John Deere 4300 complete rebuild

[Kubota 2350]

Here is the Deere next to my Yanmar 2 weeks before it was in the fire.

Do you have any after the fire pictures?

 

[banjodunn]

G'day if it has been hot enough to burn the tyres then you have to factor into your repair that every 'o' ring and every seal will need to be replaced i have had these type of repairs in my workshop and will not do them unless the people realise what is involved. In saying that if you get it cheap and are willing to do the work yourself then it is an excellent project good luck with it


Jon

 

[dcyrilc]

Wow, I bet you cant wait to see a backhoe on your 4300. Since the neighbor lost his shop/mancave last week to a huge fire, ive decided it would be fun to fix up his tractor that was inside durring the fire. It is a John Deere 4100 with a FEL and a rototiller. He did have insurance on most everything in the building but he did loose $500,000 worth of stuff. I originally wanted to fix the FEL and the tiller but yesterday my mom's friend said that a diesel tractor is usually saveable since it is only going to loose the plastics/ rubbers/ and wiring. Oh, and the paint. Looking at the tractor, externally it looks in fare shape except the tires are gone and so is all the paint. I was the last one to drive the tractor and did notice it had some things that needed to be fixed. Like the FEL cylinders had internal leaking so they couldnt hold in a curl or lift for very long. The 3 point had issues with lowering the tiller, and it seemed to like to turn left on inclines. If I do in fact get it, it will be a major project and im sure it will cost a bit in parts but in the end I will have a nice tractor for a very low price. It would be my 3rd tractor. Im 14! Opinions are welcome and so is any advice. Oh, my mom knows some people who know a lot about working with diesel engines as well as a guy who used to be a mechanic at John Deere. So I wouldnt be alone. I will most likely have to wait to work on the tractor itself until my mom builds a shop next summer so my first focus is the tiller and the FEL. The only problem, getting it home. I will probably remove the tiller and haul it home on my forks. I would do the same with the FEL but i know it wouldnt work to well.

This would make a good thread for discussing the pros/cons of rebuilding such a machine. Starting one would be good so that dfkrug's thread doesn't end up hijacked. I know that you only made a comment about your neighbors tractor, but everyone wants to give you input about it. You could post a link here so that anyone reading this and wanting to give you feedback could follow the link and give the feedback on your thread.

Personally, I hope you do so that I can follow it also.

 

[dfkrug]

This would make a good thread for discussing the pros/cons of rebuilding such a machine.

I agree, and I would read it.

By all means, start a thread, Jacob, in the Yanmar section or in Parts/Repairs.
Your thread title will attract Yanmar-specific interest, while the Repairs
area will make it visible to those who would be interested in rebuild issues
for ANY marque.

 

[dcyrilc]

dfkrug,

Any progress with the petal clearance?

 

[dfkrug]

Well the HST control pedal clearance issue is a tough one. When you
push on the Forward pedal, the Reverse pedal comes up and will hit the
bottom of the floor plan, limiting its travel. Conversely, pushing the
Rev pedal all the way down may result in the Fwd pedal hitting the floor
pan. I don't want to limit travel for the Fwd especially....I am less
concerned about Rev. Ideally, neither will be limited.

At last I have finished all the adjustments I am going to do here. Adjusting
the HST control rod lengths requires removing one of the Heim joints and
screwing it in or out, then replacing it. This is not that easy to do as
clearances are tight in there. The floor pan is not that easy to install/
remove either. My solution includes optimizing the tie rods lengths thru
trial-and-error, adding washers to two of the three right floor mounts, and
grinding slightly bigger pedal holes in the floor. Whew!

BTW, the floor panel is an impressive piece of green steel. In order to fix
a dent in the right side, I had to stand it up on an anvil and hit it with
a sledge hammer.

This whole process was not too interesting (for you or me!) and there
are no pix.

Next, I will need to put the roll bar on because it supports the fenders,
and I need to decide on where to weld on my 3rd Aux valve lever and
hyd QD bulkhead.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Well, I am planning on getting the 4100 as a highschool project. I can tell that it was a very hot fire and am quite aware of the seals and possibly weakend metal. The tires are gone as well as the paint and everything that was plastic. My mom does know a retired John Deere mechanic as well as some very knowledgeable guys that work with diesels all the time. There really isnt anything to loose as im getting the tractor for free. I will start up a thread when the time comes closer to when my neighbor can start cleaning up the mess. Although the fire was hot, it couldnt have been to hard on the tractor as it was in the back of the building quite a distance away from where the fire started in the Ford truck. I guess the cruise control switch underwent self combustion which in turn caught his truck on fire. Then with all the gas, diesel and an oxygen cylinger in the shop, the fire was basically unstoppable. All thats left is scrap metal. He has a 2007 kubota with a FEL and backhoe on the way to replace the 4100. I just figure I will remove the 4100's FEL with the Kubota and put the tiller on my 3 point forks on the Yanny and haul then home. I will borrow my grandpa's utility trailer as i havent bought one yet and put the FEL on there. Then haul that home, unload with the Kubota, and run back down to get the tractor. Pull it up onto the trailer in neutral and pull that home. Since my mom hasnt yet built a shop till next August, i plan to get the FEL and Tiller fixed so that when the tractor is finished, i can hook up to them and go play in the woods. I also plan to use the tiller on my Yanmar for our garden. It will definatly be a big project for me but it will be worth it in the end when I can use it for chores and such.

 

[dfkrug]

Now I have the fenders and other rear trim plastic all installed. The
ROPS is mounted, but supported only by the fenders until I can work
on welding up the lower ROPS brackets (for the hoe subframe).

At last I have the power beyond loop done. The two short hose stubs
in the first photo replace the hardline that connects the triple SCV to
the rockshaft valve. There are lots of 1/2" sizes fittings and adapters in
there, as I have metrics, JICs, and NPTs to deal with. The QA will allow
me to hook up to my backhoe and use the return-to-tank fitting that
I mounted just to the right of the toplink holes. I wish more tractors had
these convenient reservoir connections. When the hoe is mounted, the
3-pt cylinder will be entirely bypassed, and the hyd fluid will encounter
less resistance as it makes its way back to the reservoir.

The 2nd and 3rd pix show the connections to the SCVs and rockshaft
valve. My new PB setup clears all obstacles: the 3-pt arms, the 3-pt
feedback linkage, and the PTO shaft.

Last is the bottom view of the completed connections to the SCVs, now
with the 1/4" work port hoses on the 3rd SCV. All these connections had
to be made with the valve block installed, and it is very tight in there. I
could do it with fender on, but the rt wheel had to be off.

Now I have fab up some brackets for the 3rd SCV control and hose support.

 

[mjncad]

The hydraulics look good Dave; but no matter how you slice it, it is a tight squeeze to run hydraulics on these CUT's.

 

[dfkrug]

My PB loop is done, so I was driving my new (ish) Green Machine
around, getting some measurements for my backhoe subframe.

It was kinda dark, so these pix are a bit grainy. I will take more when
I see the sun.

Anyway, all body panels are now mounted. The ROPS is currently only
attached to the fenders, as I will be welding ears on the ROPS bottom
brackets. Lots of other minor stuff to do, too.