Superduper
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2006
- Messages
- 523
- Location
- Somewhere, over the rainbow.
- Tractor
- John Deere 3120, Kubota BX2350, Deere X740
X304 with 290 hrs. mower was great, if the choke wasn't sticking. Started every time and does great mowing around trees. But it doesn't go very fast, feels like slow motion. And the slow speed with 42" deck meant that I was taking 5 times as long as my wife running the zero turn. She was literally running circles around me, it was embarassing. Unfortunately, prostate issues and such, I can't run zero turns.
So I sold the X304 for a decent price and bought this used X740 with 10x the hours (2825). Got a decent price on the X740 too, but it had lots of deferred maintenance. After $1,000 in parts, it's not looking like such a great deal after all, but it sure does mow a lot faster than the X304. 1 hr on this machine requires at least 3-4 hrs on the X304. Anyways after doing the following:
*Replaced oil and filter
*Replaced Transmission oil (2-gal) and filter
*Replaced fuel filter (it was black)
*Replaced air filters
*Repaced fan belt (incredibly, it had no teeth, cracked to kingdom come, fan spins easily by hand), I'm amazed it didn't overheat.
*Replaced the coolant temperature sender connector, (was off)
*Replaced coolant. Then discovered the water pump had a drip.
*Replaced water pump & the coolant again! For $218, you would think that it would come with gaskets... nope gaskets costs extra.
*Steering wheel was flopping around so bad you could literally rock it back and forth 5". Disassembled the steering columns to see what's up, replaced both steering shaft bushings and on the tilt column, replaced a pawl, and creative use of some sheet aluminum acting as shims fixed it back so it's tight once again. Could've fixed it "properly" by replacing the entire steering column assembly (add another $125) but the sheet aluminum flashing I had on hand did the job.
*Removed the instrument cluster which had condensation on the back of the glass, cleaned and resealed with silicone.
*Gauge wheels were floppy, discovered that the factory pins are all gone and owner just used regular pins which was skinnier so the shafts were floppy. Replaced all 4.
*Replaced the seat slides which were frozen and seat couldn't be adjusted. Didn't want to pay $150 so I got aftermarkets for $15, which while not perfect, works.
*Discovered both of the strips inside the hood were missing (deere calls them deflectors) which allowed hood to flop around. Replaced those $$$
*Discovered grill extension (deere calls it a bumper) was missing, $53 later, replaced that.
*Discovered grill was cracked, and the headlamps were cracked on backside too allowing mud and debris to enter inside the lens. Was going to replace both until I priced and saw another $300.... decided to fix instead; glued the hood and fiberglassed it from the backside. Used acrylic solvent to glue the headlamp assembly backtogether (from backside) and then fiberglassed reinforced that too. Sealed all around with lens with silicone. Not perfect but the $300 savings made it much easier to accept imperfection. Originally grill was natural black. I had green paint, so I painted it green (steering wheel too), installed a new deere hood decal, now it's done! The green grill gives it a decidedly different look. Wife says it looks like a toy now haha. What do you all think of this new color scheme?
Now that repairs & maintenance are done, it's put to work almost daily. I like the size of the machine, and the bounciness is a huge disappointment, but other than that, it's working out well. It starts instantly, even if my wife forgets to wait for the glo plugs to heat. Has a ton of power, and makes a fantastic cut. There's no smoke at all and I suspect that the nearly 3000 hours is a big nothing burger for this engine, which still looks brand new after a quick 409 spritz and hosing down. The 2 gallon tranny drain/fill capacity suggest that this is a serious transmission, not like those 1.5 qt lawn tractor stuff. I'm too old to wrench on cars anymore, but projects like this is fun for me.
So I sold the X304 for a decent price and bought this used X740 with 10x the hours (2825). Got a decent price on the X740 too, but it had lots of deferred maintenance. After $1,000 in parts, it's not looking like such a great deal after all, but it sure does mow a lot faster than the X304. 1 hr on this machine requires at least 3-4 hrs on the X304. Anyways after doing the following:
*Replaced oil and filter
*Replaced Transmission oil (2-gal) and filter
*Replaced fuel filter (it was black)
*Replaced air filters
*Repaced fan belt (incredibly, it had no teeth, cracked to kingdom come, fan spins easily by hand), I'm amazed it didn't overheat.
*Replaced the coolant temperature sender connector, (was off)
*Replaced coolant. Then discovered the water pump had a drip.
*Replaced water pump & the coolant again! For $218, you would think that it would come with gaskets... nope gaskets costs extra.
*Steering wheel was flopping around so bad you could literally rock it back and forth 5". Disassembled the steering columns to see what's up, replaced both steering shaft bushings and on the tilt column, replaced a pawl, and creative use of some sheet aluminum acting as shims fixed it back so it's tight once again. Could've fixed it "properly" by replacing the entire steering column assembly (add another $125) but the sheet aluminum flashing I had on hand did the job.
*Removed the instrument cluster which had condensation on the back of the glass, cleaned and resealed with silicone.
*Gauge wheels were floppy, discovered that the factory pins are all gone and owner just used regular pins which was skinnier so the shafts were floppy. Replaced all 4.
*Replaced the seat slides which were frozen and seat couldn't be adjusted. Didn't want to pay $150 so I got aftermarkets for $15, which while not perfect, works.
*Discovered both of the strips inside the hood were missing (deere calls them deflectors) which allowed hood to flop around. Replaced those $$$
*Discovered grill extension (deere calls it a bumper) was missing, $53 later, replaced that.
*Discovered grill was cracked, and the headlamps were cracked on backside too allowing mud and debris to enter inside the lens. Was going to replace both until I priced and saw another $300.... decided to fix instead; glued the hood and fiberglassed it from the backside. Used acrylic solvent to glue the headlamp assembly backtogether (from backside) and then fiberglassed reinforced that too. Sealed all around with lens with silicone. Not perfect but the $300 savings made it much easier to accept imperfection. Originally grill was natural black. I had green paint, so I painted it green (steering wheel too), installed a new deere hood decal, now it's done! The green grill gives it a decidedly different look. Wife says it looks like a toy now haha. What do you all think of this new color scheme?
Now that repairs & maintenance are done, it's put to work almost daily. I like the size of the machine, and the bounciness is a huge disappointment, but other than that, it's working out well. It starts instantly, even if my wife forgets to wait for the glo plugs to heat. Has a ton of power, and makes a fantastic cut. There's no smoke at all and I suspect that the nearly 3000 hours is a big nothing burger for this engine, which still looks brand new after a quick 409 spritz and hosing down. The 2 gallon tranny drain/fill capacity suggest that this is a serious transmission, not like those 1.5 qt lawn tractor stuff. I'm too old to wrench on cars anymore, but projects like this is fun for me.
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