Buying Advice 4105 plastic

[kenmore99]

Am debating trading in my 990 for a 4105 ..tell me this--my older 990 is a tank and metal clad--the 4105 has plastic fenders as well as hood--has this much plastic ever been a problem for new JD owners--is this tractor as tough as the older JD's?

[defed]

on my 4300, the fenders seem pretty strong. the front end side panels and hood seem ok, tho mine had a crack in the hood when i got it. the weakest thing i see is the cowl between the hood and dash. almost every bolting tab is broken, and it only stays on because of the way it integrates into the dash and lower steering stand.

i briefly debated getting a new hood and cowl (about $450 for the both), but decided that since it is still plastic, one thing falls out of the raised loader bucket, it's gonna get busted again anyway.

definitely would have preferred these panels to be SOME sort of sheet metal!

[ctlguy]

If you have ever held a fender removed from one of these tractors there is some substantial weight to them. I would not worry about the quality, however like the previous post 100 series and ten series had very poor hoods, cowls, etc.

[gizmo]

I have had my 990 since 2003 and agree with you that it is really a tank. There is something about having all that plastic on a tractor, especially a John deere, that rubs me the wrong way. I have debated trading mine up for hydro model, but I think I'm just going to keep what I have. I have a JD lawn tractor with hydro drive and can see why it is appealing, but I also kind of like shifting the gears.

[arrabil]

The plastic on my 4200 has been really tough. Actually I have abused the X475 plastic even more and it scratches but just keeps going. My son sits on the X475 fender while I mow sometimes and it doesn't bend or nothing either.

[mjncad]

Most of the body plastics seem to be ABS or other similar plastic. On the 4200 - 4400, the color goes all the way through on the hood, side panels and cowl. The fenders are painted in some fashion on the top side, while the tire side is the raw plastic.

[IH3444]

I hate the plastic on my NHTC48DA. Wish it was all metal like the older NH's. The JD 990 is built like a Tiger Panzer tank. Would be hard to part with it IMHO. Wait till the electronic systems begin to fail on the 4105. then you'll be really loving it.

[K7LN]

Most of the body plastics seem to be ABS or other similar plastic.

The product is called Xenoy, made by GE I believe. It's a PC + PBT Polycarbonate blend. You can Google it for info. SEMProducts.com offers a bumper repair product # 68422 for fixing those cracks that we inflict on our machines.

[mjncad]

Thanks for the info K7LN.

[AKfish]

Had some of the same concerns when I went from a JD 970 TLB to a JD 110 TLB.

Real steel vs Plastic!

After 2 plus years beatin' around in the woods and nearly 600 hours - I'm really sold on the Plastic!

I've dropped some limbs and scraped thru some brush that I KNOW would have seriously damaged the steel fenders and hood on my old 970!

The plastic is duller and has a few more fuzzy scratches than it was when new - but it's not all dented and bent; either.

I don't think you'd regret the plastic and I'm pretty darn convinced you won't regret the eHydro, too!

AKfish