MB trac.... what's your opinion?

[agrimog]

ah yes, the imfamous steering box, the "big" fastracs failing, no direct connection of steering wheel to wheels. abs isnt compulsory, only if fitted as std origonaly, but air brakes are reqd for any trailer over 3.5t, if used commercialy

[casto]

Thanks for all the info lads

 

It's always good to hear opinions and experiences on gear before shelling out on new gear

[ntbrenna]

Thanks for all the info lads

 

It's always good to hear opinions and experiences on gear before shelling out on new gear

 

 

Just to clear up a couple of things about the MB tracs...

 

 

There were basically three ranges; small, medium and large:

 

The 700, 800 and 900 (non-turbo) models had the smallest chassis and 4-cylinder engines with around 70/80/90hp. The 900 turbo had around 95hp.

 

The 1000 (all of them) and 1100 (late 1980s onwards) were six cylinder tractors with a medium size chassis and around 100-110/115hp.

 

All of the above models were rated to go to 40k only with their factory spec wheels; some of the older & smaller models from the early 1970s didn't even reach 40k.

 

Their gearboxes varied a little - the earlier ones (1970s, often in white & red paint) had a bunch of gearsticks for different gears and ranges, etc; whereas the later & bigger models had a 4-speed gearbox with an air-powered splitter. This splitter was operated by a cylindrical switch on the main gearstick which you pulled up and down - and the next time you put your foot on the clutch, the tractor would then change into the other 'split' of the gear! I drove one of these tractors years and years ago and was really impressed that it worked so well on a tractor nearly as old as myself (a 1985 900 turbo).

 

The large chassis models (1100 (1970s/early 1980s), 1300 & 1500 (the two most common models, built from 1970s through mid-1980s) and the "1300 turbo", "1400 turbo", "1600 turbo" and "1800 intercooler" were all 6-cylinder turbo-engined tractors with 8-speed gearboxes that apparently were used in Unimogs and Merc lorries as well. They worked in a completely different way to typical tractors so some people find them very awkward to use, at least at first, although a Unimog or lorry driver might be quite happy to use them.

 

I read somewhere years ago that the gearbox really only has four main gears but the ratios 1-4 are re-used as ratios 5-8 because of how the box works. This also implies that all 8 gears are built in to these tractors, although the 8th gear is physically blocked off (with a bolt perhaps?) and if that can be located and removed, you gain the 8th gear back again!

 

With all 8 gears available, the big MB tracs on factory spec wheels & tyres should reach 65k or 40mph.

 

I also heard from someone that the late 1980s/early 1990s models (named "1300 turbo", "1400 turbo", "1600 turbo" and "1800 intercooler") were all restricted to 40k but I never found that out for sure. And I find it hard to believe tbh... Those models could be identified by the longer nose and the vertical front grille on the nose of the machine, whereas the more common 1300 (125hp) and 1500 (145-150hp) machines had a sloped front grille. The 1300 had two-steps on each side of the cab and 30" wheel rims, whereas the 1500 had 34" rims and three steps up to the cab, due to the higher ride height. These tractors have been around for so long now though, that they have often been modified or had wheels changed on them, etc.

 

Final point on identification - I'm not sure if this is accurate in 100% of cases, but as a rule of thumb the reverse-drive facility (only ever available in the biggest chassis models) would mean that the rear window of the cab was hinged at the top so that it could be opened out & up, whereas the non-reverse-drive tractors typically had a split rear window where the two separate panes of glass could be slid from side to side.

 

 

That's all I can think of for now but let me know if you have any questions!

 

 

Here are some links to other forums I have added info to, in case you want to indulge in further reading. There are links in some of the posts to other websites with more info:

 

MB Trac from Cork in Cheffins Cambridge | Forum4Farming - Britain & Ireland Farming Forum, Agricultural Discussion Boards. IE & UK

Machinery dealers links thread for Machinery Matters | Forum4Farming - Britain & Ireland Farming Forum, Agricultural Discussion Boards. IE & UK

Swedish MB Trac | Page 3 | Forum4Farming - Britain & Ireland Farming Forum, Agricultural Discussion Boards. IE & UK

http://79.170.44.152/timmatthews.co.uk/files/Article.pdf

https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/mb-trac.68042/page-2#post-1351438

 

 

And then there's always Youtube, which has endless hours of vids of MB tracs if you have too much time on your hands!

[casto]

Brilliant

 

That's the list of info I was after!

 

I take it when you say the bigger mb's have gear boxes like unimogs and lorry's, that the box is like the square cab mogs? So push the gear stick far right to change up to higher gears (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th gear), far left to drop down ( 1st,2nd,3rd,4th gears)

 

I guess it would be better to find a bigger chassis mog that only has its 7 gears avaliable, then open the gate for 8th after I get it? I presume there was a reason 8th wasn't avaliable as stand?!

[swinny]

Just get one bought!

[casto]

Just get one bought!

 

Ur not the only one that said that but I did that with the mog I'm trying to sell to help pay for the trac

[swinny]

Ur not the only one that said that but I did that with the mog I'm trying to sell to help pay for the trac

 

I must admit i'm not a mog fan.... give me a tractor any day! Mb tracs nice

[ntbrenna]

I take it when you say the bigger mb's have gear boxes like unimogs and lorry's, that the box is like the square cab mogs? So push the gear stick far right to change up to higher gears (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th gear), far left to drop down ( 1st,2nd,3rd,4th gears)

 

I guess it would be better to find a bigger chassis mog that only has its 7 gears avaliable, then open the gate for 8th after I get it? I presume there was a reason 8th wasn't avaliable as stand?!

 

 

As far as I know, Mercedes used the same gearbox in multiple vehicles, just like they did with the engines - the OM352A turbodiesel engine from the 1300 and 1500 (and the OM366A from the "xx00 turbo" models) were used in lots of different vehicles including Merc's own lorries, etc, and I believe also in other manufacturer's vehicles from around the world, so the same is probably true of gearboxes.

 

Honestly, I know very little about Unimogs so I can't offer much advice or info on them.

 

By the way, any official Mercedes dealership should be able to talk to you about parts if you give them a chassis number for any Merc machine, including the MB tracs. It would be best to talk to a big/old dealership where there might be some staff who actually remember the MB tracs, or maybe find a dealership that sells a lot of trucks if you want to talk to someone in the parts department that could give you general info on engines and gearboxes, for example if you wanted to know what engines/gearboxes could be transferred between machines and so on.

 

There's an interesting old video on Youtube where a guy swapped the engine out of an MB trac that he bought as a non-runner for a good engine out of a Merc lorry here:

[ame]

[/ame]

 

 

The way you described the gear-changes above sounds about right, although it's quite hard to describe in written form!

 

The MB trac my brother owns is a 1985 1300 model (although it got an engine upgrade to the later 366 engine and has around 170hp - the engine was taken from a Merc 1617 truck) and it has this gearbox. When starting, only gears 1-4 are available for selection in the basic H-shaped layout with 1 at the top left and 3 at the top right. In order to be able to select 5 or 6, you need to swing the stick to the far right while in neutral, at which point you can usually hear the little gush of air as the 'gate' is opened, which then allows the stick to move into 5 or 6. You follow the same procedure to access the 7 and 8 gate.

 

You have to operate in the same way in order to move from the higher gears back down to the lower gears. So you can't go directly from gear 1/2 or 3/4 to 7/8 (or vice versa), you need to access 5/6 first and only then can you also access 7/8.

 

I hope that explains it reasonably well...

 

 

By the way, there is a green light that operates at the base of the stick (and to the rear of the stick) that lights up showing the pair of numbers that are currently accessible to you at any given time, so that helps when you're not sure what 'gate' you're in or if you're having difficulty selecting the gear you want. Obviously, this light may not be working in these old tractors but it is invaluable when first getting used to the tractor once you have one, or if you're trying to test-drive one.

 

I found a pic on the internet, seems to be from a 1500, that shows the gear levers and hydraulic controls and even shows the green light on for gears 3-4.

 

The hydraulic control levers are in the middle of the pic and the PTO and other gear levers are to the right. For the benefit of anyone who may not be familiar with the symbols for those levers, the bottom one in the pic is the PTO speed selector; the next one is the selector for front PTO, rear PTO or both**; the next lever is for the high and low gear ranges; and finally the fourth lever at the top is for a crawler box which I think was only an option on the MB tracs, so it is usually not present as is the case in this pic.

 

**The front PTO was optional I think, and is not present on all MB tracs.

 

 

By the way, there's a guy on farmingforum.co.uk (username 'Rs chunk') who was looking for a big MB a year or more ago who eventually got a real nice one late last year, a 1988 "1300 turbo" with the longer bonnet & vertical grille, etc. It was his first MB trac, so he would have gone through the learning phase by now and could probably offer you some good advice on getting used to them. You could create an account on that forum and contact him that way or send me a private message with your email address if you want me to email it to him.

 

You can see the thread where I first talked to him about the MBs (not unlike this thread!) here:

Mb trac

 

 

Also, one final thing - there is a tidy 1500 model for sale in the adjacent county to me, just across the border in Northern Ireland. You can see it here:

https://www.donedeal.ie/tractors-for-sale/mb-trac-1500-tractor/14245004

 

He's looking £18,500 for it at the moment; sounds a bit dear to me but maybe he'll drop the price a bit for a serious buyer. I saw the tractor once, but it was a good few years ago now. It looked really well at the time and he wasn't afraid to use it on long distance trips so it must have been running well. My brother bought a silage wagon from a dealer who lived about 50 miles away from us and he got this guy to collect the wagon and deliver it to us with his MB trac. (This was a year or so before we got our own MB).

[casto]

I must admit i'm not a mog fan.... give me a tractor any day! Mb tracs nice

 

They seem to be like land rovers, you either love them or hate them. I've 2 mogs, the one I'm keeping is a bit of a beast (I've talked a bit about it on the unimog rock thread)

[casto]

Cheers ntbrenna. Yeah that gear box works the same as the square mogs (the 1400 at least) and the levers are a similar layout as well.

 

Just looked at that 1500 link, that would be a great rig but yes, think it's a tad high on price. Might be worth asking him though:thumbup: