dumbfarmer Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 ive been looking for another magnum for awhile i like my 7140 thought it would be nice to get something like it to plant with. for a while ive been thinking an 8920 mfd, but if they have less than 5k hours people want 70-90 grand for them. mx series arent much more often times same price for a comparative tractor. i know theyre ugly but youd think they would be farther apart in price. is it all the extra electric gremlins? you would think they would have all that weeded out by now. just curious what your experiences with them have been
Maynard Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 ive been looking for another magnum for awhile i like my 7140 thought it would be nice to get something like it to plant with. for a while ive been thinking an 8920 mfd, but if they have less than 5k hours people want 70-90 grand for them. mx series arent much more often times same price for a comparative tractor. i know theyre ugly but youd think they would be farther apart in price. is it all the extra electric gremlins? you would think they would have all that weeded out by now. just curious what your experiences with them have been Two things....Electrical gremlins and the CAPS injection pump. Stay away from tractors built prior to S/N JJA0105xxx to avoid a lot of the electrical harness issues and to get better functioning hydraulic valves. Move past early MX's to the common rail fuel system for better reliability under the hood. Many of the electrical issues I deal with could have been prevented with a little more attention payed to connections, especially the ground connections to the frame. Battery drain is also a problem with tractors that sit during an off season. The batteries should be charged to a full state before attempting to start the engine.
dumbfarmer Posted October 23, 2012 Author Posted October 23, 2012 what did they do to the hyd valves to make them better? and on the connections, are you talking about assembly or maintence?
pt756 Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 i agree you just dont see them pushed as much as the older magnums an as dar as price have to agree they just dont se to be getting any cheaper especially if you find one with very low hours on,more visibility in cabs on the mx,s though
TroyDairy Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 When did they switch to common rail Maynard? And what is it with the battery drain? What causes that? Any issues with the pillar guages?
Maynard Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 what did they do to the hyd valves to make them better? and on the connections, are you talking about assembly or maintence? As the hydraulic valves and software progressed through the series timer functions were modified from a simple master timer to individual timers to timers programmable for both directions and flow control was improved along the way. Early harnesses had a bunch of "Y" connectors in them which were eliminated in later (post JJA0105xxx) production. Ground connections tend to get corroded and cause problems in the 5 volt circuits if left unattended. When did they switch to common rail Maynard? And what is it with the battery drain? What causes that? Any issues with the pillar guages? Common rail came at the style change with the one piece hood. Battery drain is due to several factors, there are a lot of circuits that have unswitched power so the possibility of parsitic drain is increased. Add to that the numerous monitors and control units added for various operations and the potential for added drain increases. Adding a battery cutoff switch is recommended and is available on current tractors. I've found that when constant recharging becomes necessary the batteries themselves are usually starting to fail.
IHKIWI Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 I worked at a dealership when MX was released,we only sold four MX 200's but spent more time chasing those things around fixing cracked pipes than we did with 20+ early magnums that we sold .I was about ready to put wing nuts on the cab mounts on those things so we could work on em .We sold the dealership in 2001 so have not worked on the later stuff,but I guess they got them sorted out. Also pulled all the front diffs out and re-stacked the clutch plates in the LSD's so as to give them some traction for the hill country we have around here.Had the battery drain thing also but only once. Very nice tractor to operate with many improvements over the original Magnum as far as features go. I'm not bashing MX ,but after the fantastic run we had from the first series Magnums they were a little dissapointing from a mechanics point of view. Personally I like the 7200 series and wish they still made them.I bet they would sell like hot cakes if they ever did another production run .Simple and bulletproof,would do everything most farmers would need to do. Just my 2 cents
gordont2 Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 The benefit of the early S/N tractors is you get away from the CAPS fuel system and back to your mechanical injection system. As for the timers I have not seem many people who use them, let alone care or know how to. One of the technitions here has an early one and he loves it, but maybe he has been lucky with the electrical connections. I will say unfortunatly on them if something goes wrong with the electric motor for the hydraulic remotes it is $$$$$$$$$$, and you can only get it as an assembly, not the pieces.
Blackstripe7 Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 I worked for a guy for a few years that had a MX 285, every other tractor on the farm was green with yellow wheels. That MX was the most comfortable tractor that I've ever run! Granted I'm a little biased, but that MX was a lot nicer than the JD 8420 that he had at the same time. In fact his dad who has had two back surgeries had pretty much given up on doing any tillage work. Then one day he got in the MX to help out for a couple hours. Let's just say that he chose to run it the rest of the day and was happy as a kid at Christmas the next day when he was begging to run it again. The cab on those are very roomy and are extremely quiet compared to the 8000 series JD's. I really like the controls, the shifting being right on the throttle lever is a great idea, the heated leather seat was nice on cold mornings too! That one had duals on all four corners, but didn't have the front suspension option, but it still seemed to float across the field. We never had any serious problems with it, in fact I never remember it going in to town for repairs.
SMiller Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 IF I were in the market I would be looking for a later one with a weak caps fuel system and would buy the P-pump conversion for it. Would make a great tractor then!
dumbfarmer Posted October 23, 2012 Author Posted October 23, 2012 im confused... maynard seemed to say the later ones past a certain ser no had the better fuel system and others are saying early ones are better? which is it that has the simpler better system? early or late?
SMiller Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 3 different injection pumps, early had good P-pump, MOST had $hitty caps system, later ones had good common rail system. There is also a after market P-pump conversion that I was talking about, it makes the cheap/unwanted MX into a great tractor again. You can have the early model with the good pump but it has the crappy electriconics...
mg1206 Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 If I'm not mistaken the 240s and 270s all had caps pumps, only the smaller models had p-pumps. CIH had area diesel design a P-pump conversion for all with the caps pumps
Maynard Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 im confused... maynard seemed to say the later ones past a certain ser no had the better fuel system and others are saying early ones are better? which is it that has the simpler better system? early or late? The early CAPS pumps were very trouble prone, so much so that they extended the warranty significantly for them. Later versions of the CAPS pump were better but still lacking long term longevity. Keeping them from getting aerated fuel helps keep them running. 3 different injection pumps, early had good P-pump, MOST had $hitty caps system, later ones had good common rail system. (All 240s and 270s had CAPS J.N.) There is also a after market P-pump conversion that I was talking about, it makes the cheap/unwanted MX into a great tractor again. You can have the early model with the good pump but it has the crappy electriconics... If I'm not mistaken the 240s and 270s all had caps pumps, only the smaller models had p-pumps. CIH had area diesel design a P-pump conversion for all with the caps pumps P-Pump conversions are not a CIH or CNH alternative to a failed CAPS pump. If they are then it's been kept secret from us here in Indiana. One note about the mechanical engines....They will exhibit harsher shifts especially 6-7 and 12-13 due to not being able to briefly de-fuel during the shift event. (try slapping the throttle up and shifting to 7th at the same time for a real kick in the a$$ jolt) MX240, MX270, MX 255 and MX 285 all had CAPS pumps. MX180, MX200, MX220, (< early) MX210 and MX230 (<later) Had mechanical injection systems...and all mechanical engines had only 12 valves. There were no "electronic" P-Pumps.
ChrisNY Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 So Maynard, if you were buying a MX what model would YOU chose? I dont think I have ever been in a MX that wasnt brand new that didnt have some type of error code flashing on it, hence the change over in this area from red to green after the MX's came out.
Nebraska1206 Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 We've never had a customer willing to pull trigger & have the P-pump conversion kit installed on their MX240, 270, 255, or 285 when they have had a CAPS pump fail. For a while there, we were replacing a lot of them on a regular basis, now it seems to have slowed down. I imagine in spring we'll start to see them fail again. I think there's enough of them out there with higher hours that would make the P-pump conversion ideal, but I guess most are content to spend $5000 on a reman CAPS pump & go for 2-3000 hours more, than spend $12K & install a P-pump that may never need attention again.
DirtBoyz07 Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 You have got to be kidding me Matt , $ 12,000 .00 for the conversion ??? Holy smokes I will keep driving the 5388 and older , I can fix those. Wait until I build the 5588 you boys will want those !!!! Danny
Nebraska1206 Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 I thought the service manager had a price quote hanging in his office, now I don't see it, but I'm almost certain it was that high, it also included a "brain box" to get things running correctly with the conversion. I could be wrong on the price, but I know its high, higher than a reman CAPS pump.
ryan wegman Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 quote P-Pump conversions are not a CIH or CNH alternative to a failed CAPS pump. If they are then it's been kept secret from us here in Indiana. One note about the mechanical engines....They will exhibit harsher shifts especially 6-7 and 12-13 due to not being able to briefly de-fuel during the shift event. (try slapping the throttle up and shifting to 7th at the same time for a real kick in the a$$ jolt) MX240, MX270, MX 255 and MX 285 all had CAPS pumps. MX180, MX200, MX220, (< early) MX210 and MX230 (<later) Had mechanical injection systems...and all mechanical engines had only 12 valves. There were no "electronic" P-Pumps. quote nothing "wrong" really, just what is stated, guys are just scared of anything that resembles something electronic. maynard. why the H#ll would you slap the throttle on the 6-7 and 12-13 shift?? i'm sure your just proving a point, but throttling up, backing off quick and then shifting makes it much smoother.
Maynard Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 So Maynard, if you were buying a MX what model would YOU chose? I dont think I have ever been in a MX that wasnt brand new that didnt have some type of error code flashing on it, hence the change over in this area from red to green after the MX's came out. That would depend on the intended usage, but for general field work I would want at least a Series II machine that had constant engine speed for the fuel savings. Probably an MX305.
1480x3 Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 I thought the service manager had a price quote hanging in his office, now I don't see it, but I'm almost certain it was that high, it also included a "brain box" to get things running correctly with the conversion. I could be wrong on the price, but I know its high, higher than a reman CAPS pump. 12 -13k is what I was told when conversion first became available, but was recently told price has come down some.
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