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John the 48" cutter will do a good job as a semi finish mower if you keep the blades reasonably sharp. The beauty of it is you will want to cut at 3-4 inches with is great for a good healthy yard. Unless the used cutter is a name brand $300 sounds high to me unless it is really good shape. I would run mine as far to the side as I could/can that way the rotation of blade picks up the wheel track grass. Don't ask me which side now because depending on what I am doing is how I set it up for that job. I mowed 3-4 acres of pasture around a pet cemetary for a couple of years and it always looked lush. GOOD LUCK! Harvey

Finish mower vs Rotary Cutter
Mowers Field and Finish
Replies 12 Post by harvey

Dave; I do not like "PISSY" salesmen. You are the source of their "BREAD AND BUTTER". Go to another dealer. I had a blue tractor for 13years and tried for a year and a half to deal with blue dealer for a new one and needless to say they wouldn't budge. The green dealer bent over backwards to make a deal. Green has a 3.9% intrest rate now til 3/31, I think.

Me thinks you will be happy to be in the 30-35HP range. More HP is always nice but more HP takes more fuel. I would not go any less than 30 and I sure would not use a 60" cut to mow 4 acres, unless I HAD TOO, because it was given to me or nothing else is avaiable.

TC29D or TC33D - what mower is quot best quot by type
New Holland Tractors
Replies 23 Post by harvey

For what it's worth... I mow about 3 acres of finish and 1 acre of brush and trim along creek. I use a 72" landpride side discharge, 3ph. I have the hi-lift blades and cut at 2-3". Very minimal wheel tracks if I keep the ground speed down. The chute deflector is removed so I have a even spread of clippings. If I want to mulch I would mow with the deflector down, wind row then install a cover over the chute to block it (any piece of sheet metal will do with a couple of bolts) and run back over the wind rows speed according to desired results. MULCHING is a slow process. The creek and brush is done with a very low priced rotary cutter a couple 3 times a year as time permits.

With your acerage I would seriously consider the loader initially...

My wife trims with a push mower, a antique JD lawn tractor and uses the string trimmer. I do the grunt string trimming around pond and ditches etc... Keep your small tractor they are great around the small areas and is a good back up mower.

what mower is quot best quot by type
Mowers Field and Finish
Replies 6 Post by harvey

Had to send another one. Got too snickering after I posted... A year or so ago a group of PETA (people for ethica treatment of animals) comming out of Mass? or NY? after a big rally... hit a deer on the thru way... lawsuit started toward state because they have failed to do more to control the deer population and keep them out of the roads... TOO MANY WHACKO's out there...

Deer Crossing
Just For Fun Off Topic
Replies 20 Post by harvey

Jsheds. Take your current tire sizes and check the specs for diameter/cercumference. Match your new set to those specs as close as you can.

You can drill a new valve stem hole in another location and patch the rusted out hole. Won't be beautiful but will work.

There are many sources for tires a web search for tractor tires will give you lots.

I found on my JD stock wheels I can get totally different types of tires with out changing wheels but it did take some looking.

Hope this helps Harvey

1510 Ford wheels tires
New Holland Tractors
Replies 12 Post by harvey

I used a short piece of scrap 6inc channel on each side with a piece o f angle across the front pipe for tounge with flat stock top and bottom for pin and a couple more pieces of pipe to brace to sides for stability

how to make a roller
Operating and Attachments
Replies 5 Post by harvey

Me thinks mine is a Leinbach. I bought it with little knowledge of hole diggers or capabilities, 14 yrs ago. It is a med duty with a 12" auger. I have rebuilt the auger attaching area 2X the point 1X tuned up the cutter area 2X. The top of the gear box mounting are is tweaked, but it still works ok. Somedays I wish I bought a heavier unit but then I get finished with the project and all is well. I use it to bury small animals too, hench the tree roots.

It does not do well in heavy rocks or tree roots. Got tired of replacing light sheer bolts and used some grade 5 or 8. That did in the shaft. Almost a day of chasing pipe and cutting and welding to rebuild. When I do use it to dig holes here to build a shed, add on to deck or cover for picnic area I can plan on a lb of shear bolts. They are quicker than rebuilding auger. Plus I carry a big bar to break out BFR's (BIG "FINE" ROCKS") that caused the bolt to shear.

Also a good thing to have is a BIG pipe wrench to back stupid auger out of hole if 3ph won't pick and it is stuck under big root or wad of clay. Remember new tractors have DUMB brake so now you have to shut of tractor and have pto partialy engaged so you can turn auger or disconnect pto.

The more HP you have the heavier the PHD needs to be or you need to have good skills and patience coupled with the ability to fix the things.

But it depends on your soil conditions. GOOD LUCK! Harvey

Leinbach comparison
Operating and Attachments
Replies 2 Post by harvey

I looked at the new 4510 and was thinking how the compacts are moving fwd like their big brothers.

My take on those switches mounted out in the weather is: I work in the road construction industry. Switches have been out there in the weather for a long time, abused and misused and they are still working.

Bottom line JD did not just invent those switches last week:-). If you wanna see lots of electronic switches go look at new Caterpillar equipment. Heck just look at one of the big JD's on the tractor lot...

955 to 4410
John Deere Tractors
Replies 4 Post by harvey

Gave me a smile also. Peters pretty well covered the metal aspects. So my question is: What type of soil are you going to work in? Light sandy? Heavy clay? Shale? Gravel small or real boney?

Can you dig a hole with your "Clamshell" with out the use of other tools? Or can you dig with just moderate breaking loose with a bar? Or do you have to get down a pick big rocks out of the hole as you break them loose?

If it s the last one you better buy the heaviest out there and carry a bucket of sheer bolts. Ask me how I know... ;-)

Harvey

PHD Compatibility
John Deere Tractors
Replies 8 Post by harvey

Tom me thinks that's the beauty of the older manuals. Most were written toward the person that had some practical experience and understood relationships between ground speed, RPM and spinning vs. slippage, by people that had good solid knowledge of how things work and their products.

I have a newer 4X4 (96) It states I must stop before shifting between 2wd and 4wd. DUD! if I still have momentum and need 4wd I release throttle or clutch it and shift. Of course I do have to stop and lock in the hubs, if I did not have the forsight to lock them in if the roads or conditions looked iffy. Book also says permenant drive line damage will occur if I run with hubs locked in...I do unlock them in the spring or for long road trips in the winter.

Haven't even looked at that part of new 4400 manual. I've opperated JD's since the first 3020 (1965) showed up at the farm and that had a axle lock too. As all the newer ones and all of them are lockable as soon as a wheel starts to slip or conditions require.

I can just hardly begin to imagine the difficulty the new manual writers have trying to deliver a manual to someone who has little or no experience. I guess many of those writers probably have little or no knowledge except what the engineers send them to decipher.

So I guess some where a whole lot of common sense has gone away.

You will scuff the snott out of the lawn making a tight turn with axle locked...and you won't turn at all on dry pavement with weight on the rear and axle locked... GO FIGURE!

790 diff lock
John Deere Tractors
Replies 12 Post by harvey

Had to send another note on this :-). Do you have any idea how much barb wire can get wound up under it before you can get it shut down or stall the tractor first? Once it was so bad had to take home and use cutting torch to clear out. Other time was smooth wire and I managed to clear it in a couple of hours with wire cutters and vise grips. HAVE FUN!!! Harvey

king cutter
Mowers Field and Finish
Replies 8 Post by harvey

Yes you probably can make the whole thing work. Me thinks it would take several hours and a whole lot of "COBBING".

Trade the whole matched machine. Wheel and deal with JD for their 48 hoe with the power beyond kit etc, installed. The JD hoe is easily hooked and unhooked. I think you might have just missed a whopper of a intrest deal.

BH's have a lot of selling power now. So JD should anty up with a even (or close to) deal for your BH trade.

Harvey

Keep a Cub backhoe
John Deere Tractors
Replies 2 Post by harvey

I was gonna say something "SMART" but will pass. Intertec Publishing prints them for Tractor Supply they are called I&T. My bottom line recomendation is to buy the JD manuals. You can buy them at JD or on line. Seems like I&T only does the older out of print manuals, do not know for sure. GOOD LUCK Harvey

Sevice Manual
John Deere Tractors
Replies 4 Post by harvey

Me thinks you already know the real answer to problem. Until you have the money to upgrade. Try loading over the back. If you lift the box partially you will be able to get quit a bit in there. We load big dumps on job sites this way with small loaders, ie: skid steers, smaller backhoes. If you have to load over the side you can dig a shallow hole and refill when you finish the chore.

Harvey

Need increased loader height for JD 855 w 70 loader
John Deere Tractors
Replies 6 Post by harvey

Ken

You can pull the blade part off and take to a heavy duty garage with a BIG hyd press and get it back into reasonable shape, I would not heat it, then bolt a heavy 3" angle iron across the back of it.

I beat the living snot out of hard snow banks with my rear scraper blade. Have 15 hours of that, last couple of days, moving this storm getting set for next one neck is sore. My pin holes are worn pretty bad and I need to weld in new bushings this year. But mine is 12 years old.

I would tell the salesman that for YEARS we used them to scrape alleys in the barn. They were designed to do that! Then as barns and equipment were damaged, from catching curbs and broken concrete, we (humans) got smarter. Bolted on big cut tires. Then we got skid steers...

I have caught buried stuff going fwd also, one corner dug in ditching. The same thing is going to happen either direction. Slow is the key!

Someone else said the 4600 is a lot of tractor, (in the compact class Cat1) they are right. Check the stuff designd for cat2. Go to a couple of auctions and look at the shape some of the used equipment is in...I think you would be very suprised and think your bend is not so bad after all.

I would also tell you the rear blade is a lot cheaper than a loader arm so that is where I tend to focus the abuse. Yes I push back and stack with loader also. But almost all of the plowing is with the scraper blade angled. Also the light blade bending may have saved your castings on the tractor where the 3ph arms are attached. Either fwd or backwards those casting will break!

Yup! I did manage to bend a lift arm moving a rock that weighs more than my 4400 tractor. It took my old Farmall M Pulling and 4400 pushing to move it out of the woods to its resting spot in the front yard.

If you use your tractor things are gonna get bent or broken now and then. Just a fact of life. I do not care how careful you are sooner or later you will scratch the paint.

The other thing that crosses my mind is get a new blade for your dirt work and stick this one on in the winter and add some metal here and there to help move snow.

Bends, dings and dents suck!

Harvey

Bent Rear Scraper Blade
John Deere Tractors
Replies 13 Post by harvey

Morning

The 3scv remote valve is seperate and you could use this to run any cylinder seperate of tractor configuration. Proble with the remote is the cycle times and the placement of the valve lever away from the work area. You could use it anyway with a open center valve on the splitter but again the cycle times will be slow because of its size.

The remote would be great for the top link hyd cylinder.

Harvey

cement mixers
John Deere Tractors
Replies 14 Post by harvey

Hardwood I assumed others with this model 4300/4400 would be doing the same. The 2nd hose extension works ok, I really do not have a complaint. The hwhole thing works one heck of a lot better than the old Arps 3ph system I was using.

Dick the 2nd hose is an extension hose because of the clearance with the filter housing and BH frame. I have been toying with the idea of getting a new custom built hose long enough to loop around the top link and bring the filter in from the top. I would guess yours has been modified some where along the line. The factory hose is only about 12" long not counting the fittings and filter.

Just picking brains on this...

Thanks for the input, Harvey

4400 48 hoe Power Beyond connection
John Deere Tractors
Replies 6 Post by harvey

Petrops

That is a TUFF question. Depending on what you have now? I would consider a good quality beginner set of general tools. You can not beat the deal on Sears Craftsman tools. I would get a general purpose set that includes Metric Combination wrenches 10-22 mm and 3/8" - 1-1/4", 1/2" drive socket set with sae & mm sockets, 10" curved jaw vise grips, 8" and 10" adjustable wrenches, screwdriver set and of course hammer and good punch and chisel set. Allen wrenches are a good thing to include. The beauty of Craftsman is if you damage a tool they will replace it. You will need a good quality grease gun with a general purpose grease that meets the lubrication specs for your tractor.

You can always buy specility tools as you need them to do a specific job. I would consider a tourque wrench if you are "VERY" uncertain about how tight is tight enought, without over tightening. Other specility tools might include a set of box end wrenches, a set of open end wrenches, deep sockets, fitting wrenches for nuts on fuel lines, air lines etc. The list can go on. I have been collecting tools for almost 40 years now and just bought a 3/4 IR261 air wrench for bull work. In 1972 I changed a 68 chevy 250 engine with only a cresent wrench, vise grips and a screwdriver. I did have to go and beg someone to loan me a 9/16 deep socket to remove the exaust pipe from the manifold. The guy where I changed it was adament he would not loan me any tools, guess I impressed him or he felt sorry for me, anyway it was all I had for tools at the time the rest were in storage.

I guess the point is it's not how big and fancy the tool storage box is with the high priced polished Snap-On tools but knowing how to use them. We have a couple of guys in our shop with $8,000 tool boxes $15,000 worth of tools and not a clue how to use a adjustable wrench properly.

Buy what you know how to use. Take a evening auto repair course and learn how to best utilize your tool, :-0 opps, TOOLS.

Also you will find a air compressor very useful for airing up tires, blowing away dust. Later add some air tools.

Pressure washers are also nice to have... YOU CAN SPEND A LOT ON STUFF YOU DO NOT NEED, but nice to have... Like a tractor...

Generally Asian built tractors will be metric, however you are sure to find some sae on them especially if you buy US made attachments. Nothing like a mixture of nuts on a tractor...

Feel free to e-mail me privately if you do not want to ask on the board. harvey at odyssey . net

Good luck
Harvey

Maintenance Repair Must-haves
Parts and Repair
Replies 4 Post by harvey

JD It is a very simple task to "SNUG" the throttle tension. Me thinks you can get to it, I've been there, (depending on how mechanical U-R and what U have for tools) by removing the instrument panel, (if not just remove some of the Right Side cowling). You will see the big "FRICTION" springs/disks at the bottom of the lever. U only need to turn them a quarter/half a turn, or so at a time, to snugg. Then try it. This is one area U do not want any oil, they work with friction. If you have oiled them you may have to remove and clean them, if they will not hold the throttle with a firm tension on the handle.

Throttle Control
John Deere Tractors
Replies 6 Post by harvey

Morning Dick

My understanding of the PIP is: If you have a problem even after the warranty runs out JD will fix it. I would have to recheck but I do not believe the axle is a PIP, but it may be.

The axle issue is "BLOWN WAY OUT OF PROPORATION". That said: I do not know if it will affect a trade in. The old style axle is very solid and reliable. THE ONLY PROBLEM with it is the scuffing because of the turning geometery in the wheels. As was mentioned if you have a 4wd and operate it in 2wd and make a sharp turn the outside tire will over steer and scuff. If you have a tractor with R-1 or R-4s you will really have to WHINE at JD to change the axle, magic phrase is "SCUFFUNG MY LAWN when I mow". If you have R-3s and mow they change the axle no problem (according to my JD service guys) because of the scuffing issue.

Again A lot depends on your dealer and their desire to service your needs/wants.

If you have registered with JD you should have access to all PIPs, parts, etc. That is according to the rumor. I sit down with the service guys and see their web site, it do not look like ours...

Used 4300
John Deere Tractors
Replies 11 Post by harvey