John Deere 4300 complete rebuild

[dfkrug]

dfkrug, what did you do for the special john deere tools needed.

This project required no special tools at all. I can see that if you
were a mechanic at a dealer and you had to crack tractors every day
or two, you might buy or build a few jigs. I did not.

For splitting and re-attaching the halves of tractors, I like to split them
with the help of another tractor's FEL and/or an overhead hoist I have
in my workshop. I also use a wheeled floorjack. You can buy or rent
cherry pickers as you would when pulling an engine, but I have not
needed one of those in years.

On the subject of special tools, the only ones I have ever bought are
the wooden or plastic clutch alignment tools. Others I have made as
needed, such as special wrenches to remove cooling fans, serpentine
belt idlers, head bolts, or hyd cylinder glands.

 

[pollolittle]

Thanks, the book calls for a JDG1259 Clutch Shimming Fixture
JDG 1262 Detent Ball Tool. What did you do for those?

I have a cherrry picker and was curious whether or not it would work for supporting the front half.

So, where did you get the clutch fixture from and all the parts you bought?

 

[dfkrug]

Thanks, the book calls for a JDG1259 Clutch Shimming Fixture
JDG 1262 Detent Ball Tool. What did you do for those?

I have a cherrry picker and was curious whether or not it would work for supporting the front half.

So, where did you get the clutch fixture from and all the parts you bought?

My tractor had a HST, so there was no foot clutch. I looked up the
clutch shimming procedure for the case where you are replacing the
plates or friction discs and, as usual, there is no need to buy a shimming
fixture. You can cobble up a secure brace to take the measurements
needed. You also don't need a fancy micrometer-style gauge; you
can use gauge blocks and feeler guages to get the same accuracy. Not
a "production" setup, but fine for the rare need you have here.

When you split the tractor, the weight you are lifting at the bell housing
is only a couple of hundred pounds or so at the front, and maybe 300 or
so at the rear, due to the balance over the axles.

(I now remember making a special wrench to remove my front axle
kingpin bolts. I don't buy special tools.)

 

[pollolittle]

Unsure what a guage block is, but that's why we have Google! I really am trying to not buy special tools, but it seems the books always require one.

Thanks for taking a look at the book and giving your thoughts on it. I'll see if I can figure out what you are talking about.

It is good to know you think the 1 1/2 ton engine hoist will do the job. I was getting a big no way from some folks. For your shop and the chain hoist did you build a stand for it, it sounds like you would!

 

[dfkrug]

Unsure what a guage block is, but that's why we have Google! I really am trying to not buy special tools, but it seems the books always require one.

If you are not a machinist who owns gage blocks, you can accurately
measure most gaps with a set of feeler gauges and a pre-measured
block of material that fills most of the gap. Call that a poor man's
gage block.

My hoist hangs from an I-beam that forms the ridge of my workshop.
I used to rent large cherry picker engine hoists, since I rarely used them
and they take up too much space when unused.

Remember that many service manuals are written for service personnel.
So having and using a special tool in a commercial environment often makes
sense. For the rest of us civilians, it rarely makes sense.

 

[Bubbvt]

Tractor looks great. Ant chance you've got a steering cylinder left from the front axel? Pn AM128371. Snapped mine

 

[dfkrug]

Ant chance you've got a steering cylinder left from the front axel?
Pn AM128371. Snapped mine

I never replaced mine. And if I needed to, I would buy a generic cylinder and modify it. I
assume you have looked up how much JD wants for that part?

Somewhere on TBN is a thread I posted where I helped replace a single-cyl setup on a JD955. That
was harder, since it uses a double ended unit.

 

[steveyoung]

quick question i've purchased a tractor in similar condition, not quite as far as this one of yours. it appears the renter ran it low on oil the subsequently crashed the cam gear and the valves of course. so the rental yard disassembled the unit and thats where i got the unit. sorced a TNE 86 yanmar from a trucking company. they are fairly popular in refer units. 1700$ from pan to cover. timing cover was different but not a deal breaker. now the problem! both of my hydrualic pumps are missing all together! they apper to be the same as the unit your working on. i wandered if you knew who made the pumps or if there were any manufacture part numbers on them? any help would be greatly apreciated

 

[dfkrug]

both of my hydrualic pumps are missing all together! they apper to be the same as
the unit your working on. i wandered if you knew who made the pumps or if there were any manufacture part numbers
on them?

Didn't you save the pumps from the old engine? I don't know who made them or what to substitute.

 

[steveyoung]

Didn't you save the pumps from the old engine? I don't know who made them or what to substitute.

thanks for the reply but as I said both of my pumps are absent, apparently some one at the auction yard or the repair facility decided that they needed the pumps more than I did? I've ordered a couple of used units from rock valley