Tractor Computers and Pollution Control

I keep hearing the horror stories about the new tractors and their electronic problems. When was the last year they made tractors without all that stuff? Maybe a better question, how do you know or find out what stuff is on the tractor you are looking at?

Tractor Data ought to make that part of their discerption.

as far as Case (not cih) the last series without electronics was the 90 series last made in 1982,, 1983 seen the addition of computer board transmission shifting,, they were not too bad,, but things got progressively worse as time went on,, the Def/emissions junk came in the 90's if I am thinking right,, maybe early 2000's,, when looking for info on tractor data take what it says with a air of caution,, I have found dozens of incorrect things on there,,and I only have looked at some Case again not cih data I say this as so many today seem to think Case and cih/ih are the same and lump them together for me the day they changed the colors to ugly red was the day Case died in the AG world,,

On my '91 JD 4255 once engine is running I could disconnect batteries & still operate tractor granted no warning lights/gauges/AC would function but tractor would still move on it's own.

I think the Final Tier 4 engines are good. They do a computer "Regen" about every 50 hours and burn off any carbon deposits. They run clean.

My 2008 Kubota M6040 has no emission junk except the crankcase ventilation and runs like a dream. Clean burning and sips fuel.
If anyone gave me a Tier 4 tractor, I would sell it asap and buy a couple older machines pre-T4.

(quoted from post at 08:55:37 09/10/19) I think the Final Tier 4 engines are good. They do a computer "Regen" about every 50 hours and burn off any carbon deposits. They run clean.

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Tier 4 engines are fine until a malfunction happens. My neighbors '15 Kubota 8560 got a fungus in fuel system. After having to replace inj pump & injectors for about $8000 his tractor runs again. My '11 Kubota M7040 is Tier ll but I don't know if it has an ECM.

Their 4 stuff is terribly expensive to repair, and for anything that doesn?t pull hard for hours at a time is very fussy and expensive to run as a chore or utility machine. The tier 4 stuff is only good for full pulling heavy work, it gets all gummed up and messed up if running at idle or half throttle or less than an hour at a time. Try using tier 4 stuff to feed critters with a 15-20 minute run time 3x a day, it just doesn?t work.

Computers showed up in the 80s and mostly 90s, a little isn?t bad, the more complex stuff as time went on is a love hate deal, they really do a nice job of running stuff, but when anything goes bad it?s a nightmare to figure out what and to afford to fix it. The common repair is to start replacing stuff until you happen to get the piece that actually needed fixing......

Paul

Yep. 4055 at work ran for days with a bad alternator.

(quoted from post at 05:17:35 09/10/19) as far as Case (not cih) the last series without electronics was the 90 series last made in 1982,, 1983 seen the addition of computer board transmission shifting, when looking for info on tractor data take what it says with a air of caution,, I have found dozens of incorrect things on there

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The old "boxcar magnums" like my 7130 were still pretty uncomplicated with manual controls for most. Far as I know its all direct mechanical link for shifting, hydraulics and pto. Its been good to me for 8200 hours with only a few minor electric problems like the fuel solenoid. Hopefully i won't farm long enough to have to own a tractor with computer controlled functions.
And yes, tractor data site is not a real accurate source far as I'm concerned.

EPA has the data on their site that specs when the various Tiers were enforced .

Well, not just with tractors, cars, and trucks ...... but all of this has crept into every aspect of your daily life. Remember the old low-efficiency forced air gas furnaces? Crappy efficiency compared to stuff today BUT you could go years and years and years and only worry about squirrel cage bearings, an inexpensive motor (that you could buy at the local hardware store) and a belt. Maybe a thermocouple if you were unlucky and after 30 years, maybe a heat exchanger issue and you bought a new furnace.. Plus everything was accessible through an easily removable panel.

Fast forward to the last twenty years or so, mid-efficiency furnaces (around 80% efficient) and now high-efficiency furnaces (95%+ efficiency today) re the norm. As a matter of fact, you can't even legally buy and install a mid-efficiency furnace up here in Canada anymore. the BIG issue is that a guy like you or I cannot even dream of fixing anything himself for the most part except for some simple cleaning of a flame sensor or ignitor. Not only are parts outrageous in cost but with all the advancements in efficiency comes a huge drop in reliability and dependability. The damned things shut down or take timeouts at 20 below zero and that isn't much fun where I live.

Pre 2013 for John Deere. Pre o8 for dodge Cummins

Your absolutely right Paul. You can run it into dealer and have them diagnose it and install only the part you need for $10,000. or you can start buying the wrong parts and install them yourself for $1000 a crack. Will you happen upon the right part for less then the dealer $10,000? I don't know. Its a crap shoot. "do you feel lucky? well do ya, punk" (Clint Eastwood)

They are just like cars and trucks
this modern crap has it all screwed up
everything is so complicated and broken down all the time.

I can't get decent mileage and that darn light keeps going off
the thing I connect says to replace this and that
never even gets that right

and then the thing I used last year doesn't work on the new truck

and the things I took off last year they want $5000 now to replace so I can get plates this year

I was looking for a list of tractor manufacturs and the dates they went computer nuts.

So, it looks like anything after 2010 is Tier 4, but better be careful of anything after 2000.

Is there any company that is still making a mechanical tractor? I understand the "Green Deal" has forced all diesel engines to be Tier 4.

Bill

(quoted from post at 08:02:52 09/11/19)

So, it looks like anything after 2010 is Tier 4, but better be careful of anything after 2000. Bill

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2010 for Tier 4 for all tractor manufacturer's is incorrect. My '11 Kubota M7040 is Tier 2