John Deere 4300 complete rebuild

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My bucket pivot and cylinder mounts are egged out too.

Has anyone directly compared the 420 to the 430?

I'm curious exactly what the differences are. I'd consider turning up the PRV to get better lift performance, but I worry about pretzeling my 420.

One difference is/was the price. The 430 cost about $500-600 more than the 420. Even so, I can't believe the rental place would spend the money for a rental "armor" kit but NOT spend the extra $$$ for the 430 upgrade.

I like the DOM idea even though its a pain in the *&##

While I am amazed at your tenacity dfkrug, I am also amazed at how worn out that tractor was when you got it. Did it live it's whole life in a sandpit? Does anyone know how many hours it has? It almost seems like some of the operators in the past actually maliciously tried to damage the thing. Please keep posting. This has been one of my alltime favorite threads.

 

[mjncad]

The links are there to make the bucket curl forces "stronger"....without the links when the cylinder is totally extended the leverage is less because the 2 pivot points are so "close together" because of the rotation of the bucket. With the links, it allows the force of the cylinder to "round the bend" and still have alot of leverage. Dunno if I am confusing you...this all makes sense in my pea brain...dunno if I put it on paper elegantly :confused2:

It makes sense Dave, I just never noticed the difference between the two loaders until now.

 

[dfkrug]

One difference is/was the price. The 430 cost about $500-600 more than the 420. Even so, I can't believe the rental place would spend the money for a rental "armor" kit but NOT spend the extra $$$ for the 430 upgrade.

I like the DOM idea even though its a pain in the *&##

Additional lifting capability in the 430 over the 420 is not of any value to
the rental yard. Needless to say, they will never buy another tractor with
plastic body panels or aluminum structural castings. This tractor was
certainly fragile in those areas. The last of these 4300s had over 2700 hours
on it....mine is estimated to be between 1000-1500 hr.

I have decided on a fix to the loader pins. JD uses 25mm pins and even
the places where they use a 1" DOM collar so the pin does not spin are
sloppy. So I made two new pins out of 1.00" mild steel rod for the lower
pins. These fit much better in the collars, and are 1/4" longer than stock.
Next I will build up the sloppy 1/4" plate holes with my MIG. I may add
collars, too. I am not replacing the 4-ft rod.

Note that going to 1" pin stick will tighten up ALL the other FEL pins, too. I
may do that.

 

[dcyrilc]

Additional lifting capability in the 430 over the 420 is not of any value to
the rental yard. Needless to say, they will never buy another tractor with
plastic body panels or aluminum structural castings. This tractor was
certainly fragile in those areas. The last of these 4300s had over 2700 hours
on it....mine is estimated to be between 1000-1500 hr.

I have decided on a fix to the loader pins. JD uses 25mm pins and even
the places where they use a 1" DOM collar so the pin does not spin are
sloppy. So I made two new pins out of 1.00" mild steel rod for the lower
pins. These fit much better in the collars, and are 1/4" longer than stock.
Next I will build up the sloppy 1/4" plate holes with my MIG. I may add
collars, too. I am not replacing the 4-ft rod.

Note that going to 1" pin stick will tighten up ALL the other FEL pins, too. I
may do that.

Pictures please.

 

[dcyrilc]

Dave,

I found why a lot of the slop exists in my loader bucket. My lower pins are 28mm and the sleeves are 30mm. I was amazed when I removed the bucket and put a pin back in the sleeve to look at the fit. I could stick a 16D nail in the sleeve with the pin!:shocked: On all my other joints, the sleeves are 26mm and they have 1" pins in them. Still way sloppier than I would like, but at least they aren't like the lower pins for attaching the bucket.:confused2:

 

[dfkrug]

I found why a lot of the slop exists in my loader bucket. My lower pins are 28mm and the sleeves are 30mm. I was amazed when I removed the bucket and put a pin back in the sleeve to look at the fit. I could stick a 16D nail in the sleeve with the pin!:shocked: On all my other joints, the sleeves are 26mm and they have 1" pins in them. Still way sloppier than I would like, but at least they aren't like the lower pins for attaching the bucket

The 2240 uses 28mm loader pins at the bkt end? Is the bkt a QA bucket?

I was just about to start welding on my QA bkt brackets and I noticed that
the slop in the QA "nub" hole is also horrible. I measure the nub on the
bkt to be 1 3/16" diameter, and the hole on the bracket to be 1 5/16".
It is somewhat surprising that the hole is round, not worn to an oval shape.
So it seems that it has worn as much left and right as well as up and down.
I don't know how tight this was when new, but right now, it is extremely
loose. This part of the bracket is also only 1/4" thick, and the retainer hole
limits my ability to make it thicker here.

.....got more welding to do....

 

[dcyrilc]

The 2240 uses 28mm loader pins at the bkt end? Is the bkt a QA bucket?

No QA. When I mic'd it, the sleeves through the loader arms were 30.14mm and the holes in the mount on the bucket were just slightly larger from wear. When I mic'd the pins, they were 27.99mm.

The sleeves on the end of the cylinders were 26.08mm? Trying to remember, it was somewhere right near there. The pins for the cylinder attachment mic'd out at 1" (25.58mm?) ish. I'm at work right now and going from memory. I paid more attention to the lower pins than the upper as I can live with them for now.

 

[dfkrug]

....I am still tweaking my QA brackets and have a ways to go....

Meanwhile, I have started posting my 4300 subframe effort here:
how to build your own custom backhoe subframe - Page 4 - TractorByNet.com

 

[dfkrug]

Well, I have a ways to go yet, but here is my first pass at repaired
FEL QA brackets.

The first photo shows just after welding inside the worst of the pin
holes, before clean-up and any material removal. In the 2nd, you
can see the welding I did for the bucket alignment pin hole. Where
the clip that goes thru the pin goes to secure the bucket also needed
bulid-up.

My tool of choice is a pneumatic angle grinder with a 1/4" carbide
bit. It removes steel pretty quickly, until the holes are round enough
to drill with a 1" bit on the drill press. I used a 63/64" bit first. The
bkt alignment pin is 1.25", however, so that one is not drilled.

Then there is my test fit on the bucket (#4). The 1/8"+ gap on the top
bucket support has been nearly eliminated. Like new (almost).

I suspect that my approach so far is a bit more work than just burning
out 1.5" holes and welding in DOM tubing.

 

[dfkrug]

Well, the loader refurbishment continues...

I have since completed my backhoe subframe, and I have also just acquired
another 4300. This unit is somewhat newer, as JD replaced one of the
tractors initially purchased by the rental yard. It is very interesting as it
has a number of updates on it, including the newer front axle with tie rod,
underside armor, different parking brake, and one of the rear axle castings
is clearly different. More on that later.

As I proceed with my FEL fixes, I removed and straightened one of my
4 hardlines. This one has been replaced previously with a JD retrofit. Notice
that these come in 3 pieces, instead of one, so it can be shipped in a
smaller box. I have worked with these before, but I do not know how
these compare cost-wise with just making a new hardline. Anybody do
that?

The 2nd and third pix are of a JD FEL retrofit latch, which I imagine is
a response to problems with the front QA mechanism on the 4x0 loaders.
These came out a year or so after the 4x00 tractors did, based on the
date of the instructions manual. This is not a problem if you use the two
bolt holes to secure the loader plate (3rd photo). Anyone have one of
these? Was there a recall notice? Maybe they were just installed by
the dealer or mfgr on units sold after mid-2000?