The shakes

Boondox · Jan 29, 2001

Drove down to my Deere dealer and crawled all over the 4300 with the 430 FEL. Opened the hood, dropped the side panels and put my hands on all the essentials (oil and fuel filter, dipstick, fill points, coolant tank, etc) to see how easily everything could be accessed. Very impressive.

Ditto for the operator's ergonomics. Well laid out and everything was easy to reach. Didn't think I'd like the loader stick practically in my lap, but it was surprisingly easy to get used to. The dual HSD pedals were the same way. They made sense after a few minutes of driving around. I absolutely loved the visibility from the seat! The 4300 is much more compact than the Kubota, and I had the feeling I would not spend so much time explaining to the wife why her roses, lilacs, irises, etc had been flattened if I drove green.

That said, the 4300 vibrated a LOT! The steering wheel was practically a blur! It felt like I had a Sawzall in my hands! I drove down the block to the Kubota dealer to drive the 3710 and found it was MUCH smoother, though I felt like it was a big honker compared to the Deere. Was this tractor representative of all 4300s? (And yes, I realize the green was 3 cylinders and the orange was 4.)

cowboydoc · Jan 29, 2001

I don't know about the 4300 but my 4600 is quiet as a kitten, even with use. It's very smooth and no vibration at all, even full throttle.

Branch · Jan 29, 2001

My 4300 is very smooth, none of the shakes your indicating. I think what you looked at has some kind of problem. As to the 3 cylinder comment, the JD mechanic I go to commented on the fact that the 3 cylinder was smoother than the Kubotas he used to work on. I found it curious that he also said that in his experience the odd cylinder engines have tended to be smoother. Doesn't make sense to me though.

Thomas · Jan 29, 2001

Peter,
I'm little surprise that the JD4300 shook as much,for I also did check out the JD4300 along w/ the JD4100 both seem smooth.

What dealer did you visit in your area?
If you know the South Royalton,VT area pay a visit to L.F.Trottier and Sons John Deere dealer.

You hadn't mention New Holland,and if interested check out L.W.Greenwoods and Sons in East Randolph...ask for Butch
Phone:1-802-728-5453
Email:lwg@sover.net

Good luck in your quest.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

bpence · Jan 30, 2001

You might want to drive another 4300. I've test driven the 4200 and 4300 and they were smooth as a baby's bottom. Something wrong with that particular machine.

Bob Pence

jfakerj · Jan 30, 2001

Boondox
The 3710 is a couple of steps up in size and hp compared to the 4300. The 3010 or the 3410 would be more comparable.
As far as vibration, I have very little to none on my 4300. It runs very smooth.

Jerry

Boondox · Jan 30, 2001

Jerry, You're correct if you look at engine and PTO HP, but check the hydraulics. Unless I'm mistaken, the 4300 blows the Kubotas out of the water. And the FEL capacity falls somewhere between the 3410 and the 3710 with a breakout force that again surpasses anything Kubota has in that HP range. Is that for real, or does Deere compute their figures sort of like Craftsman does for power tools? I'm quite impressed by the numbers.

Pete

jfakerj · Jan 30, 2001

Pete

You're right about the hyd. pump on the jd. The 4300 puts out if I remember right 8.3 gpm compared to the L3010 7.0 gpm. These two machines are comperable as far as hp and size. The gpms above are implement pump specs. That's quite a bit more for the 4300. The jd420 ldr picks about 100 pounds more than the kubota LA481 ldr and the jd430 ldr picks another 70 pounds or so. I figure, more gpm = more power to the hydraulic implements.

Jerry

Anonymous Poster · Mar 15, 2001

As mentioned by another poster, the 3 cylinder is one of the smoothest engines available. Inline engines with a mutliple of 3 cylinders are perfectly balanced without adding weights sor other rotationg shafts.