Tractor Gods-please help

   / Tractor Gods-please help #1  

jfakerj

Silver Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2000
Messages
184
Location
Gig Harbor, WA.
Tractor
JD 4300HST 4x4
I’ve been reading this board for the last 1-½ months trying to decide what tractor and or hp would be best for my purposes. I’m trying to stay in the 30-35 gross hp range. Next week I'm going to look at a Deere 4300hst 4x4 w/Deere 420 ldr and Deere 47 bh, 316 hrs, 75%front and 90%rear R4 tires calcium filed, just serviced, $19,500. Warranty is expired according to the owner, he thinks. What is the warranty, does anyone know? The price sounds outstanding. The 43000hst TLB sells new for $26,000-$27,000+tax (8.4%). The tractor is out of state (about a 4hr drive one way) so I’m hoping to compile a list of things to look for and at so I can get an idea if there are any problems or if the tractor has been abused before I drive that far. I have very little idea what to look at on a tractor. I don’t want to drive down again if I forget something or think of something later. I’ve never owned a tractor before so this is all new to me. The owner bought the tractor new and used it to clear and prep some of his 10 acres for his new home he was building. I will be using the tractor for the same purpose on 5 acres (½ wooded steep hillside ½ sloping pasture). The bh has what is called a RSA system (Quick mount frame mount) mounting plates). The owner told me that he will buy another 4300 w/o bh after this sells. He says (and confirmed by the Deere dealer here) that it is very hard to sell just the back hoe because the mounting plates for the bh are tractor specific. Have been looking at kubota (rental return w/230hrs) L3010hst 4x4 TL w/new frame mount Great Bend bh ($25000+tax) but the price on the 4300 sounds really good and besides I like some of the features on the Deere better, not all but some. The owner told me that the tractor was in good shape (no repairs, no welds, nothing broken, and has been worked hard but not abused. It has a dented and bent fel bucket and some scratches on the tractor from clearing brush and stumps. To obtain financing through my C/U I am required to have the tractor appraised by a dealer and hope there is one close to the owner’s location. Can anyone help me with what questions to ask about the tractor and service and also what to look for and at to determine if there has been abuse and if there is any problems with the machine.
Thanks for any suggestions you may have.



Jerry
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help #2  
jfakerj,
If you should take the four our trip take a pad of paper w/ you because you'll think of other question driving.

The owner sounds honest by tell you the condition,but there a couple of remarks than puzzle me.
The owner will buy another 4300 after he sells this.
Been work hard but not abuse...also no warranty.

Do you know of someone which can go w/ you to check out the JD.

If your not in any hurry I would shop around,for the slow season on tractor sales are just right around the corner.

I learn something from your post,appraised financing required on a second hand tractor.

I'm not really sure how much your willing to spend,but you be surprise w/ a darn good down payment most dearler will sharpen there pencil.

Take care and good luck.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thomas
The owner sounds very honest to me also. He has been willing to talk at length about the tractor even when he called me back and we're talking on his nickel.
He wants to get out of-his wife wants to get out of the payments for the tractor w/bh. Since he is done with the bh unit he wants to sell it but it is very hard because the bh only fits the 4300. So he,(HIS WIFE) decided to keep all the other attatchments they have for the tractor and sell the whole thing and buy another one -the bh. He doesn't sound happy about it. He says he would like to keep the bak hoe unit.
I think what he means by worked hard is the fact that he has used it to clear brush and stumps from his property. Don't know if that's abuse but I plan on doing the same thing.
Don't know about the warrenty.
I thought this was the slow season for tractors. I know that there seems to be very few ads for tractor right now in this area WA.
The dealer that I talked to was very helpful and even let me drive a new one knowing that I was not going to buy it. He said that the price sounded very good and that if it were him he would go look at it also. He quote me his price of between $26,000&$27,000 after I told him the price of the used machine($19,500).
Thanks for your help and Merry Christmas to all.

Jerry
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help #4  
Be sure and check that loader over very,very carefully.Usually the force needed to bend the bucket,could also spring the boom on the loader.Talk to the local dealer and see if he'll go with you to check out the tractor.Offer to pay him as a knowledgeable consultant.It will be money well spent!If he can not make it see if he knows someone close by(another Deere dealer) the tractor,other than the dealer the guy is going to re-buy from.So what if it costs a couple of hundred$$$.It's still only 1% or so of the tractor cost,and it is out of warranty!
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help #5  
Jerry, no tractor God here but,

I have read thru this thread a couple of times and I am not convinced the 4300 this guy is offering is a good deal. I didn't buy the "sell this one and by another because the backhoe is hard to sell"and I want to get out from under the payments????

Why don't you buy a new 4300 @ the $19,000 with loader price you see on the John Deere Pricing thread, and offer to take this hard to sell backhoe off this poor fellows hands. You end up with a new tractor with warranty and used backhoe. He ends up where he wants to be with just a 4300 and his attachments and some cash for this hard to sell backhoe. I bet if you offer a price on the backhoe by itself the story changes. How does he get out from under payments by buying a new 4300?

Sumner Tractor (in Sumner) has a pretty good reputation in this area, you might check them. I didn't like them but thats OK, they didn't like me either. Auburn Lawn and garden's up front price beat Sumner by about $700 to $1000 on the 4100 to the 4300.

By the way you have a neighbor on this board from Gig Harbor, "Chip" of the Lazy K.

Good luck, buying a tractor is the tough part, after that it's all down hill and uphill and round and round and round./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help
  • Thread Starter
#6  
TWINKLE_TOES
I talked to the guys at Sumner tractor and the salesman there told me if it were him he would go look at it also because of the price. he also agreed with the seelers reasoning for selling the whole unit as one.

Also if I were to buy a new 4300 for 19,000 I'm looking at tax on top of that+price of bh=somewhere around $25,500 verses around $19,000 after he come down for the bucket which he said he would. That's savings of $6,500 for 316 hrs on the tractor. Seems woth it to me if the tractor's in good condition.

Jerry
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help #7  
Jerry,

I am not a Deere owner so I don't know what are the key things to look for with that model. I would shift the 4x4 in and out, to make sure everything is working well. How much smoke on start up? Often tells if the fluids have been changed as scheduled. Pay attention to the pins on the loader and backhoe. Stump digging is one of the hardest things on a small backhoe. With the BH bucket off the ground is there a lot of play in the bucket/arms. How much wear on the bucket teeth? Should be some, but if there is not much rock in the area they should be pretty good. Not a big deal to replace teeth but can show how hard the Backhoe has been worked. Do all the cylinders look leak free? Make sure the hour meter is working. There were some steering problems with the Deere 4000's. I think it was sharp turns in 4x4 causing scuffing.

I think I remember the JD people saying you can not run a belly mower with the frame mounted backhoe. Don't know if that is important to you. Good luck and let us know what you do. I hear the 4300 is a good tractor.

MarkV
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help
  • Thread Starter
#8  
MarkV

How much should it smoke at cold startup. I've had a diesel p/u in the past and it smoked at startup until it warmed up a little. Is this normal? Should it smoke at all after it's warmed up?

How about blow bi? How much should there be?

I assume by scuffing you are talking about scuffing the grass. I think there was an upgrade front end for these models but don't know if it's been changed over.

I don't plan on putting a mid mower on. The dealer (Sumner) told me they are not easy to put on and take off so if the mower was to be on and off quit a bit it would be a pain in the ______.

About the fel - the seller said he is willing to make me a deal w/o the fel so that I can buy a new 430 instead of the exsisting 420. He'll use the used loader on his new machine. Must be ok if he's willing to keep it. There's very little lift deference between the two ldrs but I like the roll back and dump specs on the 430 better.
Thanks for your input.

Jerry
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Just keeping you updated. I talked to a jd dealer that's located about 20 miles from where the tractor located and for about $100 will go and check out the tractor (mechanical and physical condition), $35 for sevice call and $56 per hr labor. The person that would be doing the job said it shouldn't take more than an hr to do. He will bring all the information back to the sales dep. and they can do an appraisal on the machine. I think that would be the way to go. It would save me an 8 hr round trip in case the tractor is junk. It would also give me a good basis for an offer on the tractor.

Any thoughts on this plan?

Jerry

Jerry
 
   / Tractor Gods-please help
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Just keeping you updated. I talked to a jd dealer that's located about 20 miles from where the tractor located and for about $100 will go and check out the tractor (mechanical and physical condition), $35 for sevice call and $56 per hr labor. The person that would be doing the job said it shouldn't take more than an hr to do. He will bring all the information back to the sales dep. and they can do an appraisal on the machine. I think that would be the way to go. It would save me an 8 hr round trip in case the tractor is junk. It would also give me a good basis for an offer on the tractor.

Any thoughts on this plan?

Jerry
 
 
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