Freetime 101
New member
To Whom it may concern,
In February of 2015 I purchased a new John Deere 4066R Tractor with a loader. Apparently I was one of the first in the Northeast to take receipt of the new model year tractor. I am not sure about the rest of the country. Upon receipt I noticed my loader bucket could not hold a load of half shavings / half manure from my horse stalls. Within a half hour it would roll forward and dump on the ground. I contacted my dealer and they told me both Hydraulic Cylinders were bad on the loader and they would replace them which they did.
I have had several other issues with the tractor and won't go into detail but the detail I will go into is as follows. The hydraulic cylinders on the loader were fine. What is a problem is the new hydraulic valve design that controls downward pressure such as rolling or pushing the bucket down or back dragging, or maintaining the buckets position. What this means is there isn't enough pressure to raise the front of the tractor off the ground by either rolling or pressing the bucket down. This is interesting as the new loader design is a quick release so you can roll the front end up, release the hinges and drive away. Right now at 2k RPM's I can get the front tires about an inch off the ground and it only lasts for roughly 10 seconds. If I push down to hard trying to back drag, the engine quits. In order to properly remove the loader or put my chains on or take them off, I have to use my excavator and a strap to raise the front end. Now here's the best part.....
John Deere is aware of this issue. They have known about it since last winter I have looked to see if there is anything online about it and I can't find it. Which means they aren't telling people. Since last winter I have been told that although the valve is working to specifications it is not as good as the one it replaced so they are working on a new design which I was told would have been completed and installed in my tractor by early fall. Well it's late fall. All they will say now is the valve is working to specifications and they are still working on a solution. Basically I am getting the run around from my dealer all the way to the President of John Deere North America Jim Fields who will not even respond. It took me calling their customer service rep. monthly, then weekly, then daily to finally get something in writing that they are working on a new valve but the one in the tractor works to spec. That's all they will say.
While trying to explain to my dealer that I have owned other tractors and have never had an issue like this. My 40HP New Holland would stand up on that front end to change tires or put on or remove my chains. What about getting stuck and using the bucket to roll out. Not with my John Deere. And my previous New Hollands would hold a load of shavings all night and not budge. Right why did I switch..... New Holland didn't have a 60HP with a cab that would fit on my trails through the woods. The profiles were bigger. The other feature was the ability to remotely move the tractor from outside the cab as I have several attachments.
Until now I had respect for John Deere. I not only purchased the tractor, but I bought a gator and frontier spreader as well. My dealer says it's a John Deere issue, John Deere won't own up to it in writing and I am stuck with a tractor that doesn't do what it should. I am sure it's not a lot for some people but between all 3 pieces of equipment I spent about 100k and John Deere should be bending over backwards to make this right. Instead they are acting like they are running for political office stating, "The Valve works to Specifications." That doesn't mean anything. I have a case # so it's real. They are just hoping I will go away. I won't. I gave them the chance to respond with real answers.
This is the beginning, I will be shooting videos of my friends who own, Kubota, New Holland and Coyote and all those tractors can do what this top of the line John Deere cant. I will post them on you tube and then will have one of me needing my excavator to lift my tractor. I will hopefully be able to shame John Deere into taking care of this. I am totally disappointed with how poorly John Deere treats their customers. They never should have sold one more tractor without disclosing this information to buyers starting the day after they determined it doesn't work. And it doesn't. You could put a valve from anything and say it performs to specifications. That doesn't mean it works in the application. If I had the money I would buy a spot for a commercial during their golf tournament and make sure everyone see's who the real John Deere is, or isn't in this case. As it is, I now need to spend even more on my attorney. Which I am going to do.
If I could do it over again I would never buy Green. The R in the series should stand for ridiculous. Doesn't anyone take ownership anymore?
In February of 2015 I purchased a new John Deere 4066R Tractor with a loader. Apparently I was one of the first in the Northeast to take receipt of the new model year tractor. I am not sure about the rest of the country. Upon receipt I noticed my loader bucket could not hold a load of half shavings / half manure from my horse stalls. Within a half hour it would roll forward and dump on the ground. I contacted my dealer and they told me both Hydraulic Cylinders were bad on the loader and they would replace them which they did.
I have had several other issues with the tractor and won't go into detail but the detail I will go into is as follows. The hydraulic cylinders on the loader were fine. What is a problem is the new hydraulic valve design that controls downward pressure such as rolling or pushing the bucket down or back dragging, or maintaining the buckets position. What this means is there isn't enough pressure to raise the front of the tractor off the ground by either rolling or pressing the bucket down. This is interesting as the new loader design is a quick release so you can roll the front end up, release the hinges and drive away. Right now at 2k RPM's I can get the front tires about an inch off the ground and it only lasts for roughly 10 seconds. If I push down to hard trying to back drag, the engine quits. In order to properly remove the loader or put my chains on or take them off, I have to use my excavator and a strap to raise the front end. Now here's the best part.....
John Deere is aware of this issue. They have known about it since last winter I have looked to see if there is anything online about it and I can't find it. Which means they aren't telling people. Since last winter I have been told that although the valve is working to specifications it is not as good as the one it replaced so they are working on a new design which I was told would have been completed and installed in my tractor by early fall. Well it's late fall. All they will say now is the valve is working to specifications and they are still working on a solution. Basically I am getting the run around from my dealer all the way to the President of John Deere North America Jim Fields who will not even respond. It took me calling their customer service rep. monthly, then weekly, then daily to finally get something in writing that they are working on a new valve but the one in the tractor works to spec. That's all they will say.
While trying to explain to my dealer that I have owned other tractors and have never had an issue like this. My 40HP New Holland would stand up on that front end to change tires or put on or remove my chains. What about getting stuck and using the bucket to roll out. Not with my John Deere. And my previous New Hollands would hold a load of shavings all night and not budge. Right why did I switch..... New Holland didn't have a 60HP with a cab that would fit on my trails through the woods. The profiles were bigger. The other feature was the ability to remotely move the tractor from outside the cab as I have several attachments.
Until now I had respect for John Deere. I not only purchased the tractor, but I bought a gator and frontier spreader as well. My dealer says it's a John Deere issue, John Deere won't own up to it in writing and I am stuck with a tractor that doesn't do what it should. I am sure it's not a lot for some people but between all 3 pieces of equipment I spent about 100k and John Deere should be bending over backwards to make this right. Instead they are acting like they are running for political office stating, "The Valve works to Specifications." That doesn't mean anything. I have a case # so it's real. They are just hoping I will go away. I won't. I gave them the chance to respond with real answers.
This is the beginning, I will be shooting videos of my friends who own, Kubota, New Holland and Coyote and all those tractors can do what this top of the line John Deere cant. I will post them on you tube and then will have one of me needing my excavator to lift my tractor. I will hopefully be able to shame John Deere into taking care of this. I am totally disappointed with how poorly John Deere treats their customers. They never should have sold one more tractor without disclosing this information to buyers starting the day after they determined it doesn't work. And it doesn't. You could put a valve from anything and say it performs to specifications. That doesn't mean it works in the application. If I had the money I would buy a spot for a commercial during their golf tournament and make sure everyone see's who the real John Deere is, or isn't in this case. As it is, I now need to spend even more on my attorney. Which I am going to do.
If I could do it over again I would never buy Green. The R in the series should stand for ridiculous. Doesn't anyone take ownership anymore?
