John Deere 4300 complete rebuild

[dfkrug]

This thread is going to be a little different from my others. This time I am
going to post updates long before the project is finished. That way, events
are fresher in my mind, and I think this one is going to take longer than my
previous rebuilds. Some things may not work out as expected, too. (Is
that engine going to be rebuildable, or is it too far gone?)

As before, I welcome constructive comments and questions. As with most of
my projects, this is an interesting learning experience for me, especially in
that it is not exactly like any of the others, whether it is a tractor, car,
m/c, building, etc. Hopefully it willl be interesting to anyone who wastes
some time reading this and looking at my photos. Indeed, the project must
be different enough to interest me, too!

I have been looking for skid steer projects to expand my horizons, but I have
not found exactly the right deal. I was really fussy, I guess, in that I wanted
a Bobcat or Mustang or JD250 or whatever that had problems, but was not
already in pieces.

Anyway, my pals over at the rental yard made the mistake of showing me this
beauty: a 2000 JD 4300. Is is REALLY bad...lots worse than last year's B21.
I have done a bunch of rental tractor rebuilds and this one interested me
because it has a modern hydrostatic tranmission, which I want to take apart
to compare and contrast to the Kubota HST I recently rebuilt. It also
represents the recent evolution of JD's compact tractors, and this one is not
all Yanmar-built. How well does it compare to the earlier Yanmars? Finally,
this tractor is VERY close in every aspect to other 30+hp 3000 lb. CUTs from
Kubota, NH, and Kioti. (L3130, TC35, CK30) How do they compare?

Anyway, here are pix of how I found this poor tractor. Note the missing
parts: hood, seat, FEL valves, etc. If you look closely at #3, you can see
the instrument cluster lying on the floorboard, along with a 3-pt arm, and
a loose FEL cylinder. Tires are flat an wheels are off. There is a very
hefty JD hood protector....I don't think it worked. Reports are that the
engine is dead, and I can see a bent FEL cylinder rod and a broken axle
casting.

Next time: I get the beast home.

[mjncad]

Good grief! That poor tractor was beat to he11.

Since I own a 2001 4200, I'll be following your story with interest. Fortunately mine leads a very sheltered life.

[Farmerford]

I look forward to following your adventure.

At the local rental yard that one would still be in service; in fact, I think the same maintenance guy worked on the last Ditch Which I rented.

And on Craigslist it would be described as a "great project tractor" that was "running when stored".

Since you are attracted by a challenge, can I send you the barrel swing motor on my old JD backhoe?

Seriously, I always learn something from your posts and will follow this one closely.

[Scooby074]

Good luck on the rebuild. Looks like your going to have your work cut out on that one. Poor thing looks like it should have been taken out back and shot.

On the upside, your going to have a nice machine for not too much money (hopefully) when your done.

[dfkrug]

Originally Posted by Farmerford

Since you are attracted by a challenge, can I send you the barrel swing motor on my old JD backhoe?

I don't know what that is, but it sounds interesting. Deere CUT fans should
take note that in 98 when this new series of tractors came out (4200/4300/
4400), the company integrated subassemblies and parts from many different
companies, not just Yanmar. This caused numerous failures and unofficial
recalls. This unit is one of several (7 or 8, I think) that replaced the JD955s
at this rental company and Deere had to do a bunch of warranty service on
them. More on that later. Needless to say, every weak point in these
machines was found by the renters!

I posted another thread the other day about some broken 4300s:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/j...oken-half.html

[dfkrug]

These pix show the tractor after it was brought home on a rollback
truck. The place I bought it from sort of put it together with the parts
they could find, so at least it could be moved. Numerous parts had been
taken off to fix other 4300s that were in the active rental fleet. Since the
range shift was broken and the transimission was in gear, I had to pull
the tractor off the truck deck.

The 2nd photo shows the back end of the tractor, and the broken right
axle housing. I was surprised to find out this casing is cast aluminum....not
a good design decision, IMO. The lower 3-pt arm attachment has pulled
out. The middle section is cast iron or cast steel, which is the opposite
of the earlier 955, which had Al center and cast steel axle housings. The
Kiotis I have owned, and some of the Kubotas used all steel back there. I
would hesitate to buy a tractor this size with Al axle castings. (I do plan
to mount a backhoe on this tractor.)

3rd photo shows a bent loader cylinder rod....these guys are only 25mm
in diameter! Too small, IMO, which is supported by the fact that many
many of these have been bent. Attempts were made to protect them
(see the green bracket?) with limited success. This is the 420 FEL;
maybe the larger 430 FEL is more robust?

Finally take a look at the the two independent hydraulic pumps....no
flow divider is used, which IS the case on a lot of other CUTs this size. Nice.

[mjncad]

I'm surprised the rental yard spent the extra bucks to buy the hood armor kit.

[dfkrug]

Originally Posted by mjncad

I'm surprised the rental yard spent the extra bucks to buy the hood armor kit.

The hood armor is made by JD, but I can not find it in the parts book. There
are several "rental upgrade kits" that are not described, however. This
hood armor is awesome.....it must weigh at least 100 lb!

The new plastic is green all the way thru (ABS?) and not easily fixed when
broken. It replaced the earlier fiberglass hoods, which were aften smashed
but were easier to fix. I did a few on the 955s. The new plastics are
sourced from a plant in the US somewhere, according to the box the new
hood came it. I prefer sheet metal body parts, and I doubt the rental yard
will ever buy any tractor with plastic body panels again. (BTW, I have been
encouraging them to consider the Bobcat version of the Kioti DK35SEHST
because it has metal panels, no clutch, local service support, and very
aggressive pricing.)

[vic4news]

Very interesting. Looking forward to following your progress.

Vic

[pat32rf]

Judging by the paint I believe that the cylinder rod got bent when something was jammed UNDER it and the cylinder rod tried to crush it. Not surprized it bent.
Similarly the rear 3pth bracket seems to be chewed up from the pin not being fully in place during operation. These things are not really idiot proof....