Cowabunga
Member
- Location
- Ceredigion,Wales
I'm afraid you are wrong. Anyone can be trained to be a steering wheel attendant though. I made no mention of 200hp tractors on a haybob. A 390 or Ford 5610 can do that.
New tractors will anybody listen
- Thread starter Bedfo
- Start date
Wellytrack
Member
Overheard a couple of lads talking about going to work with a contractor probably about 5 years ago now. One said to the other "Aye, he asked me to drive the MX110, I wouldn't drive an auld ball o dung like that"
I was shocked, but then again he may have a point. The tractor was probably two years younger than him. I wouldn't like to drive a tractor the same age as me too for very long.
I was shocked, but then again he may have a point. The tractor was probably two years younger than him. I wouldn't like to drive a tractor the same age as me too for very long.
clbarclay
Member
- Location
- Worcestershire
Give it a few years and folk will be horrified at the prospect of having to sit in any tractor all day for it to work.
michael N123
Member
How’s a robot gonna open gates and feed sheep and cooos
Wellytrack
Member
Hasta la vista baby.
clbarclay
Member
- Location
- Worcestershire
I already know livestock farmers with remote controlled gates.
clbarclay
Member
- Location
- Worcestershire
It's all part of the same debate, but that's the way tech seems to be going and even pre electronics tractors are tech too, just a slightly different form of tech.
Dead Rabbits
Member
- Location
- 'Merica
Here I am being overjoyed with live pto, live hydraulics that actually work well, power shift,some sort of suspended seat and a cab!
Have done a lot of hours on the stuff 2x or 3x my age.
TechWise
Member
- Location
- South Ayrshire, Scotland
There's nothing inherently unreliable about electronics. They're just a go-to scapegoat that can be blamed when something mechanical has failed and a sensor has picked it up but the part fitter sent out doesn't have the necessary skill/software/training to find the problem so they fob you off with "dodgy sensor mate". A previous poster asked what kit the armed forces use and whether they accept electronics. Answer - they've got electronics in missiles that sit in launch tubes for ten years getting sprayed with saltwater, get accelerated out the tube pulling 50G, detect radiowaves bouncing off a target 100km away, steer the missile onto its target and time the detonation to within nanoseconds. The electronics do their job or people die. That's backed up by highly trained people who are working hand-in-glove with the manufacturer learning the sysems inside out so that they can diagnose and fix problems and maintain effectiveness in the field.
The real issue here is that the manufacturers and the dealers have failed to put in place proper support for the customer. They send out people who barely understand the difference between a volt and an ampere and expect them to debug electronic problems. I can think of half a dozen mechanics on the go who would have done their apprenticeships on MF135s and haven't been on a traning course since. How are they meant to faultfind a modern tractor? Everyone on here is saying it's the electronics' fault. Wrong. It's the dealership network not making sure that their staff have the proper skillset to work on the kit. If a mechanic comes out to you, plugs the laptop in and says "ohh it's giving me Error 123456 but I'm not sure what that means", then that is totally unacceptable. Either they're not properly trained, they don't have a proper list of fault codes or they don't have the proper software to interpret them. None of those things are the fault of the electronics and nor the fault of the customer, but the dealership is laughing all the way to the bank charging you £100/hour for that level of service.
This thread is the equivalent of you phoning a plumber to come out to fix a burst pipe, an electrician turns up and you pay him £100 to fanny around not fixing the problem and then declare that plastic water pipes are the real enemy here.
The real issue here is that the manufacturers and the dealers have failed to put in place proper support for the customer. They send out people who barely understand the difference between a volt and an ampere and expect them to debug electronic problems. I can think of half a dozen mechanics on the go who would have done their apprenticeships on MF135s and haven't been on a traning course since. How are they meant to faultfind a modern tractor? Everyone on here is saying it's the electronics' fault. Wrong. It's the dealership network not making sure that their staff have the proper skillset to work on the kit. If a mechanic comes out to you, plugs the laptop in and says "ohh it's giving me Error 123456 but I'm not sure what that means", then that is totally unacceptable. Either they're not properly trained, they don't have a proper list of fault codes or they don't have the proper software to interpret them. None of those things are the fault of the electronics and nor the fault of the customer, but the dealership is laughing all the way to the bank charging you £100/hour for that level of service.
This thread is the equivalent of you phoning a plumber to come out to fix a burst pipe, an electrician turns up and you pay him £100 to fanny around not fixing the problem and then declare that plastic water pipes are the real enemy here.
I feel I simply must apologise to other members of the forum. I had in my head a crazy idea of wanting to buy a new no frills 150 hp main brand tractor. I now realise what I need is in fact a 30 year old, 80hp, cabless 390 with a starting handle. Once again I must humbly thank everyone for putting me back on the road to peasantry. 
Bedfo
Member
Ok I’m back been reading my reply’s from my post, seems some of you agree and some of you love the tec stuff . Well today I have been on a test drive of a new Massey Ferguson 8s and I was gob smacked I mean WOW now I have been driving tractors for over 30 years and even I had to sit and just look at all them pointless buttons and wonder what the hell does what.. and as for the iPad in the corner took me 10 minutes to figure out where the speedometer , revs, what gear she was in. Far to much information on it to understand , then going into the system to set up spools and speed 
took 5 minutes to open end door on trailer 
200hp for 120 thousand pounds. The best thing about it was the big wobbly door you have to close with both hands wonder how long that will last 
claas arion next
took 5 minutes to open end door on trailer 200hp for 120 thousand pounds. The best thing about it was the big wobbly door you have to close with both hands wonder how long that will last claas arion next
Wellytrack
Member
Ok I’m back been reading my reply’s from my post, seems some of you agree and some of you love the tec stuff . Well today I have been on a test drive of a new Massey Ferguson 8s and I was gob smacked I mean WOW now I have been driving tractors for over 30 years and even I had to sit and just look at all them pointless buttons and wonder what the hell does what.. and as for the iPad in the corner took me 10 minutes to figure out where the speedometer , revs, what gear she was in. Far to much information on it to understand , then going into the system to set up spools and speed
None of those issues in that tractor or any other brand of tractor is the manufacturers fault.
It's like complaining your wife's tits are too big and its totally pointless having them.
It could just be you have small hands and someone else would appreciate them more, make better use of them and be extremely happy too.
Wellytrack
Member
17 years old 35 year old tractor fair enough. Your body is practically brand new. You can take a few knocks.
Later however......
Dead Rabbits
Member
- Location
- 'Merica
Interesting, before joining this forum I’d never heard of anyone complaining about tractor driving being hard on the body. Other than the old boys talking about the days of hand cranking or the jolt of steel wheels. They are long gone now.
We always considered tractor driving the easy job when I was growing up. Newest tractor was a ‘76. Used to put about 1k hours a year on most of them. All still going now farming about 600 acres crops. Old boys still never complain about tractors wearing the body out even though they are full of arthritis from hand tools, hay bales and milking cows.
kiwi pom
Member
- Location
- canterbury NZ
Ok I’m back been reading my reply’s from my post, seems some of you agree and some of you love the tec stuff . Well today I have been on a test drive of a new Massey Ferguson 8s and I was gob smacked I mean WOW now I have been driving tractors for over 30 years and even I had to sit and just look at all them pointless buttons and wonder what the hell does what.. and as for the iPad in the corner took me 10 minutes to figure out where the speedometer , revs, what gear she was in. Far to much information on it to understand , then going into the system to set up spools and speed
First question is, what do you want your tractor to do?
A basic tractor with a fairly simple gearbox and basic controls can be bought if that's all you need, for basic jobs. You can probably even delete the cab on many models if you try hard enough.
If you need a tractor capable of thousands of acres of precision work applying hugely expensive inputs, powering machines that require huge oil capacity at sub centimetre precision then you'll probably find all the features actually have a purpose.
This is outside the local NH dealer.
Still some hugely complicated rocker switches on it though.
Keen?
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
First question is, what do you want your tractor to do?
A basic tractor with a fairly simple gearbox and basic controls can be bought if that's all you need, for basic jobs. You can probably even delete the cab on many models if you try hard enough.
If you need a tractor capable of thousands of acres of precision work applying hugely expensive inputs, powering machines that require huge oil capacity at sub centimetre precision then you'll probably find all the features actually have a purpose.
This is outside the local NH dealer.
Still some hugely complicated rocker switches on it though.
Keen?
View attachment 948870
View attachment 948871
our New Holland dealer has similar tractors in their yard, along with a 400hp Rowtrac
what do you want to do with it ?
Horses for course
Wellytrack
Member
Started out on tractors from the 60's here.
Non assisted steering pulling the arms, going over a rut the steering kicking back and bending the thumbs 90 degrees the wrong way.
Noise. I have tinitus now.
Non synromesh gearboxes, throttle constantly up and down trying to speed match and change gear.
Non linear gear speeds, 3rd gear was 1st in the high box, 4th was 3rd in the low box - lots of two handed shuttling.
No cab. Drowned in winter, baked in summer.
Crap drum brakes either off or on. Very easy to slide off into a ditch if lucky, die if unlucky.
Gearbox whine.
Having to reverse to release the diff lock. Not ideal when you have nearly sunk to the axle and all you want is to escape the field and your spinning on in a straight line.
Perched on top of the seat, not in the seat, more time spent standing going in and out rough lanes.
Tractors where a fantastic advance compared to what came before but nostalgia taints the memories.
I can never see you in a red heap o shite like thatI feel I simply must apologise to other members of the forum. I had in my head a crazy idea of wanting to buy a new no frills 150 hp main brand tractor. I now realise what I need is in fact a 30 year old, 80hp, cabless 390 with a starting handle. Once again I must humbly thank everyone for putting me back on the road to peasantry.
kiwi pom
Member
- Location
- canterbury NZ
I can never see you in a red heap o shite like that
Don't know why everyone raves about those 300 series masseys.
The 200 were fairly good for the time but by the time the 300's came out much more was possible. It's like they said, "this could be good but lets make it crap and uncomfortable on purpose".
Thinking about it they were better than a Case IH with the L cab though, they were truly awful.
The AP cab on a Ford wasn't too bad and I still think the Super Q cab on a 1990 Ford is an acceptable place to spend a day.