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Do any of you have an idea as to the value of a JD4400HST with 430 FEL and HD bucket, 60 inch commecial belly mower, foldover ROPS, 3rd selector valve, 160 hours, the new front end and all PIP upgrades, R4's and is cleaner in appearance than most new ones sitting on tractor lots? How is the value of a used tractor determined--could not find it in Kelly Blue book;-) Mike S.

used value of JD4400HST w 430 loader and
John Deere Tractors
Replies 4 Post by Mike S.

Rich--after trying car wax on a new mower deck, WD40, and some other coatings over the years that I don't remember, I tried spraying a can of John Deere Slip Plate on my present mower deck when it was new. There are likely other brands of similar graphite coatings that are designed as antistick coatings to release grass, snow, etc. The Slip Plate sprays on as an aerosol and looks like charcoal gray paint. It did work well for the first season of mowing, but since I don't mow commercially, I chose not to recoat for the second season and used a powerwasher to keep the mower deck clean. In time, friction from blowing grass, dirt, etc. causes the Slip Plate to wear away in places, but selective recoating would take care of that. Its too bad that there is not a reasonably-priced Teflon coating that is available. Mike S.

mower deck cleaning
Mowers Field and Finish
Replies 5 Post by Mike S.

Ronnie--the gauge wheels on my JD belly mower deck have springs attached in such a way that the wheels always return to facing front. Were I to try to describe the design of this spring set up, my response would be too long to read. If you were inventive and willing to do what appears to be a simple modification to the wheels on your mower deck, it might do the trick. If interested, stop by a JD compact tractor dealer and look at the design of the spring setup on the gauge wheels. Mike S.

Finishing Mower Creates Furrows
Mowers Field and Finish
Replies 2 Post by Mike S.

Jeff--I purchased a commercial belt-driven power washer from Northern Hydraulics. For routine washing the tractor, deck, etc., I find that 13 hp (Honda), 3500 psi and 4 gallons/minute is overkill. Also, I found that it really steams the wife when she is in the shower and I fire up the pressure washer (only did that one time!). Should you look at 9+ hp, I would also make sure it has an unloader (makes starting the gas engine easier) as well as thermal bypass (just letting the engine run without pulling the trigger can really heat up the water in the pump) and a safety relief valve (so if the water gets too hot in the pump, it dumps it on the ground). There are arguments that can be made for a General pump vs. a Cat pump, a Honda engine vs. a Briggs Commercial engine, and also direct drive vs. belt drive. Should you decide to purchase a power washer from Northern, I recommend that you ask them where you get service on it should something break during the warranty period--its very expensive to ship a 150 pound tool back to them for repair. Honda engine warranties can usually be honored locally, however. Good luck. Mike S.

Power Washers
Parts and Repair
Replies 8 Post by Mike S.

Max--I have had this same issue (along with lots of others) with my 4400HST. In my situation, it seemed to be worse after tractor had been working for a while and while driving it in road gear, would have to shift into 2nd axle on a level road. The dealer, along with JD DTAC, diagnosed it as brake drag--one of the brakes was set too tight at the factory. My tractor is 19 months old and I would have though that JD would have caught all of these at the factory by now. Eventually my brakes locked up and had to be replaced. One way to check to see IF the brakes are, indeed, dragging because they are adjusted too tight is to look beneath the tractor for the brake rods that go from the brake pedals back to the brakes and see if they can be wiggled or rattled at all. IF they are dragging, you could not rattle the brake rods at all. With this said (from my dealer), I must admit that my tractor has experienced this same RPM drop while in road gear twice after the front end, brakes, PTO and transmission were replaced at 70 hours and it has 140 hours now. It has not had the problem once I found out from my dealer how to check the brake rods to see if the brakes were set too tight and were dragging. (With my luck with this tractor, I figure it will wait until the warranty has expired to act up again, so I will be following any other responses to this thread with interest). Mike S.

JD4400HST power loss
John Deere Tractors
Replies 2 Post by Mike S.

I wonder how it will be determined if my 430 loader needs a safety kit? As for Kay's negative comment about us whiners--I wonder how patient and quiet Kay would be if Kay had saved hard-earned money to purchase an automobile that had a flaky transmission, brakes that locked up, a lousy front end and a bad differential, along with a few other issues and had to put up with 19 months of exasperation and frustration due to the manufacturer failing to properly engineer the product, failing to properly field test the product AND exercising poor quality control? Maybe Kay would send the manufacturer roses, but this person goes to his attorney in a couple of weeks to explore potential litigation against JD because it is time for the whining to cease from me (to Kay's relief)! Mike S.

JB Loader Safety Kit
John Deere Tractors
Replies 10 Post by Mike S.

Ridge Runner--having had several major repairs made on my 4400, I am in full agreement with you in all regards--especially the extended warranty. I have even wondered if there were enough needed major warranty repairs that a class action lawsuit might produce some results. Also--if it takes JD 20 months to get all of the warranty and PIP issues taken care of on my tractor, it would only seem reasonable to provide a longer warranty. While visiting with a representative of a JD dealership that only sells the big ag tractors, I was told that JD backs their major repairs on new tractors with a 2 year warranty on those repairs. While I cannot confirm this, it is of interest and I would be interested if anyone else has had the opportunity to see if JD does unofficially extend the warranty on major repairs. Mike S.

meeting john deere augusta
John Deere Tractors
Replies 38 Post by Mike S.

It seemed to me that $900 for 3 more tractor hp was a good buy. Would I miss these three hp--dunno. Mike S.

4300 vs 4400
John Deere Tractors
Replies 25 Post by Mike S.

Dan--having owned a Yanmar, two Kubotas and two JD compact diesels, I can only speak from my few experiences. I owned one Kubota (B8200HST) for ten years and during that time it was fully operational and dependable for 99.999+ percent of the time (a tachometer cable needed replacement once was its ONLY failing during those ten dependable years). I have owned my current JD 4400HST for a little more than a year and a half and in that length of time the PTO locked up and needed replacement, the brakes locked up and needed replacement, the hydrostatic transmission gave a lot of trouble and finally was replaced and the front end was replaced. At this point, I am still awaiting the last of the PIP upgrades to the linkages after months, the right rear axle seal is leaking transmission fluid and I never know when I let up on the forward pedal IF it is going to stay down a few extra seconds allowing the tractor to keep going another 5 to 10 feet before stopping. In addition, periodically in road gear, the RPMs will drop to the point that I have to stop the tractor and shift down and the mower deck leaves stripes of poorly mowed grass even with new blades. Perhaps my three acre yard is too tough on this tractor. The truth as I see it is that JD had poor engineering and even worse quality control on the 4200+ compact diesel tractors. Whereas my Kubota was functioning correctly over 99.99 percent of the time, this $20,000 JD marvel of poor engineering and undependability has only functioned fully correct about 10 percent of the time. Some owners were able to receive new tractors in lieu of JD spending $3500 on the front end replacement, but when I requested a new tractor when it went in for about $9000 worth of warranty work and even proposed kicking in some money, I was told that the JD area rep said no. Thank goodness that many other JD owners have had better experiences than I. Unfortunately, I am at the point of frustration in which I must consult my attorney in order to determine if any Missouri consumer protection laws have been violated and what course of action is available to me since I feel that 19 months is more than long enough to get my tractor fully functional since I have been wanting to trade it off on a Kubota and cannot do so until it is fully repaired. Mike S.

Why so many JD problems
Parts and Repair
Replies 6 Post by Mike S.

Jack--I tried to do the same thing (swap my flawed 4400 for a newer one) with less than 100 hours and even offered to kick in an extra $1000, but I was told by my dealer that the JD area rep refused to cooperate and JD was not interested, so JD went ahead and put almost $9000 of repairs into my tractor and more repairs are needed. Mike S.

Dealing With Deere
John Deere Tractors
Replies 7 Post by Mike S.

Doug in Wisc--I am delighted (seriously) that you have had great success with your JD 4400 tractor--you deserved to get the value for which you paid. Since you would be willing to buy one in a minute, I would be willing to sell mine in less than a minute--want another one?? Mike S.

JD4400 or Boomer TC35D
Operating and Attachments
Replies 27 Post by Mike S.

ClayW--regarding your suggestion to contact JD Customer Service--I have phoned them and e-mailed them AND have even written the executive in charge of compact diesel tractors. Their communications center handled all of my inquiries or complaints. A year ago, when I questioned customer service about the lawn-scuffing issue, they were unaware of it and upon checking with their superiors, were still unaware of it. Each inquiry or complaint was handled with a friendly customer service rep that did not have a clue about any of the issues that I raised. Even the letter written personally to the eexecutive officer was handled by JD's communications center with a phone call and the person at the other end having no knowledge of the issues that I raised. In case you are wondering, I was polite and business-like in all correspondence. If it were an automobile company, your suggestion of contacting customer service would work pretty well, but JD expects the customer to work only with the dealer. My dealer is fine, except that some other dealer's customers with troublesome tractors that had fewer problems than mine did get new tractors. I even offered a cash bonus and suggested that they transfer the mower and loader to the new tractor and sell my previous tractor without a belly mower and JD would not have to spend $3500 repairing the front with the idea that JD, my dealer and I would all win. I was told that the area JD rep said NO. If this was an automobile, the Missouri lemon law would have required a replacement, but the lemon law doesn't extend to tractors, unfortunately. After all of the repairs, it is slowly leaking transmission fluid from an axle seal (seals were replaced when the brakes were replaced) and the forward pedal doesn't always rise back up immediately after taking my foot away, so I never know if it is going to stop or keep on going another 5 to 20 ft. And once in a while it will not run in road gear on a level road--it just loses RPMs like the brakes are dragging. Other than these issues and the belly mower leaving stripes of taller grass, it now seems to run fine and the loader works great. Mike S.

Did anyone get thier JD loader safety upgrade kit
John Deere Tractors
Replies 17 Post by Mike S.

Shawn--when my 4400 began stopping abruptly as you described yours stopping, it also began slipping and grabbing on hillsides as well as periodically freewheeling for 5 to 20 feet and then abruptly stopping. From 40 hours when this started, it continued to get worse until the transmission was replaced at 100 hours. When I first mentioned the flaky hydrostatic transmission to my dealer, I was instructed that they had a DTAC bulletin stating that I should change the transmission fluid and filter at 50 hours intead of the 100 hours as stated in the manual. The 3rd SCV would have been a much better design if it had been like that of the Boomers, but also, it would have been a much better design if it were similar to the shape of the DSCV (i.e., a three inch long, quarter inch diameter chrome rod with a screw-on bulb on top. At least if the bulb screwed on it wouldn't keep falling off like mine does when it is grabbed. Although I have not measured my tractor's turning radius after receiving its new front end, it does not appear to turn quite as sharply as with the old axle, but as someone else said, that's OK since it doesn't tear out the grass any more--and maybe it won't wear off the edges of the lugs on the front R-4's so rapidly now. Mike S.

Deere 4600 gets new MFWD axle
John Deere Tractors
Replies 13 Post by Mike S.

When I consider the reliability of my two past Kubotas, I can truthfully state that in their twelve years of use, EVERYTHING worked as it should 99.999 percent of the time (tachometer cable broke). When I consider the reliability of my JD4400HST that is a little more than a year and a half old with 140 hours, only about 10 percent of the time has EVERYTHING worked as it should (which means that 90 percent of the time one or more things were not working as they should). The new front end and new transmission appear to work fine, but after the brakes were replaced the rear axle seals (between axles and the main body of the tractor) are now slowly leaking transmission fluid and again I can no longer use road gear since the brakes appear to be dragging. I am still awaiting the upgrade linkages and the 60" commercial belly mower still leaves stripes of taller grass. JD reliability... hmmmmm. Mike S.

JD Reliability
John Deere Tractors
Replies 24 Post by Mike S.

Doug--on my 4400 with the 430 loader, I simply push the joystick all the way forward, but found that it usually works better for me if I set the float position when the tractor is stopped. IF I am moving and wish to set the float position, I usually snap the joystick forward and let go--I can feel the joystick go past the detent and go into the float position. Mike S.

Engaging the quot Float quot Position
Loaders Back Hoes
Replies 16 Post by Mike S.

Shawn--the 3rd SCV is the lever that is mounted on the right fender with which you raise and lower the mower deck. Mine didn't center automatically, so I took it apart and loosened the bolt slightly on which the lever moves. There is an upgrade for it, but am unaware of what it does until the parts come in for my dealer to upgrade mine along with other warranty issues that are still pending. The black knob comes off the 3rd SCV lever if grabbed and there is no JD fix for that, although I am considering pinning it. Mike S.

John Deere Scuffing
John Deere Tractors
Replies 54 Post by Mike S.

I had a similar experience to that of TomG regarding the use of skid shoes. A few years ago when I was the proud owner of a JD955 with hydraulic front blade, I couldn't wait for the first good snow. I sat the skid shoes at 3 inches of depth and after making one pass in my driveway, realized that I had removed nearly all of the gravel in a path 66 inches wide and deposited the gravel in the ditch across the road since the skid shoes had sunk into the gravel. Even in float position, the front blade would remove gravel when using skid shoes. Mike S.

Heavy Or Light Scraper Blade
Operating and Attachments
Replies 12 Post by Mike S.

One of the J-Pins that holds up the front of the 60 inch belly mower on my JD 4400 keeps coming out. After each acre mowed, it is necessary to beat the J-pin back into position before it comes fully out. The dealer suggested bending the J-Pin and I did so, but that didn't help much--actually broke one since I bent it too much. I even tried drilling a hole in it for a cotter pin, but it is not possible to drill the material of which the J-Pins are made. Lucky me--I had this same problem with one of the J-Pins on my previous 955. Have any of you had this problem and were able to solve it? Mike S.

J-Pin Won t Stay Put on Belly Mower
John Deere Tractors
Replies 3 Post by Mike S.

Kevin--Rob makes a good point about parts availability. I purchased a commercial powerwasher from Northern and within an hour of use, it had sheared off a bolt that helped to fasten the belt housing to the side of the Honda engine. I called Northern's tech support line and was referred to the manufacturer of the powerwasher. Northern is certainly courteous and helpful, but, at least in this case, Northern did NOT support the product they sold. May I suggest that if you were to consider making such a purchase from Northern that you first ask where the service and parts would come from. Mike S.

NH vs Kubota
Operating and Attachments
Replies 16 Post by Mike S.

Andy--the 4100's do not have the lawn-scuffing problem. The 4100's were made in Japan by Yanmar whereas the 4200+ were manufactured in the U.S. by John Deere. Mike S.

The saga of Deere s axle problem continues
John Deere Tractors
Replies 8 Post by Mike S.