I am Beta testing Masseys new software

[homesteader13]

I should have started this post a couple weeks ago, but winter hit early and have been super busy!
I am beta testing Masseys new engine managment software for high altitude and cold climate, we have been working on it for the last year, and now testing it in real world conditions, 4500-5500 foot elevation and -25° to 40° temps
I will start thread now and update it over the next days and weeks.
Long story short I bought my 2019 Massey 1755 in Nebraska march 2019.
I put about 200 hours on it before I brought it to the Northern Rockies in Montana Nov 1st 2019. It had never missed a beat or had any issue.
When I got it to Montana, the day after I drove it off the trailer it started have starting and drivability issues and couldn't get out of it own way and ROLLING COAL.
It would eventualy clear up and operate normaly, but the minute you stopped or shut it off and started again, it loaded up and would not clear up for several minutes and had to baby the throttle for several minutes before it would even try to act normal.

I documented everything, hours, elevation, air temp, engine temp, fuel type, ect. Took videos and pics and updated Massey on what where how and when, ect. Put about 100 hours on it over the winter.

Took it back to Nebraska in May 2020 and worked on our property there and put about 50 hours on it in 25° to 95° temps at 900 ft elevation and it never fluttered once.

Took it into my Massey dealer in Oct and they gave it a completemcheck up, checked valve lash and injector timing and all was good.
They then installed the new software and asked me to beta test it as I was bringing it back to Montana at the end of the month.
I got it back here and have put 50 hours on it in the last couple weeks and I will update this post with the conditions, type of work, temps, ect in the upcoming days and weeks.

 

[thclimer]

So out of curiosity in the last 50 hours has it performed better than it did without the updated software?

 

[ovrszd]

Yeah, he kind of left us hanging on that one didn't he!!!!

 

[Ford850]

Yes, updates on the software results will be interesting. You move to the Northern Rockies in MT to live from November to May? That might be interesting to learn more about that too.

 

[3Ts]

Fur trapper?

 

[homesteader13]

Sorry for the lag time.
I am 100% off grid up here (5 miles from the nearest power lines and only have internet thanks to the satelites) and working feverishley to prep for winter. 7 miles of property owner maintained roads with an elevation climb of over 1500 feet.
I am compiling the data and updates to post. (I have to provide this same info to Agco/Massey as well, but you my friends are getting it first)
But I will throw this out, was looking for at least a moderate improvment over what I had to deal with last winter, that is not the case at all, it is actually MUCH better than I was anticipating!
More updates on the way.

 

[radios1]

Sorry for the lag time.
I am 100% off grid up here (5 miles from the nearest power lines and only have internet thanks to the satelites) and working feverishley to prep for winter. 7 miles of property owner maintained roads with an elevation climb of over 1500 feet.
I am compiling the data and updates to post. (I have to provide this same info to Agco/Massey as well, but you my friends are getting it first)
But I will throw this out, was looking for at least a moderate improvment over what I had to deal with last winter, that is not the case at all, it is actually MUCH better than I was anticipating!
More updates on the way.

WOW!! don't you slide down the hill when there's snow or ice on it?. that can be very dangerous!..

 

[thclimer]

Sorry for the lag time.
I am 100% off grid up here (5 miles from the nearest power lines and only have internet thanks to the satelites) and working feverishley to prep for winter. 7 miles of property owner maintained roads with an elevation climb of over 1500 feet.
I am compiling the data and updates to post. (I have to provide this same info to Agco/Massey as well, but you my friends are getting it first)
But I will throw this out, was looking for at least a moderate improvment over what I had to deal with last winter, that is not the case at all, it is actually MUCH better than I was anticipating!
More updates on the way.

Nice, sounds encouraging then!

 

[JWR]

I believe you are next in line for the Discovery Channel's Homestead programs. Gutsy. I envy you, but at my age ... not any more ! It is fairly surprising that going from Nebraska at maybe 3000 ft or so to MT at 5 or 6000 ft makes much difference, esp. with a turbocharged diesel. With direct injection you got the fuel and with turbo charging one would think that overcomes any marginal compression to cause combustion. I call it strange BUT if Massey is commiserating with you then obviously their software is tuned to some degree for altitude (e.g. air pressure) changes. Very interesting.

About your internet service -- do you have cell phone? If so you might want to try using the wi-fi hotspot capability of your cell phone feeding a laptop for internet purposes. Then there is recharging ....I assume you use a generator. Good luck and keep the info coming !

 

[ovrszd]

A few years back I put a Kenne Bell Supercharger on a 4.0L Jeep Wrangler engine. I was their first sale. Test Dummy. I sent them my PCM and they reprogrammed it. It would white smoke 37" tires on pavement. Drove like it had a very well built V8. In Missouri.

I took it to Colorado. The higher I went the worse it ran. Black smoke and poor performance. While there I called Kenne Bell and talked to the programmer guy. Thinking maybe I could change injectors or something to get thru the vacation. He said nope. When you get back home send me your PCM again and I'll rewrite it.

Sent the PCM to them. 10 days later had it back. The following Summer went back to Colorado. It ran great.

When I got back home I called Kenne Bell and visited with the Tech again. He said he overlooked elevation changes and had the parameters too restricted. In the rewrite he widened them a bit and that took care of the problem.

 

[homesteader13]

Fur trapper?

Originaly from the Pacific Northwest, relocated to Nebraska in 2001 and bought my retirement place in the Northern Rockies of Montana in 2017 and finally getting moved up here for good this year.

 

[homesteader13]

WOW!! don't you slide down the hill when there's snow or ice on it?. that can be very dangerous!..

I run V bar ice chains on the front and custom built chains on the rear, (even though I haven't installed the rears this year uet) so I dont encounter any traction issues to speak of.

 

[homesteader13]

I believe you are next in line for the Discovery Channel's Homestead programs. Gutsy. I envy you, but at my age ... not any more ! It is fairly surprising that going from Nebraska at maybe 3000 ft or so to MT at 5 or 6000 ft makes much difference, esp. with a turbocharged diesel. With direct injection you got the fuel and with turbo charging one would think that overcomes any marginal compression to cause combustion. I call it strange BUT if Massey is commiserating with you then obviously their software is tuned to some degree for altitude (e.g. air pressure) changes. Very interesting.

About your internet service -- do you have cell phone? If so you might want to try using the wi-fi hotspot capability of your cell phone feeding a laptop for internet purposes. Then there is recharging ....I assume you use a generator. Good luck and keep the info coming !

Ironically, my nearest neighbor WAS on Discovery Channels show, Building Off Grid, a couple years ago but sold and moved to lower elevations this year.
We were at 900 ft elevation in Ne. And 4700-5500 ft here.
And as a tech and shop owner most of my life, it did not make sense to me that a computer controlled turbo diesel was having the issues I was experiencing....

 

[homesteader13]

I believe you are next in line for the Discovery Channel's Homestead programs. Gutsy. I envy you, but at my age ... not any more ! It is fairly surprising that going from Nebraska at maybe 3000 ft or so to MT at 5 or 6000 ft makes much difference, esp. with a turbocharged diesel. With direct injection you got the fuel and with turbo charging one would think that overcomes any marginal compression to cause combustion. I call it strange BUT if Massey is commiserating with you then obviously their software is tuned to some degree for altitude (e.g. air pressure) changes. Very interesting.

About your internet service -- do you have cell phone? If so you might want to try using the wi-fi hotspot capability of your cell phone feeding a laptop for internet purposes. Then there is recharging ....I assume you use a generator. Good luck and keep the info coming !

I have Viasat narrow beam satellite internet and it works amazing! Had broad beam Hughs net a few years ago and will NEVER use them again.
I have a 2100 watt solar array that feeds a 3200 amp hour battery bank but upgrading to a 3200 watt array in the spring.
I have a 10000 watt 240 volt inverter with a 300000 watt surge and a 12000 watt diesel generator and a 9500 watt dual fuel backup generator.

 

[homesteader13]

A few years back I put a Kenne Bell Supercharger on a 4.0L Jeep Wrangler engine. I was their first sale. Test Dummy. I sent them my PCM and they reprogrammed it. It would white smoke 37" tires on pavement. Drove like it had a very well built V8. In Missouri.

I took it to Colorado. The higher I went the worse it ran. Black smoke and poor performance. While there I called Kenne Bell and talked to the programmer guy. Thinking maybe I could change injectors or something to get thru the vacation. He said nope. When you get back home send me your PCM again and I'll rewrite it.

Sent the PCM to them. 10 days later had it back. The following Summer went back to Colorado. It ran great.

When I got back home I called Kenne Bell and visited with the Tech again. He said he overlooked elevation changes and had the parameters too restricted. In the rewrite he widened them a bit and that took care of the problem.

As it has become clear, it IS all in the proper programming parameters.

 

[homesteader13]

Second week of November helped my neighbor dig his 350 foot long 6 foot deep water line ditch in 28°to40° temps, never missed a beat or suttered once and 95% of the digging was at idle. I have to admit I was totaly impressed at the size of the granite boulders this hoe would move!
He was only getting 6-8 feet a day with his smaller Kubota (and less operator experience) I finished it in 32 hours, I dug the ditch and he layed the pipe and backfilled behind me.
He would have been in a bad spot if I hadn't stayed till completion because there was no egress to get his tractor off the ledge untill the job was done.

 

[homesteader13]

The following week I put about 20 hours on her moving slash piles and boulders with the grapple and doing some ground leveling in preperation for winter in 20° to 38° weather. Neber acted up even once.

 

[homesteader13]

I dug up 18 tree stumps in the middle of the night while snowing in 15° to 20° temps and once again, running strong, no black smoke, no stumbling, running like one would fully expect it to.

 

[homesteader13]

Then the BIG test!
Left it sitting outside in single digit to teen temps in the snow for 3 days (no block or oil pan heater plugged in) and never touched it.
When I went to start it, I cycled the glow plugs three times, cranked it over and started it.
Of course it chugged and rattled for 20-30 seconds as one would expect it to, let it warm up for about 10 minutes or so and went and removed the backhoe and bucket and installed the front and rear blades and and moved some snow.
Ran like a champ the entire time!

 

[homesteader13]

The month of December we have gotten about 30 inches of snow I have plowed snow from 4500 ft elevation to 5500 ft elevation to the tune of 50 hours and not even sure how many miles in teen to mid 30° temps and it is still running great!