Any Massey 2600 series owners? Good, bad, or other?

[Sid Post]

Looking at a Massey 2860M, a dealer showed me a 2607 (think that was it but, it might have been a 2605 with less Hp) and it looked pretty similar to what I remember from a friend's Massey 255 a long time ago. The Simpson engine is apparently basically a licensed copy of the old Perkins that was apparently bought by Caterpillar Engines a long time ago. The open station platform was pretty old school without a flat floor and the only nod to modern design seems to be moving the gear shift from my crotch to the left. Engagement of the 4WD system is by a lever basically behind the seat so, no electro-hydraulic action there! I think the steering wheel might have had tilt but, otherwise it seems like a real throwback to the older days of tractor design and ergonomics. It is built in India FWIW.

That being said, for the money, it looked like a really solid tractor! In particular, the large front tires and axle combined with the heavy rear axles seemed a lot like what I remember from 70's and 80's when I ran really old tractors with round bale spears, hay rakes, and similar stuff in hay fields or, "bush hogs" in rough pastures.

Any owners or users who can comment on the Massey 2600 series for typical agriculture/ranching utility tasks? Things like rough mowing, pasture spraying, general pasture maintenance with barbed wire fence repair, and fallen tree clean-up? It seems to be well suited for hayfield tasks like pulling a hay rake or moving round bales though probably not the best for a lot of loader work going back and forth a lot at a rapid pace for direction changes where a power reverser or HST really shines.

How does it compare to similar tractors in a similar price range (~$40K)? What do they do better or worse? I'm thinking about options from TYM, LS, CNH, and similar competitors.

TIA,
Sid

 

[EricW]

I can't speak for that tractor, but I really like my 1825 E. I shopped JD and Kubota as well but I liked the MF the best in the end.

 

[LightningCamaroGuy]

I wanted a 2607H. IMO it's the best looking tractor in its class. It's the closest new tractor to being like the older Fords I grew up on. Still when I was shopping tractors in 2017/18 its value sucked compared to the Kubota M7060, and the JD 5075E. Oh, and it's value sucked compared to a MF 4707 which is kind of a level up in terms of tractor size compared to the others I mentioned. Anyways the 2607H's competition from Kubota and JD is the M7060 and the 5075E. Compared to those tractors the 2607H doesn't have a powershuttle transmission, wet clutch, only 8x8 gears, no tilt steering, no cup holder, no fender mounted hand throttle (do not underestimate this convenience. It will spoil you, and you'll largely not even use the foot throttle because of it) it has a much bigger transmission hump, and isn't nearly as flat or spacious of a operators station, its FEL and 3PH aren't rated to lift as much, etc. On top of that the best price for the MF I found that wasn't a cash price, but financing price was $36,750. I was quoted $36,000 for a open station M7060 with MFWD, FEL, 12X12 shuttle. I was quoted $36,200 for the open station 5075E, MFWD, 520M, 12x12 tractor I went with, and that was after I optioned on the knob that adjusts the F/R shift firmness. Advantages that the 2607H has was 2 rear remotes are standard, and the balls in the 3PH are made to take either CAT1 or CAT2 implements without using the sleeves. Also no regens as the 2607H uses a DOC instead of DPF. (2023 JD 5E has gone to DOC as well BTW) Still my 5075E only Regens once every 100 hours, as it won't go more than 100 hours without regenning, and it even sees a bunch of idle, and low RPM time. All I'm saying is that I don't like having a regen, but it hasn't been an issue for me either.

I like the 2607H. I drove one, and it was very old school, but not in a bad way, as many like a older style of tractor, as do I in many ways. Still it's value needs to be reflected in its price, and when it's main competitors are offering more, for less money, the 2607H is a hard sell. That was my experience anyways. This was 17/18 prices, and likely different today. If I could of gotten the 2607H for $4K-$5K less than my 5075E, then I might could of done without a power shuttle, or more capable loader, or more comfortable operators station, or a more nimble machine with better visibility, or more features and amenities.

 

[mo1]

Looking at a Massey 2860M, a dealer showed me a 2607 (think that was it but, it might have been a 2605 with less Hp) and it looked pretty similar to what I remember from a friend's Massey 255 a long time ago. The Simpson engine is apparently basically a licensed copy of the old Perkins that was apparently bought by Caterpillar Engines a long time ago. The open station platform was pretty old school without a flat floor and the only nod to modern design seems to be moving the gear shift from my crotch to the left. Engagement of the 4WD system is by a lever basically behind the seat so, no electro-hydraulic action there! I think the steering wheel might have had tilt but, otherwise it seems like a real throwback to the older days of tractor design and ergonomics. It is built in India FWIW.

That being said, for the money, it looked like a really solid tractor! In particular, the large front tires and axle combined with the heavy rear axles seemed a lot like what I remember from 70's and 80's when I ran really old tractors with round bale spears, hay rakes, and similar stuff in hay fields or, "bush hogs" in rough pastures.

Any owners or users who can comment on the Massey 2600 series for typical agriculture/ranching utility tasks? Things like rough mowing, pasture spraying, general pasture maintenance with barbed wire fence repair, and fallen tree clean-up? It seems to be well suited for hayfield tasks like pulling a hay rake or moving round bales though probably not the best for a lot of loader work going back and forth a lot at a rapid pace for direction changes where a power reverser or HST really shines.

How does it compare to similar tractors in a similar price range (~$40K)? What do they do better or worse? I'm thinking about options from TYM, LS, CNH, and similar competitors.

TIA,
Sid

I looked at a brochure for this line of tractor when I was looking for a ~75 HP utility tractor a couple of years ago. I didn't see one in person as the nearest dealer was an hour and a half away, and the one tractor they had on their lot was a 47xx if I remember correctly. The nearest place that actually had one of these in person was 200 miles away.

On paper, the 2606H and 2607H look to very much be competitors to the more basic configurations of the Deere 5065E and 5075E, and very similar to CNH's Workmaster 60/Farmall 60A and Workmaster 70/Farmall 70A twins. I have a Deere 5075E with the dry clutch synchronized transmission (TSS) and it is very similar to the paper specs of the MF 2607H. The floor has a little transmission hump (maybe 3" tall or so), the shift levers are to the sides of the seat, the steering wheel doesn't tilt, PTO engagement is purely mechanical by throwing a big old lever, and if mine had MFWD, it would be a mechanical lever next to the seat that gets pulled up and pushed down. The only electronics past the firewall is that there is a little console on the right fender with the electronic throttle lever and a cupholder. There is no electronic 3 point hitch control, no electronic locking differential, or electronic hydraulic controls- all of that is purely mechanical. I like it, it is straightforward and very usable.

I have sat on the CNH twins as well as the Kubota M6060 and M7060. The Kubota M7060 is basically a Deere 5075E missing about 800 pounds, with only the PowrReverser transmission as an option, EGR on the engine, no option for a dry clutch transmission, and no option for 2WD in an open station unit. Pricing was basically the same as a similarly-equipped 5075E. The CNH twins were similar to a Deere 5E with the TSS transmission but like the Kubota weighed a lot less. Pricing was high, similar to that of a wet clutch Deere. There is an LS dealer in the area but they only sell compacts, same with the New Holland dealer that also sells only the Kioti compacts. The dealer in the area that sells LS compacts also sells Zetor, and there is a little bitty dealer that sells Mahindras (mainly compacts but I did see a few utility machines when I drove by the last time.) If you want to buy anything else it's a couple hour drive at the least.

I have used my simple utility tractor for all of the things you mentioned- running a brush hog, spraying pastures, spreading fertilizer, haying, moving bales, making fences, pushing around brush after cutting down trees, and hauling trees and logs. In fact I just used it today to put up some barbed wire on a fence. It worked perfectly fine. Don't be worried about a regular dry clutch for loader work, you get the ability to feather the clutch with a dry clutch that you lose with a hydraulic reverser- the "clutch pedal" is just a switch to tell the computer to engage/disengage the clutch and in my experience is much harder to do smoothly than a regular dry clutch. Unless you ride the clutch you will get thousands of hours out of a dry clutch, and you won't have to ever troubleshoot electrical gremlins in the electrohydraulic clutch controller or any of its switches. Also, no full sized tractor has a hydrostatic transmission except for a few units International made briefly, before they found out that a hydrostatic transmission in a full sized tractor just sucks a ton of fuel and makes a ton of heat and noise.

 

[hodge]

The Massey and the Workmaster are the same tractor, correct? Just two different colors.

 

[mo1]

The Massey and the Workmaster are the same tractor, correct? Just two different colors.

No, the CaseIH Farmall and the New Holland Workmaster are the same tractor in different colors. The Massey-Ferguson is a different tractor made by a different and unrelated company.

 

[hodge]

No, the CaseIH Farmall and the New Holland Workmaster are the same tractor in different colors. The Massey-Ferguson is a different tractor made by a different and unrelated company.

My mistake- I remember now.

 

[Sid Post]

No, the CaseIH Farmall and the New Holland Workmaster are the same tractor in different colors. The Massey-Ferguson is a different tractor made by a different and unrelated company.

CNH, CaseIH New Holland! Massey is an Agco company.

 

[jd2030]

Have a 2605H delivered 3-2-22
I like this tractor a lot it is flawless because my dealer did a very good job on the pre-delivery check

 

[Wobblin-Goblin]

I know two guys local to me that have them. One is a 2606 and the other is a 2607. From what I gather, they like them. Personally, I think the 4707 is a much better option for a tractor in that horsepower range. However, if price and old world technology is what's important to you, then go for it.