why no MF recommendations?

JerryG · Aug 24, 2004

Massey just didn't do well with it's first CUTS, and a lot of bad press came out surrounding problems with extreme vibration.
Another case of one tractor or a very few at most having a problem and it is propagated as many or all. I have been around MF's for years and worked at a dealership for a few and have never seen or heard of such a thing. The biggest problem with the early compacts is that the manufacture is no longer in business. But, most parts are still available. Having said that I still wouldn't want a early Hinomoto built tractor. I have known several with them and they really like them. I just don't like the idea of being unsure of being able to get every single part.

Massey has out-sourced from different companies, but have made a much larger percent of their tractors in house.

Yes the side covers have to be removed to service the engine on the 1428, not really a big deal. You have to realize that he 1428 is a economy model. Although it is nicer to have a tilt up hood like on the 1433-1440's and some of the smaller deluxe models.

kensfarm · Aug 24, 2004

"So, do hydro's act like neutral when the engine is off?"

I've only seen this happen once.. I was parked on the bank barn slope in gear.. making a sweet corn for-sale sign w/ a neighbor farmer's young boy. We heard something.. and the tractor starting going down hill.. the boy started for the tractor.. I held his arm and said.. "let it go".. it rolled back kinda slowly to the gravel driveway and stopped. I'm not sure if I had the hydro in an upper gear.. but I usually leave it in gear and have the park brake on when on a slope.

buckle97 · Aug 24, 2004

(I think I've only used the emergency brake twice -- EVER! Are you parking your tractor on a steep slope?) 

My 3830 is a gear tractor and anytime I get off of it while it is running I set the parking brake. If I am bush hogging and see something I need to stop and move out of the way, I shut off the PTO and set the parking brake. It doesn't matter if I am on level ground or not, I don't want to take a chance on it rolling. I also don't want to shut the tractor completely down for the 15 seconds it takes me to move a tree limb.

Lawrence

fishman · Aug 24, 2004

Yep, they are "kind of" in neutral. I discovered this soon after purchase when I parked it on a slope, shut everything down, and then got off so that my daughter could try it out. It started to roll slowly and to my dismay, she started walking along slowly trying to get up on the operators platform! I grabbed her and gave her a lecture about how unsafe I had just been while the tractor slowly coasted to a stop. After that incident, it was emergency brake ALL THE TIME! I find that since I have a ritual of seatbelt on, parking brake off evertime I start the tractor, I almost never forget the brake.

Gunfighter · Aug 24, 2004

Another tractor brand we don't hear much of on TractorByNet.is AGCO Allis.
AGCO Allis CUT are basically a MF with a different paint job. Only difference
I can see is AGCO Allis doesn't carry CUT under 25 HP... Scrolling down the
TractorByNet general forum page I don't see AGCO Allis even listed..

The same applies to N.H. and Case IH. Only difference is the paint job and
Case IH doesn't sell any tractors under 25 HP or the TC 30... Here at TBN
there's allot of action on the N.H forum but very little on the Case IH...

A bad dealer could explain a regional difference but not national.or international.
Since I believe the TractorByNet is a International forum, it make me wonder
why one color will generate so much interest an another essentially the same so
little...

RJK Sr... (Richard)
West Michigan

To20Chris · Aug 24, 2004

Same for me - I set it every time I get off. I usually drop the BB or harrow (when they are on) like an anchor too.

bandit67 · Aug 24, 2004

When I was looking for a Sub CUT, I was very interested in MF, as I was impressed with what I saw on paper (even became more impressed when I kept seeing Kubota comparing to MF on the Kub website). One local dealer sells JD & MF, but wasn't the least bit interested in selling the smaller MF's, unless I wanted to order one sight unseen and without a test ride - that wasn't going to work for me. Plus, he kept pushing me back towards the JD. Another sort-of-nearby MF dealer didn't seem any more knowledgable about the smaller MF's and hadn't seen any yet, so again, that didn't sit well with me.

BTW Gunfighter,

Case offers 4 machines under 25hp - two Sub CUTs in 18 and 24hp, and 2 CUTs in 21 & 24hp. The only option that NH offers that Case does not currently offer is the SuperSteer in the larger CUTs.

Robert_in_NY · Aug 24, 2004

You will see MF gets brought up quite often when someone wants a very solid and affordable utility tractor. The 231S was a very nice tractor and was a no frills powerhouse that a lot of people wanted. I don't think it is made anymore and I am not very close to my MF dealer to check very often so who knows. As for compacts, MF has never been a big player in that market. MF is owned by Agco and anyone who knows Agco realizes they change directions a lot. MF is a big name overseas but not in the states so Agco doesn't push them (or their compacts) much here. Agco started pushing the Challenger line very hard recently as they are pushing the Cat yellow and Cat name recognition. I don't ever recall them marketing one brand so much as the Challenger brand. They pushed the Agco brand for a while but very few people cared anymore after they removed the Allis name from the orange tractors. So in the end, the other colors market their compacts better and have more dealers to sell their products then MF (actually all of Agco as it isn't just MF).

WilliamBos · Aug 24, 2004

Hi,

MF's are still popular up here in Canada, and alot of places since they are the number 1 seller in the world!! The 431 has or will replace the 231, just not sure as to when, but from what I have read, it will happen soon!!

 JerryG......... Did your 1250 have that gear ( ground ) driven PTO? I heard that this also affected sales of the 1200 CUT's.

Take care

Will

Woodbeef · Aug 24, 2004

So now where did you see all of this so-called bad press about MF CUTs that were made back in the mid 80s? Was this an actual factual unbiased report about the brand? Or just someone with an axe to grind with MF? Were these in hard copy or only taken from the internet? The original MF CUTs have nothing whatsoever to do with the ones from Iseki.

thcri · Aug 24, 2004

Nothing wrong with them. In fact I am sure they are a great tractor, but no dealer in our area so it pretty much made it tough to buy one.

murph

jltrent · Aug 24, 2004

I have owned three; MF65, MF175 and currently a MF285 and they are heavy built tractors with better than average engines. (Those Perkins engines are hard to beat.) The only knock I have is the ones I have had just don't seem to handle as well as some of the others. When you get off at the end of the day you seem more tired. The Ford and Kubota I currently have, though not as big, handle a lot better.

GaryS · Aug 24, 2004

thanks everyone for your comments. Being a first time tractor owner, I can't compare this tractor to any others. But after using this thing for a bit, I figured either I was missing something or in on a big secret.

KiotiJohn · Aug 24, 2004

( So now where did you see all of this so-called bad press about MF CUTs that were made back in the mid 80s? Was this an actual factual unbiased report about the brand? Or just someone with an axe to grind with MF? )
Well, since I, unlike you, qualify my statement by saying,
( Now, I can't say if that's true or not, but that kind of publicity can certainly hinder sales. )

I don't believe your childish attempt at revenge for disagreeing with you is deserved of a further response.
John

JerryG · Aug 25, 2004

John,
Looks to me like Woodbeef was just asking if the person or place that you got your information from might have had ulterior motives.

KiotiJohn · Aug 25, 2004

( John,
Looks to me like Woodbeef was just asking if the person or place that you got your information from might have had ulterior motives. )
Nope. There's history you don't remember.
But, just for you Jerry, all of this was over years of reading in magazines that had reviews of all brands.
I don't remember specific names, and I always qualify my statements so others realize the information may only be opinion. Woodbeef enjoys stating opinion from his chat as fact. I don't agree. John

Gunfighter · Aug 25, 2004

Case IH didn't offer CUT under 25 HP, The under 25 HP tractors
came in as Farmalls...

Last I heard the no frills NH TC30 is not yet offered as a Farmall...

RJK Sr.. (Richard)
West Michigan...

JerryG · Aug 25, 2004

I always qualify my statements so others realize the information may only be opinion. Woodbeef enjoys stating opinion from his chat as fact. I don't agree. John 
OK, John. Let us in on some of the places if any are where we can read them. I have never seen anything about this problem and like I said I worked on MF's at a dealer for a few years and have been around them for a lot longer. I am always open to learning, about my brand as well as others, good or bad. BTW, the Hinomoto made compacts are definitely not my favorite. The Iseki's are by far a superior tractor in every way. I wish that MF would sell some of the more high tech tractors that Iseki makes.

Robert_in_NY · Aug 25, 2004

Are they the number 1 seller anymore? Or is it for the under 100hp market they are number one. If I recall correctly, I had heard CNH is the number one company now after NH and Case-IH merged. Then again, with no actually companies doing reports on tractor companies who can actually believe what is said. JD tells you they are number 1, CNH tells you they are number 1 and Agco tells you they are number 1 so who knows and does it really matter? Sales are dictated by area. If there are no dealers (which Agco is very bad at putting dealers in areas) then you can't sell your product. Agco in a whole (that is Agco, MF, Challenger, Fendt, Valtra and Deutz Allis in some countries) does not have a lot of dealers in North America. I have a MF dealer 30 miles from me, they sell a few tractors and around them you see a lot of MF's but go 15 miles away and all you find are JD, Case and NH. Most of the MF's sold are for vineyards, I have only seen one dairy and no row crop farms use MF's around here. A lot could be the dealer also but from talking to other people on line it is that way all over. Where there is a MF dealer the dealer does ok but very few people will buy a tractor from a dealer over 50 miles away when you can find a JD or CNH dealer "usually" much closer. Now when is someone from this site going to take it upon themselves to research all the tractor companies and give us a list of their sales broke down by category as well as their dealer network /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

froggy · Aug 25, 2004

The Massey dealers that I have visited have either not known too much about the 1400 series (i.e., they dealt in larger Massey tractors) or else also had the Case DX line and pushed it because it was lower priced. It is shame because the 1400 series seems to be a good tractor.