MAX 25/24 questions

[roughcut]

Binford, I have the max 28 hst, mmm, FEL, 6 foot back blade and 5" brush hog. The tractor mows great. We have about 6 acres to finish mow and you can mow as fast as your kidneys can handle and it still looks great. We also brush hog about 10 acres and it handles the 5 foot brush hog with ease. My driveway is about 250 yards long with a slight grade. NW PA gets a bunch of wet snow and we don't typically have much problem plowing. It does struggle on the uphill grade but only because I do not have chains. A couple issues I have experienced so far. There is not a guard on the front pulley of the mmm. I ran over an ant hill with mine and the deck lifted and flattened out the top pulley of the MMM on the support bracket for the FEL and then smoked the belt. Not knowing the pulley was damaged I put on another expensive Mahindra belt and ruined it as well. I now have stops on the deck to prevent this. Have also had trouble with moisture in the injection solenoid. Always seems to happens at the worst time!. Tractor will start but then just shuts down. Dealer cleaned it the 1st time and 2nd time it happened they replaced the solenoid. Also, it does not like to start in the winter. Other than that we are very pleased with our purchase.
Dave

 

[BlackOps]

can you please expand about the deck issues and the belt issues. This is the 2nd time recently i have heard about this - I have a deck - have not tried it out yet but would hate to trash it all up. Cost me some $ and want to take care of it. Thank you.

 

[Pitch1]

Roughcut, not meaning to be rude,but your deck problems seem to be born of careless operation rather than a design problem. I mow about 3 acres with my mmm and maneuver around more than a hundred trees. Some with roots that are 5inches or so proud of the ground. I take it slow and I pay attention. Do not buy a belt from Mahindra, I replaced mine with a gates for less than half the price. I posted in another thread which number it is.

 

[roughcut]

Pitch 1, I don't consider your comment rude at all. The damage was most definitely my fault but I consider the Max 28 a tractor and I use it as such. I was only letting those that are interested in what could happen know so that they can avoid costly repairs. Took me about an hour of time and maybe $5.00 of supplies to add a bracket to the front of the mower deck so that the pulley cannot make contact with the cross brace for the FEL. Now I don't have to worry about it.
Dave

 

[Shift4200]

Hey Guys,

Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure that the MMM on the 25 is setup slightly different than the 28s. I've read of this problem several times and it's always been on the 28 series tractor. I inspected mine and found that i had plenty of clearance over the problem pully/belt.

The brackets on my MMM for the scalp wheels are different than those i see in pics on the 28. Not sure if that's related to the model year, or the tractors themselves, so take it for what it's worth.

Either way, this issue does not effect all Mahindra MMMs from what i can tell.

Just my 0.02$

-J

 

[roughcut]

BlackOps, I am not sure if the Max 25 is the same as the 28. I do know that the 28 uses only the 3 point hitch hydraulics to control the height of the deck and I believe the 25 has a mechanical set in the back. Actually the wheels on the deck also help on the 28. Anyway on the max 28 there is a bracket on the back of the mower deck to keep it from going up to high and contacting various things under the tractor but on the front there isn't anything. The bracket in the back works fine but in my case I was mowing an area that was a bit high. The front of the deck (skid plate) hit an ant hill forcing the front of the deck up. With no guard covering the front pulley it came into contact with the brace for the FEL that goes from one side of the tractor to the other. When this happened it flattened out the top angle of the pulley and stopped the blades. Not knowing what was happening it took me a couple seconds to hit the clutch and stop the PTO. During that time the belt continued to turn around the stopped pulley and it was ruined. Blue smoke everywhere! I will look for the post that Pitch1 mentions for the gates part number for the next time it needs replaced and save some money.

 

[DavesTractor]

roughcut, so what I understand is that under normal conditions on a Max26/28 you can't raise the mower high enough to damage itself, but if the mower climbs over an obstacle and gets shoved up higher than designed, the pulley can contact the loader brace under the tractor. Perhaps the designers did not factor in that scenario, but is seems like that is a condition that can happen to a user occasionally if you are mowing areas that are not just normal lawn. I think an additional stop on the front of the mower is a great idea.

I believe on the 22/24/25 the lower loader cross brace has a crescent shape cut into the rearward part of it, allowing clearance. BTW, that 22/24/25 brace can install with the crescent shape forward (wrong) or rearward (correct). It makes no difference if you do not have a MMM, but can cause clearance issues if you have a MMM on a 22/24/25 and the brace is flipped backwards. Max 22/24/25 users with a MMM should take a look under and make sure theirs are correct. Rarely are they wrong, but it has happened. If so, just remove the bolts and turn it. Easy.

 

[Shift4200]

roughcut, so what I understand is that under normal conditions on a Max26/28 you can't raise the mower high enough to damage itself, but if the mower climbs over an obstacle and gets shoved up higher than designed, the pulley can contact the loader brace under the tractor. Perhaps the designers did not factor in that scenario, but is seems like that is a condition that can happen to a user occasionally if you are mowing areas that are not just normal lawn. I think an additional stop on the front of the mower is a great idea.

I believe on the 22/24/25 the lower loader cross brace has a crescent shape cut into the rearward part of it, allowing clearance. BTW, that 22/24/25 brace can install with the crescent shape forward (wrong) or rearward (correct). It makes no difference if you do not have a MMM, but can cause clearance issues if you have a MMM on a 22/24/25 and the brace is flipped backwards. Max 22/24/25 users with a MMM should take a look under and make sure theirs are correct. Rarely are they wrong, but it has happened. If so, just remove the bolts and turn it. Easy.

I'll be looking into this tonight... thanks Dave.

-J

 

[roughcut]

Daves Tractor, thanks for the explanation. I actually thought about taking that brace off and cutting a half moon out of it so the pulley would have clearance but did not want to void any warranties. I believe it would still be plenty strong enough though. In actuality there just isn't enough height adjustment for the MMM on the max 28 anyway! Still a great tractor for most jobs.
Dave

 

[BlackOps]

Thanks! I am a bit concerned now. Not sure I have all of the skill that many of you have re: tweaking and fixing various aspects of this new tractor. I do not want to mess it up in any way.