YIKES---4100 ring and pinion

[acs55812]

Got a call from a friend to whom I loaned my 4100/410 loader so he could clean up his place for an upcoming wedding.

Seems he loaded up some logs and was backing up a slight hill----until the ring and pinion gears in the front end gave out, he figured the front wheels were doing most/all of the driving as the rear end was probably lighter than it should have been without ballast.

It is at a good John deere dealers shop and will be done next week.

Should I offer to split the cost as some normal wear and tear would have been done thru normal usage (tractor has less than 300 hours on it) prior to him borrowing the tractor.

Has anyone been thru this and know what those gears run for price plus labor?

I need to talk to the dealer as he did mention something about a rear axle seal leaking also so I probably will have that fixed while its in the shop.

[mfreund]

He is a good friend, there have been a lot of posts where equipment has been broken and borrower would not fix it. That said, at 300 hrs he had to severly abuse the front axle for it to break the gear.

It could be expensive, deere parts lists each piece individually. It would be up to you but I would split it with him and keep a good friend.

Parts diagram:http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/c...ageServlet_Alt

[carpenter383]

That's the bad thing about loaning expensive tools/equipment out. If it breaks who pays?. I'd say it would be fair for you to pay half though depending on hrs and how truthfull the friend was about how it broke.

[RickB]

I'm going to stray from the herd here. He borrowed a perfectly good tractor with extremely low hours and precipitated a major component failure. He should be completely liable for the total repair cost as a matter of respect and courtesy to someone who considers him a good friend. Anything less proves him to be not a good friend at all. If this were a pair of farmers loaning equipment to each other, the borrower would pay the bill without question in all but the fewest cases, and those cases would cause hard feelings.

We will never know if those suggesting you should split the bill would actually do so themselves if they were in your shoes. I'm betting they would not be so free with their own resources.

The lessen here is to keep your tractor at home, or go and operate it yourself if you want to do favors.

[kennyd]

he figured the front wheels were doing most/all of the driving as the rear end was probably lighter than it should have been without ballast.

This statement is key to me...

-Did you loan him the tractor without ballast?
-Did you tell him rear ballast was required when using the FEL?

If the answer is yes to both, then I think you are responsible, if the answer is no then he is.

[acs55812]

He wanted to move "mulch" which he was originally going to do by hand, I figured the tractor would speed the process, along the way somewhere he decided to move "logs" up a hill, had I known weight would be involved I may have thought of ballast,,,,as it was I didn't even think of it since it was to simply make easier what he was going to do by hand.

[ddivinia]

A neighbor and a broken expensive piece of equipment is never good.

I think you will have sticker shock when you see the bill.

You might consider trying to find a used front end. It might be way cheaper, but it might be a piece of junk.

Will your/his insurance cover it?

Get the estimate and ask him how he wants to handle it.

D.

[mfreund]

He wanted to move "mulch" which he was originally going to do by hand, I figured the tractor would speed the process, along the way somewhere he decided to move "logs" up a hill, had I known weight would be involved I may have thought of ballast,,,,as it was I didn't even think of it since it was to simply make easier what he was going to do by hand.

I change my vote, He abused it and should fix it.

[ccsial]

This is a hard way to learn a lesson. I would ask him to share the expense since this was a friendly gesture, not a rental. You'll quickly see how good a freind he is.

I learned this lesson years ago to a much lesser extent. My rule now is "If you borrow it, I go with it"

[acs55812]

I just re-read my original post, I didn't make it clear that he is intending to pay for this on his own, he had it in the shop and diagnosed prior to calling me and telling me what was wrong--that way no guessing and such on either party's part as to what might be broke.

As for the ballast I didn't send it as I didn't think heavy stuff was being moved---had I known that I would have sent it with the tractor.