Takin it to the MAX

[Black Max]

Hi all, first time posting here and I am proud to say I own my first tractor, a Max25 HST TLB. I spent countless hours, weeks, and months looking for the right tractor, orange, green, blue, and other shades of red only served to distract me from finding Max. Then I discovered this forum and sought out.... Mahindra, never heard of that one before. Located a great dealer and the connection was made, I found a tractor that finally fit me, my needs, and my personality. I optioned out my tractor with Mahindra's 62" hyd blade, 56" snowblower, snow cab, rims and turf tires from an on the lot EMax 25, kept my R4 tires and rims, and thumb for the backhoe. Ripped my 1st stump out in 6 minutes not knowing what the heck I was doing.... Impressive. Now for the fun part, mods, some of which may seem silly, but they where fun to do and that is what Max is to me... A Toy. I believe in sharing ideas others can use so stay tuned as I update this thread... The building of Black Max, enjoy.

 

[japody]

Welcome. Sounds like a good time will he had by all!

 

[Black Max]

My first couple of mods were just to mean it up a bit so I made removable teeth for the crash bar and added some red led's for the eyes.... Lousy cell phone pics but my neighbours with their orange and green tractors have takin notice. Real lighting has been added as the stock ones provided the minimum only.

 

[Black Max]

I adapted a quick change steering wheel to Max, my reversing seat for the back hoe gave me a bit of a reach to the stock steering wheel. New wheel is three inches higher and comes off with the push of a pin and twist of a collar.... Neat. I also mounted a nine inch screen for my front and rear cameras complete with night vision, it actually works !! The screen does not block my view at all, I can still see the full top of the hood.

 

[AchingBack]

Welcome to the club, and great job on the mods, I'm happy for you. Be careful with your toy/tool.

 

[Black Max]

Thanks for the welcome, I operate my "toy" responsibly and safely, great advise we all can benefit from. Being my first tractor I err on the side of caution as I learn how to use it, my property is flat and compared to my other interests 10 miles an hour and twenty five horsepower bring on a whole new level of challenges.

 

[Black Max]

I decided LED and HID lighting would replace my stockers. Picture shows new light cluster, rear HID flood lights, and I installed LED reverse lights where the stock tail lights used to be. My new LED tail lamps have running/ brake lights in red so I fabricated two brackets with micro switches and used one with my treadle for automatic reverse lights, when I push reverse, reverse lights come on. For brake lights I used the linkage and other micro to have my brake lights always "on" when tractor is stopped, but when I go forward or reverse the brake lights dim to running lights. This was a really neat addition and example of how I took it to the Max, so to speak.

 

[bobm6996]

Insanely cool, creative and will continue to watch for the next mods.

 

[Black Max]

Because I live in Canada.... Snow removal will be Max's main chore. But since I need to drive it... A heater is a mandatory addition. Buying the heater was easy, mounting it proved to be more of a project. I will state for the record that even though I have a mig welder, I am convinced I suck at welding. Nothing has ever fallen apart but I tend to make use of simple tools, this was made with a jigsaw, hole saw, and a drill. It's one of those moments to stand back and enjoy the "wow, I actually made that" .

 

[Black Max]

The stock heater switch has a Hi/off/low switch on top and 1st thing I noticed was every time I climbed on the tractor my hand would hit that switch and fan would come on. I added my own electrical system for what I wanted to run when the key is off, as the glow plug and no accessory key position drove me crazy. A simple relay wired to my 12volt power switch gives me constant 12v when I want it.





I added a heater switch to the dash where it's safe, when this switch is activated now the fan comes on low, or fan off when it's off. The old switch on the heater i replaced and now switches the fan to high speed only when heater is switched on in the dash, switch speaks for itself... Lol. Had to add a relay which I put inside the heater itself.

 

[Black Max]

Being a Max 25 HST, I had this empty slot beside my 3 point position control. No idea what could have been there on other models, and looking at it bugged me. When I mentioned electrical system added I was not kidding, wire, loom, solder, heat shrink, fuse panel... Most of my time has been spent on this so far. I used that wasted slot for my master control centre, don't know what else to call it.

 

[Black Max]

People thought I was nuts when I did this mod... Not sure why? Makes 100% of sense to me to have a stereo... I've got one in my shower, why not my tractor !! Kicker powersports system sounds really good, takes very little power, and would work in a riding lawn mower. I removed the blank plate on the dash, made my own plate for the iPod controller, mounted the small amp behind the console, and made some speaker holes... It's like Mahindra/Mitsubishi meant for speakers and switches there, a ton of room under those fender covers !!

 

[Black Max]

I made a convenience upgrade by adding a fender mount 12volt charger and USB charger for cell phone, iPad etc... I also added a 12volt port at the back of the tractor.

 

[Gmorin2217]

Very nice!

 

[s219]

Wow, nice work, but you're having way too much fun. Go do some work with that tractor and get it dirty!

I think if I duded up my tractor this much, it be leaving behind expensive trails of stuff anytime I drive in/out of the woods. Actually, go read Eric's Kioti NX thread....

 

[roughcut]

Black Max, all awesome mods! Wish I had the time and skill to do some of those!! Love seeing all you have done and will be looking for more! Thanks for sharing.
Dave

 

[ArmyPair2]

:welcome: from Alabama and :thumbsup: congrat on your new toy

 

[Black Max]

Thanks for the comments, more to come as I got a lot left I want to do with Max. My first impression when shopping was "man, this thing is beefy !!" I was impressed by the Max 28 for sure but it was more than I really needed and wouldn't fit in my enclosed trailer... Oh well. The Max 24 had the tier IV engine and a cup holder, but cost a lot more than the 25... Besides, my birthday is on the 25th, so 25 it was, it's just that simple sometimes. I admit I fell for the MAX cut into the crash bar, only their last 25 had that, I told my wife it's perfect, it even has a name !! Here is a pic of me looking for a cup holder... And how I resolved that minor issue. They are magnetic and super strong, can put them anywhere there is metal, Max has a lot of that, nice.

 

[Black Max]

I just laughed when I saw these....

 

[Black Max]

Hard to see fully, but here is my reverse light switch on my treadle, non- invasive and protected. I wasn't a fan of the stock floor mats so I made my own out of diamond plate mat, I also fitted an anti- fatigue mat underneath for vibrations... Works great !!