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Mahindra Max Series Sub Compact Tractors

28K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  Hugh-SS/16 
#1 ·
#3 ·
Darn. Just when I'm thinking a used 3510 w/ FEL would be the way to go, the Max 28 comes along for a little more money...brand new! :dunno: In the back of my mind I worry I'll pay someone 11k for a used 3510 and it will have problems that will not reveal itself to me until months later. 5 yr warranty and the best numbers in its class for $4k more? Darn, Mahindra! :banghead3
 
#5 ·
Hello All:

I am posting in this thread by suggestion of a member by the name of Dragon.

So lil background. I was all ready to pull the trigger on a Massey GC1720 TLB with a 60" MMM. $19,100 + Tax cash out the door. But then I ran into this issue with the MMM not being a Dive Over. The deck is 230 lb's and you have to slide it in from the side to get it in place. Not a big deal I suppose once or twice a year, but I intend to be taking this deck off frequently. 2-3 times a month. Distraught that in my year of research that I had not figured this out till now, I fell back to considering a Mahindra 25 Max. But, with implements that I had slated for the Massey, we are talking 30k. It's not more tractor then I want, but its more tractor then I need and the cost at the end of the day was a deal breaker. However, a phone call to my local Dealer here in Clay NY turned up this price. Max 25 in TLB configuration with a 60" MMM, That IS Drive Over, $20,500 + Tax and cash out the door. Id say that warrants a good hard look at it. Unfortunately, I have only the barest knowledge of this tractor having ruled it out early on in the search. So I am looking for Mahindra owners of any of the Max series to weigh in with thoughts and opinions. I am going in the morning to take a good close look at the dealer. Any questions you would ask? Any short comings in the tractor? Complaints? I know that GC owners are on the whole exceptionally satisfied with the tractor. I am certain I would be as well accept for the Deck issue. I am certain in fact that I could figure out some clever way of dealing with the deck if I did pull the trigger. But the $1400 diff for the Max put's it squarely in competition, and I think all would agree that the Max is a heavier built tractor then the GC. So weigh in with all your thoughts.
 
#6 · (Edited)
So I went this morning and got my first look at,,, and a good close look it was,,, at the Max 25. Finding a perfect tractor is a lot like trying to build the perfect tank. Seems like everything is based on trade offs. And that is unfortunate because there is a whole heap of things that I like about the mahindra over any of the other SCUT's. chief among the likes is the fact that everything is just beefier. There are some who disapprove of even calling the max 25 a SCUT, preferring to call it a small CUT. And that is a debate for another time. But regardless of what you want to call the Max 25, it unquestionably has more power, more weight, and more girth. All of which is not so big as to discount it for doing the work I want to do with it. In a nut shell, in this case, more is not a bad thing.

But while there is much to be liked about the Max, it comes with a lot of what I consider, Again I speak only for myself, baggage. The best way to describe the fit and finish of the tractor is to say, it's as if many "Design Phase" aspects made it's way into final production. So here is my example. At some point, the design team wanted to test the hydraulic power of the FEL. But we are still in the "Design Phase" here and since this is a total redesign, there is no off the shelf FEL equipment, so they mocked up some control apparatus quick like in order to simply test the new FEL frame. But It seems like that mocked up apparatus they used during the design phase made its way all the way to the final product. They used flexible hose all over the FEL where nearly every other FEL on the market used ridged line. The control lever and valve is mounted off a metal stand off. Nothing fancy about it. It's a valve with a metal lever coming off it,,, and some hoses sticking out the back. It's functional certainly. But there is no Refinement about it what so ever.

And this pretty much describes the fit and finish of the whole tractor. Functional, but just about as rough as it can get. You will find no real creature comforts on the Mahindra. And I have to say, the Hydro static foot pedal arrangement is absolutely abysmal. A heal to toe arrangement with a solid 12 inches between them. The, what can only be described as flimsy, bit of wire rod they used for the forward foot pedal control screams Design Mock up. As a matter of fact, compared to how beefy every other component is, I was left scratching my head where the heck that foot pedal came from. And the double brake, mind you they give you a double brake, is right above the forward foot pedal. How on earth are you supposed to use the advantage of a double brake pedal if you cant move the tractor forward at the same time? In order to brake either left or right while moving ahead, you have to swing both feet to the right side, and even then it would be insanely awkward. Putting double break pedals in on the same side as the forward foot pedal is just about the most pointless thing I can think of. But the dealer pointed out that the tractor did have cruise control that would keep the tractor moving for you while you worked the separate break pedals. Uh huh. Maybe some of you ok with that. I think it's awkward and pointless, and they should have spent the extra money they used putting this feature in on giving you a proper forward/reverse pedal arrangement that does not look like it was designed in a preschool CAD class.

The gas fill cap is in an awkward place just behind the instrument panel. The fenders are pointless. Maybe some of you like the fact that 95% of the rear tire is exposed. I however do not. The lights attached to the fender are flimsy to the point of being laughable and they are in a prime position to be broken off in any of a dozen different ways. There is no boom float control on the hoe. And the dealer had, no joke, NO IDEA how to mount or dismount a backhoe on this thing. He was unclear if it could be done without taking off the three point hitch arms. He had no Idea how easy or not easy it was to mount or dismount the hoe. Nothing on the Mahindra website or in the literature speaks of installing or uninstalling the hoe. Why is that do you suppose? Being able to quickly and easily mount and dismount the FEL and hoe are hallmarks of the SCUT class as most people know them, as a SCUT is supposed to be all things to all homeowners. If you can't quickly swap out a major implement on the tractor, that's kind of a huge problem. But I would not know one way or the other because there is no information to be found, and the one person that SHOULD know, the dealer, has never mounted or dismounted one. This mind you after claiming to have sold 50 of these tractors in 2012. The Diff lock foot lever was in an awkward place. The PTO requires the use of yet another clutch pedal on the left foot side, where the brake should be, in order to engage. The three point hitch flow control knob is rough engineering to say the least. And the MMM height adjustment is a mechanical stop based on a pin setting that requires the use of the rear draw bar. On a side note, if any of you ever read the 34 page tread over at Tractor By Net regrading the Max classification as a SCUT, DavesTractor, a dealer out in California made a point to say that the cooling fan blade on the BX, JD, and GC are all plastic. Well I have seen with my own eyes that the Max has a plastic fan blade as well, though it is much more protected in its positioning.

I am going to be spending a whole lot of seat time on this tractor. From mowing to clearing 2 acres of land, to landscaping to erecting the foundation of a barn. Overall comfort to me is at least as important as how much power and capacity the tractor has. I know I can do what I want to do with the GC1720. It would be wonderful to have more grunt that the Max 25 offers. But the overall fit and finish of the Max is not just disappointing, it's depressing. I am not saying that the Max is or is not an overall good performer. For the most part the Max is built like Sherman tank. And I mean that in nearly every respect. I am simply saying that the fit and finish is a real turn off to me. In fact, if Mahindra wanted to invest in refining the Max into a proper SCUT Styled tractor, I think it would be a real hit. If they could offer a larger platform that's not too large, more power and capacity and all the creature comforts that the smaller tractors already offer, then they would be on to something. But they could not do all of that and keep the price down. In fact, that's the real trade off. Bota and Massey and John Deere already offer a larger platform tractor with all the bells and whistles. But they are on average another 10k. And I suspect that if Mahindra tried to refine the Max further, they would soon be bumping an additional 10k as well.

My conclusion is, if you require more power and capacity, but you don't want to spend the money to move up a series level with the other brands, then the mahindra Max is for you. However, if you do not require more tractor, but do want all the creature comforts and intend to spend a lot of seat time with your SCUT, the Max is going to be very disappointing. Because the trade of for the extra power and capacity is pretty much all refinements.
 
#10 ·
The massey mf 1529 with just the FEL is $19,700. but to get it set up as a TLB, it,s another $8300 plus $2800 for the MMM. They do make a MF 1526, but its only like $1800 cheaper. That is what i am basing my estimation of the bota and jd on. If 10k is a bit high, its not by much I bet. +10k is a pretty good number to work with to get into the CUT class or roughly 30k total.
 
#12 ·
@UT:

I take your point about the Bota 2320. Massey I don't think is making the MF26 for 2013. It lists it on the website, but you can't actually click on it. I know for a solid fact they are not making the MF28 this year. I'll have to check with the dealer to see if they still have the MF26 this year. If they don't, then Massey does not really have a tractor to compare to the Bota 2320. The MF29 is a substantially higher capacity CUT over either the 2320 or the Max25. But like I said, it's also roughly 30k. Set up as specified.

I am thinking that I will be making a return trip to the Bota dealer to look at the 2320. Compairing specs between the MF1720 and the BX2360, the B2320 appears to be basically a BX2360 on a larger CUT frame. Lift capacity is extended over the BX I suppose because of this. The Max 25 is still sporting larger numbers across the board. Though I suspect that the Bota is much more refined. If one needed a Cut sized tractor over the SCUT's available, looks like the B2320 would be a good candidate. As you point out, it certainly is within the price range. I will report back when I have had a chance to look them over. This could actually fit the bill.

Alow me to refine my earlier thoughts. At this time I am working on the assumption that in terms of Massey, the next step from the GC1720 is the MF1529. Bota certainly has an a more intermediate step in the B2320. But spec for spec, the B2320 is basically a BX2360 on a larger frame size. The B2320 sports only a marginal price increase because of this. I still maintain then that in order to get into MF1529 territory in either kubota or JD, your going to be looking at roughly a 30k package price.
 
#15 ·
I priced a JD 2520 TLB a couple years ago and it was less than $25k...
 
#13 ·
I'm not familiar with the MF offerings above the GC series. As you note, their line-up is not filled-out as much as say JD or Kubota. So they lack the intermediate sized machines like Kubota B2320/2620/2920 or JD 2320/2520/2720 that fall into the small-frame CUT class. That is the sweet spot when considering something a little more capable than a SCUT, yet reasonably affordable still.

One thing to know about the B2320 is that it does not share the same engine as the BX2360's 0.9 liter "Super-Mini" D902. Although the horsepower rating is roughly the same, it is a larger-displacement engine from a different engine family that produces a lot more torque at lower rpm for pto speed. This is the same 1.0 liter engine (D1005) that is used in the BX2660, but again with different performance characteristics such that it produces more torque at a lower rpm.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Hi All,

I'm seeing this thread a bit late, but worth adding 2 cents after the fact anyway. I've owned my MF GC2600 for almost 10 months now. This is my first tractor, having grown up around nothing more than Craftsman lawn mowers.

I'm a finance guy by trade, so when I began looking at these things it became just another research project for me. No 'lugnut' pretenses about "colors" or personal impressions good, bad or indifferent.

I've made extensive comments on other threads in other places regarding the 1 Series Deere and Kubota BX series tractors, so for here I'll limit my comments to just the Max.

I live in southern NY, so when I wanted to look at the Max series it was quite a ride west out of state just to reach my closest dealer. But it was worth it to me to see what Mahindra had to offer, as again, I came with NO PRETENSES and just wanted to find what I felt was objectively the best machine/company/dealer for my family's 11+ acres of needs.

That said, by and large, I have to agree with Singalo's take. I mean, when I began looking at tractors I didn't even know the terminology distinguishing the different classes, and it still only took me about 2 minutes to realize Mahindra was marketing apples vs oranges. That was a bad start, as far as I was concerned. Because if you make good machines then they can stack up fairly...you don't need to miss-compare classifications just to puff up your numbers...and I couldn't help but shake my impression of this. The Max series as a group really does strike me as a stripped down CUT masquerading as a SCUT in order to make up for it's lack of features.

Here's the analogy: It's a Dodge Dakota. Except instead of marketing it as an in-between size machine, they're attempting to compare it to Ford Rangers and Chevy S-10's and pointing out how it "outclasses" them all in this and that... It simply feels disingenuous to me.

Furthermore, both the dealer I saw, and dealer videos I've seen on YouTube, seem to show a sort of childish understanding of what the SCUT class is all about. One dealer spent the better part of 5 minutes bashing the Kubota BX series. I mean...Kubota pioneered this stuff. And even as I didn't choose to by one (but was VERY impressed by the dealership), I still have to hand Kubota much respect. Their long term track record with the BX deserves respect, especially given Kubota makes every darn thing on the machine themselves.

Look...competition is GREAT. But a disrespectful new guy rubs people the wrong way, because there are brands in this class who have been making great tractors for years. So when you come along and attempt to do a magic trick by moving the field, instead of 'wowing' on the basis of the machine...it just doesn't play the way you think it does.

And I can see why they're doing it, because the 20 Series, B Series and especially the 1500 MF's are far beyond the Max's. I mean...Mahindra has nightmares about an MF 1529/32 vs Mahindra Max comparison video. It would look like Me picking a fist fight with "The Rock."

Bottom line: I get that the 'new guy' (lacking a better term, given they're trying to break in on OUR shores) likes to try and shake things up. But going about it in a disingenuous way just sticks wrong with a lot of guys...and it did with me. And if the price of trading up to a weak CUT class tractor -- purely for the sake of dollars -- is fit and finish, it isn't worth it to me. Because if I had truly NEEDED a CUT class tractor...I'd have shopped for that...on THOSE 'terms.'

In actual SCUT class, the MF GC2600 is simply a beast. 103 hours and nothing but smiles.

Mows 3 acres of lawn, is in the process of clearing portions of 5 acres of woods, runs the Wallenstein chipper/shreader like a champ, plowed some pretty big snows, moves dirt for the garden, and will SOON be grading 200 feet of driveway.

Git 'er done!

- Sentry


"Due to the unfortunate price and supply shock in ammunition, warning shots will no longer be provided."
 
#17 ·
The dealer I work at (details in signature) carries Mahindras. If anyone wants pricing or information, feel free to give us a call, stop in, or send me a PM :)
 
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