New GC1715 - Its fine . . . and its mine.

walker1sg · Dec 10, 2015

Hello, I purchased the MF GC 1715 a few months back myself what a great little tractor and just this past weekend I installed a block heater. I was a little nervous at first about tapping the freeze plug out however, no issues the plug came right out and I tapped the heater in with a block of wood no issues. I also have a 54" deck which is a side discharge and was wondering if Massey made a conversion kit for my deck?

mguitas · Dec 10, 2015

:welcome:aboard, make sure you show some pictures.

AxleHub · Dec 10, 2015

walker1sg said:
Hello, I purchased the MF GC 1715 a few months back myself what a great little tractor and just this past weekend I installed a block heater. I was a little nervous at first about tapping the freeze plug out however, no issues the plug came right out and I tapped the heater in with a block of wood no issues. I also have a 54" deck which is a side discharge and was wondering if Massey made a conversion kit for my deck?

I assume there may be a mulching plug with some chambering option for your deck . . if the goal is mulching. My Massey model 2315 mulching deck is a whole different animal than what kubota or other brands offer for their scut tractors. My 54 inch mmm deck has 6 blades on 3 shafts (a smaller blade mounted above a larger blade). I have no exhaust discharge chute . . So my deck is 54 inch and it takes about 55 inches total width of the deck . . which is narrower than 48 inch decks that have a side exhaust. Even in deeper grass it cuts well. Up to about 6.5 or 7 inch grass its still a single pass needed. More than that requires too passes especially in our blue grass which is very very dense.

My desire was a deck thatcould be narrower and at the same time not blow its contents into buildings or flow beds or rock gardens or etc. etc.. Its surprising how freeing this is . . not to mention safer for kids, pets, vehicles, buildings, or others in the yard.

Depending on your weather . . the block heater you installed is a smart move.

I'm also quite happy I got a quick attach for my bucket and forks to switch between. Even allows on my flat lawn property to cut grass without the bucket on but fel still in place. Nice thing is 60 seconds and the bucket is off

walker1sg · Dec 11, 2015

AxleHub said:
I assume there may be a mulching plug with some chambering option for your deck . . if the goal is mulching. My Massey model 2315 mulching deck is a whole different animal than what kubota or other brands offer for their scut tractors. My 54 inch mmm deck has 6 blades on 3 shafts (a smaller blade mounted above a larger blade). I have no exhaust discharge chute . . So my deck is 54 inch and it takes about 55 inches total width of the deck . . which is narrower than 48 inch decks that have a side exhaust. Even in deeper grass it cuts well. Up to about 6.5 or 7 inch grass its still a single pass needed. More than that requires too passes especially in our blue grass which is very very dense.

My desire was a deck thatcould be narrower and at the same time not blow its contents into buildings or flow beds or rock gardens or etc. etc.. Its surprising how freeing this is . . not to mention safer for kids, pets, vehicles, buildings, or others in the yard.

Depending on your weather . . the block heater you installed is a smart move.

I'm also quite happy I got a quick attach for my bucket and forks to switch between. Even allows on my flat lawn property to cut grass without the bucket on but fel still in place. Nice thing is 60 seconds and the bucket is off

Yes Massey has built at nice deck for the tractor mine is built very strong as well, I would just like the option of mulching or discharge. So if anyone happens to run across or hears of the mulch kit let me know.

Fiziksgeek · Dec 11, 2015

walker1sg said:
Hello, I purchased the MF GC 1715 a few months back myself what a great little tractor and just this past weekend I installed a block heater. I was a little nervous at first about tapping the freeze plug out however, no issues the plug came right out and I tapped the heater in with a block of wood no issues. I also have a 54" deck which is a side discharge and was wondering if Massey made a conversion kit for my deck?

To the best of my knowledge, there is no mulching kit for the non-mulching Massey decks.

walker1sg · Dec 16, 2015

Fiziksgeek said:
To the best of my knowledge, there is no mulching kit for the non-mulching Massey decks.

Thanks for checking on the kit. I reversed the stop plate on my sit and it does give you a few more inches of leg room however, if you notice now the sit hangs over the body of the tractor and if you hit a bump your body weight will cause the sit to bounce off the body of the tractor so be careful. I think I will fabricate something from the stop plate that will stand up taller than the body for the sit to hit before the body. Because I do like the extra leg room.

AxleHub · Dec 16, 2015

walker1sg said:
Thanks for checking on the kit. I reversed the stop plate on my sit and it does give you a few more inches of leg room however, if you notice now the sit hangs over the body of the tractor and if you hit a bump your body weight will cause the sit to bounce off the body of the tractor so be careful. I think I will fabricate something from the stop plate that will stand up taller than the body for the sit to hit before the body. Because I do like the extra leg room.

Greetings Walker,

I am not sure what you are describing relating to the fix I posted about the Massey GC17xx seat. Properly reversing the stop plate on the seat adjustment does four positive things and your post seems to inficate it creates an issue:

1. It gives you a few more inches that the seat can be adjusted backward for added leg room. (Off hand I believe it is about 2.5 inches).

2. It allows the seat to maintain a firm stop position so you can't over adjust the seat . . Still using the original bolts and mount holes. There should be no way it can come off the track.

3. It absolutely keeps the seat in the track for full and complete sturdy positioning and the seat is balanced and fully supported. Suspension wise it is no different than standard.

4. It keeps all safety switches operational and does not block or alter seat suspension or stability of the seat or wires etc. even with a large heavy weighted operator.

All these 4 conditions should be true when you reposition the stop bracket as I previously described. If any of the 4 are not true . . then you did not do the process I described. I would not recommend any fully unsupported positioning.

I found absolutely no negatives in doing this in a 6 month period with numerous very large or tall people testing it. Nothing is weakened and the seat adjustment process is smooth and fully secured for any position chosen.

walker1sg · Dec 17, 2015

AxleHub said:
Greetings Walker,

I am not sure what you are describing relating to the fix I posted about the Massey GC17xx seat. Properly reversing the stop plate on the seat adjustment does four positive things and your post seems to inficate it creates an issue:

1. It gives you a few more inches that the seat can be adjusted backward for added leg room. (Off hand I believe it is about 2.5 inches).

2. It allows the seat to maintain a firm stop position so you can't over adjust the seat . . Still using the original bolts and mount holes. There should be no way it can come off the track.

3. It absolutely keeps the seat in the track for full and complete sturdy positioning and the seat is balanced and fully supported. Suspension wise it is no different than standard.

4. It keeps all safety switches operational and does not block or alter seat suspension or stability of the seat or wires etc. even with a large heavy weighted operator.

All these 4 conditions should be true when you reposition the stop bracket as I previously described. If any of the 4 are not true . . then you did not do the process I described. I would not recommend any fully unsupported positioning.

I found absolutely no negatives in doing this in a 6 month period with numerous very large or tall people testing it. Nothing is weakened and the seat adjustment process is smooth and fully secured for any position chosen.

I知 not questioning the functionality as to whether the seat will work by reversing the stop plate at all in fact I think it痴 a great idea and I have done it so thank you for the advise. The only reason there is a stop plate is to keep the seat within the contour of the cut out for the seat. Even if you remove the stop plate completely the seat will still stop and not slide off the rails however, the back of the seat will now hang over the body or red paint in the back, which now if the springs the seat rest on are fully compressed the back of the seat will sit or touch the body or the red paint in the back, that is my only concern and I plan to build a support to keep the springs from fully compressing. Who knows maybe mine is built different.

AxleHub · Dec 20, 2015

walker1sg said:
I'm not questioning the functionality as to whether the seat will work by reversing the stop plate at all in fact I think itç´ a great idea and I have done it so thank you for the advise. The only reason there is a stop plate is to keep the seat within the contour of the cut out for the seat. Even if you remove the stop plate completely the seat will still stop and not slide off the rails however, the back of the seat will now hang over the body or red paint in the back, which now if the springs the seat rest on are fully compressed the back of the seat will sit or touch the body or the red paint in the back, that is my only concern and I plan to build a support to keep the springs from fully compressing. Who knows maybe mine is built different.

Greetings Walker1sq,

I had a chance to look at my tractor seat at full "back" position. I noted that the spring and coils are lined up so the bacl of seat is msybe 1 or 2 inches "past" the spring and coils and the center of the seating area is still forward of the spring and coils. I see no way that anyone could be "past" yhr spring and coils. I had a 300 lb person sit on the seat and the coils were not fully compressed.

I'm thinking we are seeing 2 different situations for some reason.