Deere plastic hood repair

[JDgreen227]

My 2002 4210, which has the plastic hood, suffered an impact to the immediate front and it badly cracked the first few inches of the top part of the hood. I priced a new one from Ebay and a replacment is about $285, plus the cost of replacing the side decals. Has anybody had experience with having their hood repaired and repainted by a body shop? Thanks for any input.

 

[Egon]

Fiberglass resin and cloth just may work on the hood.

 

[Teddy1973]

I know I've read on the internet about a "plastic weld" kit, but I don't know how it works or how visable the repair would be. I'd contact a repair shop and see what they say, it doesn't cost anything for an estimate and they'll be able to tell you if the repair will show or not. But with the cost of labor being what it is I wouldn't be surprised if it will cost more to repair than to replace!

 

[willi67]

I had the nose cone on my tractor plastic welded, it was broken into many little pieces so fibreglassing was not possible. The repair has lasted well. The method they used was to melt a plastic rod and fuse the cracks on the underside. I never bothered to have it cleaned up and repainted though.

 

[ray66v]

I repaired things like this in our body shop. Most of the time it can be done.

The problem is, you are not going to get much of a repair for under $200, if it needs to be repainted. And, by the time you get to that point, you may as well get the new hood.

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

Do the repair yourself for less than $40.00 ,Youtube will show you how and materials are less than $40.00 from tractor supply it's not brain surgery !

 

[JDTank]

Personally, I would suck it up and buy a new hood.

The material John Deere uses is not fiberglass, nor is it plastic. I can't remember the technical name, but it's more like a space age plastic. This kind of material does not take well to patch jobs. Once you have one cracked area, it will usually continue to spread even if you try to repair it.

It will never look the same no matter how good one tries to repair it. Personally, this kind of thing would drive me nuts. Order up a new hood and just shake your head! :dance1:

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

Personally, I would suck it up and buy a new hood.

The material John Deere uses is not fiberglass, nor is it plastic. I can't remember the technical name, but it's more like a space age plastic. This kind of material does not take well to patch jobs. Once you have one cracked area, it will usually continue to spread even if you try to repair it.

It will never look the same no matter how good one tries to repair it. Personally, this kind of thing would drive me nuts. Order up a new hood and just shake your head! :dance1:

it's a tractor your not taking it to the car show or waxing it every weekend ,repair it and save your money for something worth it , like taking your kids fishing or camping for a couple days !

 

[Jtschnel]

it's a tractor your not taking it to the car show or waxing it every weekend ,repair it and save your money for something worth it , like taking your kids fishing or camping for a couple days !

So, from a purely pragmatic view Ol Man Grumpy is right, do it yourself. You'll save money and the tractor will perform no differently than before the accident.

For me, however, I'd do just what JDTank would do. I'd pony up the $285, 'cause it would bug the crap outa me until I replaced it. I try to keep all my equipment looking good, may not be pragmatic, but I take pride in keeping things looking good. That's just me, though.

If the appearance matters, spend the $285. If it makes no difference to you, spend the $40, do it yourself, not worrying if it looks good or not.

 

[2720wes]

Some may not like this repair but it was cheap and has held up. It could use a fresh coat of green duct tape.