John Deere plastic hoods

[RoyJackson]

Roy, why not repaint your existing hood? An easy project imo.

Compounding might work too...

 

[brown40]

I've had one about a decade and have had some fading, and some scratches through the green layer down into the black. My hood has not been tested much, but has bounced off a few rocks and wood scraps. The plastic fenders at the rear wheels bent rather than crease or break on a couple of trees, and once shifted the (mostly empty) dumpster at the old job when I slid sideways into one of the lift pins that stick off of the front. I expected that was going to ruin it, but it only scratched it--was under freezing, but not bitter cold. If the dumpster was heavier or frozen down solid...
I wasn't a fan of the plastic when I got it, but so far I can't truly complain about the durability. I think it was an innovative plan, and by and large a success to move from sheet metal to plastic for the company. Easier on the assemblers, easily tooled, light to handle and ship... Saturns were out about the same time they shifted, and consumers raved about plastic body panels on the cars. I think JD figured they were setting an upcoming trend that never really trended across the industry.
I've had the hood on & off by myself without much struggle, and its a large, wiggly piece.
If I had to repair or replace it that'd probably be a different story--I'm set up to weld and fiberglass, but have never had much success trying to repair plastic/ABS. Might be a job for one of those dedicated plastic welding kits they use fabricating tables and fish cages.

 

[brown40]

I've had one about a decade and have had some fading, and some scratches through the green layer down into the black. My hood has not been tested much, but has bounced off a few rocks and wood scraps. The plastic fenders at the rear wheels bent rather than crease or break on a couple of trees, and once shifted the (mostly empty) dumpster at the old job when I slid sideways into one of the lift pins that stick off of the front. I expected that was going to ruin it, but it only scratched it--was under freezing, but not bitter cold. If the dumpster was heavier or frozen down solid...
I wasn't a fan of the plastic when I got it, but so far I can't truly complain about the durability. I think it was an innovative plan, and by and large a success to move from sheet metal to plastic for the company. Easier on the assemblers, easily tooled, light to handle and ship... Saturns were out about the same time they shifted, and consumers raved about plastic body panels on the cars. I think JD figured they were setting an upcoming trend that never really trended across the industry.
I've had the hood on & off by myself without much struggle, and its a large, wiggly piece.
If I had to repair or replace it that'd probably be a different story--I'm set up to weld and fiberglass, but have never had much success trying to repair plastic/ABS. Might be a job for one of those dedicated plastic welding kits they use fabricating tables and fish cages.

 

[jenkinsph]

Whether the body panels and hood are plastic or sheet metal doesn't make any difference to me. I don't run into things or drop logs on the hoods of my tractors and would expect damage with either material if I did.

Just as I would not want bondo on a sheet metal hood I would not want fiberglass on a plastic hood either. In both cases the hoods flex too much for either of these stiff materials. For small repairs to the plastic hoods I would use a plastic auto bumper repair kit which is formulated for these plastic compounds. I should mention that bondo will work on a small area of the metal hood if it does not need to flex. In both cases cracks or splits in the hoods would require replacement. I have repaired hoods in the past and had them look good but always had to be careful opening and closing and long story short it isn't worth it.

I doubt the plastic is cheaper than the steel and don't think that is the reason for using it. Tooling, sound transmittance and resistance to minor impacts are better reasons for using it.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I too have had stuff hit them and not crack them that I know would have dented a metal hood.
The hood on the 5420 is thicker than the hood on the 4310.
You can use lemon pledge to shine up a hood in decent condition, but if it is weathered, use a soft towel round pad in a cordless drill with #2 plastic polish. It will shine up like new.

My fuel door hinge has broken out of my 4310's hood. It still sits in place comfortably, but it is broken. I could buy or make some hinges if I was losing sleep over it.

 

[s219]

Well I would not want to say that s219 is wrong but he may have his eyes closed to the future and what has been developed for today.. My experiences with plastic is not just from my tractor, 9 years in the engineering group at Caterpillar development showed me I just may have a better understanding than some with so called direct experience with both. It just depends on when it was made and what it was made with. I like my plastic fenders and hood, if you want to call it plastic. Plastics have evolved a lot. Some people and their ideas don't. To each his or her's own. You make the choice but I would bet in the not to far future your next tractor will have a form of plastic like all of the Top Manufactures use today.

There is always someone that thinks they have it all figured out........I am just saying, just maybe back up and look into something new before you trash it. I for one am glad my truck has power steering. heat, AC. tinted windows, cruse control, and shift on the fly. Or am I like some how out of it?????

You're talking somewhat hypothetical/theoretical here and seem to have overlooked that what I wrote was based on first hand experience. When the hood cracked on my Deere from a fairly minor tap, it cracked and left sharp jagged edges that were not safe to be around. To me, that "real world" experience trumps any ideas or hypotheses about the "promise" of plastic.

I much prefer metal body parts on my tractor. The metal will dent but it won't crack and turn into a jagged saw blade.

 

[mkr7734]

You're talking somewhat hypothetical/theoretical here and seem to have overlooked that what I wrote was based on first hand experience. When the hood cracked on my Deere from a fairly minor tap, it cracked and left sharp jagged edges that were not safe to be around. To me, that "real world" experience trumps any ideas or hypotheses about the "promise" of plastic.

I much prefer metal body parts on my tractor. The metal will dent but it won't crack and turn into a jagged saw blade.

So you consider working 9 years in the engineering group at Caterpillar development, hypothetical/theoretical??? Whatever.. You took it personal and did not see the point. What I was pointing to is that the plastic on today's machines may not be the same as what you had.
BTW the early composite hoods used at Cat had some ability to crack. And I guess you could break anything. But today's ABS style of plastics like all cars have on their bumpers are just fine with me. They can take a pretty good hit. I just prefer to keep my eye open to new developments.

 

[dfkrug]

A few notes on JD green plastic body panels:

> the x55 tractors used a fiberglass plastic hood. Fixing them was easy, using fiberglass
resin and hardener just like you would fix an old boat, PWC, or Corvette. A couple
of my four 955s had broken nose pieces, which I replaced with fiberglass, rather than buying
new ones. Worked well and looked good.

> then came the 1/8th inch thick green proprietary resin plastic on the 42/43/4400 tractors.
It was used on the hood, cowl, and side panels. I repaired several cracks using the
Locktite 2-part plastic cement commonly sold, and a backup piece of the same kind of
plastic. Worked well. If you polish this plastic, don't get it hot.

> those same 42/43/4400 tractors used a 1/4" thick black plastic painted green for the
rear fenders. This stuff is very durable. Sadly, this material seems to be going away.
A trip around the massive Deere exhibit at the World Ag Expo this month showed a LOT
of the 1/8" green resin on many models.

> the one advantage all this plastic has it that it does not rust. Some folks love this
feature. I prefer steel myself.

 

[larboc]

So you consider working 9 years in the engineering group at Caterpillar development, hypothetical/theoretical??? Whatever.. You took it personal and did not see the point. What I was pointing to is that the plastic on today's machines may not be the same as what you had.
BTW the early composite hoods used at Cat had some ability to crack. And I guess you could break anything. But today's ABS style of plastics like all cars have on their bumpers are just fine with me. They can take a pretty good hit. I just prefer to keep my eye open to new developments.

LOL, based on the people I know working in the engineering dept. at Cat in Peoria, I'm much more inclined to trust the guy that drops rocks on his hood!

There are definitely bad, good, and amazing plastics out there and there were in 1998 too when these were made. No reason for them to have made such a poor choice in plastic. Look at cars on the road from the 90's with plastic bumpers that have been in fender benders with the only sign of damage being paint flaked off. My guess is some inexperienced engineer looked at a plastic selection chart for 5 mins, didn't ask the old guys what they thought, and it went to production. You'd be amazed to know how often things happen that way in the auto industry. For that matter I've got good 5 gallon buckets lying around that are older than 4300's!

That being said, the hood on my 4300 is a replacement and it's in mint shape. I was considering laying up roving woven with epoxy on the back of the hood to keep it this way. Anyone try this?

 

[ultrarunner]

Thin Metal dents and all the tractors use thin metal if they use metal. Plastic will bounce off something that would dent metal. If it is big enough to break the plastic it would put a huge dent in the metal hood. Fiberglass would shatter........ Bottom line don't drop stuff on your hood? That said I have had stuff hit the hood of my 3000 series JD and all I have is one scratch.
My lawn mower is a Husqvarna YTH1848XP with a metal hood, but how could you damage that short of running into a tree?? Guess that is why they put a bumper on it. :laughing:

I really liked the steel plate Kubota used for the B20 and B21 TLBs... reminded me of the CATERPILLAR D3 Dozer that saved my life...

I was deep in the woods on a open established trail... family members were back aways with chainsaws clearing...

All of a sudden there is this BOOM and the earth shakes... a huge old Bay Tree on the high bank picks this exact moment to topple and hit the canopy of the dozer dead square on the rear corner bracket and over the driver's seat with branches enveloping the Dozer...

I crawled out forward and had to cut the dozer free with the chain saw...

It was my lucky day because I'm sure I would not be here had I been on the Deere 110 or Kubota BX