Go BottomJohn Deere 970
 | L.D.
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2002-03-21 36566
I just bought a JD 970 in like new condition. It was always housed in a heated garage and has 381 hours on it. The 3 cylinder Ynamar diesel appears to be very tight.
Hopefully, the $5,200 I paid for it was not too much.
Now my real question. Is a front end loader a possibility for this tractor? I have a small place (7 acres) about 120 miles from my home that I want to bush hog and do some light dirt work when I can get a weekend off.
How much can I expect to pay for a loader if the tractor will handle one? Is there a way to located used loaders?
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2002-03-21 36568
Fitting a loader should not be a problem, but used ones are scarce as hen's teeth. There are a few decent lower end companies that have been mentioned here. I think there are some 970 owners here who have loaders—on their tractors of course. I have an Allied 195 on my Ford 1710 that has been just fine for my needs.
The hydraulic pump rating for my 1710 is around 8gpm, and I think 970 pumps are smaller. The gpm rating affects a loader's speed, and a big loader may operate unacceptably slow. I think the 970 does have the weight to manage a good sized loader however; it just might be a bit slow though. Power steering systems that don't have their own pumps also slow hydraulic operations. A pricier loader that has a fast dump circuit would speed up operations considerably. I'm not sure about prices but I have an impression that $5,000 is a ball park figure.
It's generally desirable for a loader equipped tractor to have 4wd, and I don't know if the tractor has 4wd. However, I do quite a bit of gravel pile work in 2wd with turf tires. If the 970 has 2wd, it might be another case for fairly small loader. I do most of my shallow excavation with a box scraper rather than the loader. If you’re planning to do some excavation with the loader, it’s good know how much below ground level a loader will go with the bucket flat. The Allied loader, at least on my 1710, doesn’t go very far down. If I dug much with it, I’d have to angle the bucket down quite a bit, which puts additional stress on the loader frame.
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| L.D.
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-03-21 36570
Mostly what I want to do with a loader is scrape up some top soil and move it to another location in an effort to flatten some small hills and fill in some small low spots.
None of these areas are large (20 feet across and 2 feet above average ground level).
A dozer can be rented for about $850 but then I still would not have the loader for future use. One possible future use for a loader is lifting hay bales into the barn loft.
The tractor is only 2 wheel drive. All my land is high and very solid year round. It is never frozen and never has water standing. ....
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| Mrwurm
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 184 South East Michigan
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2002-03-21 36574
Early model 970's took a John Deere 80A loader. Later models took the John Deere 440 loader. I have a 1996 brochure that shows the 970 with 8.7 gpm for implements and a separate pump with 4.3 gpm for steering. A two wheel drive machine weighs 2,670 lbs and a 4X4 weighs 3,045. This data is from the above-mentioned 1996 brochure. The price you mentioned is the lowest I have ever heard of. Sounds like a steal.
Jerry
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| JDNY
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-03-21 36587
L.D. I think a JD 440 Loader that (we believe) fits the 970 can be had for around $3500-->$4000 new from JD. You mentioned moving dirt. A tractor loader would work well for moving loose soil but IMHO a box blade w/teeth would do a much better job at leveling small hills and "dozer" like operations. Loosening the soil with the box blade and then following up with the loader might be a better way to go. Have you considered a box blade? As far as weher to look, I have seen some new/used JD loaders pop up occasionally on Ebay.com Hope this information helps. Good Luck. ....
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| L.D.
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-03-21 36597
I already have two box blades. Also, I concur that the box blades work best when leveling or breaking up mounds of packed dirt.
However, once broken up a loader works best to carry the loose dirt about 600 feet to a low spot.
Maybe I need to check Ebay more often. I have bought a couple things on Ebay with good results.
Thanks for the assistance. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-03-22 36599
I'm happy enough that my impression of 970 specs was low. Wonder which JD I was remembering?
People worked loader equipped tractors just fine long before 4wd became common. I do find that I get quite of tire slippage going into a pile of top-soil or fill in 2wd, and I usually switch to 4wd for that reason. I do have turf tires though. Picking up and moving loose material around in 2wd should work just fine and that's probably what I'd do as well.
Since I got a hydraulic top-link, I tend to cut and move material with the scraper more than the loader--at least on our gravel drives. Sticking with the scraper saves me a lot of backing up to pick up loader buckets and then having spread the gravel at the other end. But, if you've got two scrapers, then you likely already know this stuff.
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| L.D.
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-03-22 36603
There is also another advantage to having a front end loader, even if it is used for nothing else.
My brother in law will often get stuck while working near a creek on his place. He just lowers his loader into the ground enough to lift the front end and pushes his tractor backward with the loader. it has worked every time he has been able to reach solid ground with the loader blade.
Until now, I have only owned Ford tractors and they have been really older models. This JD 970 seems to be a really good unit but all the JD tractors friends own have slower hydraulics than what I am accustomed.
I have enough time though that speed is not a problem. ....
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