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I doubt I have the skill or time to do an adequate job from a kit. I have my hands full with pasture and horse maintenance (sometimes more than full :)Ideally, I would like a complete turn-key deal so that once the plans and price are agreed-upon, the come out, do any dirt work necessary, build it, do plumbing and electricity and any concrete work, paint it, etc. I've seen the Morton buildings, and I understand they do good quality work, but the price seems to be at a premium. Am I off base there? Also, does anyone have experince with AmeriStall?

Barn Reccommendations
Barns Pole Barns
Replies 8 Post by Toddh

Bird, I guess I'm just not sure how much play back and forth the blades are supposed to have. The manual recommends 433 lb/ft of torque (assuming you've got a torque wrench that even goes that high, which I don't), which I'm guessing means I don't have to worry about getting the bolts too tight with hand tools. I've just noticed in recent mowing that the blades seem to have more give in them, but it could just be my imagination or the fact that I didn't pay very close attention when the mower was new last spring (2000). I went to look it up in the manual, and it tells me to tighten them every 10 hours of mowing, meaning I was probably about 60 hours overdue and I got worried. After fighting with the bolts this afternoon, I figured I'd ask here (which I probably should have done before deciding they were too loose and needed tightening). Thanks for the help - this web URL should be referenced in tractor and implement owner's manuals! ;-)

Tightening blades on JD 513 rotary cutter
Parts and Repair
Replies 4 Post by Toddh

I've owned by 790 since I bought it new in April 2000 and have been pleased with it in all respects save a fairly common battery connector problem (that has been posted about on this board and is pretty easy to fix). I paid about $15K for the tractor, loader, R4 tires, 5' rotary cutter and 5' box scraper. I haven't been real happy with my dealer (it's like pulling teeth to get them to do anything), but other dealers have great reputations. If you can afford it at all, I think almost anyone on this board who has much experience with tractors will advise you to get a FEL. It's truly amazing what all uses you will find for it that you never would have thought about until you have one. And they're cheaper and better to get as original equipment on a tractor and you will almost *always* get your money back out of them when it comes time to sell or trade for a new one.

JD 790 Questions
John Deere Tractors
Replies 16 Post by Toddh

Saw that you had already made up your mind, but figured I'd go ahead and chime in anyway ;-)

Dealers of all sorts make the "all you have to do is so-and-so and it will be worth $xxxxx more" claims, and I'd be wary of every single one of them. Car dealers are notorious for doimg it with hail damage ("just replace that $250 hood and save the $4K I'm knocking off the price!"), bad paint, scratches, etc. To me it's the first sign that they just aren't being honest. Anything that is readily apparent to prospective purchasers, but simple to fix or cover up will be taken care of by the dealer as part of just detailing and prepping for sale.

I think you made the right choice on this one.

Price help
John Deere Tractors
Replies 12 Post by Toddh

What are the best solutions for this? The area drains modestly, but obviously not adequately. Is there some kind of dirt that drains better than others that is suitable for use around a horse barn?

Mud Mess Around Horse Barn
Parts and Repair
Replies 5 Post by Toddh

I have also had problems with the battery cable connectors becoming corroded (one was so bad it broke in half and I had to attach another one and that was after I had cleaned the corrosion off twice by hand and with WD-40). I know another person who bought a 790 at about the same time I bought mine (this spring) who has already had problems with his battery, too. I spoke to the a tractor mechanic about it and he told me that battery problems were reasonably common on 790's due to the flimsy cable connectors1. I think JD just went for cheap ends on the battery cables instead of good ones. The rest of the tractor has been great, but this in one area JD could spend $6 on and really increase customer satisfaction.

790 questions
John Deere Tractors
Replies 12 Post by Toddh

I contacted the dealer I bought the tractor from (Ag-Power in Terrel, TX.) and they didn't sound too keen on the idea of servicing at my property and definitely wanted to come and pick it up to bring to their shop to do the maintenance (charging me for the trip, etc.). I think I'm going to go ahead and request that they do the service at my property, however, because I would definitely like to see what all they do, see where the grease fittings are, etc. and maybe learn something. Too bad Ag-Power isn't as customer service oriented as some of the NH dealers you all are talking about.

Scheduled Maintenance
John Deere Tractors
Replies 7 Post by Toddh

One thing I have seen is that a single bad experience with a product can cause a person to get unreasonably upset and emotional about the product and manufacturer, even after years of satisfaction. Emotional analysis rarely results in the best evaluation. It's better to set your immediate feelings aside and look at the situation with the perspection of the "whole picture".

As far as compact tractors, to me it is absolutely clear that every manufacturer has it's own advantages and disadvantages. It can't be a monopoly unless the market is dominated by a single company. Clearly this isn't the case with compact tractors. However, if one single manufacture began making the highest quality, most desirable, most reliable, most efficient, most cost-effective tractors on the market, then, in a free market, consumers would quickly learn this and begin buying solely from this manufacturer. To stay in business other manufacturers would have to respond. This is why people disagree on which tractor is best: no company controls the market. Economics 101.

I bought a JD 790 two months ago and love it. No, it doesn't have all of the convience features of the 4XXX series or the Boomer. But it had what I wanted most (4WD, power, warranty, reputation for reliability, simple design, functionality) at a more affordable price than the 4XXX tractors with similar power, and FAR less than New Holland. I don't think that's faulty engineering.

All of a company's parts must work together in harmony. The engineers are no more important than the marketing people and they aren't any more important than the financial people. Sure, engineering is important, but I doubt everyone on this board drives a Mercedes. When you decide to make a purchase, cost is clearly one of the top considerations. The marketing people find out what people want and tell the engineers what to build. The engineers design it so that it will work and that it can be built efficeintly. The financial people ensure that the equipment is sold at a profit. If ANY of these functions fails, the company goes out of business.

Are NewHolland Boomer larger frame tractors better than Deere
John Deere Tractors
Replies 13 Post by Toddh

Sorry to sound like an idiot, but what is "bridging"?

3 pt Fertilzer Spreaders
Operating and Attachments
Replies 7 Post by Toddh

Do the radial/steel belted road tire "plugs" work to repair thorn punctures in tractor tires (R4's) or is there some special type designed for tractor tires? Does it really matter whether a tire is plugged or patched on a tractor?

Repairing Tire Punctures
Parts and Repair
Replies 4 Post by Toddh

If that's a brand new one, it's a heck of a deal. The 4wd 790 lists for $11,000 and they really won't discount off of that price because it's a promotional price already (at least that's my experience). Adding the loader for $1650 is a steal because it normally costs you $600+ just to have the valves installed. And turf tires (if those are what you want) are an upcharge over the normal Ag tires, too. The 790's can be used with a backhoe made by Deere (you can find them on the Deere website for the specs, I'll put the URL below). I think they list for a little more than $6,000, but I'm not sure on that one.

I have a new 790 and it has worked really well for me in the first 3 weeks of ownership.

790 Pricing Recomendations
John Deere Tractors
Replies 12 Post by Toddh

Found it while searching for Kioti tractors on Excite. Great board, btw, but "jplan" is a bit of an obscure domain name and almost made me miss it.

Survey How Did You Find the CTB
Website Operations Howto
Replies 21 Post by Toddh

Does anyone have suggestions for a horse-safe fertilizer for bermuda grass on approx. 15ac horse pasture? I live in the Dallas, Tx. area, so summer weather is hot and dry. I'm also trying to keep the weeds from taking over again this year. I'm mowing regularly to keep the weeds at bay for now in hopes that the bermuda will take hold and cover, but would like to promote the bermuda growth with fertilizers or other "turf management" techniques (it's not really "turf" yet, but hopefully one day). Is owning a 3 point spreader a necessity or can you borrow one from where you buy the fetilizer?

Bermuda Fertilizer for Horse Pasture
Parts and Repair
Replies 3 Post by Toddh

I have a similar question about attaching my 513 rotary cutter to my 790. I've been advised not to let the weight of the cutter "ride on the hydraulics" because of wear on the bushings. The way I read the (inadequate) owners manual is that to properly hook the thing up it *must* ride on the hydraulics or it can't float over the ground properly. Am I missing something obvious?

Also, does anyone know how low you can get the back of the cutter to the ground and still be able to mow without scalping every little bump?

Also, I raised the cutter up too high (doh!) and whacked the chain guard angle iron attachment on my rear tires and bent the lip up. I'm guessing I'm not the first person to do this, so I was wondering if anyone had experience just bending the lip back down with something like a big pipe wrench. I'm a little worried about bending the mower top or bending an attachment bolt or something else that I'll wish I had thought of first, but I don't really want to take off the chain guard and fight with trying to get enough leverage to get the angle back to the proper 90 degrees (it's about 45 degrees now).

3 point hitches
John Deere Tractors
Replies 12 Post by Toddh

I just bought a 790 with 70 loader, 513 rotary cutter and 5' Cammond box blade. The cutter and blade are to be delivered this week, but the tractor and loader were great the first weekend I used it (some dirt work and posthole digging with a Leinbach posthole digger). I'll hopefully break in the cutter this weekend and may to a little box blading too.

The whole package (tractor, loader, cutter, blade) with R4 tires ran me $14,995. I'm a pretty price conscious buyer and I think this was the best buy for the money based on my needs (maintain 15ac pasture and chores for 5 horses). I looked at Kubota, NH, Long and Kioti.

Need more info on JD 790
John Deere Tractors
Replies 17 Post by Toddh

I have a 6" auger that isn't completely straight. There is a slight bend about 1/4 way down from the top. It's not severe enough to make it unusable, but it obviously doesn't spin true which makes it harder to guide and dig a straight hole.<br>Does anyone know a way to true it up?

Can you straighten an auger
Operating and Attachments
Replies 2 Post by Toddh

I ended up buying the 790 and got it with everything listed in the subject plus the R4 industrial tires for the $14,995 price, delivered to my house (dealer is about 16 miles away). I bought a used posthole digger the same day and put about 3 hours on it the first two days I had it doing dirt work and digging postholes. So far everything has worked as well or better than expected.

Good luck all.

Todd

790 Pricing
John Deere Tractors
Replies 4 Post by Toddh

Darn it, one other thing: I know I don't want turf tires, but I'm seriously considering the industrial tires instead of the Ag tires. I'm not going to be using the tractor on the lawn, but I understand that the industrial tires help keep from digging ruts in the pasture and are more durable plus they add a little weight (at the cost of a little traction). Anyone have good or bad experience with the industrial tires? Are they worth the extra $$?

Todd

Looking for Advice on Purchase
John Deere Tractors
Replies 14 Post by Toddh