JD 4520 weight bracket - design quality issue

[eepete]

The kennyd PIP is sounding better all the time. It might take some time and effort, but if the solves the problem for me and others down the road it would be worth it.

Steve, where were you when I was putting that bar through? I was lifting each weight, spraying lube, pushing the bar, and occasionally muttering an uncharitable word about the JD engineering department, particularly at the end of the process. I'll use the jack next time.

Next step is wait for the dealer and cut a spare hunk of 4x4.

Pete

 

[eepete]

Heard back from my Deere dealer. The weights are aftermarket, not "real JD". He noted that the mounting flange and lip were not as precise as the JD weights. This explains the approximate $1/# cost. So he's getting a "real JD" weight, and we'll see if that looks better and then look at the price.
This also explains why the 42# weights I have look different. Two are real JD, four are aftermarket. The JD are a better fit on both brackets. Casting is not modern rocket science, I have no idea why aftermarket guys can't do better.

I'm leaning more and more toward returning the weight bracket, and making the 6 70# aftermarket weights work on the existing bracket. If Steve says it works, that's good enough for me. Even if the "real JD" weights are OK, they will probably cost more and there is still the problem that the bar can flex enough that they weights could come off in a bumpy ride or roll over. JD needs to put a mid point flange on that bracket like they did years ago for the smaller bracket with lighter weights for my 318. Maybee lost sales will make them listen .

Other lesson here: Green does not mean JD, look closely..

Pete

 

[dcyrilc]

Heard back from my Deere dealer. The weights are aftermarket, not "real JD". He noted that the mounting flange and lip were not as precise as the JD weights. This explains the approximate $1/# cost. So he's getting a "real JD" weight, and we'll see if that looks better and then look at the price.
This also explains why the 42# weights I have look different. Two are real JD, four are aftermarket. The JD are a better fit on both brackets. Casting is not modern rocket science, I have no idea why aftermarket guys can't do better.

Pete

I'm curious. Where did you get the non-JD weights?

 

[eepete]

The Deere dealer said he got them "from a supplier in Greensboro NC". I can ask who it is if you want.

I guess I could put them on the milling machine and make them fit, but it's a bloody hunk of iron- it should just be cast right. And then that still leaves the way too long bar on the bracket.

Pete

 

[dcyrilc]

The Deere dealer said he got them "from a supplier in Greensboro NC". I can ask who it is if you want.

I guess I could put them on the milling machine and make them fit, but it's a bloody hunk of iron- it should just be cast right. And then that still leaves the way too long bar on the bracket.

Pete

I guess the answer I was looking for was the Deere dealer. I was wondering if they came from the dealer or if you found them somewhere else. Seems odd to me that a Deere dealer would sell aftermarket weights. Anyway, it was just curiosity.

Edit:
You might be able to leverage the dealer for "Deere" weights at the same price if he didn't tell you he was selling you an aftermarket product. Afterall, you would expect a factory product from the dealer.

 

[jenkinsph]

Pete,

I would return the large weight adaptor, fix the six weights you have and rock and roll. Put that money back in your pocket.


My landplane is close to 1000 lbs, the boxblade is 1250lbs. but doesn't extend rearward as far as the MX6, don't have any problems with any of these implements. My 820 is lighter at 4000 lbs and doesn't have front weights, it is a little light with the MX6 on it but is manageable. Having 420 lbs of weight on the front should cover you well.

 

[eepete]

Got email from the dealer this morning. The Deere 70# weights will cost me $90 each. Don't know if that's his cost as he works with me, or their every day price. He is ordering them "no obligation"- I can either trade them (+pay the extra $19/weight) or keep what I have. I can also return the front weight bracket no questions asked.

Cyril, this is the 1st time the dealer didn't give me the choice of Deere or aftermarket, so I can let this slide. An example of when this worked is when I bought the iMatch, and the dealer said they would include the adaptors for all my implements if they could use aftermarket adaptors. Hopefully this event will mean they will start asking the question when selling weights. I suspect a lot of people just cram the weights on and go.

Steve, you've yet to steer me wrong (and don't start now ). I'm going to return the weight bracket and just go with 6 70# weights. I'll see what the fit is like with the real weights. With the tool I have (milling machine but no welding cutters) it might be a lot easier to just put up the extra $$s and have a day to do work in other areas. Give me an aluminum chassis for electronics equipment and a 2 mil tolerance and I'm good to go. A big hunk of iron is a very different matter.

So there's the plan, I'll post a pix when it's all done. I was working outside yesterday, and you can hear the grass growing so this will be a just in time solution :laughing:.

Pete

 

[dcyrilc]

Cyril, this is the 1st time the dealer didn't give me the choice of Deere or aftermarket, so I can let this slide. An example of when this worked is when I bought the iMatch, and the dealer said they would include the adaptors for all my implements if they could use aftermarket adaptors. Hopefully this event will mean they will start asking the question when selling weights. I suspect a lot of people just cram the weights on and go.

Pete

Makes sense. He should ask though if he is looking at selling you aftermarket parts. As for myself, I would have raised a stink. But to be fair, if I'm going to the dealer, I'm looking for factory parts.

Glad to hear the grass is growing up your way. Here in Washington, or at least at my place, the grass seems to be growing everywhere except in my pastures. If something doesn't change pretty soon, I'll have to graze my cattle along the driveways instead of in the pastures.:laughing:

 

[eepete]

Just for fun, I tried mowing with no weights. Not much fun . Anything other than level ground and a turn more than 30 degrees doesn't work. So I'm thinking about 6 70# weights (420#s) and how that's about 9% of the weight of the tractor, and then thinking I might want more, but Steve said, and then thinking...

Ok, insert all the overthinking here --> [ ] and reduce the size of this post considerably.

So I took the bracket to a welding/metal fab shop I used years ago when I needed a special holding jig for a chassis for my milling machine, and had them add two plates with a holes so that the bracket holder had a good chance of working. They did a great job and even painted it, 1 day turn, $40.

The Deere weights came in at the dealer, and I went to look at them. They are correctly shaped, unlike the aftermarket ones. Note that the aftermarket ones in the 42# and the big honking weights (don't know what they are for the 6000 series and up) are OK, but the 70# ones are a bad mold. So I decide I want the 6 70# Deere weights. I bring the modified bracket and show it to my salesman at the dealer.
He's feeling bad for all the grief I'm going through. He said that's only the 2nd weight bracket the've ever sold, and others have just "made do" with the aftermarkets. As his way of making up for this confusion and my time, when the paperwork clears it's an even swap :dance1:.

This is why I like my dealer and salesman, this is why I'm always civil when things happen (and things always happen). We even figure out why I didn't get the word on the aftermarket, and everyone in sales (both tractors and parts) now has the word at the dealership. I've sent him the picture of my modified bracket, he'll forward it to Deere central. Problems are solved by focusing on them, and then when the problem is solved it's easer to go back to the people and figure out what happened and fix all that people stuff.

But to heck with all that, let's look at the pix:

The 1st one is using a jack to gently lift the weights. When I did this, the bar just slide through by hand no problem. The genuine Deere weights were the trick. Thanks to Steve for this little trick.
The 2nd pix is a top view of the entire assembly. There is some distortion in the picture, but you can see the bar is not bent, and you can see the mid position brackets that the bar goes through. I've added four 40# weights, and if things get squirrelly I can get more 70# weights if need be. Note also the bracket puts the weights more forward by about as much as the iMatch puts the MX6 mower more backwards. Someday I'll get a pix of the hill with pond at the bottom that's causing all this concern....
The 3rd pix is a shot straight down the line. You can clearly see the added flat bar with hole that the round weight holder goes through, and the bar is not bent.

You've got to like anything that works :thumbsup: .

I'll check back in a year or so and see if Deere has improved the bracket. All they have to do is extend an existing piece of metal up 1" and put a hole in it. Should cost less than $2. This will tell me if Deere is riding on their reputation or earning it every day. After all, they got it right 10 years ago on a bracket made for only 42# weights.
Fixed = :thumbsup:, not fixed = :thumbdown:.

Time to mow the grass again this weekend. More control, should be good. I've got a bit of a learning curve on the MX6, but that's another story for another day...

Pete

 

[dcyrilc]

Looks good Pete. Nice fix!:thumbsup: