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West Central Illinois | My son keeps looking for a tractor to add to our operation, but with prices of grain I want him to be careful with finances.
Question, when we see a 2007 or 2008 magnum 305 they seem reasonable compared to what else we see. Are these solid tractors or stay away? We are JD guys so not familiar with magnums. |
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Pesotum, IL | 305 is a terrific tractor and to me doesn’t give up a thing to anything else out there. 07 could be an MX305 and later were Magnum 305s. No difference, just dropped the letters on all the tractors at that time. 305s were really strong. No CAPS pump, good electronics, nice cab, I prefer the controls on the Tier 4 tractors, but nothing wrong with these either. Lots of guys say they prefer the Tier 3 control layout. I wouldn’t hesitate on a 305. Most will come guidance ready as well so that’s a plus if you ever want to run guidance. I wouldn’t pay more for any other comparable tractor of a different color. Would love to add a 305 to our farm in the next year. |
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| I think all Magnum 305s were guidance ready and it was an option on earlier models. |
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Pesotum, IL | As far as I know, non guidance ready is still an option. Sometime during the Tier 3 run, guidance ready became standard and non guidance ready became the option. So essentially, it cost you more to order one non guidance ready. I want to say when they went to the Magnum naming is when this happened. Either way, you’d have to look long and hard to find any of the Tier 3 machines that weren’t guidance ready. |
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| Pre 2010 it was an option TO be guidance ready.
After, it is the option NOT to be. |
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| Ours have been pretty bulletproof. We have an 07 305 now only a year, but we haven't had much trouble.
We had an 08 215 before that and it took very little to keep it going.
We also have a 335, a big brother of a 305 that has also served us well.
The remote levers do wear out, and are expensive, you can't seem to source them anywhere but mother Case. They can be re programmed for neutral to buy more time.
Class 5 front axles that are suspended can be tricky to make steer with guidance well. We went through a lot on the 335 in that respect. Un suspended and lighter axles are easier to make guidance work.
Our 335 had a warped exhaust manifold we just had planed after 3k hours.
The flex plate connection between the engine and transmission can wear and crack also. It can hurt things if it grenades. Inspections can watch for that.
I have heard of a few odd electrical issues, but not a whole lot else.
We're happy.
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mascoutah, IL | Bought one new in 2010. Been a darn good tractor. Pretty stout to. Think it's probably more like 350 than 305. It will walk circles around our JD9200 power wise. |
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East Central Ia | We have a MX305 of that vintage, 2006 or 2007 i think.
Bought it new and have had tons of issues with it. Electrical, mechanical, hydraulic you namenit. It would be gone tomorrow if i could afford a different tractor. Always seemed like it was disappointing with power or field performance as well. |
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North Dakota | redangus1 - 11/23/2018 19:41
My son keeps looking for a tractor to add to our operation, but with prices of grain I want him to be careful with finances.
Question, when we see a 2007 or 2008 magnum 305 they seem reasonable compared to what else we see. Are these solid tractors or stay away? We are JD guys so not familiar with magnums.
Absolutely awesome tractors. Like others have mentioned the hydraulic remotes will cause some issues eventually but it is a common issue and easily fixed. |
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Central, WI | Fairly ReliableTractor! Much better IMO since the very early Magnums and MX models. Having ran and worked on multiple 305 and 335s in both the Magnum and Steiger version since coming out, flex plate and u-joints failures were noticeable between transmission and motor. If not caught in time, "grenade" effect happened exactly as previous poster mentioned, could get pricey at that point. Front axle seals and bearings on a couple before 5000 hours. Oil pan leaks were noticeable on many 8.9L before repaired correctly. More so labor cost if anything for these repairs. Good model for the most part. |
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Indiana | I bought an MX305, suspended axle, with 200 hours in 08 and a new 16R 1200 planter. The Case IH Reps could never dial in the steering. Various updates to the pro 600 never fixed the weaving issue. It isnt noticable unless you expect RTK accuracy on your implements. Their was a serial number break for the tractor wiring harness. Recording tractor performance data and controlling shutoffs on the 600. That didnt bother me tell I had it on our steiger 385. They put the cart before the horse but fixed it in the later models with no letters. The muffler aspirator insert vibrated apart and caused the airbox to suck exhaust air and melt the plastic venturis. Not a hard fix once you figure out the problem. Arm rest controller and an alternator. That is all the problems I have had in 3500 hours. If I could buy a new 305, not a MX305 today, I would buy 2 and trade my MX285 in.
What jobs do you intend for the new tractor? |
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Central, IN | Have an 08 Magnum 305 and it has been a good tractor. That said we did have to put a motor in ours. Not a part failure but a $^&* happens type of thing. I am going to post a link to my post and it has pics. Look really close at any 305 to make sure this hasn’t happened. I would buy another no problem. At some point it WILL need an oil pan gasket so ask if they have done that yet. Motor has to be pulled to do it. https://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=682721&posts=1... |
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| redangus1 - 11/23/2018 20:41
My son keeps looking for a tractor to add to our operation, but with prices of grain I want him to be careful with finances.
Question, when we see a 2007 or 2008 magnum 305 they seem reasonable compared to what else we see. Are these solid tractors or stay away? We are JD guys so not familiar with magnums. if your green go green. No matter how good red is, you won't be happy, or your son. |
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Southeast Colorado | I know this is an old thread............but wondering if you still have this same opinion. Your post stands out to me because we just bought a Magnum 305 and also run a 9200 Deere. We are keeping the Deere as a main tractor...........it's just getting so high in hours that I wanted a back up around. The Deere is at 14k hours (we bought it at 7k)...........and the Case at 7500 hours. All of these are higher than most of the rich farmers want.............but it's all I can afford. That's why I'm wanting a back up though. The 9200 is giving us no trouble..............I just keep looking at those hours and worry. |
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| We have two Magnums 275 and a 305 and they are very good tractors we pull a 29 foot landoll VT in tenth gear at 7.5 MPH. We haven’t had any major problems with them the only thing is the remotes, we had to replace one. I will say don’t get a MX they have tons of electrical issues so just stay away from them. But would definitely recommend a magnum. |
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Southeast Colorado | Hey Paul........you do realize this thread is 3 1/2 years old......right?? |
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Case IH 305
