Anyone know about a Massey 699 ?

Looking at buying a Massey 699 from a machinery dealer. Salesman says everything is good on it, but I'm not sure he really knows. Appearantly it has 5500 hours on it. Is there anything I should be looking for ? Should I have a dyno test done? Tractor is out of town, so I haven't actually viewed it. It's a 4x4 with an allied loader.

Thanks

Hi If I was looking at it I'd make sure the front axle and all pivot points was in real good shape, and check with Massey for parts prices and
availability. Some of the stuff for the newer tractors is a huge price and we had to wait quite a while for some out of stock parts for a lot newer
tractor also. It is not unheard of to put $4000+ of parts in a damaged hub/axle on Masseys and Landini's. Some parts on it maybe becoming obsolete
to, used maybe a hard find as well. It was not a very common tractor in north america from what I have seen around on farms or for sale, its a mainly european sold model.
Check the tractor over the same as any other for trans, engine,brakes, and other general stuff. if it has multi power they can give trouble the
odd time just the same as any other hydraulic stuff on it.
The allied loader needs checking real good they are bad for breaking the frames/ mountings, and wearing the pins and bushings. i see quite a few of
them on Belarus and other tractors round here that are worn out at 5000 hrs,even when they have been greased and reasonably well looked after lots
of them won't take new bushings as the counter bore is worn out of round, they need cutting out and new welding in. I got a Belarus coming in for
all that fun shortly. i doubt the loader is new enough to be a 2795 or similar series mid mount, like the alo quickie type that allied copied. That
type allied loader is horrible to work on the tractor with huge steel brackets the older 795 type make more money used round here, as guys like them better, as you can still get at things good to fix them.
Regards Robert

My neighbor and I went and looked at one, he bought it. It also has an allied loader on it. It is a 4x4. I help this neighbor on his farm from time to time, here are my comments.

It is a French Tractor. Why do I note this? Parts availability is one.

On the plus side this is a nice size tractor and when everything works it runs and works great. One negative for me personally, a big guy, is operator comfort. The three shift levers, throttle, and differential lock on the floor and the location of the air/heat unit (bump my feet, legs, knees, and head all the time.) is a nightmare. For my neighbor, a much smaller guy, it is not an issue. He loves driving it.

The 4x4 quit working, we thought it was in the differential and had it completely apart, including the Detroit Locker differential. We found some of these parts are no longer available. Luckily we could not find a root cause in that area, otherwise we might have replaced some of the worn parts. It turned out to be a actuating solenoid/wiring issue. What we have seen is there is a wear ring in the differential that wears and loosens, and leaks. So far this is hanging together. There is also a small bolt that holds the drive shaft to the front together. It threads into one side of the drive shaft and has a habit of shearing. I learned a lot about fwda front ends. Bottom line I think this front end is great when new but has some weaknesses as it wears.

The tractor had a wiring nightmare. Many electrical circuits were intermittent due mainly to the fuse system used. The fuse holder and fuse design used resulted in many intermittents at the fuses. Prior owners evidently had issues, there were patches through out the tractor. The local dealer confirmed the fuse and fuse holder system had always been an issue on this model. The dealer did what he could trying had to limit cost but the lights still don't work.

Since he got it he has had to replace the hydraulic pump, also the SCV controls were shot and no longer available. The dealer put in a totally alternate SCV control valve and plumbing.

We picked corn with it, it worked nice and I like how the pto had a soft start feature. Well, the pto has now quit working. Last night I was looking at the online parts book to see if I could figure out where to start looking. The soft start feature has a lot of parts to it. I see it has a connector on it, wiring?

I cannot tell you the hours on this tractor but I don't believe they are outlandish.

Clutch is weak, have to be very careful. Maybe just normal wear and tear, don't know. Loader is off now but did have a loader on it. I wonder if the clutch parts are available.

The Perkins engine runs nice. The power steering system is like that on a car, completely independent with it's own oil reservoir. We had had a leaky power steering line that finally just broke, I suppose normal wear a tear but might of been accelerated by what I felt was poor steel piping support.

My neighbor loves this tractor when it is running well, but he has had his share of expensive repairs. Personally, I would not buy this tractor. The clincher would be parts availability, wiring/fuse system, and comfort for a big guy. I hope this helps. Paul