New 5455 from the 596 thread

[chh]

The new 5455 made it here this morning. A little later than promised, but it did rain so I wouldn't have been working anyway. The other 5455 headed back with them afterwards. The new one is an '08 model with the Dyna 4 trans. The mirrors are smaller than on the other one with shorter mounting arms and it has some optional lights. Showing 5.8 hrs now. I will take some time tomorrow and get the baler monitor installed, drawbar adjusted out and generally set up for me.


















Hopefully by the end of the week it will be showing several more hours and I will be catching up on the haying.

 

[chh]

Well after a couple of weeks running it my only complaint on it is the mirrors. The one I turned back had a bigger set with longer arms and would adjust out where you could see past the baler on the highway. These are so short as to be useless for that. Fuel usage seems less than on the 596 and it runs my baler very well.

 

[mark.r]

VERY NICE. I'd love to have that machine. Glad you got your problems sorted.

 

[WilliamBos]

Well after a couple of weeks running it my only complaint on it is the mirrors. The one I turned back had a bigger set with longer arms and would adjust out where you could see past the baler on the highway. These are so short as to be useless for that. Fuel usage seems less than on the 596 and it runs my baler very well.

Would the dealer let you swap the mirrors??

 

[chh]

Would the dealer let you swap the mirrors??

I sincerely doubt it. He would probably let me order a new set at full price though.
They are not too happy with me right now. He wanted the problem child 5455 gone and was trying to work a deal on the new 5455 when I called and told them I wanted it for the agreed upon price. Now I have the new one and the other customer is not interested in the used one I refused. Cab tractors in that size are currently hard for them to get, so he is having trouble getting a new one for him.
The shop up there used to be one of the best in the area. Lately I have been having my doubts about them though. It seems that they just want to stick a new part on instead of actually fixing anything.

 

[WilliamBos]

I sincerely doubt it. He would probably let me order a new set at full price though.
They are not too happy with me right now. He wanted the problem child 5455 gone and was trying to work a deal on the new 5455 when I called and told them I wanted it for the agreed upon price. Now I have the new one and the other customer is not interested in the used one I refused. Cab tractors in that size are currently hard for them to get, so he is having trouble getting a new one for him.
The shop up there used to be one of the best in the area. Lately I have been having my doubts about them though. It seems that they just want to stick a new part on instead of actually fixing anything.

Is their another dealer close buy you could start going too? ( AGCO, CHallenger, MF)

 

[Anton99]

Nice tractor!
I thought the 2008 models sported the new fronts with tilting hoods??
MF 5400 Series

 

[chh]

There are a couple of MF dealers slightly farther away. One of them is where I bought my MF 2746A baler and my Krone hay mowers. I would rather of bought the 5460 he had bought the tractor was more expensive(and bigger than I needed) and he couldn't give me my money back out of the 596 like the other dealer since he didn't sell it and hadn't been doing the warranty work on it. He has been getting most of my business since all this mess started though.

From what I understand you have to jump to the 7400 series to get the tilt hood.

MF 7400 Series

 

[JDPN]

Real Nice tractor. Any updates??

 

[chh]

Real Nice tractor. Any updates??

So far it is really doing good. The biggest gripe is still the mirrors, but I haven't had time to really check into odering anything different. I have put several hundred round bales thru with it and all is going well. The side panels and sliding a/c coil make it much easier to clean grass and dust off of the radiator than the way the 596 was set up. The a/c also seems like quite a bit better unit than the 596's. It is so dusty at the moment I had probably ought to be embarassed. We will be finishing up custom work soon and it can get cleaned up a bit then.

The only other downside seems to be that now my wife wants a cab. I tried to talk her into one earlier this year and she wasn't interested. Temps are pushing 100 every day now and I guess it is sounding better now.

 

[mark.r]

More pics when you get a chance . . .

 

[chh]

I'll try to get some pics when we go back into the field next week. Finished a job on thursday and took Fri, Sat and Sunday off. Well sort of anyway. I have been loading out hay I have sold and I had to run a mower back to the dealer for a bit of warranty service. This is the newer dealer I have started using. Anyway I have been wanting to put the wife in a cab tractor since before we went into the hayfield earlier this year. Business has been going good since getting out of the 596 so I could actually get something accomplished. We looked at a new MF 573 today for the wife. Well the fallout from the way the 596 problems were handled kicked in. The 573 was a new '08 with MFWD and cab with air. She then test drove a Montana T7074 MFWD, FEL,Cab/air, and ag tires that the dealer also carries. She was really comfortable with the way it handled and the physical size of it. Anyway it is a new '07 that was discounted because it had been used as a demo tractor. After rebates I could pick that tractor up as set up several grand cheaper than the 573 without a loader. 3 year warranty and the will deliver it and bring my mower back attached to it. We plan to put it in the field tuesday or wednesday when they deliver it. I traded my MF 1433V in on it since a bigger tractor will be a money maker and the 1433 was down to basically being a lawn mower. I never thought I'd be trading a MF for a Montana, but I just did.
You can tell I am not the only one unhappy with previous dealer i have been using. I was on both dealer lots before the busy summer season kicked in. Both were packed with all sorts of hay equipment ect. The previous dealer I used still has a lot of equipment(but no cab tractors and he doesn't seem to be trying to get any) on the lot. The dealer I am using now has 1 new tedder and 1 new baler left on the lot. As of this morning he had the 573, a 5460, and 2 Montana 7074's on the lot that where new and a couple of used open tractors. He has more tractors coming in trying to keep up with demand.

 

[mark.r]

What mower are you using these days? Did you say the Montana had a loader as well?

 

[chh]

What mower are you using these days? Did you say the Montana had a loader as well?

I'm using 2 Krone AM 283 S 9' mowers. I really think all that is wrong with the one in for service is that the bar vent is leaking. So far other than that they have been great. They are going to do a full service on it and give it a good check out while they have it.
The Montana has a loader with bucket and bale spike.

 

[mark.r]

I'm using 2 Krone AM 283 S 9' mowers. I really think all that is wrong with the one in for service is that the bar vent is leaking. So far other than that they have been great. They are going to do a full service on it and give it a good check out while they have it.
The Montana has a loader with bucket and bale spike.

Oh yes, that's right I had forgotten. How do you think the Montana will handle the Krone mowers? I know you are running them on caddy's so it shouldn't be much of an issue. I hope it works out for you now. You have some very nice units on the property now. What will you use the 4243 for, just back up?

I've been stopping by the MF dealership from time to time and god I love the 5400 series but if we go to anything bigger in order to cut some hay I'd also have to be able to justify its use in other areas like around our small farm or down at my grandparents place. So transporting it comes to mind as well as having a machine that's a bit more managable. So with that said, the 3645 has really stayed at the top of my list. It has good power 91gross/75pto, nice cab and all the plushness of the 5400 class. It doesn't have the Dyna 4 but it has a 12x12 power shift which should work out nicely. It weighs in at over 7k lbs sans loader so it should be able to do a little bit of everything from rounds to squares to heavy mowing and even some light tillage. Should even be able to haul it relatively easily on a gooseneck.

 

[chh]

I have yet to see one of the new 3645's. I did find one about 70 miles from me advertised as a repo. It is listed as an '07 model with 200 hrs on it. I was just a bit spooked about what I would get into on that one. The brochures and ads I have seen for it look great. I would like to have had been able to see and test drive one. I have trailered the 5455 to a couple of jobs now. It is managable with my gooseneck trailer and is easy to load and unload. It is also a very roadable tractor(except for the mirrors) and will run around 24 mph towing a baler down the highway. My wife has ridden in it, but as of yet has not ever operated it. For all my trouble getting used to it, it is really absolutely a great baling tractor. The Dyna 4 is nice in the field, the tractors size makes if feel solid with the baler on it and the fuel burn is actually better than I expected it to be.
Our plan when the new tractor gets in is to use is as a mower tractor. I have seen a couple locally being used for that and the owners are happy with them. Krone recommeds 55 hp for the 283 S mower and the Montana is 70 engine and 60 on the pto. I have not ever gotten caddies for the mowers. I can hook and unhook from a mower pretty quickly and without much physical labor. The caddies look good and seem like a good ideal, but so far I have had other places I would rather have money invested than in them. The 4243 will be the rake tractor and I will bale and mow with the 5455. As a rake tractor the 4243 is really excellent despite its size and hp. At the low rpm's it runs when raking its fuel burn is very low. It is also enough hp to run the baler if need be(I could handle being in the open baling again in a pinch). It is just so dead simple, reliable, and manueverable I can't stand to trade or sell it. It gets used as much as any tractor we have and has been both a rake and mower tractor all summer and is very easy to load round bales on a trailer with.

 

[mark.r]

Thanks for sharing all the info. It's really informative. I thought you had bought caddy's for your mowers. That must have been someone else. Truthfully, I'd like to see the another 10hp at the PTO for the 3645 but 75hp truly is enough for what I need it for. It will pull any disk mower or mower conditioner that I would ever use as far as size is concerned. It would also pull any round or square baler I would ever need and of course excell at loader and brush cutting. It is smaller than the 5400 series but that is really where I need to be I think. I do like the NH5000 series namely the T5070/5060 but pretty much puts me back at the MF5400 series as far as price and size. Also intresting to know that you had little trouble with you 5455 on your gooseneck as that was one of my concerns.