Max 28 Owners

[Shift4200]

thanks...great info. did you run rear chains? the tires are loaded but we have a gravel drive which tends to ice up...well this year it did as it was only plowed when it became impassable. brutal winter in a brand new home, definitely wasn't ready as we rushed to get in before xmas( especially doing all the work yourself). had to drive 5 miles to get my dads tractor everytime the driveway filled in. 40 hp nh open cap tractor for 5 miles in single digits sucks. Tried to get him to come get it...I bet you can figure out his response. bought the max to end that madness as well as for other reasons. appreciate your input. thanks.

This was the first winter for us in this house as well. We moved in late August. Luckily we picked up Max before the snows hit.... Pretty sure i cleared my drive often enough this winter that I've paid my note for the next year in moneys saved on paying someone to plow it.

Complaints. Several, but picky stuff. I would like a little more leg room, but I'm giant, 6'3"... so i have that same complaint on most anything I sit in or on. Cup holder would have been nice. Retractable seat belt would have been cool too. I know i can get one if i get the upgraded seat, but like i said... I'm being picky.

Wish they made a bigger bucket for the 22/25 series tractors. Again, being picky.

I did run chains on all 4 tires. I had some traction issues with them at first... Which kinda blew my mind as i figured adding chains would only help. Turns out I had the chains too tight, and instead of "falling" to the ground, they were locked in between the lugs of the tires. This essentially gave the snow somewhere to cake up... making the tire almost a slick. I loosened the chains one link... and all that went away instantly. Food for thought. (Kudos to TBN member Arrow for that tip)

Next season, I'll be buying a blower of some kind. Likely a rear PTO model vs the front. I just don't want to give up the convenience of the loader to put on the blower. I use my loader all winter for firewood and other misc tasks.... so having to do a full swap just doesn't sound like my bag. I'd rather blow the drive in reverse. The other upgrade that's happening for next season is the soft cab. One year of being wet and cold is enough for me. Users on here say that the way the cab is designed and the layout of the operator area.... a good amount of heat builds up in there... some even say they've done the job in a t shirt. That sounds nice.

Hermon NY is up there huh? My wife and I own a chunk of property just south of Watertown and i thought THAT was up there. If you see snow at all like our property does, you'll want more than a rear blade to do the job. Does the Lake Effect stuff make it up to you? Did you get nailed w that 3-4ft blizzard last season? We all can hope that next winter is a little more forgiving than this year.

Best of luck with the new Max... look forward to hearing all about your successes in the future.

-J

 

[JButze100]

thanks for the reply....we dont see the lake effect too often. Usually stops just shy of gouverneur. if we do get it we usually only get 4-6 inches. we do get snow when others are getting rain though as we usually run a few clicks colder than Watertown. this year we sas -20s for two weeks straight with highs in the single digits or low teens most the winter. It was a cold one...

as for chains do you remember where you got them from...thinking about a set for the rears but maybe I should see what the loaded tires do first...have a strong suspicion I'm gonna need them. dealer was telling me mahindra makes a nice cab now for the max series. I'm probably just gonna freeze as I do most all winter long as i spend alot of time on the hardwater. dad runs those edge tamers on his nh bucket...strongly would recommend a pair or fabricating a set. between the horsemat cut edge on the rear blade and those on the bucket my new gravel drive stayed put. hopefully I have the same success with the max.

 

[Shift4200]

thanks for the reply....we dont see the lake effect too often. Usually stops just shy of gouverneur. if we do get it we usually only get 4-6 inches. we do get snow when others are getting rain though as we usually run a few clicks colder than Watertown. this year we sas -20s for two weeks straight with highs in the single digits or low teens most the winter. It was a cold one...

as for chains do you remember where you got them from...thinking about a set for the rears but maybe I should see what the loaded tires do first...have a strong suspicion I'm gonna need them. dealer was telling me mahindra makes a nice cab now for the max series. I'm probably just gonna freeze as I do most all winter long as i spend alot of time on the hardwater. dad runs those edge tamers on his nh bucket...strongly would recommend a pair or fabricating a set. between the horsemat cut edge on the rear blade and those on the bucket my new gravel drive stayed put. hopefully I have the same success with the max.

Cold and Brutal. I know you guys were hammered... we didn't fair well either. Nothing like -20 for weeks straight, but I can honestly say i was averaging 2 full driveway clears per week for a good while there.

I got my chains of some random Ebay guy. In hindsight I wish I'd spent more on the rear chains.... maybe get something with a little more girth. But they worked, so i cant complain too much. Fronts were super cheap... wasn't planning on getting them but if i recall correctly, they ended up costing me like $20 after buying the rears.

I did not load my tires. My concern in regard to that was come summer and i'm using max primarily to mow.... It's already a pretty heavy machine, and leaves pretty good ruts in the softer part of the yard. I had planned on loading the rears if i continued to have issues with traction... i never did, so i never bothered.

I have to wonder if the "nice cab" that your dealer was talking about was the tent style model or something new for this year. The tent style job runs in the area of 500-600$ around here. I've heard cheaper depending on geography. If you get any more info on that, be sure to keep us in the loop. I store my tractor outside, and feel that this cab would be a nice addition to my max in the winter. Climbing in and going vs clearing and digging out sounds pretty awesome to me.

I used a raw rear blade... no hoses or rubber on the edge... to clear my drive. I lost a little gravel, but not enough to gripe. In fact the little that was piled when the banks cleared was the perfect amount to fix a few ruts that had developed during the rains....

I just checked out those edge tamers and will be getting a set of those for myself. Good stuff, thanks!

-J

 

[JButze100]

any remedies for the fan hitting the fan shroud when you get it jacked up on rough terrain so both front and back are spinning?

 

[Shift4200]

any remedies for the fan hitting the fan shroud when you get it jacked up on rough terrain so both front and back are spinning?

Wowser... I've had mine teetering pretty bad and never had issue with the fan and the shroud.

However I've seen a few threads flying around that mention this issue... might want to poke around and see what you can find.

-J