JClark
Silver Member
After owning a 4110 for a month I have some comments and a question. First of all the 4110 replaces a 950 I had for 14 years. I sold the 950 through the classifieds on this site. I hope the new owner is enjoying it because I really miss it.
After selling some land I am down to just 5 acres to maintain so I wanted the convenience of HST and a belly mower but still needed enough power for a FEL and some 3-point hitch accessories. After a lot of looking and research I decided on the 4110 because it has the small chassis, making it very maneuverable, but also has a fully capable 3-point hitch and hydraulic system. I also chose to equip it with turf tires since I would be using it to maintain my lawn of about 1.5 acres. The balance of the land is just field grass and I usually cut it with a bush hog (another story for another post). There is also a fair length of sand and gravel lane to maintain.
My local dealer will tell you I beat him up pretty badly on the price but in truth he only had to match what another local dealer qouted without haggling. I paid $16,015 for the 4110, turf tires, FEL, 60" mower and 60" landscape box. He wanted to charge me an additional $500 for assembly but I told him I would rather do the assembly myself regardless. I did the same thing with my old 950 and enjoyed it. I learned a lot in the process.
The 4110 itself is a nice little tractor. Very easy to handle with the HST and power steering. The FEL attaches easily, though not as easily as the 80 loader on the old 950. With a 5' box and the FEL (53" bucket) full of damp sand the 4110 still handles great and doesn't strain. It has no difficulty pulling the box blade full of sand or gravel. The turf tires provide great traction in most conditions.
The belly mower is where it gets less satisfactory. While the mower itself is a great unit the attachment of the mower to the tractor is a jackleg rig if I ever saw one. Those bellcrank units that sit over the draft links to provide the lift for the mower are pitiful. Any slight change in the tilt or the sway adjusters affects the level of the mower deck. It took hours to get the deck level and as soon as I attached the box blade the deck level was all whacked. The 'deck latch kit' is even worse. It keeps the deck lifted when using the 3-point hitch by holding up those stupid bellcrank units. It consists of two bracket, two pieces of chain and two pins that are a royal pain to use. Where is the latch?
More problems cropped up with the jackleg deck attachment system. At its highest lift the deck is still barely off the ground. The tractor with the deck installed is useless as a tractor because the deck is constantly banging on the ground. It must be removed before using the FEL or box blade. As it turns out this problem is caused by undersized rear turf tires. The tractor squats with the nose pointed up. The floor boards are not level as they are on similar tractors with ag or industrial tires. I think the tires are undersized because of clearance problems with those miserable bellcranks and the turnbuckles that attach to the deck support arms. John Deere engineering failed badly on this project.
I am considering replacing the existing 31x13.5-15 tires with 36x13.5-15. The additional diameter brings the tractor level and gives a lot more ground clearance with the mower deck. There is plenty of room for the additional 4.5" of diameter. The additional 1" width will require some modifications to the bellcrank units. With the current tires there is only .5" of clearance at the pins on the lower end of the bellcranks. Splitting in half the additional 1" width of the 36s I end up with the pins just scuffing the sidewalls.
An additional issue is the change in front/rear tire circumference ratios when the 4wd is engaged. I don't think it is of any real consequence on any surface except pavement. So what do you think? I appreciate your input on this.
Jeff Clark
After selling some land I am down to just 5 acres to maintain so I wanted the convenience of HST and a belly mower but still needed enough power for a FEL and some 3-point hitch accessories. After a lot of looking and research I decided on the 4110 because it has the small chassis, making it very maneuverable, but also has a fully capable 3-point hitch and hydraulic system. I also chose to equip it with turf tires since I would be using it to maintain my lawn of about 1.5 acres. The balance of the land is just field grass and I usually cut it with a bush hog (another story for another post). There is also a fair length of sand and gravel lane to maintain.
My local dealer will tell you I beat him up pretty badly on the price but in truth he only had to match what another local dealer qouted without haggling. I paid $16,015 for the 4110, turf tires, FEL, 60" mower and 60" landscape box. He wanted to charge me an additional $500 for assembly but I told him I would rather do the assembly myself regardless. I did the same thing with my old 950 and enjoyed it. I learned a lot in the process.
The 4110 itself is a nice little tractor. Very easy to handle with the HST and power steering. The FEL attaches easily, though not as easily as the 80 loader on the old 950. With a 5' box and the FEL (53" bucket) full of damp sand the 4110 still handles great and doesn't strain. It has no difficulty pulling the box blade full of sand or gravel. The turf tires provide great traction in most conditions.
The belly mower is where it gets less satisfactory. While the mower itself is a great unit the attachment of the mower to the tractor is a jackleg rig if I ever saw one. Those bellcrank units that sit over the draft links to provide the lift for the mower are pitiful. Any slight change in the tilt or the sway adjusters affects the level of the mower deck. It took hours to get the deck level and as soon as I attached the box blade the deck level was all whacked. The 'deck latch kit' is even worse. It keeps the deck lifted when using the 3-point hitch by holding up those stupid bellcrank units. It consists of two bracket, two pieces of chain and two pins that are a royal pain to use. Where is the latch?
More problems cropped up with the jackleg deck attachment system. At its highest lift the deck is still barely off the ground. The tractor with the deck installed is useless as a tractor because the deck is constantly banging on the ground. It must be removed before using the FEL or box blade. As it turns out this problem is caused by undersized rear turf tires. The tractor squats with the nose pointed up. The floor boards are not level as they are on similar tractors with ag or industrial tires. I think the tires are undersized because of clearance problems with those miserable bellcranks and the turnbuckles that attach to the deck support arms. John Deere engineering failed badly on this project.
I am considering replacing the existing 31x13.5-15 tires with 36x13.5-15. The additional diameter brings the tractor level and gives a lot more ground clearance with the mower deck. There is plenty of room for the additional 4.5" of diameter. The additional 1" width will require some modifications to the bellcrank units. With the current tires there is only .5" of clearance at the pins on the lower end of the bellcranks. Splitting in half the additional 1" width of the 36s I end up with the pins just scuffing the sidewalls.
An additional issue is the change in front/rear tire circumference ratios when the 4wd is engaged. I don't think it is of any real consequence on any surface except pavement. So what do you think? I appreciate your input on this.
Jeff Clark