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 | IHcubman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 26 Warren, MA 
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2002-08-15 41275
I just bought a new Massey Ferguson 1433V compact tractor with a rotary cutter on the back. My problem is the top link and lift arm leveling assembly keep coming loose. The little rods welded to the check nut and the turnbuckle section really doesn’t give enough leverage to tighten them up very good. I have tried tightening the check nut with a wrench while putting a tube on the turnbuckle to get extra leverage, but the nut and turnbuckle still loosen up over time. I also tried wrapping a bungee cord around the two, but to no avail. My friend suggested that the surface of the nut might not be flat enough to bind tightly to the turnbuckle body. Are there any suggestions that might help me out? Has anyone else had this problem? It is very discouraging. I can tighten the two together, go mowing, and after a while I’ll notice the right front edge of the cutter digging in. Sure enough, I’ll bring it back to the barn on the level floor and find the leveling adjustment (I only have adjustment on the right side) will have moved. The check nut and turnbuckle may still be tight against each other, but they have moved together. Help!
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 | DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada 
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2002-08-15 41277
The first and cheapest step might be to completely degrease all of the components and try using them dry. The best and fastest degreasers on the market are the spray cans of carb cleaner but you could also make do with denatured alcohol or windex. ....
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| DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2002-08-15 41281
Sorry, I meant to say brake cleaner, not carb cleaner. ....
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| sb
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-08-15 41289
Try turning the toplink around (switch ends). If it is on backwards it will work loose. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-08-16 41298
I guess I don't have that problem. My side leveler has a crank and a retaining bail for the crank lever. However, I sometimes forget to flip the bail back after using the leveler and I don't think the adjustment changes during use. The top-link has a metal tab that jams the shaft and is set by whacking it with a 3-lbs. hammer.
I'm not sure what would be going on here. I think I'd take a cold chisel and make some index marks across all mating surfaces in the side leveler linkage. Then, it should be easy to see which particular parts are rotating.
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| IHcubman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 26 Warren, MA
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2002-08-16 41300
Tom – My friend has a Ford that has the same side leveler that you described; a very nice design. I took the side leveler and top link over to his house yesterday to compare components. I had to put a pipe wrench on the check nut and put a tube on the turnbuckle cross rod in order to get the two apart. Even though these two components were locked together, I could easily turn the assembly and change the adjustment; locking the two together does not keep the whole works from turning. I’d add a second check nut, but that would take up some of my room for adjustment (I may resort to this if nothing else works) So far, this is what I plan to try:
1. The check nuts on both the side leveler and top link appear like they should be flipped over (even though the manual shows them assembled the way that it was delivered to me). The reason we feel they should be flipped over is the fact that there is one side of the check nut that has been machined flat. We feel that the flat side should butt up against the turnbuckle to insure full contact between the two.
2. We will weld heavier tabs on the check nuts. The tab on there now is only on one side and is made out of 1/8” diameter rod (or so). We plan to beef this up to ¼”.
3. My friend is a machinist and he has an idea to make a simple spanner wrench to add some leverage when tightening the two together.
4. As Mark suggested, I will also degrease the components. The tractor is stored in a barn so rust should not be an issue.
I called the dealer yesterday and they confirmed that the same tractor they had on the lot does the same thing. They promised to look into it but….
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-08-16 41303
I thought that crank was standard when I first got the tractor and never could understand what the problems other people described. Since I have to use the side levelers to do things like using a box scraper to build crowns on drives, I'd have gone wild by now without the crank. Going wild probably means buy a hydraulic side-leveler. Actually, that might be a solution here, depending on how often the side-leveler is used. I might think about eventual thread failure if 'high-leverage' wrenches are constructed.
I thought about the problem a bit and concluded that degreasing is good, but anything like burring the mating surfaces would wear down within a few adjustments and a retaining pin would weaken the shaft. Perhaps some of the thread locking or sealing products might be useful. They'd probably still have the same effect even ifthe area isn’t threaded. Non-permanent lock-tight comes to mind. The type that has to be heated for removal if the leveler comes to mind if it isn’t often used. Maybe even something like Teflon hydraulic sealant.
Welding tabs here and there with holes for running safety wire also might be a pretty extreme approach. Maybe the dealer will come up with a solution. I would keep in mind that threads do have failure rates, and a long wrench might be a short-term fix.
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| David Waite
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 43
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2002-08-18 41361
I would try a washer inbetween the nut and turnbuckle. It might put just enough difference between the twist of the two binding surfaces to lock against the thread instead of making one big nut out of the two. I have the same setup on my MF1225 no problems. ....
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| IHcubman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 26 Warren, MA
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2002-08-19 41370
This is the latest update on the side leveler problem. We faced off the mating surfaces of the turnbuckle and the locknut to make sure there was full contact between the two. My friend made a spanner type wrench that grabs both sides of the rod that passes through the turnbuckle so I can tighten the locknut to the turnbuckle better. So far, it seems to have helped although I didn’t get too much tractor time this weekend.
Surprisingly, the dealer called me at home on Saturday morning. They have ordered a ratchet-style adapter (similar to my friend’s Ford) to replace the one I have. He told me that they contacted the factory and found that this has been a problem. Apparently, the tractor’s harmonic vibration tends to loosen it. Sounds kind of weird to me, but the bottom line is they are addressing the issue and replacing it with something better. I’ll let you know if they come through for me. Thanks for all the help so far!
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| k4hal
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 5 Alabama
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2002-08-19 41399
I also have a 1433V with the same problem. Keep us posted
on the fix. ....
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| IHcubman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 26 Warren, MA
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2002-08-27 41691
Well, the dealer came through with a crank-style leveling link with a bail to keep the handle in place. I just got it Saturday and we had guests over for the weekend so I didn't get a chance to swap it out. On the other hand, the home remedies we came up with (see above) did help a great deal. I haven't mowed for hours since we made our own repairs but I have put some time on it since then and it didn't move. I suspect that having the new link will eliminate any chance of it happening again. If you have similar problems I suggest you contact your dealer; mine said that the factory confirmed the problem, that's why I got a new link out of them at no cost. ....
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| k4hal
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 5 Alabama
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2002-08-27 41695
Is there a service bulletin or anything that I can refer
them to when I call ? ....
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