another 4300 design flaw!

[defed]

Too many of you men are bashing defed...

don't worry Roy, i can take it

He bought a tractor he's not used to and maybe being a bit cautious.

apparently not cautious enough!

Plus, being a used 4300, it's likely got a few flaws here and there. I saw the pictures of it (on Machinefinder.com) before he bought it. Decent tractor, but not a jewel. However, the 4300 and such, although fine tractors (one of Deere's best efforts, IMHO), it's not a farm tractor. My guess is the market was local landscapers, rental companies and "gentlemen farmers" with little "in the woods" work expected. Hence, the exposed turn signals and other such things. One long time criticism was the vunerable underside (I read about this when those tractors were current product) which lead to a number of ripped hydraulic hoses, wiring and eventually led to the underamor kit to protect the "belly of the beast".

i just expect any tractor to be able to handle simple tasks, like driving on dirt. i wasn't doing anything that a landscaper wouldn't do. sure, if i was slamming the thing around on a pile of rocks things would get tore up. and imagine the things ppl do who rent equipment!

 

[defed]

on a side note, the tech manual just says 'replace the cap'...it doesn't tell how it should be done.

the cap has a rubber lip, extending beyond the OD of the cap. does anyone know if you drive the cap in until the lip just hits the shoulder of the housing, or do you drive it in until the lip folds back up into the ID of the housing? i can see it going either way, and not sure if it matters. the factory cap looks different, so i can't compare.

 

[RickB]

on a side note, the tech manual just says 'replace the cap'...it doesn't tell how it should be done.

the cap has a rubber lip, extending beyond the OD of the cap. does anyone know if you drive the cap in until the lip just hits the shoulder of the housing, or do you drive it in until the lip folds back up into the ID of the housing? i can see it going either way, and not sure if it matters. the factory cap looks different, so i can't compare.

Drive the cap in until the flange contacts the 'shoulder' of the swivel housing.

 

[beenthere]

defed
I understand where that cap is located now.

I will be cautious, as I am in the process now of spreading 20 dump-truck loads of fill-dirt. Some rocks and gravel, and sod (and an old culvert or two) along with the dirt. I'll be thanking you to be aware of where those final drives are when bulldozing the dirt with the FEL.
Appreciate the heads-up.

 

[defed]

i took this picture from Dfkrug's 4300 rebuild thread...

his cap is all steel. my new cap looks similar, but the lip around the outside is rubber. his cap, you can tap up until it hits the steel flange, and it won't move unless it's crushed by something. if i tap mine in until the rubber hits, there is nothing to hold it from going in further, with minimal pressure.

the cap on the other side looks like his steel one...so it does look like they made a change on the replacement parts that is worse than the original. i will look into if they ever offered the 'all steel' caps later.

 

[defed]

defed
I understand where that cap is located now.

I will be cautious, as I am in the process now of spreading 20 dump-truck loads of fill-dirt. Some rocks and gravel, and sod (and an old culvert or two) along with the dirt. I'll be thanking you to be aware of where those final drives are when bulldozing the dirt with the FEL.
Appreciate the heads-up.

no problem Beenthere....besides being a rant, i wanted to post what happened to me so others could be aware. if you take a look under yours, see if the 'bump out' is squared off like the one in the picture i posted, or if it is tapered. the new ones are tapered, and a rubber lip. the factory ones appear to be all steel and square on the bump. if yours are the all steel type, they will be much harder to do what i did to my replacement cap.

 

[defed]

Drive the cap in until the flange contacts the 'shoulder' of the swivel housing.

thanks, after seeing what an all steel original looks like, i do believe that it correct. don't know why they went from a steel lip to rubber.

 

[JD755]

thanks, after seeing what an all steel original looks like, i do believe that it correct. don't know why they went from a steel lip to rubber.

And then before all that, this is what they did on the 55 series tractors. Hard to see any way to damage that.

 

[defed]

EXACTLY my point JD755...why take a nice solid object and replace it w/ a hole facing downward into harms way! maybe it was done for easier service, as it was pretty easy to remove the spindle to get to the knuckle seal.

i do feel better knowing that the cap design was changed and that the original design w/ all steel cap wasn't AS prone to what happened to me....but then i feel worse knowing that the new cap is probably all deere offers.

 

[defed]

Beenthere, i have the new style cap here in the house if you would like to see a picture of it for comparison to what you have on yours.