Picked up a X495 and a X740

[Mad_River]

Won two JD tractors this week on an online auction for less than $2k. I have to pick them up. No idea how many hours and if they even run. The X495 is a 2004 and the X740 is a 2009 and both were used by the Air Force for mowing on a base. They look to be all there except the 740 has a broken headlight assembly and both are missing seats and 3 62C deck gage wheels. Any advice on how I can get these into a 16ft moving truck? I couldn't rent a long enough trailer. The 62C decks are resting on the ground so I am not clear on how to get them rolling without either starting them or removing the decks. They may not run in current state and I am afraid to try to start them given that they look like they haven't run in a while. I know I should check the air filters to see if they are there / clean, change tranny/engine oils/coolant, and fill all zerks. Anything else I should consider as I get them running again? I plan to service and fix all broken missing parts then sell the most valuable one. I may sell my CC 2544. It only has 100 hrs but I need a bigger mowing deck and the JD quality is better. See pics below of the machines I got.

 

[Deere Dude]

What about a 3000# electric winch hooked onto a tie down inside the truck box and drag them up the ramps?

 

[eab3]

Agree with Deere Dude on winch. Come along would be cheap substitue. I would raise decks by either pallet forks or using prybars and ratchet straps or something to hold them up. Prybars, ratchet straps, cinder blocks, and short lengths of 4x4 post always seem to play a prominent role in my own projects of this sort. Ropes and bungees also always come in handy. Good luck

 

[tmsoko]

Check out Craigslist - I once planned to rent an 18' aluminum open deck trailer from a local guy. Found him on Craigslist. Cheap too.

Now, to the tractors - what a deal! Wow, how did you find out about these? I need to search harder. If you do end up parting one out, keep my contact. I need a fender deck and a deck lift cylinder. Been looking for a while with no luck!

Todd

 

[JDTank]

Not to be the negative one, but I don't think you got a deal at all. In fact, all you have purchased is headaches and problems.

Judging by those pictures, those machines have been abused, hard. All the tires are bald, you have serious hood damage on the one machine where the missing headlight assembly is. Just a new hood alone is $700. By the time you replace the hood and lights, your into it for $1,000. You haven't even touched the engine, transmission or deck yet. The paint is faded and likely scratched all to ****. I see they decided to paint unit numbers of some sort in black on the green paint, stupid.

Never in my life would I buy anything that came from a military base or anywhere it was operated by a Government employee. I have seen so many army personnel abuse equipment because it isn't theirs and they think it is funny. Those machines have likely been popping wheelies since new. Oh but it's ok, it's the taxpayers money right?

If you think you got a good deal, than I am happy for you, but personally, I wouldn't have touched those things with a 10 foot pole.

 

[Mad_River]

JDtank you might be right. I am hoping they aren't all used up and only parts. As parts they are worth more than I paid. I am military and I know what you mean when talking about young guys, but civilian landscape pros come in to mow so I hope they didn't too much screwing around like that. Wish me luck. I will look into the suggested ideas. I don't have a winch.

 

[JDTank]

JDtank you might be right. I am hoping they aren't all used up and only parts. As parts they are worth more than I paid. I am military and I know what you mean when talking about young guys, but civilian landscape pros come in to mow so I hope they didn't too much screwing around like that. Wish me luck. I will look into the suggested ideas. I don't have a winch.

If you plan to part them out, you will probably be ok. If the engines are in good shape with low hours, you could probably get $1,000 for each engine. Brand new I think the Yanmar diesels are about $3,000.

If you want to, more or less, "restore" them to great condition to sell as complete units, I would stop now. By the time you fix everything you will be into these things for thousands of dollars each. The last X495 I seen sell was a 2004 with 1000 hours on it, it was in fantastic shape except a few seat cracks. It went for $3,500. Since your stuck with them now my only suggestion would be to part them out.

I just took delivery of a 2012 X740 last week. I may be upgrading my seat to the SE seat in a month or 2, so if I do, would you be interested in my take-off seat?

 

[Mad_River]

I bought a come along and rope to help get it up ramps which I will also have to buy. I think I will use ratchet straps to lift the decks. If that doesn't work I will take them off. I don't want use a fork truck if possible to avoid damaging the deck or hydraulics.

Assuming they are running I will get some new tires. I figure the painted stencil on the hood and back should come off with paint remover and adhesive remover should get the labels and tape off. Degrease and pressure wash everything, then I will give them a good polishing, Armor All, and waxing. I will test compression and check play on all the bearings to see if it is time to replace them, especially on the decks, mid PTO, and front wheels. I have a tech man so outside of an engine rebuild I can do it all. I will update periodically as they come along. Thanks for the offers on parts gentlemen.

 

[JDTank]

I bought a come along and rope to help get it up ramps which I will also have to buy. I think I will use ratchet straps to lift the decks. If that doesn't work I will take them off. I don't want use a fork truck if possible to avoid damaging the deck or hydraulics.

Assuming they are running I will get some new tires. I figure the painted stencil on the hood and back should come off with paint remover and adhesive remover should get the labels and tape off. Degrease and pressure wash everything, then I will give them a good polishing, Armor All, and waxing. I will test compression and check play on all the bearings to see if it is time to replace them, especially on the decks, mid PTO, and front wheels. I have a tech man so outside of an engine rebuild I can do it all. I will update periodically as they come along. Thanks for the offers on parts gentlemen.

If you do end up having to forklift these, or stick anything underneath them, keep the front power steering hoses in mind. The hose on your left (if you were sitting on the machine) that goes into the hydraulic cylinder hangs down quite low. Like yourself, I wouldn't consider fork-lifting these machines. There is a lot of plumbing and linkage under these garden tractors, bend the wrong thing and your out of business. I am not sure about your machines, but on my 2012 X740, this same line I just told you about was rubbing on the main pivot bolt for the front axle mount. I simply wrapped it in wire loom. However, if someone did not do that on yours, that hose might be just about worn through from vibration. The first thing I did when they delivered my machine was crawl under it for an hour and look for any possible rubbing points. These things are assembled quickly and on brand new machines hoses are not always routed the best way. Take some wire loom and cable ties with you under there and you will be fixed up in no time.

If the tires are pumped right up, they are actually an easy machine to push. You will likely be able to push them right into the trailer. Also, the 16 foot trailer is more than enough room, these tractors are only 6 or 7 feet long. If you are tight on space, turn the tractors on a 45 degree angle inside the trailer, this will give you enough room.

 

[tmsoko]

How did this turn out? We're you able to load them up?

 

[Mad_River]

I got them both home yesterday. I rented a 16ft truck and bought two steel ramps. I also brought a come along, but I didn't use it. When I got there they didn't have a air compressor so rolling them was out of the question. They brought a long fork truck and lifted each one into the truck by lifting the front axle and the mowing deck. I used ratchet straps to lift the deck to prevent the forks from catching on the front or back of the deck and bending the supports or deck. I also made sure they didn't touch the hydraulic lines or cylinders. I pumped up the tires on the other end and rolled them down the ramps praying that the brakes worked and they did. All fluids were drained from each and I filled the x740 and fired it right up. It has 1366hrs and ran smooth. The X495 was missing a engine belt, so I haven't tried it yet, but it has 1755 hrs. The hoods and bodies are solid and very little rust. The instrument panel and steering column are loose on the 740 so I need to take it apart and figure out what is broken or loose. The tilt mechanism isn't locking on it as well. Coolant was good in both and they had stickers listing when the next service was due so at least I know they were tracking maintenance. I have new Carlisle bar tires for the back and turf tires for the fronts. I need to find a local tire shop to mount the rubber. The decks didn't have blades so I got some gator blades and standard blades on the way. They both need some polish to shine up the bodies and armor all on the black plastic. I will take pics with the new seats and tires after I clean them both up. Stay tuned.

 

[JDTank]

I got them both home yesterday. I rented a 16ft truck and bought two steel ramps. I also brought a come along, but I didn't use it. When I got there they didn't have a air compressor so rolling them was out of the question. They brought a long fork truck and lifted each one into the truck by lifting the front axle and the mowing deck. I used ratchet straps to lift the deck to prevent the forks from catching on the front or back of the deck and bending the supports or deck. I also made sure they didn't touch the hydraulic lines or cylinders. I pumped up the tires on the other end and rolled them down the ramps praying that the brakes worked and they did. All fluids were drained from each and I filled the x740 and fired it right up. It has 1366hrs and ran smooth. The X495 was missing a engine belt, so I haven't tried it yet, but it has 1755 hrs. The hoods and bodies are solid and very little rust. The instrument panel and steering column are loose on the 740 so I need to take it apart and figure out what is broken or loose. The tilt mechanism isn't locking on it as well. Coolant was good in both and they had stickers listing when the next service was due so at least I know they were tracking maintenance. I have new Carlisle bar tires for the back and turf tires for the fronts. I need to find a local tire shop to mount the rubber. The decks didn't have blades so I got some gator blades and standard blades on the way. They both need some polish to shine up the bodies and armor all on the black plastic. I will take pics with the new seats and tires after I clean them both up. Stay tuned.

If these machines were well maintained, those hours are nothing. The highest hour count on a diesel X7 I have ever seen was just under 7,000. It was a commercial machine for a landscaping company, used everyday, every season. I remember the guy saying he had to replace some parts on the tractor itself, but the engine was all original.

 

[Mad_River]

I got both of them running and drove both yesterday. The x495 was the harder of the two to get running due to bad battery cables and a missing belt. I started cleanup on the x495, and I still need to replace the toolbox. The x740 gets a bath today and new headlight assembly. I am hoping I can salvage the grille which has bondo on it and lots of tape. The spraypaint on the plastic started to come off with cleaner wax and I will try to use paint thinner to get the rest off after I test it on the plastic in a hidden place. After cleanup is done I will grease all the zerks and start on the decks.

Question, the x495 is clearly louder and harder to start. Should I check the valve clearance? I seems to be firing on all cylinders. They are two different model Yanmars, so I was curious if this was normal before I pull the valve cover.

I will post some pics of the progress. My neighbors are already asking about them.

 

[JDTank]

I got both of them running and drove both yesterday. The x495 was the harder of the two to get running due to bad battery cables and a missing belt. I started cleanup on the x495, and I still need to replace the toolbox. The x740 gets a bath today and new headlight assembly. I am hoping I can salvage the grille which has bondo on it and lots of tape. The spraypaint on the plastic started to come off with cleaner wax and I will try to use paint thinner to get the rest off after I test it on the plastic in a hidden place. After cleanup is done I will grease all the zerks and start on the decks.

Question, the x495 is clearly louder and harder to start. Should I check the valve clearance? I seems to be firing on all cylinders. They are two different model Yanmars, so I was curious if this was normal before I pull the valve cover.

I will post some pics of the progress. My neighbors are already asking about them.

Louder is definitely normal. That is an older version of the Yanmar diesel and probably the loudest of them all. As far as hard starting goes, I would say that's not normal. My guess is it's time to replace those glow plugs. Also, at the hour ratings these engines have, a valve adjustment would do you some good.

 

[Mad_River]

Here is the progress on day two. I got them both cleaned up. The hardest thing was the **** packing tape on the X740 hood. Took some serious scrubbing with 3M adhesive remover which incidentally worked well for the paint stencils. I still need to fix a small coolant leak on the top radiator hose on X740, fix the hard start on the X495, and service both decks. I ran out of time to get the tires replaced on the X740 and I got the wrong gauge wheel arms for the X740. I will swap the tires tomorrow. A few more parts and both of these will be ready for Spring. I am keeping the X495 and selling the X740. The sale should pay for the parts and X495. I am glad I bought them both. I am now looking for a blade for the X495 to use for snow or dirt/gravel work. See pics below after the work.

 

[JDTank]

If you painted the little things like the exposed areas of the frame and the seat hardware it would help a lot, otherwise they look pretty good so far!

What made you decide to keep the older X495 over the newer X740? You may be in for sticker shock when you price out a quick hitch with angling kit and the 54'' blade. I was quoted $1,650 for that setup at my local dealer. Needless to say, as much as I need a blade, it's going to have to wait for quite some time.

 

[Mad_River]

I plan to touch up the frame especially under the batteries. I found a front hydraulic 54in blade on Craigslist for $850. I hadn't thought about a rear blade. The X495 has a angle cylinder on the rear so I could do that. I am keeping the X495 because it is worth less and suits what I need. I may be able to make a little money. BTW I am going to check the glow plugs and valve clearance.

 

[tmsoko]

The cylinder on the remarks just the deck lift cylinder. If is mounted in the rear on the x4 / x5 machines. When installing a 3 point hitch on a an x7, you need to move the cylinder to this location. Either machine would need a 3 point hitch kit for rear blade. They are about $500.

 

[denver r]

If u are still having hard start problems check the injectors and fuel pressure. u could also check the fuel timing u never know what they did.

 

[Mad_River]

Finally finished them both and posted the x740 for sale. I took the x495 to the dealer and they said there was nothing wrong with it and charged my $50 for an oil change/filter when I just changed both. Occasionally it doesn't want to start when cold. I couldn't get the deck to come on for the x495 and I finally figured out that the neutral RIO switch was bad when I bypassed it. This was after I replaced the temp relay and ignition control board following the troubleshooting procedures in the tech manual. They both run great and don't need a rebuild. I put a steering wheel spinner knob and Oregon Gator Fusion blades for the one I am keeping. I want to get a 3pt hitch to mount a trailer ball on and I am not sure what to get. Included the after pics below.


Total to repair both including $800 for tires is $3400. I didn't have to mess with the tranny/hydro/engines other than to adjust valve clearance on the X495. Leveling the deck was a pain on the 495 and I never could get the front to back to difference to 6mm. I had fun doing the work with the exception of the electrical and deck leveling.