# Please Help: My Massey Ferguson 1754 series tractor is being held hostage!!!



## madmax_in_ny (May 17, 2021)

While moving a very large tree that had fallen on my trail, my MF 1754 series tractor was bouncing some and I lost all power and the tractor will now not start (battery is good, electrical all good, fuel bowl full of fuel, etc.), and I am told the likely cause of this is my having bounced in the seat 3 times within 5 seconds where the bounce was strong enough that it flipped a safety switch that cuts fuel flow to the engine. 

I was further told by the mechanic that the only way to reset that relay is for a certified mechanic to come out, hook a device up to the tractor, and reset the programmable memory in the tractor so that it will go back to normal operating mode. I'm in a remote area and the mechanic has indicated they cannot come out until this next weekend. I lost this entire past weekend not being able to get any work done with the tractor because of this issue. And now am poised to lose an entire additional week of work before I can get the tractor working again, for a simple 30 second operation to restore software in the tractor to release the safety switch that was activated as a result of the bouncing. 

I told the mechanic I would pay him $250 beyond whatever they would normally charge to drive the 20 miles to my property to reset the system so the tractor would work. The mechanic has declined. I sought to purchase the device to plug into the tractor to reset the system myself, and was told that only certified mechanics can purchase these devices to reactive my tractor. 

What a horrible company Massey Ferguson must be to have these safety systems that get activated and render your tractor unusable without having a certified Massey Ferguson mechanic to come out and carry out a very simple software reset. In addition to filing a complaint with the NY consumer protection agencies and leveraging my other political connections in NY to push for legislation to prohibit this kind of behavior, I am certain I am not the only one to have encountered this, and so thinking there must be a simple workaround to bypass this safety system. 

Any help appreciated. I am being held hostage at this point and no ability to get work done that only my tractor can do.


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

Hello madmax, welcome.

When I have problems of this nature, I usually try a system "reboot". A few months ago, my truck locked down like this for reasons unknown in the parking lot of my local feed store. Gave it a reboot and it reset whatever the problem was.

Disconnect the battery and leave it sit disconnected for 10-15 minutes or so to allow time for capacitors to discharge, computer reset, etc. Good luck.... maybe it will work for you.


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

I agree with BigT, it could be possibly a cheaper fix and if it doesn't work, then you have just lost some of your time, remove the power supply, that is how I get around my desktop computer when it wants to become stubborn.


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## madmax_in_ny (May 17, 2021)

BigT said:


> Hello madmax, welcome.
> 
> When I have problems of this nature, I usually try a system "reboot". A few months ago, my truck locked down like this for reasons unknown in the parking lot of my local feed store. Gave it a reboot and it reset whatever the problem was.
> 
> Disconnect the battery and leave it sit disconnected for 10-15 minutes or so to allow time for capacitors to discharge, computer reset, etc. Good luck.... maybe it will work for you.


I like it. I will give this a try. Nothing to lose!!


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## LouNY (Dec 15, 2016)

Also after having disconnected the battery cables before reconnecting them hold them together for a minute or two before hooking to the battery.


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

Well madmax, how did it go?? Any Luck??


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