How many hours is too many? John deere 4520 utility

[MF283]

I would like to know who had been operating the tractor, when you put younger folks on machines that haven't had to pay for one, some will run them like they stoled it, then hopefully so responsible perso has been running it.
It's reached the broken in part & should have many more hours to go in it's life.

Ronnie

 

[Bota4me]

The hours are less important than the maintenance and how it was used or abused. My 2004 Suburban has over 2200 hours on it and you cannot tell it has been used. I have a friend with a 1985 Kubota with over 20,000 hrs. It was used commercial for the first 15 years of its life and now mows 10 acres and maintains 900ft of gravel road. Regular maintenance is the key factor in longevity.

Has that 20,000 hour Kubota been rebuilt? Thats the most ive ever heard of for a small diesel.

 

[RoyJackson]

By the way, based upon some PMs between 1937 and I, the tractor is a used CUT, not the older (1968-1970) utility tractor.

 

[jenkinsph]

I'm looking at a John Deere 4520 utility with almost 2200 hours. It has been well maintained and in good condition. It has a loader with a factory cab and they want $25,500 for it. Is this too many hours? Are there big ticket repairs it would need after so many hours, or concerns with hydro repairs?

I think that is a fair price, would not expect to have any major problems. Golf course tractor work in general is less damaging than working on newly reclaimed small parcels.

 

[davesl708]

Has that 20,000 hour Kubota been rebuilt? Thats the most ive ever heard of for a small diesel.

Not sure if it was overhauled before my friend bought it but not since he owned it. He puts about eight hours a week on it.

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

For some comparison to automotive mileage, the fleet vehicle hour/miles equation is 33 miles driven per hour accrued. So to get a number that you may be more used to when assessing condition and value, multiply the hours by 33. in your case 2200 hours X 33 = 72,600 miles.

If your serious about purchasing, I would ask the owner/dealer to take oil samples of the engine oil and hydrostat fluid and send them to be analyzed. As these are about $30-40 each, you will need to either pony up for them yourself or negotiate with and split the cost. The oil you sample will need to have at least 20-25 hours on it to provide useful data.

Tom