I had a 804 and just sold it but it was a tank. Shifter hard to find a gear(gotta turn knob this way or that way,never knew what gear was in),hyd.leaked down,brakes were always a problem but it sure would pull and the 3point power down would bend a bit before it stopped,there frontends on the 2wheel drive models are the weakest thing about them,mine was worn out with only 600hrs on tractor,tires turned all over the place but hey was my first tractor,better than nothing
Gotta look past the orange,shes setting back there
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The front ends that I have had experience with never gave much issue, other than a sagging spring in the king pin housing sometimes. IF you didn't re-tighten the nuts on the ball joints, they would get loose. They were sort of soft, so sometimes they needed to be replaced. Also, an important note, the ball joints are adjustable, and you can take up play and slack by turning the adjustment down to tighten them. Never had a center pivot pin issue that I can remember. The Dan Foss power steering system was an excellent design, and rarely had issues with the MTZ tractors, though it could feel a little "indirect" in steering at times.
The tractors were no better than the local dealer, and the service given. The incredible thing is I know where some of the earliest models ever brought in the country in the late 60's and early 70's are still plugging along. One of the issues, is that I saw, was because the tractors were cheap as dirt, they got treated like dirt. People used and abused them, and never changed the oil or followed the service schedule. How many of them ever saw a transmission oil change? Never it seems. Yet people complained. Yes, the electricals were not so great, but if sheltered, they'd be much better. As shown in the picture, they were generally left out in the elements, where rats, birds, and other critters would use them for nests. The Hydraulic leak issue was largely a result of a couple of issues. 1) The units used straight 30 weight motor oil. Most guys would toss in a can of extreme pressure, and expect it not to leak. 2). The banjo fittings required a good tightening after a couple hundred hours ( or just a couple of hours in some cases). Once correctly tightened and if necessary, the copper washers were replaced, leaks were usually kept at bay, unless the Hydraulic cylinder blew an oring. They key to the Belarus system though was that it was 100% external. If you saw the kind of leakage you can get in an internal system, you'd realize exactly why they were made to be out of sight!
The gear in the transmission, with the selector knob was loved by some, hated by others. The old style center located shifter never gave much issues. The side shift, confused a lot of people particularly with the spitter in the floor. When selecting high and low range, a lot of people could not remember that these gears were self polishing, and the tractor needed to be rolling slightly when ranges were changed, or getting the tractor into any gear could be difficult.