Hey William.... how are the 114's doing ??

[Renze]

Ahh.. now i know what you mean !!!

I thought that the feed pipe, you meant the pipe from air filter to the turbo...

I suppose you would have recognised that BEFORE the turbo would blow, as it would have no power at all, with so much intake vacuum... Yes, stupid reply...

 

[croc2]

Well renze glad u admitted that was a silly post, how ever i forgive you . The 11441 came back yesterday all fit and well and the massey 5465 went back, not bad but felt light weight and odd compared to the forterras, how ever good on derv, comfy cab and good visability. The 6480 seems like a very nice bit of kit haven driven it back to the yard with the suspended cab and front axle are great, just like driving my car. Stll will report back during the week to let you all know whats tis like.

 

[crystalman]

Hi William-The 8245 resto has been on hold over the winter while I have the animals indoors.When they go out I will have more time to continue with it.There are a few bits and pieces I want to order from Igor before Slovakia joins the EEC and becomes vatable! I also want to get new tops for the battery boxes/cab steps made up from nice thick steel.You either need plenty of time or plenty of money and I have neither!!!!!

 

[woodbeef]

Hey William,

Sorry sir,I just noticed your question about the Valtra C/M Series differences.

The M is an updated Mezzo/HiTech basically. The C is a new model,sort of a cross between an A series size wise and a M for the technology. The C is geared more towards livestock farmers and loader applications.

 

[croc2]

Hi Woodbeef,

Dont worry about it, i have pretty much decided on the massey as the dealer is about 5 miles away, and one that i know. The Valtra dealer is too far away to be any good. I had a good look at the 8200 series and i really do think its a great big lump of tractor and not nimble enough, and not only that quite a old tractor in design.

 

[croc2]

Hi Renze,

Well have decided on the massey 6480 with most of the boxs ticked as im going to be driving it full time. Mind you its a shame that i cant have a 150hp zetor yet. Still the dealers coming to see me tomorrow to talk prices and stuff so we shall see.

 

[Renze]

William, good choice !!

MF is reasonably priced, the quality is much better than it was 15 to 20 years ago, and they look nice too !! I think if it was no Zetor , i'd buy an MF or Valtra, not a NH.

Yes, it's a shame... But what do you want ? just another rebadged tractor that follows every wind that blows, but goes bankrupt, or will merge with another one, within time ?? Or do you want that 150 hp Zetor to be a REAL zetor, as we know them ?

I think HTC is doing a careful business. First they introduce the Proxima and soon, a vineyard and orchard series based on them, and also a semi-compact, an orchard model on normal trackwidth.

They try to keep their existing market carefully, before they try to re-establish on the market they have already lost...

No, i believe HTC is going for the long run, not for some quick buck$$$

 

[croc2]

Renze,

I think you are right in your last post, Let HTC carry on as they are and when they get the smaller range out and the money rolling in so they can develop a good 6 pot tractor.

And yes, i am glad that you agree with me about the massey, having done the deal for it yesterday, i have decided to have on lease-hire, that way i know my exact costs for the next 3 years and also the maintainance will also be done by the dealer.
I got a good deal as i know he wanted to get his foot in the door and we shall see if he remains on the ball.

 

[croc2]

Hi Renze,

Sorry its been a long time, i thought you might likea update of the forterras, What can i say apart from they have been Faultless, by that i mean nothing has gone wrong, fallen off, broke!!!!!!. all 3 have now got over 2000 hrs on the clock as they are working 18 hrs+ 7 days a week, which is as heavy as it gets for a tractor i think. My Massey is Faultless as well, just over 1300 hrs and nothing has gone wrong on this, just wish i could say the same about the JCB 3cx thats spent more time in the dealers than out on hire in the last 3 months. however that is something i wont bore you with.

Great tractors these Forterras 9.5/10.

 

[phil]

hey william,

you been expanding the business lately? Last time i spoke to you (ages ago i know) you were buying second-hand Crystals, now all of a sudden you have however many 114's and a new MF! Would be interested to hear what work your putting infront of those machines....

phil

 

[croc2]

Hi, Phil,

Well long time no see, things good or bad your end?.
Yes i have been expanding and i have not finished yet by any means, Im thinking about buying another slew and couple more tractors and trailers as have work coming out of my ears, just cant keep up with it. Anyway u know i bought the 2 new forterras and the ex demo didnt you????. The massey was got for one purpose, that was to pull the 16 ton slew i bought, and pulling trailers as well.
Still have the crystals as well mind working as hard as the rest of them,any how going to go now and have food, bath and bed.

Cheers for now.

 

[Jarnboy]

Hi Zetor fans,

Found your site this morning and haven't stopped looking at it all day, think it's fantastic.

Came across William and his 11441's and was wondering how they were still doing, now we're near October?

We've always had Zetors and looked at buying a new 11441, had one on demo in March, but decided to buy a second-hand Fendt instead (not too much abuse!). Time will tell if we've made the right decission.

We're still running an old 7045 and a 6245 with loader, but these will have to be replaced soon, maybe a new Zetor although the Fendt is hard to beat.

 

[croc2]

Hi All,
Well the forterras are still doing very well, I have had no problems with them at all, front tyres have all been replaced on them due to having weights and loaders hanging off the fronts, The massey has been superb as well. I would recommend a forterra as i am considering another 2 in the new year. I just with Zetor would hurry up and bring the 6 pots out as could do with more horse power in them. They do make good loader tractors as well nice and nimble with good visabilty.

 

[alan]

William why not try the 6 pot 11741?

 

[Renze]

William, 2005 is the magical year in all the rumors...

Most probably the contract with SLH ends then, so that gives green light for them to get their own 6 pot in production, (most probably) in a generation III Forterra !!

How many hours have they made right now ?? Still no signs of wear, with the 130 hp you get from them ??

 

[jon]

William,

Good to hear the Forterras are still going strong, what was done to tune them up to 130 hp and what is the expected work life now they have been tuned?

We originally looked at the 11441 as our loader replacement, but just found it too rough/bouncy on the road, plus we really wanted a 6 pot (damn you Zetor !) Maybe a 6 pot would settle better on the road! We use to have a Crystal 8011, what a fantastic tractor, with suspension!!

Renze, any news of future Zetors with suspension?

The 11441 we had on demo was also badly put together, the gear stick fell apart, some of the air vents were broken and we did hear later the PTO shaft snaped. Just unlucky i hope! What was the idea with the spool levers, a bizarre after thought me thinks. Why couldn't they just place them in a better location, maybe with some plastic housing!

Saying that we have just replaced 2 value control boxes on the Fendt, Zetors are definitely cheaper to repair, tears!!

 

[croc2]

Hi All,

Here is a update of the forterras, Nothing to report at all, nothing has fallen off, broken or worn out yet. The loader has had to be welded due too cracking but that was covered under garantee. Apart from putting of tyres on all of them, and servicing, nothing but work from them. The massy is as faultless as the forterras as well, being my tractor it gets more abuse than the others!!!!.

The forterras are showing just under 3000 hrs on the clocks the massey has clocked 1400 hrs.

 

[Renze]

..If they run to 7000 hrs without major repair, they have proven themself pretty well...

Other tractors i know, like Ford 8210 that had the same characteristics as the 11441 (both models the biggest model of the series, tuned from 115 to 130 hp) ground their transmissions to meal, in heavy (ab)use within 10.000 hrs....
But, they say the current Forterra rear end is up to about 140 hp....

Well actually the 11741 is bigger, but gives 10 more horses at a higher rpm (2350 vs. 2200) and has the same max. torque of 480 Nm


About the MF: lately i followed the resale value of MF tractors: A 16245 will have a better resale value than a 30% more expensive MF 3600 series !!!!!! Let's hope it's better with the newer Mf models (reinforced clutch packs etcetera)