Massey Ferguson 1759

dahogman · Mar 14, 2017

Well I finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy a new tractor. I've been working on cleaning up my Farm for 3 years. The farm is suffering from 40 years of no maintenance and never throwing anything away. I've been working with my truck and trailers and an old Farmall H and a Case DC. I'm an above knee right leg amputee and those tractors just weren't safe for me to operate. I started looking 2 years ago at skid steers and tractors to ease my work load. I decided to quit putting it off due to expense and just get it over with. I've tested lots and lots of different models and was just waiting for the right deal to pounce on. I went to my local dealer and was going to purchase a Kubota L3560 HSTC with a 805 loader for $34,000 with 3rd function. I threw out a offer on a new 2014 MF 1759 Cab with DL130 loader that had been on their lot since Dec 2014 due to a failed internet purchase. I looked at the tractor back then but didn't pull the trigger due to price. I threw out an offer of $35,000 out the door. 2 days later they called and said that after much back and forth with AGCO they got the deal approved. It comes with new warranty 5 years and 51 hours. Dealership is going to go thru all the fluids due to my concerns over age. I'm getting a much larger tractor with rear remotes already on it so I won't have to go with 3rd function if I don't want to. They offered to put a diverter on it but after finding out that the grapple would only perform one function at a time I figured why bother, I'll just run the clamp function of the grapple off my remotes. Location of rear remote control is right beside me on the side console. The power shuttle works well for me since I don't have a right leg, I just use my left leg for brakes which I don't use very often anyway. I'll be doing a good deal of loader work and a HST would have been great but the location of controls was an issue. This tractor is a good fit for me. I'm going to run Hyd line to the front from the rear remotes to the center of the torque tube for a grapple. I'm in the process of figuring out what I need to do this so any help would be appreciated. I would like to explore any options that would allow me to operated the grapple completely independent of the rear remotes with all functions able to perform at the same time. I'm pretty good with a wrench and would likely do the work myself when I figure out everything I'll need. I don't have the tractor yet as it has to be hauled to me from the other dealership 250 miles away so I don't know what fittings I'm going to need to run my 2 hyd lines to the front of the loader. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I've gotten a lot of comments about paying that much for a tractor that is 3 years old, but the money I saved over a 2017 comparable tractor made it a fairly easy decision. Agco is treating it as a new tractor in all aspects. I'm going to have the tires loaded also.

jenkinsph · Mar 15, 2017

My brother had similar issues with a right leg amputation just below the knee several years ago. Prior to this he had spent quite a lot of time on our tractors and both of us spent a lot of time trying to figure out a safe work around.

He was able to operate my JD 110tlb using the creep to reposition controls (electric/hydraulic). This set up with a forward off reverse rocker switch and a thumb operated travel speed control could be easily adapted to most of the ehydro Deere tractors. The 110tlb has three front and three rear remotes and ssqa which would meet your other requirements.

I would think that using a left hand reverser control for direction control of the electric hydro transmission and a additional travel speed control in a more convenient ergonomic location would work very well. This should apply to most any of the 3000 and 4000 series hydrostatic tractors from Deere. Using this method I don't think you would be limited in any way operating the tractor. I have not looked at them but suspect there are very similar methods that would work with other brands too.

The MF 1758 and 1759 appear to be very similar to my JD4520 and I am very satisfied with the work I can do with this tractor. The Massey, Kubota and Deere 60hp compacts are all good tractors and any one of them would be great. The three spool diverter on my 110 works very well with all three functions on the single joystick. I would recommend this set up on any of the tractors you buy. I think using a separate lever to operate the third function would be irritating when using the fel.

plowhog · Mar 15, 2017

Congratulations on your purchase! I will look forward to seeing photos.

LRover · Mar 15, 2017

Congrats on the purchase of your Massey! Sounds like you have a nice machine headed your way. Something to consider with the use of a grapple: I have a rear remote on mine but also have a diverter valve on the loader that diverts from the curl position which I decided to use instead. It is electrically operated with a trigger on the joystick. It is instantaneous and operates only when I press the trigger, returning to curl as soon as I release the trigger. I don't notice it as a problem during use not being able to curl at the same time. It works well not having to take my hand off the joystick. You will be amazed at the amount of work you will be able to do with the grapple however you choose to work out the hydraulics.

dahogman · Mar 15, 2017

Can I get more info on your diverter?

dahogman · Mar 15, 2017

I looked long at hard at JD. The HST controls being electric would lend themselves to relocation. I ran into a stonewall when I asked about this. JD said there was no place to put them when I suggested extending harness and moving them to left side. I even offered to sign a no harm paper to relieve them of any liability. Kubota's HST cruise lever could also be used as a control by simply adding reverse to the hand lever. Kubota refused to even talk to me about it. I was told by both that I would violate my warranty if I altered them. JD doesn't offer Hyd shuttle in its cab models except for the e series. All this combined with the fact that the deal I got saved me thousands is what led me to my purchase. I would hope that they consider offering some type of option to allow amputees better options on tractors. With the soldiers coming back and farm accidents and such there are more and more of us now than ever before. Thank you for the remarks.

jenkinsph · Mar 16, 2017

dahogman said:
I looked long at hard at JD. The HST controls being electric would lend themselves to relocation. I ran into a stonewall when I asked about this. JD said there was no place to put them when I suggested extending harness and moving them to left side. I even offered to sign a no harm paper to relieve them of any liability. Kubota's HST cruise lever could also be used as a control by simply adding reverse to the hand lever. Kubota refused to even talk to me about it. I was told by both that I would violate my warranty if I altered them. JD doesn't offer Hyd shuttle in its cab models except for the e series. All this combined with the fact that the deal I got saved me thousands is what led me to my purchase. I would hope that they consider offering some type of option to allow amputees better options on tractors. With the soldiers coming back and farm accidents and such there are more and more of us now than ever before. Thank you for the remarks.

You are welcome.

Just throwing some ideas out there that my brother and I had discussed. Most manufacturers are hard nosed about modifications to their product specifications. Sometimes you just take on the task and do it.

My biggest concern is free wheeling on a gear tractor in this scenario. Second concern would be stopping movement (with good brakes). I don't use my brakes much on my hydro tractors and it is a good thing since these use mechanical application, all my older gear tractors had hydraulic application of the brakes and had a much better feel. Regardless of the fact that hydro transmissions will quickly stop the tractor I would prefer the hydraulic brakes rather than the cheaper mechanical actuated brakes. All of my tractors have wet disc brakes I am only referring to the "actuation method".

At any rate I hope this new tractor works out well for you, Massey makes some very nice tractors.:thumbsup:

LRover · Mar 18, 2017

My diverter was dealer installed and on the tractor when I bought it so I can't give you much more information than the photos. There is a power plug near the loader hydraulic connections that I unplug if I take the loader off. I shut the tractor off and release any hydraulic pressure to make my connection to the grapple. It really is a couple of minutes to make the switch at the most. I like having the control button on the joystick.

dahogman · Mar 20, 2017

Thank you.

mbergeon · Mar 22, 2017

Nice tractor, I'm sure it will work out well for you!

I ran lines from rear remotes to the front of the loader like you are anticipating, ran the lines thru some old 3" fire hose from the back to where it comes up at the loader arm (also used the fire hose on the grapple lines).

Where the lines ran along the loader arms I bought these:

3/8 IN TWO WIRE DUAL HYDRAULIC HOSE CLAMP

and was able to weld two nuts together and just bolt them on where the existing mounts for the curl cylinder lines run.