Small Tractors? Massey Ferguson 230?

[Welder Dave]

Draft control confuses a lot of people. Add in that there is also a draft response control down by your right foot and it just gets more confusing. Draft control is designed to transfer weight back to the rear wheels for extra traction when pulling ground engaging implements like plows, cultivators and I even use it with the ripper teeth on my box blade. It also puts an even load on the tractor if there are hills and bumps or even different soil conditions you're pulling in. Without if you were pulling a plow or cultivator and hit some extremely hard ground, you'd come to stop and just be spinning. Draft control would slightly raise the plow allowing you to keep going. That's where you have to experiment with it a bit. Draft response control varies the speed at which the draft control responds (Lifts and lowers) to different soil conditions. If you put the draft control all the way down it wouldn't really do anything different than using the position control. It works awesome when I'm ripping my MX track with the box blade and I hit the sand section. If I just put the blade down, it would dig in and I'd be digging holes with the rear tires. If I lower the blade with the draft control only moving the lever 2 or 3 inches, it will only dig into the harder soil under the sand a little letting the tractor keep going without digging trenches with the tires. Without draft control trying to do the same thing would be a real PIA. You'd have to constantly be raising and lowering the blade trying to rip the harder ground without going too deep where the tires are spinning. Draft control lets you breeze right through and have everything consistent. If you start to spin, just raise the draft control in tiny increments and keep on going. When I get past the sand section I can move the draft control down and dig deeper because I have better traction. Hope this makes some kind of sense.

 

[Welder Dave]

Land planes are in the $2000 range.

 

[aighead]

Beautiful Dave, that made more sense than the other stuff I was reading. I also now understand why it wouldn't matter with a 4 wheeled mower.

Some dang smart folk out there to come up with that junk!

Yeah, land plane looks cool and the name is great but the thousand I just spent for the blade was way over budget. If nothing else the things I get now can be stop-gaps until it's determined I need something better. Similar to the theory of buying cheap power tools and if you use them enough to break them that's when you pony up for the name brand stuff.

 

[Delmer]

That blade will work and it has some nice features. I'd wait for a heavier used one to come along, but I like working on old iron.

I bought one of these for $500 https://www.bigiron.com/Lots/GurriesGP4040LandPlane
That's the kind of thing that would get Dave's track TOO flat, all it needed was an upside down 2 5/16 ball hitch to hook directly to a tractor drawbar to get rid of the dolly in the front, 1/2" black iron run to the cylinder to run off the tractor hydraulics, and flipping the cutting edge to use the new side.

 

[Welder Dave]

Your blade will work fine. 7Ft. is nice because it will cover the back wheels when angled. Especially helpful when clearing snow. The Advanced Ferguson System like you have is by far the best 3pt. system ever designed. The only flaw is that the 3pt. will creep down when the tractor is shut off or the 3pt. hyd's. aren't activated. I'm not sure if it's still used on some MF tractors. I'm sure it would add quite a bit to the cost.

 

[Welder Dave]

That blade will work and it has some nice features. I'd wait for a heavier used one to come along, but I like working on old iron.

I bought one of these for $500 https://www.bigiron.com/Lots/GurriesGP4040LandPlane
That's the kind of thing that would get Dave's track TOO flat, all it needed was an upside down 2 5/16 ball hitch to hook directly to a tractor drawbar to get rid of the dolly in the front, 1/2" black iron run to the cylinder to run off the tractor hydraulics, and flipping the cutting edge to use the new side.

Wouldn't work to good on the corners.

 

[aighead]

Thanks guys, I hope so, it's also got the offset so I can slide it a bit one way to help cover tires if it's angled too much. I plan to use it to grade out the barn floor which I'd like to do within the next few weeks, so I didn't want to press my luck waiting for something to show up, used, for sale. Add to that that I don't have a truck or trailer to move such things and I think it'll be OK to go this route.

Delmer- that thing is huge!

 

[Welder Dave]

The position control stop would be helpful for leveling your barn floor so you don't accidently dig too deep. Get it kind of level, set the height and just drive in circles and figure 8's.

 

[Delmer]

Wouldn't work to good on the corners.

No, it wouldn't! the back arm sticks out another 15' to control the hydraulic valve to raise and lower the blade to smooth highway grade without surveying or GPS. making it span over 35', cool but not that useful when a skid steer can grade with GPS.

 

[Welder Dave]

Good for large area's.

 

[aighead]

Supposedly my blade will be here Monday. I haven't talked to anyone but I'm curious as to how it'll be delivered. Usually, this kind of thing will require some kind of call where they have to figure out some logistics but I haven't heard anything here. Maybe just a liftgate and pallet jack? It only, supposedly, weighs a bit less than 400 lbs. but it's 7 feet wide, so we'll see how it goes.

As mentioned I used this tractor to mow my yard when we first moved in, assuming it stops raining sometime I expect to try her out again this weekend to see how she does. I have a fair amount of obstacles so I'll only be able to hit the big areas but it'll be interesting to see how much time is saved with a mower deck that is 18-20" wider than my mower.

I like to keep a track "groomed" in the back field and I went out and cut the new one last weekend with the new tractor. The grass was back to hay field status, so thick and probably 3-4 feet tall. Normally, I'd take the mower out there and make several very slow passes to knock down the big stuff, then cut it 1" or less, to run the go-kart around or as a nice walking track. This time, with the tractor, I went out and raised the deck up about a foot and took a pass, still slowly, then lowered to maybe 6" and made a pass or two, then lowered to probably 3" and made a pass, then as low as it would go. I assume it saved a few hours with the tractor and it was a much more comfy ride. Again, if it dries out some I'll get a map of this year's track, I always change it up a little, and I think this one should be my best yet. It'll be slower and more technical than in the past but it should be a lot of fun to tear ass around.

 

[aighead]

The wife was out on the small mower while I used the tractor. We did the yard in about 2.5 hours less than "normal" with just the small mower. Pretty sweet, and I'm sure that time will come down a bit more as I get comfier with the tractor. Man, that finish mower deck cuts nicely too!

I also took a trip around the go-kart track. There are a few good spots but also a few turns where the tractor turned much tighter than the go-kart can, so some alterations were in order. The wife was out there helping on the small mower (we took it out to deliver gas to the run-out kart), so I didn't get a chance to run it on the parts she was messing with yet. My tracking software isn't very specific, so it's not easy to see the track I have, unless I can talk my neighbor into taking a picture with his drone, but I probably won't do that. Maybe it's time to get my own cheap one that can go a couple hundred feet up, it'd be neat to compare tracks, year after year.

 

[aighead]

The blade! It was a challenge to get hooked up but then I let her rip down the driveway several times. Good stuff! Now I need to spend time really figuring out "position" and "draft" I thought I understood but then I realized I had the handles backwards...

 

[Welder Dave]

You'd use the position control with a blade 98% of the time. You can set the stop to limit how far down it drops.

 

[aighead]

Anyone know what kind of oil I should be using for Transmission, Differential, and hydraulics on this tractor? The manual calls for Massey Ferguson Permatran oil, but it doesn't seem like that is really a thing any more... I'd love to be able to find something at the local auto parts store or maybe even Cramazon or Wallyworld. It does not appear, in the manual, to give me any specs on what the oil should be or contain.

 

[Delmer]

Universal tractor hydraulic transmission fluid. Lots of versions, mobile 424 maybe? is a good one and commonly available.

I wouldn't use a $20 bucket of yellow "303" or similar, but this is one where you could if you had to, no wet brakes or clutches so it doesn't matter that much.

 

[aighead]

Thanks Delmer, that's kind of what I'm seeing on my search but there are so many different varieties and I understand very little of the differences. It looks like there are listed Permatran alternatives but I'm not sure which is acceptable. I also don't know how to determine if it has wet brakes or clutches.

The experience and knowledge here is always much appreciated.

 

[Delmer]

Take the starter off and look at the clutch, it's a push rod operated pressure plate and disc just like a manual trans car or truck, no oil in that compartment. Look at the brakes, they're outboard drums, just like drum brakes on a car or truck, with the wheel bolted directly to the drum, and the drum open to the air on the inside. No oil there either.

Wet brakes or clutches would usually be operated with a hydraulic valve instead of a mechanical linkage, but not always. They are usually stacked discs like an automatic transmission, or a motorcycle clutch, and running in oil obviously. So you want to be much more careful of the oil that goes in them than this trans that is just gears and very simple hydraulics, that you just want to drain the water out of before it freezes, and maybe change the filter some day.

 

[aighead]

Thanks Delmer! Makes sense!

 

[Welder Dave]

MF Permatran 821XL is the oil to use. I've tried other universal tractor fluids but in operation the OEM Permatran works the best in my experience. If you have no leaks where water can get in the oil will last a long time. Not worth trying to save $20 here. You have dry brakes. The MF 230 is an economy version of an MF 245 and I believe it has dry brakes as well. The wet brake axles on the larger models are a square profile. Look at the inside of the wheels and you'll see the backing plate and drums. Should also be a rubber plug for adjusting the star wheel if I recall correctly.
One very important thing to do is make sure the cotter pin (head) in the bottom of the clutch housing stays free and can turn. If it drips a little oil (2 or 3 drops) is OK. It's supposed to. If it drips a lot is a problem. Either the rear seal on the engine is bad and/or the front seal on the trans. is bad and the tractor has to be split. The hole with the cotter pin is to drain any oil so the clutch doesn't get soaked. Many users have plugged the hole because it was leaking not realizing it was a tell tale sign repairs were required. I think there might be a clutch inspection cover with 4 bolts on the bottom as well. Some loaders like Ezee On used the holes for a mid mount loader frame. I wish I had an Ezee On loader as it's quick attach and can be easily removed or attached. I have an Allied loader that mounts to the rear axle. I have a fairly heavy 7' blade on mine so steering is a little tough with manual steering. The blade is a good counter weight though when I have to drive up the jumps on my MX track with an implement on the back. If you try to go up too steep of a hill the front end WILL come up and the tractor could flip over backwards. The weight bias on a tractor is on the rear wheels so you can't drive up a steep slope like you could in a truck. Have to keep this in mind when loading onto a trailer as well.