and 1 in Kubota) and all were reasonable and knowledgeable.

Interested to hear how it goes and what the problem was. Good luck of course.

Thank you JWR. It sounds like they were totally stumped but glad they eventually called the rep. Rep said they had seen this before on these tractors but more with early models of this series. Mine is a 2010 model so there you go. It also sounds like these improved actuator springs should have been installed when the severe duty brakes were added a couple years ago. So either these heavier springs are already installed and they don’t realize it yet or the other dealer didn’t do the job correctly? Either way we should find out soon I guess. They want to do the left side to but since that side has worked great so far I ask them to only address the right side first. If it ends up working I may do the left also just to resolve any future issues.

 

[JWR]

Sounds to me like serious progress. Mine was bought new in early 2011 and it may be a 2010 model year too, I don't know. Can't see where any of the paperwork says.

I think I mentioned many posts back that the bugle bolts (and nuts on studs) were messed up badly on mine when the 5th disc was installed on each side. Some bolts stripped of threads down inside the holes, others loose, etc.
It is nearly impossible to get to all those bolts/nuts when the sheet metal is in place. Surely yours will be done by more competent mechanics who would not leave a mess like that.

 

[sawtooth]

I sure hope so. I didn’t mention that to them so hope they have that under control. I may stop by tomorrow or Monday and will bring that up. The parts won’t be in till Tue or Wed so should have time to subtly mention this to them. Really hoping this is the fix so I can move on.

 

[JWR]

It is often hard for me to be into a hired repair enough to protect my own interests and yet not insult the intel or skill of the guy doing it. Usually learning when to keep my mouth shut...

But, If you have a chance for casual conversation with the mechanics, tell them you know a true story of a guy who once had one of these 2660 rear ends put together with half the bolts loose or stripped and found his tractor belching hydraulic fluid out the rear axle while out in the field trying to do bush hogging ! That was me.

 

[sawtooth]

That’s what I’m thinking to. Gentle persuasion. Lol

 

[jeepcj7]

Just a personal observation regarding the earlier comments about bleeding brakes. Some brake systems are harder to bleed than others - including the 2600HD. I've had the best luck bleeding the brakes by applying pressure thru the reservoir vs trying the draw a vacuum from the slave cylinder or pumping the brake. pedals Pressure bleeding kits are pretty cheap at most auto parts stores and/or harbor frieght.

 

[sawtooth]

Just a personal observation regarding the earlier comments about bleeding brakes. Some brake systems are harder to bleed than others - including the 2600HD. I've had the best luck bleeding the brakes by applying pressure thru the reservoir vs trying the draw a vacuum from the slave cylinder or pumping the brake. pedals Pressure bleeding kits are pretty cheap at most auto parts stores and/or harbor frieght.

Ok good point thank you. Never considered that before.

Now for a update on the brakes. The good news is I got my tractor back Friday and the right brake seems to be ok. At least so far anyways. The pedal actually feels the same as before so my first thought was nothing had changed. But at least to this point it seems to be releasing ok. I need to get my manual out but I believe the proper amount of pedal movement before brakes start to engage is 1-1.5”. Currently, I believe I’m closer to .5-.75” but need to confirm. Other than this the right side seems to work well. Now the interesting part is the left brake which originally seemed ok now has way to much pedal travel before it finally starts to engage. I’m hoping it’s only a bleeding issue but need to check to confirm. One note the left brake pedal seemed decent right when I got on the tractor but continued to worsen after driving the tractor for 15-30 min. After that it stayed the same with way to much pedal travel but it does release ok. Seems like maybe bleeding it could help but not sure. Will try this week to confirm.

So now for the fix. At first my dealer couldn’t find the issue but eventually did contact Massey Corp for assistance and was told when these tractors receive the 5th brake disc or extreme duty brake upgrade they also should receive an extra spring kit. These extra springs apparently provide more power to pull the brake components apart or away from one another. They also had to drill holes somewhere to mount some sort of small bracket internally that the springs mount up against. So my thinking is either the dealer forgot to add these when the tractor was originally updated to the 5th disc or at that time Massey didn’t know they needed the extra springs to make everything work properly. The only thing I’m faced with now is I didn’t do the left side as that was going to be almost twice the price and I wasn’t even sure if this would actually be the fix. I can still do it later and may if the right side continues to perform well and or if I start having issues with the left side.

The only other issue now is that I believe they broke the black shroud that goes over top the draft and position control levers in the cab. I was having issues getting the stops to catch properly on the position control then discovered the plastic shroud was damaged in 3 places causing to stop knobs not to make contact with the position control lever. I believe what happened is when the cab was raised the handles may have caught the plastic as they remain stationary as the cab is lifted. It never seems to end does it? Lol

Overall I like this tractor but man there are some really cheap components like this cheesy shroud over the lift controls and issues with electronics etc. Even the fit and finish of these tractors leaves a lot to be desired. Like I was driving yesterday and all the sudden the center panel below the steering wheel just falls down. I’m like what the heck? Come to find out the panel alignment is so far off that the locking mechanism will barely engage. So this is something else I will tackle soon. Oh well at least I’m making headway and overall the tractor is in really good condition and performs well once it’s running.

 

[JWR]

Reasonably good news. I've been off on a ski trip for a week and out of touch on tractors. I suspect you are headed toward the same spot I ended up in with the 2660 -- it was **** going through all the various problems but once I got them fixed it has been just one super good tractor and, once fixed, I love it. Initially I blamed quality control out of the Brazil factory but there were just too many issues to blame them all on that. I am very curious what the feedback is like from the other newer Massey machines like the 4610.

 

[sawtooth]

The 4610’s look great. Like you I’m curious how they are doing.

 

[sawtooth]

Well today was another repair day. Thankfully I could handle all this myself. First issue was the stops for both the draft and position control levers don’t engage due to the plastic shroud around them being damaged from when cab was raised for brake repair. I remove the damaged shroud and called the dealer to inform them of the issue. Thankfully they ordered a new one for me. The next issue was the lift abruptly stopped working correctly on Sunday and now only moves about 2-3 inches. After sometime while under the tractor I found a metal coupler that designed to keep both the draft and position control working together however the locking nut had come loose and was gone. Fortunately, I had two exact nuts so was able to use them to reattach the components. So next up was a leaky fuel line that had dry rotted in several locations. A quick trip to NAPA plus struggling to get into a tight place and finally all set. Man I hope next weekend presents less issues. Lol.