Thread for MF 1529

[tmajor]

I was successful in re-working the drive and now I am just waiting on gravel and then to stack stones around the edges. Love that tractor.

I wanted to come back and comment on the driveway project. I've found, what i think, is the best for an unpaved driveway.

I use "1/2 minus" (might be called something else, in your neck of the woods .. '1A-modified') for the top coat. It's 1/2" or smaller stone and sand. And I always, put a crown in the drive to prevent puddling. It gets as hard as concrete (nearly) and lasts for over a year without going over it, and even then, it's just regrading. Plus, when plowing snow, it stays put (you'll probably, not have to worry about the snow plowing).

 

[1stDeuce]

I received, modified and installed the box leveler, today. There was a bit more to the fitment process, than I had planned on.

My 3pt also has a turnbuckle there, and the crank style looks so much faster and easier to use... Is this a universal part you bought somewhere, or was it off another tractor?
<edit> Was it the one off Flea-bay for about $70?

As for your cold start, that's exactly how the landlords 1533 starts w/o glows. Took me a few starts to discover that you have to turn the key the opposite direction and hold it to get the glow plugs to heat. That brings it down to the initial puff of smoke, and it's fairly clean after that. I'm guessing the clean tractor you reference is a Common Rail engine. They're quieter, and they start w/o much smoke at all.

If you are doing the glows correctly, it wouldn't be a bad idea to put a test light on them and be sure they're getting power. Also, raising the engine speed just a bit after starting will help it clean up. (only to 900-1000rpm) The idle speed on my 1455 is supposed to be 950rpm. It started fine that way, but seemed pretty high once it was warmed up, so I lowered it to about 750rpm's. At that speed, it's much quieter, and I let it sit and idle all day without using a lot of fuel. But I still bump it to about 1000RPM's when it's cold so it clears up and warms up faster.

 

[tmajor]

My 3pt also has a turnbuckle there, and the crank style looks so much faster and easier to use... Is this a universal part you bought somewhere, or was it off another tractor?
<edit> Was it the one off Flea-bay for about $70?

The leveling box, I purchased, was after market, Ford/Massey P/N 180854M91 .. All States Ag Parts #113624 @ $49.00 +shipping. However, there are compact tractor leveling boxes available, which probably, wouldn't need modification, for $70 - $150 +.

 

[tmajor]

The leveling box, I purchased, was after market, Ford/Massey P/N 180854M91 .. All States Ag Parts #113624 @ $49.00 +shipping. However, there are compact tractor leveling boxes available, which probably, wouldn't need modification, for $70 - $150 +.

In retrospect, I probably should have gone with the aftermarket "compact tractor" leveling box. As I said, "it turned out to be more work, than I had planned". Drilling the top hole out to 3/4" was no big deal. When I inquired about the dimensions of the unit, as an after thought, I asked, "if the top knuckle was about the width of the top CAT 1 ball joint", and he said "close". Also, at that point, it escaped me to ask about the yoke width.

 

[tmajor]

As for your cold start, that's exactly how the landlords 1533 starts w/o glows.

I know, my 1529 starts much better WITH glow plugs, but, as you say, about the 1533 starting W/O glow plugs, I keep wondering, "If at least one G/P isn't working?"

 

[tmajor]

Well folks, I guess, we can put the "Glow-Plug" issue to bed. I managed to "see" with difficulty and "get to" (with more difficulty) the G/Ps, by removing the air cleaner hose. Let me tell you, they couldn't have made it anymore difficult to get to them, if they tried! I loosened the nuts, removed the buss-bar and measured their resistance ... all were about the same, at 2 ohms. I cleaned up the buss-bar and wire connections and put it back together, with even more words, than I used getting it apart.

I did another video, just in case, but the results were nearly the same. So, "It is, what it is".

 

[1stDeuce]

Yup. 2 Ohms is good. Did you verify you're getting voltage to the bus bar with the glows all connected too? You could have a bad relay or connection somewhere else...

If it's all good, then there's nothing to worry about. Bring the idle up a tad after it starts to help it clear up/warm up, and get to work!

Thanks for the info on the leveler box. There's a gray MF one on ebay for ~$100 that might work better for me... or might just hold off and put the money into top and tilt instead... I've been thinking about two diverters wired to one SPDT switch labeled "loader" and "TnT". I need to run new lines to the loader anyway, so I could put the diverters inline, with feeds going forward for the loader, and rearward for TnT, or whatever else I might want to plug in back there. Switch to "TnT" to power both diverters, use the loader control, up-down for top and curl-dump for tilt, switch back to "loader" to lock the settings and restore hydraulics to the loader.

Seems pretty straightforward, aside from all the hose routing.
??

 

[1stDeuce]

It occurs to me to ask, does it start differently (more smoke?) if you don't use the glows... If it does, then they're working. If it's the same, then they're likely not working...

 

[tmajor]

It occurs to me to ask, does it start differently (more smoke?) if you don't use the glows... If it does, then they're working. If it's the same, then they're likely not working...

Yes, before learning the glow plugs were controlled by the ignition switch position, I was starting it with no G/Ps. It is much better using G/Ps, but made me wonder, if maybe, one was defective.

 

[tmajor]

Did you verify you're getting voltage to the bus bar with the glows all connected too? You could have a bad relay or connection somewhere else...

I did check for voltage at the G/Ps, when I was trying to figure out how they worked, but I didn't really pay attention to "how much voltage" was there. It could have been lower than battery voltage ... I'll have to verify that. Also, I was thinking, I might put a temporary jumper from battery to glow plugs and leave it in place for a few seconds, after the engine fires, to see it's effect.

 

[1stDeuce]

I did check for voltage at the G/Ps, when I was trying to figure out how they worked, but I didn't really pay attention to "how much voltage" was there. It could have been lower than battery voltage ... I'll have to verify that. Also, I was thinking, I might put a temporary jumper from battery to glow plugs and leave it in place for a few seconds, after the engine fires, to see it's effect.

Oops, I see above where you did say it starts better with the glows than without. You'll get voltage lower than battery, to some extent. Possibly even as low as 6v, depending on the glow plugs used, and any inline resistors. But as long as there's voltage there, you should be OK. It's just a smokey starter. It might improve as the hours go up.

 

[tmajor]

My guy said "to work it", but I don't have much of anything to do. I guess, i could hook onto a big rock and drag it around the fields for a couple hours. :laughing:

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

To think, if you had a bigger tractor and bigger bucket, you could have gone for the "bigger one"!

I did a video this morning of my 1529 "cold start". I showed it to 2 of my diesel mechanics. The farm tractor mech. and the heavy equipment mech. While their roles seemed to be reversed today .... the farm tractor guy was working on the township grader and the heavy equipment guy, showed me an old IH tractor, which they had just rebuilt the engine on.

My farm guy, said "I need to work it". The heavy equip. guy showed me the smoke from the one he just rebuilt ... smoked and chugged for about 1 minute.

I guess, that's all good news, but I wish it was clean, like the NH I worked on. I'm thinking, I might try to use an infrared thermometer, on the glow plugs, to see, if I can detect any heat, from the outside. ... trouble is, the laser on my thermometer isn't working.

..... Let's try YouTube
...

Tom, that's just like mine. I guess if we want clean we better get a tier lV.

 

[arizona98tj]

To think, if you had a bigger tractor and bigger bucket, you could have gone for the "bigger one"!

I shot that one with a crossbow. I'll be out tomorrow AM early, with the Mrs., to help her get her buck as firearms season starts. With any luck, we'll have to fold it in half to get it to fit in the FEL.

I watched your starting video. I've never used my glow plugs for 20 seconds although I will this winter if I don't plug in the block heater. I've started it in 30 degree temps so far. At around 60 degrees, I'll use the glow plugs for about 5 to 7 seconds and there might be a small bit of white smoke for a second or two. Once the white smoke is gone, the idle is smooth. I'm sure every tractor is a bit different. Mine is a 2014 model with pretty low hours so it may be an apples to oranges type comparison.

 

[tmajor]

I watched your starting video. I've never used my glow plugs for 20 seconds although I will this winter if I don't plug in the block heater. I've started it in 30 degree temps so far. At around 60 degrees, I'll use the glow plugs for about 5 to 7 seconds and there might be a small bit of white smoke for a second or two. Once the white smoke is gone, the idle is smooth. I'm sure every tractor is a bit different. Mine is a 2014 model with pretty low hours so it may be an apples to oranges type comparison.

Good luck with the "big one!" We've got a totally white buck around here ... I've only seen it once. It looks like a goat standing in the field.

I've thought about "starting technique" ... I'll experiment with that a bit. After putting up the video, I've looked at, some of the linked videos, which make me feel "pretty good about my start". One guy was starting 2 truck tractors ... one took about 5 minutes and the other popped right off. As I said before, "I believe every diesel engine is unique". When I had the old CAT D4, an old diesel mechanic for CAT, told me, "don't use ether, as they get used to it". ??

 

[arizona98tj]

Good luck with the "big one!" We've got a totally white buck around here ... I've only seen it once. It looks like a goat standing in the field.

We filled our last tag today. I guess I should have gotten a bigger bucket. It seems a 6 point buck just fits in the FEL. I had to pass up the 10 pointer.

 

[tmajor]

We filled our last tag today. I guess I should have gotten a bigger bucket. It seems a 6 point buck just fits in the FEL. I had to pass up the 10 pointer.

Ya'all did good! It seems like reason enough, to at least "look" at bigger tractors.

Yesterday, I was in the back skidding some fallen trees and the deer were running around the tractor and standing, watching ... I think, they like my tractor.

I started the tractor with only 10 seconds of glow plugs ... it did as well and maybe better, than 20 seconds. ??

 

[arizona98tj]

That is good news on the 10 seconds with glow plugs. For the past couple of years, my sister had a small logging operation on her 120 acres. They were cutting poplar and any oak that were near dead, blown down, etc. The deer grew so accustomed to the skidders and chainsaws, they would hardly move unless you actually stopped to look at them. And that stuff was noisy to say the least.

 

[tmajor]

Got some "not so good" pix of the white buck, this morning!

 

[arizona98tj]

Thanks for sharing the pics on the white buck. Never seen one up here. Maybe some day!