Suburban Plowboy
Platinum Member
That sums it up.
John Deere 430 I just bought
- Thread starter arto98607
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arto98607
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- Kubota F3060, Grasshopper 721D, Ford 1310, John Deere 440 ICD, John Deere 300 & 430
Like I said in post #1 of this thread, I wanted a similar size Diesel powered garden tractor to replace 1976 JD 300 which I have used for over 30 years and will most likely end up keeping anyway.
We have 60" and 72" front deck Diesel powered commercial mowers and JD 430 is not really needed for mowing except occasionally.
So far I have not had any problems getting new or used spare parts for either, but I am sure it will get more difficult as years go by.
I can live with that.
BravoXray
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As long as it fulfills your needs, and you can get parts for it, ignore the naysayers and keep using it.
OP
arto98607
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Update
As mentioned in earlier post #24, I bought a used 60" JD400 mower deck in October and instead of using it as is decided recently to take it apart & overhaul completely.
Underneath the deck is in excellent condition and practically does not need any work, but it had some surface rust up on top where the safety shield was.
Under the shield there had been some (wet) grass clippings, hidden from the previous owner!
Here it is after surface prep and coat of Por15 paint:
After surface prep and a new coat of top paint:
I will probably delete the shield...
Overhauling the spindles & refitting new idlers, wheels etc. is in progress now.
As mentioned in earlier post #24, I bought a used 60" JD400 mower deck in October and instead of using it as is decided recently to take it apart & overhaul completely.
Underneath the deck is in excellent condition and practically does not need any work, but it had some surface rust up on top where the safety shield was.
Under the shield there had been some (wet) grass clippings, hidden from the previous owner!
Here it is after surface prep and coat of Por15 paint:
After surface prep and a new coat of top paint:
I will probably delete the shield...
Overhauling the spindles & refitting new idlers, wheels etc. is in progress now.
Richard001
Veteran Member
Looks great, keep coming with your progress.
BravoXray
Elite Member
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- Nothern Indiana
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- Kubota BX2230, John Deere 430 Diesel
If you rebuild the spindles, they use generic bearings you can get from a local bearing house. Check their prices before you buy them from JD.
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Be careful with 'generic' bearings as they may be inferior if made over there.
pmsmechanic
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5030 you make me laugh. I'm pretty sure most bearings are made "over there".
My bearing supplier asks me what the intended use of the bearing is and sells me a higher quality bearing if the intended use warrants it. According to my bearing guy the basic difference between the quality bearing and a cheaper one is the addition of one extra ball in the bearing race.
- Joined
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I agree to a point and that is, I prefer to use European made bearings over China made ones. and some like Timken are still made here. I get all my bearings from Detroit Ball and I can choose country of manufacture. One place I never would consider buying from would be Amazon simply because you can rest assured they will come from 'there'.
dadohead
Silver Member
I worked on the 430 when I first transferred to JD Lawn & Garden in '93. It was already in production then and my group was just launching it's replacement: the 455. The 420/430 still required engineering support though.
From memory, it had a Sundstand 90 transaxle and Yanmar 3TN72 diesel. It was one of the first garden tractors to get a diesel so air management was key (large amounts of cooling required in a small package). The Sundstand transaxle design dictated the engine rotation and thus orientation. It sucked cooling air in from the front and discharged below. The nose was extended out to add intake air surface. Too little screen and you build a vacuum cleaner that sucks airborne debris TO the machine. The engine was flipped on the new 455 and sucked cooling air in at the pedestal (the Kanzaki 90 transaxle was designed in conjunction). It too had minimal air intake area but brought air in closer to the operator. The debate still rages about which is better... you decide.
The 430 has proven itself to be a great tractor. What to look for though: 430 has Ackermann steering geometry controlled by a frame mounted steering cylinder... so the steering cylinder pushes the axle forward/back to facilitate turning. As steering components wear though, user inputs to the system get less and less precise creating steering that can feel "wonky". I don't remember if the 430 had axle outriggers for support (455 did). New bushings to tighten steering will fix.
I remember some (not crazy) muffler warranty! (because it was assigned to me!) Design guidelines always warn about mounting mufflers and intake canisters directly to engines... especially diesels! But in small packages (compacts on down) you have to. I recalled some failed warranty parts and saw the muffler failures: cracks at the header-to-can joint. I had Test order in some snazzy high temp stain gages and gaged up a new muffler. Installed on the several 430's we owned in Engineering... quiet. Low strain, no issues. WTH? A guy in Experimental told me though, his personal 430 had already cracked several. So with his backing, I had his machine picked up and brought to JD, gaged muffler installed, and tested. You guessed it... that stupid thing lit up like a search light! I had the engine guys go over it too... nothing wrong! Turns out, some desiels have a certain shake that others don't. I reinforced the muffler design as much as possible but a small percentage of machines could still fatigue one within their life.
Mower decks (especially the 60) on this machine were old designs and not considered great cutters. That's it... all I remember. I'm old.
From memory, it had a Sundstand 90 transaxle and Yanmar 3TN72 diesel. It was one of the first garden tractors to get a diesel so air management was key (large amounts of cooling required in a small package). The Sundstand transaxle design dictated the engine rotation and thus orientation. It sucked cooling air in from the front and discharged below. The nose was extended out to add intake air surface. Too little screen and you build a vacuum cleaner that sucks airborne debris TO the machine. The engine was flipped on the new 455 and sucked cooling air in at the pedestal (the Kanzaki 90 transaxle was designed in conjunction). It too had minimal air intake area but brought air in closer to the operator. The debate still rages about which is better... you decide.
The 430 has proven itself to be a great tractor. What to look for though: 430 has Ackermann steering geometry controlled by a frame mounted steering cylinder... so the steering cylinder pushes the axle forward/back to facilitate turning. As steering components wear though, user inputs to the system get less and less precise creating steering that can feel "wonky". I don't remember if the 430 had axle outriggers for support (455 did). New bushings to tighten steering will fix.
I remember some (not crazy) muffler warranty! (because it was assigned to me!) Design guidelines always warn about mounting mufflers and intake canisters directly to engines... especially diesels! But in small packages (compacts on down) you have to. I recalled some failed warranty parts and saw the muffler failures: cracks at the header-to-can joint. I had Test order in some snazzy high temp stain gages and gaged up a new muffler. Installed on the several 430's we owned in Engineering... quiet. Low strain, no issues. WTH? A guy in Experimental told me though, his personal 430 had already cracked several. So with his backing, I had his machine picked up and brought to JD, gaged muffler installed, and tested. You guessed it... that stupid thing lit up like a search light! I had the engine guys go over it too... nothing wrong! Turns out, some desiels have a certain shake that others don't. I reinforced the muffler design as much as possible but a small percentage of machines could still fatigue one within their life.
Mower decks (especially the 60) on this machine were old designs and not considered great cutters. That's it... all I remember. I'm old.