MF 285 opinions?

[GSS]

Neighbor and I want to go in on a larger tractor together for working our land and went to look at a MF 285 with loader yesterday. It seemed to be pretty clean. Diesel, gear drive, 5200 hours, never rebuilt, brand new rear tires, Massey quick-tach loader, newer seat, dual rear remotes. A little seepage around some of the engine gaskets (but no apparent puddles below), exhaust needed a new seal by the manifold, one loader cylinder leaked, but not much more wrong that I could tell. We couldn't drive it b/c he was in the process of swapping in the new rear tires, but he did start it up. $8900

Are there any common problems with this tractor that we should check? Is this a decent price?

Also, being that we both are pretty new to farming, what size plow would we be limited to with this HP? Any other equipment limitations?

Thanks a lot!

- Gerald

 

[Birdhunter1]

MF tractors in AG are well suited to AG applications. What type of farming are you doing, hill country, flat, cattle, row crop? I wouldn't worry about the engine not being rebuilt, most larger ag tractors are not rebuilt and unless you use it alot don't rebuild it. If you do then hook a plow to it and take it to the field very soon, the rings are set by heat created by working the engine very hard such as plowing. Depending on how hilly your ground is I would say a 4-5 bottom plow would work well behind this tractor, and a bigger one may work. I believe a 285 is about 80-85 drawbar hp, a 14' disc would work well and I don't know how big of a chisel plow. You could run as big of a bush hog as your budget will allow, I would opt for a 15-20' batwing mower 1000 rpm (if the tractor has it and i thin it does). You could also ask the guy you are buying it from since he has probably used it for what you are going to do. If you are doing cattle/hay farming this tractor will work well and you will be happy with it. I've used MF 165's and I've been on a MF 275, a 285 is a bit bigger but these were very well suited for hay farming. I've been on comparable hp JD, IH and AC tractors but not anything bigger MF wise than the 275.

 

[sweettractors]

Gerald, The 285 is like all tractors, it has a few weak points. Check the power steering,pto shaft should stop spinning when lever is disengaged (most 285 are driven by hydraulic clutch), make sure there is no oil in the leak around the exaust manifold,bad about blowing head gasket under extreme conditions, starter gear and ring gear prone to wear premature and cause starter to hang occasionally. We have owned one for 10 years and now use it for a loader tractor in our business. 10 Ft max on a brush hog would be my suggestion. These tractors are short wheelbase and are not as heavy as one would think. I have had a big NH hay roller push me pretty good going down hill with a full roll of hay in the chamber.--We gave $7500 for it and then added a new Allied 595 HD Loader with all accessories for additional $4000 and rebuilt both lift pumps and replaced a bad gear in the rear end ($3000)and ended up with around $15,000 in the tractor when we put it in service--Ken Sweet

Sweet Farm Equipment LLC *Antique Handy Hank Mechanized Tobacco Primer $895*

 

[GSS]

We'd be primarily using it for crops - hay, etc to start, but the land is hilly. Not really bad though. A guy uses a JD 4020 now on the same hills. Not sure how many HP that is though...

Thanks.

- Gerald