MF 451

[CWP37]

Anybody own a 451? How do you like it? Any regrets? Why Massey over Deere, Kubota, NH, etc? What add-ons did you get and why?

 

[floridahay]

I can give you some feedback on this one. I bought a 451 last December and last week I traded it in on a 5203 John Deere. The tractor had quality control problems as well as several things that I did not like about it. For the quality control problems first. The first tractor that was delivered had independent pto which I specified. Well the pto didn't work! Turned out the hydraulic pump that furnishes the pto and independent outlets had a broken shaft! The dealer got me another tractor. Well at 8 hours the hydraulic pressure light came on. The dealer said this was a common problem with the 451. Seems the factory was not cleaning the castims well and the filter screen was clogging up with casting flash and etc. The fluid and screen was replaced and again at 35 or so hours it happened again. Now for the things that I just didn't like about the tractor. The wet brakes on these tractors require a lot of pedal pressure and do not preform well to be wet brakes. The service manager said that this was somewhat due to the fact that the 451 did not have planetary gears and this did not give the brakes the advantage of the gears to help with stopping power. The newer ones coming out now have planetary gears so this should help with that problem. Also the newer ones have a different hydraulic setup and have a spin on filter as opposed to the screen setup that the older ones have. Another thing that was apotential problem designwise is the fact that he remote outlets on this model stick out several inches and when the 3 pt. is in the top position the top link just about hits the remotes! Oh one other problem that I had was the tractor would pop out of low range about every 15 or 20 minutes. The service manager said this was something they had problems with also. I think that if you drive one of these and then drive a Deere you will see much better ergonomics and comfort. Another problem is that the dealer has had some problems with parts for the 400 series. The Deere dealer even told me that it has become pretty well known that the 400 series has had their problems with quality control. Also I think that you will find the 03 series Deere to be several thousand cheaper than the 451.

 

[CWP37]

So how is the 5203 in comparison? I've also been looking at the Deere 03 and 05 series. I just wanted to look at Massey for sentimental reasons.

 

[floridahay]

What would you like to know about the 5103? I looked at the O5 series at the dealer and did not need 4wd as an option so I didn't look too hard at them. From what I see the 4wd option on them is the main advantage of them over the 03 series. The only other thing that some people might like is the syncro transmission and with that you only have 8 speeds as opposed to 9 in the 03. Also from what I have read on this forum the 9 sped is a stronger transmission. Also the 05 has mechanical wet brakes as opposed to hydraulic on the 03 series. Personally I don't see this as an advantage or disadvantage either way. I don't remember but the 05 I think is about 1500-2000 more expensive. I know that the local dealers sell very few 05 series compared to 03 series. THe only thing that I don't like about either tractor is the fuel tank somewhat blocks your vision in the rear. Something else which you may or may not care about is the fact that all the newer 03's are turbocharged,which I thnk was done to help meet the newer emission laws. I got the last 5203 that the dealer had that was not turbocharged. To me this is a slight advantage as you have one less thing to give potential trouble,although in my experience turbo's are very dependable. Hope this helps you in making a tractor decision. Another tractor that I would certaoinly consider is the Kubota. From waht I see they are very good tractors. ONe thing that made the decision to go with Deere is the dealers have a better service and parts dept. than the local Kubota dealer. The dealer you have to deal with is about as important as the color of the tractor. I have heard some local people say that Kubota parts are sometimes a problem, I don't know. I do know that Deere has the best parts availability in the industry. Any part that the local dealer didn't have he has gotten overnight if I had it ordered by 3pm. It may not be this was everywhere I don't know. If you have any questions please ask?

 

[CWP37]

I started looking at the 05's for 2 reasons:
-detachable loader
-synchronized tranny

Also, any good stories about the Massey 400 tractors? I keep hearing bad.

 

[EquipmentUser]

I don't have any personal experience with the 400 series but I do know that it is the same basic design of tractor that massey has had for years and I know its a proven design. Their are lots of them around here due to a good dealer and their lower price and everyone that I know that has one is totally happy. I think the main problems were with the first ones they built and those problems were mainly just QC issues which I hear have now been worked out. If you have a good dealer then check them out.

 

[JerryG]

I don't have any personal experience with the 400 series but I do know that it is the same basic design of tractor that massey has had for years and I know its a proven design. Their are lots of them around here due to a good dealer and their lower price and everyone that I know that has one is totally happy. I think the main problems were with the first ones they built and those problems were mainly just QC issues which I hear have now been worked out. If you have a good dealer then check them out.

That's about the same thing that I have to say. I know several with 400 series all the way up to the 491. Once in a while there will be some small thing go wrong, but that is normal for any brand. Everyone that I know that has one is happy with them. Both of my dealers sell the heck out of them.

 

[Jordanbear]

We have a 451 that's not quite 3 years old. So far we've had a couple of things we had to fix - the first week we had it we did have to have them fix an oil pressure filter (so long ago, I don't quite remember), a hydraulic hose popped the first winter we had it, and the ignition switch had to be replaced this spring.

Otherwise it has done it's job -which is running the implements for 1600 bales of hay on a small horse farm. We use it to move snow around, re-grade the driveway, move the manure pile, brush hog.

Plenty of power and weight for the jobs we need.

The brakes aren't the best, but my experience with tractor brakes is that they aren't like car brakes. They help stop the machine, but the machine is usually a lot stronger than the brake power.

Compared to the JD of similar size it was far more affordable -

 

[stevenbryant19]

I went a year trying to decide what kind of tractor to buy. I went between the case jx55,jx65,jx75 . . Masseys 451,471 . .and the mahindras . .I recently just purchased a Mahindra 6000 2wd way cheaper then the cases and masseys with the same Hp. . .no real bells and whistles to the Mahindra 00 series . .kind of an old school type tractor . .built very well from what I can tell so far and it's a hoss it's rated @ 50 pto horsepower and my old tractor was rated at 60pto and the mahindra seems to handle everythin alot easier I'd recommend them to anyone The only thing I'm worried about is parts down the road but they seem to be doing pretty good right now so hopefully I won't have any problems with that down the road

 

[Mike120]

I really made an effort to look seriously at the 451 because I've had a MF before, but the local dealers were not easy to deal with. One tried to talk me into a Montana 5720 instead of the 451. I also looked at the Case, NH, and Kubota. I ended up buying a JD 5225 because it was very price competitive, and I could get everything I wanted which included the economy PTO. I just went through a lot of grief trying to get parts from my NH dealer to fix my little Ford tractor. That's one problem I don't have to worry about with JD.