MF 398 replacement?

[Jsmith2211]

Hello all.

We have a 398 with an 880 loader which we use a lot for all the work in the grain shed. Almost exclusively used for loader work, bagging up the meal and filling the roller mill, moving grain about etc. It is smoking a lot, and needs a new clutch, more or less she needs a rebuild. It all works mostly fine, for a 30 year old tractor... My question is this: Is it worth having an engine rebuild or should we try to sell it on and replace it? And if we should replace it then what with? One of the big reasons we haven't got rid of it yet is that it is driven by lots of different people, (a lot of them fairly old) and a new electric clutch system would confuse them. The 398 we have has a shuttle, but has a gear stick on the right hand side and a manual clutch. So anything to replace it really needs to be simple to drive... so no fancy electrics :-(. We do sometimes use it for hauling trailers about, but never anything difficult because father fears it would kill it... Ideas?

 

[Joe S]

Deere or a global series massey is about the height of your options if you want a gearstick and looking at brand new. I can’t comment on either in that size bracket though! But if you want a tractor purely for loader work something like a 5711S would be the rubbish, doesn’t have a gearstick though

 

[Jsmith2211]

Deere or a global series massey is about the height of your options if you want a gearstick and looking at brand new. I can’t comment on either in that size bracket though! But if you want a tractor purely for loader work something like a 5711S would be the rubbish, doesn’t have a gearstick though

What do you reckon we could get for a 398 with an 880 loader?

 

[mf7480]

Keep what you have. I bought a global Massey to replace an old 300 series. To cut a long story short in the 2 years we had it the new one depreciated £11,000 and cost £2,300 in repairs. In the end we got fed up with it and got rid of it.

We never got round to selling the old one, so the irony is it’s been dragged back out of retirement with the acceptance we’ll have to spend a few quid on it every year keeping it going. The build quality of the budget new stuff from all brands is shocking compared to the old ones.

I wouldn’t be worried about sending it for an engine rebuild- that’s the easy bit! It’s all a known quantity.

I can recommend sending it to Howard & Sons Devizes for any work you want doing to it. They’ve done up literally hundreds of these tractors. They will have it back to you very quickly and if you need a tractor to keep you going they will drop one off when they pick yours up.

 

[daveydiesel1]

Keep what you have. I bought a global Massey to replace an old 300 series. To cut a long story short in the 2 years we had it the new one depreciated £11,000 and cost £2,300 in repairs. In the end we got fed up with it and got rid of it.

We never got round to selling the old one, so the irony is it’s been dragged back out of retirement with the acceptance we’ll have to spend a few quid on it every year keeping it going. The build quality of the budget new stuff from all brands is shocking compared to the old ones.

I wouldn’t be worried about sending it for an engine rebuild- that’s the easy bit! It’s all a known quantity.

I can recommend sending it to Howard & Sons Devizes for any work you want doing to it. They’ve done up literally hundreds of these tractors. They will have it back to you very quickly and if you need a tractor to keep you going they will drop one off when they pick yours up.

What was wrong way the global? Kinda fancied a 6713 global

 

[startinghandle]

whatever happens do not get rid of the 398 because if you do you will regret it
If I was looking for a machine for loading I would look at the possibility of importing a telehandler or just basic loader from china
For a third of the cost of a machine here

 

[Flat 10]

By an old RT forklift for your shed work?

 

[Boysground]

Keep what you have. I bought a global Massey to replace an old 300 series. To cut a long story short in the 2 years we had it the new one depreciated £11,000 and cost £2,300 in repairs. In the end we got fed up with it and got rid of it.

We never got round to selling the old one, so the irony is it’s been dragged back out of retirement with the acceptance we’ll have to spend a few quid on it every year keeping it going. The build quality of the budget new stuff from all brands is shocking compared to the old ones.

I wouldn’t be worried about sending it for an engine rebuild- that’s the easy bit! It’s all a known quantity.

I can recommend sending it to Howard & Sons Devizes for any work you want doing to it. They’ve done up literally hundreds of these tractors. They will have it back to you very quickly and if you need a tractor to keep you going they will drop one off when they pick yours up.

Another recommendation for Howards from me. Probably more knowledge in that firm about rebuilding MF tractors than the rest of the country combined. They would sell you a suitable old MF with no electrics or if you want do as I did and buy a new Kubota from them.

Bg

 

[24/7 farming]

Rebuild!!, that is the plan with our current 398, no way can justify any sort of decent replacement so money going to be set aside each year and done in phases. The loader was first up, has been re-bushed, rehosed and a damaged ram repaired, got a clutch (and spring!) few years ago too. Engine still in good fettle and close to 10k hours so hopefully its not too imminent, although we redone engine in 148 few years ago and would not hesitate to fork out again for a refurb on another engine. Next up is a bit of work on gear linkages as they r getting a bit wobbly. All backend seems ok at the min so just going to keep money aside for repairs if they arise. Lastly will be the interior, not in too bad of nick but defo could do with a roof skin at some point.
That's the plan here, purely fueled by the fact that we could sell it today for same or more than we bought it for 10 odd yrs ago, so can justify spending a fraction of what it would cost to replace it on keeping it in good fettle.

 

[Sausage]

A 398 will be worth fairly strong money, around £15k. That tells you that they are good tractors and you should keep it. The constant niggling of these modern tractors just isn’t worth it. Chuck in the older generation not being used to the ‘fancy’ controls, where everything will be in a different place and your heading for a steep learning curve. FYI been there and done it. Our old boy (now passed away) couldn’t get his head around the new PTO speed selection and blew up the drum mower in 1000 pto.

 

[Joe S]

What do you reckon we could get for a 398 with an 880 loader?

Low to mid teens people pay stupid money for old tractors.
Personally really struggle to understand it[emoji23]

 

[Dry Rot]

Mention on this Facebook page that you are thinking of selling your 398 and see what reaction you get. Old Chinese proverb, "Wise man buys things that increase in value". I have both a 135 and a 390 in the shed and they are not only used but get tinkered with on a regular basis. If they go wrong (very rare) I can probably fix it myself.

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