MF 6180 Power Shift Problems

[Studrunner]

Hello everyone I'm new to the site....I am looking at purchasing a MF 6180 MFWD. The ad says it has a 32 speed powershift transmission. It also has a MF 1048 loader on it. It will be used primarily for loading hay & WDG's into a TMR mixer. Just wondering what people's opinions on this tractor & transmission were. I don't know anything about them. We have always run "green" but I like the looks of this 6180. Is it easy to navigate between Forward and Reverse?........as I wlll be pulling up to and backing away from the mixer frequently. How versatile and tough are they? Any information you all can share with me would be helpful and greatyly appreciated. Thank You.

The 6180 is a very good tractor, however, for loader work you will probably wish you had a left hand reverser. The forward reverse shuttle is sychronized and works well, just that you also be running the loader with your right hand as well.(In Europe they were available with LH reverser). Also the loader will be a little slow depending on the size of lift cylinders on the loader. Check this out first to make sure it is suitable for your application. The dealer should let you demo it. A newer 6480 would be a better choice but will cost 2.5 times as much. I love my 6180 and have had next to nothing for repairs over ten years(2000hrs).

 

[firme67]

I know a LH reverser would be great. So there is a shuttle lever that lets you go Forward and Backward rather easily? Can you explain the 32 speed pwrshft to me, I see some advertised with a 16 spd and some w/ the 32. As far as cylinder speed I hope anything is better than our 1964 JD 4020...LOL. Is your's a MFWD, if so, anything to worry about there? This looks like a really nice tractor, for being 12 yrs old with 2500 hrs. thank you

 

[Studrunner]

I know a LH reverser would be great. So there is a shuttle lever that lets you go Forward and Backward rather easily? Can you explain the 32 speed pwrshft to me, I see some advertised with a 16 spd and some w/ the 32. As far as cylinder speed I hope anything is better than our 1964 JD 4020...LOL. Is your's a MFWD, if so, anything to worry about there? This looks like a really nice tractor, for being 12 yrs old with 2500 hrs. thank you

There are two shift levers on the rt side, one is the range and gear selector the other is the forward/reverse shuttle. The range/gear shift lever is a four gear "H" shift pattern, 1,2,3 & 4. to change ranges you move the gear shift to the neutral position then tap it to the left, this changes the range from hi to lo. To the left of the steering column there is the dyna shift lever, A,B,C,D. All gear changes and forward reverse you need to clutch for. The A,B,C,D are clutchless. So you have eight forward gears with a 4 speed powershift in each gear, hence 32 gears forward/ reverse. The sixteen speed has only a 2 speed powershift in eight gears, hence 16 speeds forward/reverse. The forward reverse shuffle is syncro, so it will always engage even if rolling. The trans uses a wet style clutch great for loader work and easy to inch up to something. The front axle is bullet proof, much better than Deere, never ever changed an axle seal in any of the Masseys we have owned in the last 20 years. We run front duals and have a front 3ph on our 6180 which puts extra load on the front axle. Should be a good tractor, but ask for a demo. I know some farms where 2500 hrs can be like 10,000 but then it should show in other areas.

 

[firme67]

You say the F/R lever is syncro....but you also say that you need to clutch between forward and reverse? Just looking for a little clarification, because one person I talked to said you didn't need to clutch between F&R. Also in all the pics I've looked at I haven't seen the A,B,C,D lever yet. Where exactly is it located? Hi & Lo is located on the "H" 4 gear lever? Thank you for the information, I am just still trying to fully grasp the "DynaShift" transmission. Everyone I have talked to says the 6180 is a good tractor, but I have only talked to salesman, who really don't know how the transmission works. All the info you can share is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Klund]

I'm thinking of buing a MF 6180 -1996 wich only moves a few inches no matter what gear you select? Any ideas on what could cause this problem?

 

[Studrunner]

Does the tractor have any hydraulics, does the 3 ph lift, does the power steering work? If not, the drive disc that would replace the clutch, has the centre torn out. This happened on our 6150 (same rear end and trans as a 6180). Simple fix, split the tractor and replace rubber dampener disc. Or the shaft that goes from the centre of this disc to the hyd pump could be broken. This happened on our 6180 running a Mericrusher( huge pto load) the early 6180 (98 and earlier) had a over hardened shaft making it too brittle. Again split the tractor between clutch housing and trans and replace shaft. Our was done on warranty and never had a problem again. Could maybe have the wet clutch burn't out, never seen this, but it does happen to other makes. Chris

 

[timwoz]

Hi all, I have a mf 8120 tractor, It has a problem shifting the abcd periodically ingadges, the hi/ low doesnot shift (it is ingaged in low range).....(.very rarely it will go into high)......also the tractor will not disengage from 4x4 on....the tranny sounds good no noices and tractor only has 1930 hrs.......if anyone could help with comments, I would sure appreciate it.................

 

[Masseywrench]

If I were you I would start a new discussion about your 8120. If someone else has a 8100 series they will find it by the title and may answer you faster. Plus if someone were to use the search function it would show up better and that may help them out in future when we find the problem.
I'm 90% sure that if its not shifting between high and low, I think the shifter fork is broke or partially broke and not allowing it to engage. We have one there that has almost the same problem. I say almost because that will not shift at all between high and low range. You say it will sometimes go in, so that leads me to wonder if there is a linkage problem or if your fork is worn badly and not broke.

Be more exact about your ABCD problem. What do you mean it periodically engages?
Never seen the problem with the 4x4 not kicking out.

I take a look at the manual tomorrow at work and see if I can get you some decent answers.

 

[timwoz]

Thank you for your comments, abcd will periodically jump when shifting from d going down , when I say jump that's what it does in and out....is the "shifter fork" a big job to repair? .... The 4x4 through the switch stays engaged all the time, the 4x4 light doesnot go out.....could it be the switch then?......thank you for your input, anything or answers I get is a big help.......

 

[Masseywrench]

Tim I have seen that same problem with an 8160 before regarding the jumpy shifting. If you were at road speed it would periodically jump from D to C and sometimes down to B and then seconds later it would upshift back to D. It would do it in Low range as well as High. We ended up replacing the shifter on the steering column that controls the ABCD functions and fixed the issue. You need to check for broken wires first and trace down the ground wire from that switch and make sure it has a good connection.

On the 4x4 problem, its one of two things, either the rocker switch on the console or its the solenoid valve that controls the 4WD. The solenoid valve is on the side of the transmission just inside of the right rear tire. It will be labeled so you can find it. First make sure its plugged up or that you dont have some wires cut or torn away from the plug. Second you can start testing the wires to make sure its has a good connection from the plug. If you have voltage at the valve when the switch is off, the switch is bad and is bypassing sending voltage when it shouldnt. If you have voltage in the on position, no voltage in the off position, then the solenoid valve is bad.

While you are under there looking around, double and triple check all the connections that are on the side of the transmission housing.

I saved the bad news for last. There is no easy way to say this but the tractor has to be split to repair the shifting problem. You will have to have a true service manual to perform this. I wont even go into the details of it right now but it will be a tough job without the lifts and jacks and we also use a special built lift to roll it in and out and control everything from getting away from you. We try to stop and help each other when doing something this big, but with the roll lift jack, you can do it by yourself if you have to. So unless you are up for a huge job, I recommend taking it in to the dealer for the repair. Honestly unless you have split one and pulled the transmission out of one before, I would not even suggest that you attempt this as there are numerous things that can go wrong.