John Deere 420 loader quick hitch rebuild

[mars1952]

Hello Again:
The quick hitch on my John Deere FEL was almost worn out. The lower pin holes had walled out to the point that it was difficult to change attachments without getting off the tractor. I repaired the pin holes by cutting the holes large enough to accept a pin boss made from DOM tubing and welding it in. The DOM tubing provided a nice new 1 inch hole with more wear surface.

I posted a few picture on this site and I posted a video on Youtube. Here are the links:

John Deere 420 loader quick hitch rebuild

 

[kennyd]

Nice Job:thumbsup:

 

[arrabil]

Yep, nice job!

 

[steviep]

The reason it wore out like that is properly one of the pins that go through side to side rod was broken. Now be careful if both pins break the rod can actually fall out.

 

[mars1952]

The reason it wore out like that is properly one of the pins that go through side to side rod was broken. Now be careful if both pins break the rod can actually fall out.

I'm not sure which wear spot you are referring to but the only broken/missing keeper pins were on the rod that connects the quick hitch parts. I had replaced the missing keeper pins with bolts. The bolts allowed too much play. I have fixed that problem by drilling out the holes and inserting tight fitting spring pins.
The worn out enlarged holes were caused by bad enginering. The sides without pin bosses enlarged. The sides with pin bosses did not wear out. I covered this all pretty thoroughly in the Youtube video
Mars

 

[Johndeere3720]

Great job on the fix! :thumbsup: Those must look nice upgraded along with the upgraded cylinders. :thumbsup:

 

[Shield Arc]

I did basically the same thing to my 420 loader.
I don't have any pictures of the loader, but here is the same fix I did on my backhoe. I used round stock, and drilled 1-inch holes in the larger round stock.

 

[steviep]

Yes we are talking about the same pins. I got tired of mine breaking so I drill out the rod and quick hitch and installed the next size larger. I have to agree it is a piss poor design if the rod was a litttle longer they could have put a pin on both sides of the quick hitch or better yet they could have fixed it staight from the factory the same way you fixed yours. Maybe I will have to do mine soon ,they not as worn as your but better to fix it now
Oh yea great job on the fixes

 

[Shield Arc]

Took a picture of mine this morning. I didn't weld all the way around, will be easier to grind off and replace at a latter date.

 

[dfkrug]

The worn out enlarged holes were caused by bad enginering. The sides without pin bosses enlarged. The sides with pin bosses did not wear out.

I agree on the bad engineering. Your pivot holes had more wear than
my ex-rental project tractor!

I had a lot of wear in the locator pin holes on the bkt, too. See photo on
post 456 here:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/146974-john-deere-4300-complete-rebuild-12.html
It is the one marked 1.3". Was yours pretty worn, too? Fixing that one
made a huge difference in the up/down slop in the QA brackets.

I considered the DOM tubing approach for both, but decided to make
the holes smaller by welding. I think your approach should last longer,
but you can not do the DOM method on the locator pins.

BTW, I watched your videos on the FEL cyl upgrades, MARS....nice job!

 

[Snaponmac]

Nice Jog. Are you worried about the FEL bending?

 

[mars1952]

Nice Job. Are you worried about the FEL bending?

I worry about everything! However I looked at other JD loaders that are rated for more weight and the material thickness was the same as my 420 loader.

 

[kcender]

I really enjoyed the videos.Thanks for sharing them.

 

[USNative]

Hey Mars, your you tube video was fantastic and I also watched your part 1 and 2 video of modifying and replacing the cylinders on your loader and that was also fantastic IMO ! Learned a lot from those. Thanks for sharing that stuff with us, much appreciated on my end. :thumbsup:

 

[mars1952]

Hey Mars, your you tube video was fantastic and I also watched your part 1 and 2 video of modifying and replacing the cylinders on your loader and that was also fantastic IMO ! Learned a lot from those. Thanks for sharing that stuff with us, much appreciated on my end. :thumbsup:

Hi USNative: Thanks for the kind words and you are very wellcome. I hope you clicked "like" on the videos and subscribed to my channel.
Mars