Massey Ferguson 1736

gathumper · Jun 18, 2016

Captain's Log - Star Date 05-17-2016

NTD (New Tractor Day!) - About 4:00 Eastern time our new MF1736 was delivered and our tired old Long 460 was retired from service and left the farm. The Long was our first tractor, bought used for $3500 the summer 0f 1998 when we bought a small (30 acre) farm in NE Georgia where we raise horses. Not having a lot of extra money and not sure what we needed we decided to get the 2wd 3 cyl diesel Long and see how it went from there. At the time I figured we'd use it for a few years and then get something better, but here we are 18 years later. It was about 25 years old when we got it and pretty tired then, so when it died last winter I knew we wouldn't put any more money in it and started thinking about a replacement.

This year I started shopping around for a good used tractor. Found them few and far between and a nice low hour 4x4 with a loader was looking like at least $15k. No warranty and no way to know if I would have a major repair so this set me to price and look at new tractors. Looked at Kioti and thought I might get a CK35 or 3510 and looked at LS and McCormick and Branson before I stopped in the local Massey Ferguson dealer thinking I would find the price too high and end up with the LS or Kioti. (McCormick dealer was an hour and a half away and the Branson dealer was a one man "sales" dealer with no shop or full time service.)

The Massey dealer is a family owned business that's been around forever and only five miles down the road. We've done some business with them over the years and I trusted them to treat me right and be there if I needed them for anything. They first showed me a 1739E and I was pleasantly surprised at the price of $17.5k. But there were a few things I didn't like (loader controls on the loader, minimum loader capacity no telescoping rear arms, no tilt wheel, etc) It would probably have done everything I needed, but when I asked about some of these features I was directed to look at the 1736 from their "premium" line. As soon as I looked at it I liked everything I saw and the more I learned the more I liked it. Larger frame, 600 pounds heavier, more loader capacity, telescoping arms, tilt wheel, power shuttle, etc. One of the best things was the operators station didn't feel as cramped as the Kioti or LS. (McCormick and Branson were larger like the Massey) Priced it to me at $22.5 ($5k more than the 1739E and $3-4k more than the Kioti CK3510 or CK4010 that I thought I was set on). I was having a hard tome justifying it, but they offered me a trade on the Long, found another $500 thanks to Equine Equipment Savings and some pencil sharpening to get me to a final price of $19.9 before tax. Talked to my bride and we decided to go for it!

I've ordered the factory third function option and should get it in a couple of weeks. Will be getting a grapple to complement the loader for cleaning up the wooded half of our property. And ordered a set of pallet forks to handle the 4x4 round bales that we feed our horses. Looking forward to learning my way around the new tractor and loader this summer and I'm sure I'll come up with questions for this group along the way!

I'll start off with a question on break-in for you. Did you wait 50 hours for the first fluid change? I'm thinking about maybe 5-10 hours and getting the "break in" fluids and any contaminants out of the motor and transmission. I also need to decide on what fluids to use as I usually use synthetics in my autos and motorcycles and boat motors. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. For break-in, I plan to run a variety of RPM and load as I would any other new motor.

Sorry for the lengthy first post!

cglaser104 · Jun 18, 2016

Do as the manual says for break in and service intervals. I've seen a variety of discussions but ultimately following the instructions in your owners manual should be your best bet. I use direct from the dealer fluids and filters to maintain my tractor at this time. I have seen people use everything from rotella T fluids to tractor supply brand, synthetics and non synthetics. Your manual tells you the standards your oil should adhere to and as long as your mindful of that you shouldn't have any warranty concerns. Enjoy your new Massey Ferguson!

biodegraded · Jun 19, 2016

I took delivery of a 1754 almost exactly a year ago. When I did the 50 hr, the fluids were still sweet, especially the hydro/tranny which looked nearly unused. The only place bits of metal were found was in the front diff, and it was nothing concerning. From my experience, there would be no benefit at all from an early fluid change. I'm nearly at the 100 hr engine change and will report if anything looks amiss. I would be astonished if anything were out of whack. I'm very much liking my Iseki machine.

bacononeactual · Jun 19, 2016

My fluids looked good too. Only place I found any metal shavings was in the metal hydro pick up filter.

drizler · Jun 21, 2016

Just remember one thing and since you already owned tractors this isn't for you but rather others who may not be so well informed. They may have fixed it by now but the owners manual is DEAD WRONG ON BREAK IN (2014 anyways). You DO NOT run any motor under FULL POWER for the first 50 hours. I can't believe they don't edit things before they print them. DUHHHHHHH.
Like anything else break in is Lots of power , run it hard and don't lug the thing? So simple.

gathumper · Jun 21, 2016

Thanks for the feedback! The manual still says run at full power! I'd guess they intended to say DON'T run t full power for the first 50 hours, but I'll break it in the same way I'd break in any motor. Vary the RPM and vary the load with some occasional runs up to 75-80% power.

Good to know the fluids have looked good. I'll keep that in mind as I decide when to do the first fluid change.

drizler · Aug 29, 2016

Now all you need is a backhoe. Remember that 28% discount applies to any implement over $5K. That brings that hoe's lofty price back down to someplace around $7500. If you have enough room to keep horses you will find plenty of uses for a hoe. I buried 2 old ones last year
You said you had the shuttle model. Expect that range lever to be one sticky mother for the next couple of years. Mine didn't start to loosen up till 150 then finally by 250 it worked pretty smoothly. It's still hitchy sometimes.
Hydraulics are very fast. Be careful with the bucket or you may well flip something quite heavy right on the hood and it might just make it all the way back to you. You need to be gently on the loader control is all. Those hydraulic remotes can easily get knocked off or out of position too. Watch for that. If your hog is suddenly dragging on the ground or loader not working right go right to the remotes. The dealer warned me about them. He said they had to move them way outboard to make room for the catalytic rig. What it did was push the out into the line of fire for brush. The outboards are easy enough (no not really) but the inboards are nearly impossible unless you take the cover off the box (2 10MM bolts). Keep a 10 MM wrench handy if you go way out yonder.
Don't be surprised if it decides not to regenerate itself sometime. It will happen ever 50ish hours about like clockwork. If it doesn't you have to force it. The book isn't all that clear on this. I took the part where it says "Apply the E Brake" for more of the usual safety drivel and couldn't figure why it didn't work. Setting the brake is like putting the car in park to pair your blue tooth. Sooooo like they say, "no tickey no laundry" . Believe me you don't want to have something to do right now and have to put up with that annoying blaring beep sound when it's stuffed. It won't hurt the tractor but will send you over the edge it's so loud.
FWIW when it regenerates the engine temp doesn't go up but if it's warm out it will stink like it's overheating, just let it do it's thing while you do what it is you are doing. I run fuel oil in mine with Power Service in the winter months this last year or so. The dealer said it's ok and techically it's the same thing anyways since 2006 when they took the sulpher out of everything. It regens at the same rate, 50ish hours and starts right up in the dead of winter.
Oh yea. You are going to find that gas gauge drops like a rock, don't be surprised. It's idiot proofed to a huge margin. When mine hits full E it has enough room to put in a full 5 gallon can. That from a 10 gallon tank, so it's easier to wait than keep filling constantly waiting for it to cross feed to the other side as it gurgles down.