New (to me) 4100

[Johndeere3720]

Picked up a high hour (5540 hrs) John Deere 4100 today so I can have a mowing tractor again. Surprisingly for the hours it’s mechanically sound, no blow by, smoke, or stuttering in the transmission/hydraulics. I’m not sure what it’s previous life entailed but I think it’ll have an easy retirement cutting brush on my property. First and foremost though it’ll get a basic service and probably a little TLC on the cosmetic side of things. Having had numerous Yanmars , a Kubota B2630, and several lesser known brands it’ll be interesting to see how this John Deere compares.

 

[dodge man]

It definitely wasn’t stored inside under cover a waxed on a regular basis. Other than being a little sun burned it doesn’t look to bad. I’m guessing tge seat has been replaced.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Making the tractor useful with a new Fronteir mower

Reversed the rear tires and when right to work cutting brush. Forgot how dusty mowing can be on an open station machine but it was certainly enjoyable nonetheless.

 

[jyoutz]

I had that model tractor with loader for 20+ years. It always performed well and needed no repairs except lift cylinder seals. But wow: over 5500 hours. Amazing.

 

[Hay Dude]

Nice machine. I have always like the Deere 4xxx series. My friend owns a bigger 4 series with a loader and uses it in his tree service business and also does some small brush cutting work.

Good looking setup. Hope you have luck with it.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Got a little time today to start cleaning up the hood. The white color was actually primer, apparently some of the paint had came off in the past so their fix was shooting the hood with some grey primer to prevent rust. This go around it’ll get sanded, primed, and painted. Although far from perfect it’ll at least look the way it should.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Any advice on finding the trim piece for around the headlight switch? This 4100 just had duct tape over the hole that the switch goes in so I ordered a new switch and installed it yesterday but am missing the trim ring that holds it in place to the instrument panel. Upon my searches through deeres parts catalogs I cannot find this part anywhere in the catalog (even searched other models like the 4110, 4115, 2210, 2305).

 

[beenthere]

In your final spray coat, be sure to use John Deere paint, not paint that says it is John Deere color. Such paint turns blue (bluish) after a year or so.
Nice work on making this look new again. Look forward to pictures as you progress.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Made more progress on the hood today:

The John Deere paint turned out pretty good but I’m debating shooting it with clear coat to give it more shine. Either that or waxing it in a few days. Open to ideas there, leaning more towards clear coat though.

Also got a picture of what I’m up against with the lack of the light switch bezel:

 

[Spanner]

Any advice on finding the trim piece for around the headlight switch? This 4100 just had duct tape over the hole that the switch goes in so I ordered a new switch and installed it yesterday but am missing the trim ring that holds it in place to the instrument panel. Upon my searches through deeres parts catalogs I cannot find this part anywhere in the catalog (even searched other models like the 4110, 4115, 2210, 2305).

Seal​

Part Number
M807911

Try Item #5:

https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/72197/referrer/navigation/pgId/11482881

 

[Johndeere3720]

Made a little more progress today on the 4100.

Somehow I ended up with an I match when I picked up the parts I ordered last week.

Not knowing what I had/ didn’t have I ordered the loader joystick so I could start figuring out what else was missing. I’m missing a number of small things but I think I’ve got a solid list of parts to order to get it operational.

Installed some orange flashing lights and the new imatch. When the headlights and flashers are on my orange lights flash opposite of each other, so it goes left - right instead of both on - off like they are in just the flasher position. I’ll have to dig deeper into that later.

Added the cruise control handle, it was missing from its previous life.

Clear coated the hood and slapped on some fresh decals. Much better than the primer grey and sun faded decals it had before.

I do have new HST decals as well, just undecided if I want to just buff the side panels or actually repaint them. Either way it’s closing in on 100* out so I don’t think I’ll be doing much more on the tractor till it’s a bit cooler.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Got my hot water pressure washer back from the shop today and couldn’t resist cleaning up the 4100 a bit. Leaning towards waxing the side panels to get rid of the oxidation.

 

[adolphbell]

I have a 4100 I bought new in June of 2000, has a little over 2000 hours. Primary use is mowing. But cleared a lot snow, built four large flower/vegetable gardens by using it to dig large holes (2ft deep) and filling with top soil. Small machine but can do a lot of work. I mow with mm mower, have a heavy 4 foot rear blade, FEL, 4 foot tiller, and seed/fert. spreader. Kept it garaged, regular maintenance including glow plugs twice and the only major problem occurred when the voltage regulator malfunctioned and caught fire-only damage was the regulator. Would not want one of the newer machines, this has been perfect for my 3.5 acres.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Fresh look to the side panels and a new Heavy Hitch

 

[beenthere]

What was the treatment to the side panels before painting? They look great!!

 

[Johndeere3720]

What was the treatment to the side panels before painting? They look great!!

Thanks! I did some fine sanding, primer, paint, and clear coat.

 

[loggin]

Thanks! I did some fine sanding, primer, paint, and clear coat.

Looks almost brand new!! Nice job!!

 

[beenthere]

Which of the two JD green paints did you use?

 

[yooperterry]

Owned a 4100 for over 20 years, brush hog snowblower and 54 in mower. Only thing I had to replace was the glow plugs and front wheel drive seals! Then I stupidly traded it on a 2025R three years ago! If it last half as long as the 4100 it'll be surprising! $100's are Bullitt proof! Tractor never let me down once. Great machine!

 

[Johndeere3720]

Which of the two JD green paints did you use?

I think the newer variant, it was whatever the had in the shelf at the dealership