New MF 243 4wd

[unaka]

Here's my long awaited MF 243. I'm now sold on 4wd. I should have listened to all the TBN'ers who told me so when I was first shopping, but instead I learned the hard way. In fact, the day before I traded, I had a load of gravel delivered by a neighbor. His full size dumptruck got stuck in soft earth, and all my 263 2wd (60hp) would do was spin the tires when I tried to pull him out. Neighbor went and got his 4wd Ford tractor (43hp), and pulled it out with ease.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Nice tractor, curious as to why you dropped the few hp when you went with the FWD. It is the first new MF I have seen with a MF loader. What size tires did you have put on it?

 

[Thomas]

It has that certain look..come on lets play..oops work. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[s1120]

Wow. nice looking tractor. The MF line of tractors seems to have a good selection of model. From big to small, two to 4wd. I see a lot of them around my area, but could be just that there is a MF dealer about 2 miles from where I am building my house.

 

[unaka]

Robert,

In answer to your question, the main motive was $$, and availability. My dealer had to go all the way to Kentucky just to find exactly what I wanted, and then bring it back to NC. According to him, this is one of the best-selling tractors MF has on the market, now. I wanted synchro-shuttle and an independent clutch, and 4wd. I took an 8hp loss by dropping to the 243 (down to 53 hp), but when I compared the two tractors, I couldn't see enough difference to justify the price difference, which was substantial. It's the same engine on both tractors, but the 263 has a turbo-charger which adds the extra 8hp. Otherwise, there's not much significant difference between the two.

Regarding tires, I'll admit I don't know much about proper size, etc., so maybe you or someone can educate me a little on what all these numbers and letters mean. I went outside just now and saw that I have R-1's on the back, 6 ply, 14.9 - 24. On the front, 10.5/8--18 10 ply, all Goodyear. I noticed these tires were shorter than the tires of the other tractors on the lot, but I didn't mind as it sat a little closer to the ground, and I felt a little more secure in regards to rollovers.

Unaka

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The tractor will come with what the dealer recommends for it, you can usually go 1 size larger or smaller. I am surprised the backs are only 14.9-24's. I don't have much info on MF's but my friend bought a 231s and it had larger tires so I wonder if that was a special order on your machine. There is nothing wrong with that size except you loose some ground clearance but like you said you gain in stability. The fronts look to be as wide as MF will allow so that they don't hit the tractor when turning and you will appreciate the wider fronts if you are on soft ground using the loader. Maybe someone else knows what MF list for a standard tire on the 243 as I will look thru my info as I am curious now. That is a great machine and am curious what that unit would run without a loader or even a 263 FWD without a loader. Need a second FWD tractor pretty soon and might consider MF if the price is decent.

 

[unaka]

Mine came in at $26,000, but that is with the loader, synchro shuttle and independent clutch. I'd say a good guess for one without FEL would be around 21-22k.

BY the way, I was looking hard at Kubota's when I was shopping, and probably paid a little more for the MF, but the dealer is what made my decision. He was honest, straight-forward, no pressure, and brought one out to the farm to let me test drive it. The Kubota dealer was further away, NEVER would call me back, frowned when I asked if I could farm test one, and generally made me feel unwelcome when I was there. The last straw was when I was there waiting in the show-room lobby for 20 minutes without so much as a "hello".

Unaka

 

[Robert_in_NY]

That is how one of our Case-IH dealers act. He wants to sell what is on his lot and don't want to spend much time talking. The main reason I bought a NH was because of the sales people as they are the friendliest dealership I have ever met. Plus they are a lot closer then the rest. I get along with the JD people, the other Case-IH dealer, the Valtra dealer who is one of my favorite dealers and the other NH dealers and try to spread my money around to as many of them as possible. I have never really cared for Kubota's as they are not really a farm tractor, I know they have the newer tractors that are in the 80hp range but they have no experience there and I still consider them a Compact company as their dealers act that way at least. The only good Kubota dealer I have met is a Case-IH construction dealer who sells Kubota mini's also.

 

[gotrocks]

That is a good looking machine. I almost went MF.
Hope you don't mind I tampered with your photo.
See if you like the change.

 

[unaka]

I don't mind at all. Looks much better!

Thanks

Unaka