Hey All,
For the past few weeks I have been seriously looking to buy a used tractor. We really need it to maintain our land and gravel driveway. Haven't owned a tractor before, but I am learning quickly. During my search and evaluating tractors here, anytime I had a question I would google it and I would eventually end up on this site where I would find an answer. So I have signed up because I am getting closer to purchasing.
I have found a 2006 John Deere 4120, eHydro transmission, 400x loader, with about 850 hours on it. I have checked it out and it is in pretty good shape, despite a bent power steering rod and a destroyed driveshaft plastic shield. I have been on JD website and priced parts (ouch!), but at least I know what to expect.
However, there is one thing that I am concerned about-- the owner (who seems to be pretty honest about showing problems that he knows of) says that during the winter on a cold start the tractor's RPMs initially race to nearly the highest throttle setting even though the throttle on the column is set at low idle. He says it idles this way (at very high RPM) for at least two minutes, and then eventually it settles down to a normal idle speed. He is the second owner (traded with his cousin for it for an big RV), and he called the dealership the first time it happened. They told him it was normal in cold weather, but it didn't sound normal to him, and it doesn't sound normal to me, either. (From all that I have read, I thought that it is best to let a diesel engine warm up for a few minutes at a lowish idle.) (FYI - coldest weather here is usually in the twenties F, sometimes teens. More often it is 30s. So, not really that cold.)
Unfortunatley, I can't test it myself and diagnose it further because it is still 70-75 degrees F during the days here, but I kinda wanna know what I am potentially dealing with before winter sets in (if I buy this thing).
1) So, does this sound normal? Anyone heard of this before on JD or other tractors?
2) If not normal, what could be the cause?
3) Is this potentially a serious problem over the long run?
Thanks for any help!
PS - If there is already a thread on this site somewhere, just point me to it. I have searched several times, but not sure if I am missing something because I am new to the site, etc, etc.
For the past few weeks I have been seriously looking to buy a used tractor. We really need it to maintain our land and gravel driveway. Haven't owned a tractor before, but I am learning quickly. During my search and evaluating tractors here, anytime I had a question I would google it and I would eventually end up on this site where I would find an answer. So I have signed up because I am getting closer to purchasing.
I have found a 2006 John Deere 4120, eHydro transmission, 400x loader, with about 850 hours on it. I have checked it out and it is in pretty good shape, despite a bent power steering rod and a destroyed driveshaft plastic shield. I have been on JD website and priced parts (ouch!), but at least I know what to expect.
However, there is one thing that I am concerned about-- the owner (who seems to be pretty honest about showing problems that he knows of) says that during the winter on a cold start the tractor's RPMs initially race to nearly the highest throttle setting even though the throttle on the column is set at low idle. He says it idles this way (at very high RPM) for at least two minutes, and then eventually it settles down to a normal idle speed. He is the second owner (traded with his cousin for it for an big RV), and he called the dealership the first time it happened. They told him it was normal in cold weather, but it didn't sound normal to him, and it doesn't sound normal to me, either. (From all that I have read, I thought that it is best to let a diesel engine warm up for a few minutes at a lowish idle.) (FYI - coldest weather here is usually in the twenties F, sometimes teens. More often it is 30s. So, not really that cold.)
Unfortunatley, I can't test it myself and diagnose it further because it is still 70-75 degrees F during the days here, but I kinda wanna know what I am potentially dealing with before winter sets in (if I buy this thing).
1) So, does this sound normal? Anyone heard of this before on JD or other tractors?
2) If not normal, what could be the cause?
3) Is this potentially a serious problem over the long run?
Thanks for any help!
PS - If there is already a thread on this site somewhere, just point me to it. I have searched several times, but not sure if I am missing something because I am new to the site, etc, etc.
