Zetor 7245

[Jasper]

What are these like reliability wise .Are they easy to repair if they do go wrong .and are spares reasonably priced ? At the moment I’m using a international 584 with a loader but I’m finding reverse 4th is a good speed but low 4th is to slow and it’s a faff to change gears

 

[Adeptandy]

The ones I drive in my distant youth were notoriously poor with brakes if you wanted to stop

 

[livestock 1]

We had a few Zetors the 7045 was the best the 7245 that came after it wasn’t a great tractor . It depends what you are doing with it. If it’s just a bit of loader work and you aren’t going to give it too much hassle it will be near enough.
You will need to be handy with the spanner’s they are prone to some nightly faults but ok if you aren’t expecting too much

 

[livestock 1]

The ones I drive in my distant youth were notoriously poor with brakes if you wanted to stop

The brakes on the 7245 never seemed to be set up right to me. They had to be adjusted about half pedal otherwise they would stick on. We put a set of brakes in it those dry actuators with the dry balls that run up the cam are prehistoric

 

[GEMS]

Are we talking 7245 from the eighties ?? greenhouse cab with room for girlfriend to sit on wing............
Spent days on one with front mounted buckrake -actually thought it was a good bit of kit, Seemed reliable and had a radio cassette ........

 

[Jasper]

Are we talking 7245 from the eighties ?? greenhouse cab with room for girlfriend to sit on wing............
Spent days on one with front mounted buckrake -actually thought it was a good bit of kit, Seemed reliable and had a radio cassette ........

Yes that’s the one

 

[livestock 1]

The clutch on the 7245 wasn’t the best for buckraking you needed a conscientious driver
We often put a clutch in every year

 

[GEMS]

Don't remember clutch issues ..............
think we got it stuck in 2 gears at the same time tho ................ and ended up cutting an access in cab to sort .. lol
Remember fnding a 17mm spanner on top of engine -lifted it off and it left an unsprayed silhouette behind

 

[e3120]

Other than cab space, is it much of a step on from a 584?

 

[Willie adie]

We had one, had to get a new clutch plate I still recall the mechanic taking out half dozen spanners as he said that the clutch housing bolts had differing size heads.
And that the were left hand thread on one side, right hand on the other

 

[Magnus Oyke]

What are these like reliability wise .Are they easy to repair if they do go wrong .and are spares reasonably priced ? At the moment I’m using a international 584 with a loader but I’m finding reverse 4th is a good speed but low 4th is to slow and it’s a faff to change gears

Dad ran several old Zetors. They were old and more or less worn out when he bought them and be bought them for buttons.

Even the last 7245 off the line is an old girl now, mid 30's, something like that. People complain about modern tractors needing a laptop to fix them and say they was "nuts and bolts tractors", well here's your nuts and bolts tractors.

The electrics were flakey 30 years ago, IIRC, they don;t use colour coded wires, the brakes often leak so it's unusual to have a full set of brakes. They will drip oil. But, when it's cold they will start if the engine gets a good swing and they're simple to fix. Dad seized one up due to never cleaning the radiator out, managed to limp home after it cooled down. New piston and liner in no.4 between milkings and away she went, they have individual heads. The clutch could be done between milkings, I think the hydraulic pump comes out the back of the tractor. No oil filters.

He had a 1990 7245 that would have been about 9 years old when he bought it and quite tidy too, it was actually a really nice little tractor

 

[Wombat]

We still have an 89 one

 

[borderterribles]

I have run Zetors for the last thirty years , but not exclusively. I have bought both new and used Zetors ,and have been very satisfied with them,. They don’t have the refinement of the more expensive brands, but a main selling point for me has been their repairability by someone with a bit of an idea,as opposed to having to be had over by main dealers. One thing to remember about a Zetor is that absolutely nobody buys them new to flog the feck out of them. They are usually bought because someone can't justify the cost of one of the more popular tractors, hence the Zetors that are around at thirty plus years old having done very low hours. The parts , if you should need them, are very reasonable and easy to obtain.
My go-to for parts is Roy Perfect Tractors.

 

[Magnus Oyke]

Other than cab space, is it much of a step on from a 584?

really gutsy engines that are quite durable too, they're actually quite robust, really difficult to atually kill or break terminally

 

[DrDunc]

really gutsy engines that are quite durable too, they're actually quite robust, really difficult to atually kill or break terminally

They can be killed, but they're easier to resuscitate than most

We had a 7745 first, then additional 7245's with loaders until the beginning of the noughties. The engine torque and economy of the turbo'd 7745 was phenomenal

They replaced various internashers, a 484, 684, and an XL785 that seemed like luxury, until the zetor arrived. Though brakes and hydraulic pumps needed a fair bit of attention, overall the zetors proved every bit as capable as the nashers, but with the added bonus of actually being more durable

Amazing how the comfort and productivity of the farm horse has changed over the decades though

 

[Magnus Oyke]

They can be killed, but they're easier to resuscitate than most

We had a 7745 first, then additional 7245's with loaders until the beginning of the noughties. The engine torque and economy of the turbo'd 7745 was phenomenal

They replaced various internashers, a 484, 684, and an XL785 that seemed like luxury, until the zetor arrived. Though brakes and hydraulic pumps needed a fair bit of attention, overall the zetors proved every bit as capable as the nashers, but with the added bonus of actually being more durable

Amazing how the comfort and productivity of the farm horse has changed over the decades though

were all of the 77's turbo'd here, I can't remember? Was it a slightly bigger engine that the 72's?

 

[DrDunc]

were all of the 77's turbo'd here, I can't remember? Was it a slightly bigger engine that the 72's?

I honestly don't know about the engine size. I thought it was the same long stroke block, but with turbo and 10mm spanner fuel pump treatment

Ours could out pull Deere 2850's carting silage, despite only 10 gears and no hydraulic splitter gear

The 7245's we had were never the same at lugging, even the ones that were on smaller (I think 30"?) wheels compared to the 7745 34" (I think) rears

 

[Jasper]

Other than cab space, is it much of a step on from a 584?

You’ve hit the nail on the head there’s going to be some grandkids soon and although I like the international there’s barely enough room in the cab for me let alone any passengers . And zetors look affordable for what they are l also need to stack round bales on there ends 4 high so I need to be able to lift 2at a time and the 584 struggles with this so I thought a 4wd zetor would be more suitable for this

 

[bobajob]

The brakes on the 7245 never seemed to be set up right to me. They had to be adjusted about half pedal otherwise they would stick on. We put a set of brakes in it those dry actuators with the dry balls that run up the cam are prehistoric

Your pal at tow law has a tidy wee zetor advertised

 

[livestock 1]

Your pal at tow law has a tidy wee zetor advertised

I’ve just seen that it’s cheap too
Not sure I want to go through it all again