Off Color Tractor Shopping

So I am on the lookout for a “sizable” tractor. Looking at about every color of the rainbow I really don’t care as long as it works and doesn’t bankrupt me.

What gives with Case IH MX series tractors? They are bigger than what I need, but I see many that are….dare I say …..pretty cheap. Like a 20 year old 240hp tractor for similar money as a 35 plus year old 180hp Case IH. (Boxcar Magnum?).

Too good to be true? Good deal? Or common problems? Hours comparable too, 9,10,12000 hour range for my bank account.

jvin248 wrote: . AI says those models can have PTO system and diesel injector pump problems. Historically Case focuses on value so the lower prices are expected. .

Good to know about the issues. But as for value I’m comparing Case to Case. The one. MX240 did say it started hard and they thought it was a pump problem. Idk.

WF owner wrote: A couple years ago, I was meeting a neighbor's Case IH tractor (I believe it is a MX240) towing a liquid manure spreader. My niece's husband was driving it. All of a sudden it started heading at me head-on. I wasn't happy, thinking that is no toy to be playing chicken with. As I veered over onto the shoulder to miss him, I saw the look of terror on his face. He drove right to the shoulder of the road and stopped just before going into the ditch. I stopped and he jumped out and apologized and said he had lost everything. It wouldn't move, the hydraulics wouldn't work and he couldn't steer or stop it. They ended up unhooking the spreader right in the road and towed it off the road, The dealer came and picked it up and winched it on their lowboy. It took a couple months to be fixed. He later told me the cost of repairs was $48,000!!!

 

FWIW~Some shared experiences over on AgTalk. Maybe poke around over there to gain more info?https://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=776354&DisplayType=flat&setCookie=1

AC7060IL wrote: FWIW~Some shared experiences over on AgTalk. Maybe poke around over there to gain more info?https://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=776354&DisplayType=flat&setCookie=1

I did. Part of how I formed my opinion. Not all milk and honey on red power either.

They're good tractors. They're, in many ways, the same tractor as an old Magnum. The MX240, MX255, MX270 and MX285 have CAPS injector pumps. They use mechanical injectors, but the pump is less than reliable. I think I've heard it's around 4K to replace, and you're good for a good while longer. The cab sits close to the transmission, and stuff can get caught in there and rust lines out. The remotes had some trouble, I've never seen trouble from them really, but I think, from my understanding, is because most have been updated. Engine is still and 8.3, transmission is still a Magnum transmission, jsut with electric shift. Transmission shift quality depends on the alternator, so if you get rough shifting that just won't stop being rough (can't calibrate it out), the alternator may well be the problem. Really, they're as good as anything of that era, but the CAPS pump is a weak point. I'm not aware of much in the way of PTO issues. They have a roll pin on the shiftable ones to enable shifting, but it's nothing like those awful little pins in the Maxxums. I've seen one give issues, but if I recall, we were in there for PTO trouble that ended up being the alternator, and I found a bent spirol pin. Don't hammer the shafts in, and the problem doesn't exist. They do have a rather expensive shaft retainer setup on shiftable PTO's that is basically a truck front wheel bearing type deal. There is a serial break at JJC105000. I think there's a number of electrical differences. I'd recommend maybe staying away from tractors prior to S/N  JJC105000 

Edited by joe - 28 Mar 2025 at 12:19pm