archbarch Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 big title but just interested to see how everyone feels about their favourite make. For me i love track marshall crawlers, but i like many tm fans of metal tracks will never accept that rubber tracked excuse of a crawler the tm200 it killed track marshall and will not accept it as being part of the range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1 Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 bit random ? but i think it was more than just rubber tracks thet spelt the demise of track marshall bit of a reds fan but for me personally i can't think of a tractor so bad it doesn't belong there , pointless models maybe, the 230 for example ? why ? what was the point of having a downrated 240 ? maybe the only bad MF from experience would be one particular MF698 , no torque, bad hydraulics, awfull tractor to spend the day in unfortunately when it went it went well , but when it went badly , it wouldn't be bad enough to have to park it up was pleased to see that go & a 698T replace it i did all the fert spreading, hedge trimming & most of the mowing & a fair bit of slurry tanking with this tractor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano MFmad Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 now i aint gonna slate this one but alot of people i know dont like the mf590 4wd the french built one with the clumsy axle but we had one and it was multipower cracker of a tractor the only one i didnt see a point in was the 398 i think from memory it was only 3 more hp than a 390t and if you tweaked the 390t they were loads better as the 398 was a different engine i think most dynoed better than the 398 anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archbarch Posted September 13, 2009 Author Share Posted September 13, 2009 there are still alot of tm metal tracked crawlers at work, i know a few farmers that would have purchased a tm crawler if they were still in production. Apparently they were working on higher hp models but decided to fund rubber instead. I suppose every range has a gap filler and with company takeovers there is always a model that dont fit as it were, eg the jd badged renaults neither here nor there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughmaster Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 there are still alot of tm metal tracked crawlers at work, i know a few farmers that would have purchased a tm crawler if they were still in production. Apparently they were working on higher hp models but decided to fund rubber instead. I suppose every range has a gap filler and with company takeovers there is always a model that dont fit as it were, eg the jd badged renaults neither here nor there. I think the problem with Track Marshall at the end was that their only market was agriculture. Tracklayers had always taken the strain of the heavy primary cultivations, particularly on heavy land farms. Once the mainstream tractor makers started to produce conventional tractors of 150 to 200hp, it rather left TM behind - the rubber wheeled tractors could cope with the heavy work reasonably well, but were far more versatile than the metal tracked machines. TM's traditional market had shrunk to a fraction of what it was and the introduction of the Cat Challenger pretty much finished the market for metal tracks in farming. The TM200 (which was actually an Australian 'Waltanna' built under licence) was a desperate last ditch attempt to stay in business, but the machine was totally inadequate to compete with the Cat. The grip of the Cat Challenger in damp going is extremely poor; the TM200/Waltanna's grip disappeared altogether in such conditions. I agree with you, it was a total heap and a costly mistake for TM. Then the Quad Trac came on the scene, and that was the end for the TM200. The failure of Marshall to make a success of the former Leyland tractor business also had a big impact and probably had as much to do with them going bust as the TM200, but I honestly think that would have happened anyway with or without the TM200. Any current market for metal tracks in agriculture would be tiny, and really would not sustain an agricultural spec machine - even Cat only sell metal tracklayers for industrial/construction use nowaday. Rubber tracks have taken over as far as farming is concerned, and I can't see a return to metal tracks ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archbarch Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 the metal tracked crawler market has always been small. I believe that if track marshall stuck to a small market they would have been around longer maybe a small company but would still be around. South cave tractors is an example of filling a small gap, when lancaster sprayers stopped converting mb tracs into forward control sprayers due partly to mercedes dropping the mb trac south cave stepped in and converted unimogs to forward control units, a small market but still a market. Maybe cat wont market metal against the challenger? a conflict of interest. i would say a majority of the rubber tracked crawlers sold in the uk recently are used on farms that are not in traditional crawler country ie, light sandy soils if it werent for velcourt hardly any quadtracs would be around my way i cant think of any other farm that has one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughmaster Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 If Marshalls had stayed with metal tracks and not taken on either Rubber tracks or rubber wheels, things might have been different, but they would be producing them in tiny, tiny numbers - perhaps there are a few farmers in your part of Canbridgeshire that would still buy a metal tracked crawler, but elsewhere the market for metal tracks in agriculture is well and truly dead. Back in the 60's and 70's in the area of Lincolnshire where I grew up, a lot of farms had a crawler (even on the light soils on the Wolds). Those farms now all run rubber tracked machines and would not entertain a metal track any more, not least because of the difficulties in moving them around on public roads. If you have land that is ring fenced with no roads crossing it then fine, but very few farms are in that position now. As for the Quad Trac, whilst Velcourt do account for the bulk of them, round Lincolnshire there are loads of farms with them (and not many Velcourt units!) There is an area between Market Rasen and Lincoln which has the highest density of Quad Tracs of anywhere in the world I believe, one 10000acre farming business having six of them. I don't know any farmer who runs a rubber tracked machine who even consider a metal tracked alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 If we're talking about model tractors, then I like my Fords, but a lot of poor models were made which I'm not that mad on. I've got a nice Ford TW20, but even though I like collectin classic old Britains, I'm not that bothered about adding the 7710 variant, or the 5610, because they are pretty poor representations of the real thing. Same goes for the Massey Ferguson 3680 - they changed the bonnet, and that looks about right, but surely it wouldn't have cost that much to make a new cab for it too... nope, the thread regards real tractors mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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