Buying Advice Rolled over hour meter??

[Taylorkd80]

I'm looking at buying my first and hopefully last tractor. Its a 1976 John Deere 4230. The hour meter is showing 2750 hours and was working when I test drove it for a hour or so. The seller couldn't tell me how many hours it had when he bought it and was very vague about hours. The tractor is clean, and looks good....should I beware on hours do not want to overhaul one any time soon. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Don87]

IIRC about 5,000 hours is time to start thinking about a rebuild on a diesel(someone else will correct me if I'm wrong).
So you should have some time if the tractor was taken care of.

But you mentioned "couldn't tell me............and very vague"

You are there......you can hear it...........what do you hear/see?

 

[Taylorkd80]

It started/sounded good. Just dont know if the hour meter rolled over and it is actually 12000 hours

 

[Don87]

It started/sounded good. Just dont know if the hour meter rolled over and it is actually 12000 hours

Chances are slim to none.

 

[jenkinsph]

I'm looking at buying my first and hopefully last tractor. Its a 1976 John Deere 4230. The hour meter is showing 2750 hours and was working when I test drove it for a hour or so. The seller couldn't tell me how many hours it had when he bought it and was very vague about hours. The tractor is clean, and looks good....should I beware on hours do not want to overhaul one any time soon. Any advice would be appreciated

I would ignore the hour meter and look at the hours as "unknown". I would then look the tractor over and inspect it to determine whether on not to buy it. The condition of the tractor is more important than the number of hours. If you are not familiar with tractors you may wan't to have a good mechanic check it out for you prior to the purchase.

Consider this, 2750/35yrs=78 hours/year, I don't know of many farmers who can own a tractor of this size and not use it more than this.

About buying your first and last tractor, unless you have one foot in your grave you might wan't to reconsider that. Most of us here would be humored by that and would atleast recommend you start out with a younger tractor if this is your real intention.

 

[JoeinTX]

So, we've got a 35 year old ag tractor averaging........80 hours of use per year over its lifetime. Not bloody likely.

If I were buying from the original purchased new owner, maybe. With records and such.

The hourmeter may be rolling over or it may be that the hourmeter has been replaced and simply is spinning hours of use since its installation.

Obviously, this isn't the original owner and he can't confirm hour/treatment/servicing/use of the rig. He's dodgy about the details.


Get all the oil/fluid samples you can and get some definitive details you can get. Don't buy until the results are clear.

 

[sandman2234]

Hour meter meaning actual time elapsed isn't how tractors hour meters work, is it?
Should be figured on tractor work hours, shouldn't it?
David from jax

 

[jenkinsph]

A 4230 uses an engine cable driven tachometer, so the hours indicated correlate to the equivalent engine hours at the rated speed. Meaning the hour meter would show less time if you ran it at idle compared to full rated speed for equal time duration. The newer electronic hour meters simply count the time the switch is on even if the engine is not running. Who does this benefit? The manufacturer benefits, the warranty is up within a certain number of clock hours regardless of whether you idle around taking it easy or go full blast all the time.

 

[SSdoxie]

A 4230 uses an engine cable driven tachometer, so the hours indicated correlate to the equivalent engine hours at the rated speed. Meaning the hour meter would show less time if you ran it at idle compared to full rated speed for equal time duration. The newer electronic hour meters simply count the time the switch is on even if the engine is not running. Who does this benefit? The manufacturer benefits, the warranty is up within a certain number of clock hours regardless of whether you idle around taking it easy or go full blast all the time.

I can't vouch for every brand of equipment out there but most with an electric hour meter use 2 signals to run, key on then another from the engine (oil pressure, alternator amps, or engine RPM) to verify engine is running. But you are correct they just measure time like a clock, not RPM/hrs.

 

[RickB]

Nobody here has any idea whether the clock on that 4230 has rolled over or not, or how close it is to needing an overhaul or other major work. The least accurate post here is from the guy that thinks the chances are "slim to none" that it has 12,000 hours on it. There's probably a better chance of 12,700 than 2700 hours being original and correct. The tractor could also have its second or third tach/hourmeter in it. The most certain thing is that if 2700 hours wee original and correct, the seller would know it and be selling on that point.

2700 hours would show little wear on the drawbar, 3PT hitch balls, clutch and brake pedals, operator's platform, and seat suspension.

 

[Taylorkd80]

ThanKs, I didn't know if a hour meter would go to 10,000 and then start over at 0000. The tractor looks good, but the thought of 12,750 hours remains. Don't mind overhauling one in 5-6 years but not in 6 months

 

[mjw357]

ThanKs, I didn't know if a hour meter would go to 10,000 and then start over at 0000. The tractor looks good, but the thought of 12,750 hours remains. Don't mind overhauling one in 5-6 years but not in 6 months

If you don't get a good vibe from the salesman, you can either negotiate a price that leaves you in a position to overhaul it soon if need be, or just walk away and keep shopping.

 

[Ken]

Look closely at the draw bar is the wear pattern on the hole egg shaped or round some times rewelded to fill in the wear places. Then look at the PTO shaft worn to point of needing replaced. could of been attached to sillage chopper and run full throttle for day's blowing silage into a feed bin. this adds hours and little tire wear.
The clutch pedal worn smooth or still some cross hatch pattern. Look at where the engine is attached to clutch housing. sign of being redone maybe just clutch replacement on engine overhaul.
Where the front axle is attached. bolts look good or worn. is the housing worn.
Even look at the fuel cap. Think of how many thousand of gallons fuel has been put in to wear the the cap to this point.
What has been replaced . Water pump, ignition or diesel pump parts replaced. signs of frequent repairs. welds where casting broken and fixed.
The over all appearance.
If you have questions maybe consider looking more.
ken

 

[8404]

I always niticed the steering slopyness on older tractors. when going over uneven ground the worn steering will follow the ruts in the feild more than a tighter new tractor will.

 

[D7E]

As said ..if it was genuine hours the seller would certainly know it and charge accordingly , It's almost certainly starting second time around . Saying that i've bought 10'000hr tractors off grain farms that drive perfectly ..better than some of the 3-4000hr tractors off stock farms that have had loaders removed and poorer maintenance throughout its life .
My TW20 is coming up 11'000hrs and still doing 300 a year .

 

[IronHog]

I'm looking at buying my first and hopefully last tractor. Its a 1976 John Deere 4230. The hour meter is showing 2750 hours and was working when I test drove it for a hour or so. The seller couldn't tell me how many hours it had when he bought it and was very vague about hours. The tractor is clean, and looks good....should I beware on hours do not want to overhaul one any time soon. Any advice would be appreciated

We have 3 tractors on the farm from that era.


We know how many hours is on one......it has 6k IIRC.......

The other two that got harder use have had broken tachs that have been replaced over time. We are pretty sure that one has over 10K hours...but that is just an educated guess.

 

[Ken]

We have 3 tractors on the farm from that era.


We know how many hours is on one......it has 6k IIRC.......

The other two that got harder use have had broken tachs that have been replaced over time. We are pretty sure that one has over 10K hours...but that is just an educated guess.

Iron Hog are you in the hill country or delta area.
Were dry and very little grass left. Need some rain
My J.D. is enjoying sitting in the shed.
ken

 

[IronHog]

We have 3 tractors on the farm from that era.


We know how many hours is on one......it has 6k IIRC.......

The other two that got harder use have had broken tachs that have been replaced over time. We are pretty sure that one has over 10K hours...but that is just an educated guess.

Pine tree country......Grant/Cleveland Co areas.

Timely rains here. Very green in most areas.

 

[Ken]

Pine tree country......Grant/Cleveland Co areas.

Timely rains here. Very green in most areas.

Worked for Ap/l from '74 to '95 used to travel 79 from Pine Bluff to Camden to El Dorado every 2 weeks for Computer maint.
The Fordyce down town Bakery still in business the Bear Claws were excellant to eat.
Have a truck load of in laws in the logging work in Malvern area.
ken

 

[IronHog]

Worked for Ap/l from '74 to '95 used to travel 79 from Pine Bluff to Camden to El Dorado every 2 weeks for Computer maint.
The Fordyce down town Bakery still in business the Bear Claws were excellant to eat.
Have a truck load of in laws in the logging work in Malvern area.
ken

Fordyce is about to dry up and blow away........rain or no rain.

Everything south of there is no better.