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Michael--I too ordered my tractor with R4's and found it to be rougher riding than I imagined. Cutting the tire air pressure in half for mowing helps a little, but loader work requires the max pressure. I am wondering how you were able to swap your R-4's for turfs if you had any hours on them.
Mike S.

How much air is in your tires
Parts and Repair
Replies 10 Post by Michael Spurgeon

For a nifty rear weight, try the following URL for the details of one made of cement: http://www.his.com/~msimpson/tractor/hacker.htm<br>Mike

3 Point Custom Weight Box
John Deere Tractors
Replies 8 Post by Michael Spurgeon

Before I purchase a harrow rake (looks like a 6 by 8 ft. section of extra heavy duty chainlink fence) I would appreciate any comments from those with experience with harrow rakes. With the teeth down and pointed forward, will they do a good job of dethatching a few acres of K31 fescue with fairly uneven ground in preparation for overseeding in the fall??? How do you store them--at Tractor Supply each one is usually in a tangled pile--do they untangle easily?? Is there a better way to dethatch three acres of K31 on uneven ground?<br>Mike

Dethatching with a harrow rake
Operating and Attachments
Replies 2 Post by Michael Spurgeon

Regarding adding lights to the side of your JD4100: While at two auto parts stores yesterday I noticed that there were several small but powerful driving lights for sale. Although these lights were designed as automobile driving lights or fog lights, they were only about an inch and a half in height and might be mounted beneath your footplates--just an idea if its helpful.<br>Mike

Were to put thoses darn lights
Other Tractor Brands
Replies 7 Post by Michael Spurgeon

Regarding your question about mowing with R4 tires: I have a 4400 with R4 tires and have found that it is necessary to be more careful of its turning radius than with turf tires since the R4's in the front can seriously scuff the lawn. There are several places in my K31 lawn where the grass has been damaged by turning in a radius that was too tight, but not even close to the tightest radius possible. Therefore, R4's are excellent all-around tires, but don't turn too sharp and under too much power to avoid lawn scuffing. There have previously been some other postings on this bulletin board in this regard.<br>Mike

JD 4200 power with loader
John Deere Tractors
Replies 6 Post by Michael Spurgeon

Regarding the fuel tank screen: Since I was used to having one on my Kubota, I also missed having one on my JD4400 and mentioned this to my dealer--and asked him IF there was an aftermarket screen or if he knew which auto parts store might carry one that I could adapt. He went over to a lawn tractor in the showroom (maybe a JD445?) and removed its screen and handed it to me and suggested that I adapt it which I did. I took a scrap piece of plexiglass and cut out a hole just large enough for the screen to fall into and cut the outside of the plexiglass large enough for it to completely cover the fuel filler hole on the fuel tank. I now use the screen (together with its holder) as soon as I remove the fuel cap. This kludge is not as convenient as a built-in screen, but sure works better than no screen. This works great for me, but I do not use my tractor for a living, so the inconvenience of spending an extra minute to add the screen before fueling and then remove the screen after fueling is not an issue for me.<br>Mike

Gas tank screens amp Independent Brake Lock lever
John Deere Tractors
Replies 4 Post by Michael Spurgeon

My 4400 came with the 90 degree fittings pointing up. At first I thought this to be inconvenient since a straight in approach would have made connecting them a little easier, but after reading about the tires hitting the hoses, I guess my dealer took care of the problem before it was a problem and I can lose the idea of a straight in approach.<br>Mike

Protecting hydraulic hoses
John Deere Tractors
Replies 11 Post by Michael Spurgeon

The power loss that my JD4400HST tractor periodically experienced has apparently been solved by the dealer together with Jd Tech Support. The dealer picked up the tractor the day after I contacted them and returned it a couple of days later. They adjusted (loosened) the SCV lever that operates the cylinder used to raise the mower deck so that the lever is self-centering because they were concerned that if it were not centered manually, it might leave the SC valve open slightly causing an extra load on the engine. More importantly, the dealer discovered that the parking brake had not been set to factory specs which is four clicks. It was only engaging with two clicks because one of the two brake cables (one to each brake) was factory-adjusted too tight which would cause the brake to drag; which would explain why, when I let up on the pedal when it was experiencing power loss while driving it down the road in road gear, that the RPMs would instantly return to normal. In the two weeks of loader work and mowing since the tractor was returned to me, it has functioned flawlessly like I expect.<br>Mike

JD4400 loses power--help
John Deere Tractors
Replies 9 Post by Michael Spurgeon

For help in snow removal this winter, I would like to add a dual action cylinder to my Rhino 7ft. model 300 rear blade. There are hydraulic ports on the back of my tractor that are usually used to operate the lift cylinder on the belly mower deck, but when the belly mower has been removed and its lift cylinder hydraulic lines disconnected, they could be used to operate the angling of the rear blade. Have any of you added a hydraulic cylinder to a rear blade that was not designed to have a cylinder for angling and have any suggestions to make?<br>Mike

Adding hydraulic cylinder to rear blade
Operating and Attachments
Replies 1 Post by Michael Spurgeon

My JD4400HST has been anything but free from defects. Thankfully the dealer is great about fixing those that they know how to fix. The biggest defect so far was the PTO locking up at 8 hours of use which required a major tear-down of the back half of the tractor. Since the tractor was new (currently with 50 hours) it has periodic power loss. It will work fine for a week or two and then without warning while I am driving down the road or even mowing my yard, suddenly lose RPMs and power requiring me to turn off the cruise control and let up on the pedal. If I am in road range axle on the road, I will have to stop the tractor and shift the axle into middle range to keep from stalling. Perhaps 15-30 minutes later, it is working fine and this will not occur again for another week or so. I changed the fuel filter, cleaned the sediment bowl, drained and flushed the fuel tank which did not help. This problem is not dependably repeatable for the dealer to experience and fix. Frankly, this new JD4400HST has had too many problems and if it were not such a workhorse when it was correctly working, I would rather have my JD955 or Kubota 9200HST back since neither one of them required repairs. If it were a car, I would be looking into Missouri's lemon laws. Does anyone have any possible solutions to my power loss problem?

JD4400 power loss
John Deere Tractors
Replies 1 Post by Michael Spurgeon

Ditto Mike's comments, except that I have only owned my 4400 for three months. It has seen several repairs and is need of another which I will talk about in a separate posting. I owned a Kubota 8200HST for ten years and the total repairs amounted to a tachometer cable and it NEVER went back to the dealer for any repairs. Next I purchased a JD955 and it was flawless in operation also. I wish I could say the same for the 4400. The PTO went out when it had 8 hours on it and that required a major tear-down of the back half of the tractor. The dealer is excellent so I don't have to treat them like a car dealer. The R4 tires do, indeed, tear out grass and kill the grass if a medium turn is made, but for loader work, it has been fantastic and is a real workhorse. The Kubota was so dependable and flawless that it earned my bragging rights. But this JD4400 has had enough little things and a big repair or two that I will have no bragging rights about this tractor. When it works right, it is a joy to use, but it loses power periodically and nobody seems to know what to do--and this is the problem which I will post separately about.

John Deere 4400 Updates
John Deere Tractors
Replies 6 Post by Michael Spurgeon