Strange issue with a 2720.

Deadman · Oct 29, 2012

You are wasting your time trying to figure this out. My 2520 does the exact same thing. Its useless in HI range, but will do anything in Low. I only use hi for moving long distances. The hydro just complains if I use HI doing much of anything else.
Go get it and finish your job.......

chevy · Nov 3, 2012

The good news.

I got my 2720 back from the dealer today after they had it for close to 4 weeks. I was told they could not find any problems.
The dealer picked it up & delivered it at no charge. They even washed it.

Now the bad news.

I had to call a manger of the dealership to get it back.
I stopped by the dealership after they had the 2720 about 2 weeks. They had not touched it yet. I was given excuses of how busy they were, but also told they had cut hours because of a lack of work. I was told they would look at it the following week & call me. No one called back.

I called a week later & was told they could not get the problem to repeat. I was told they would check it again the next day & if they could not find a problem, they would call me to setup a time to deliver it. No one called.

I called service again this morning to again check on it, all I got an answering machine. That was when I called the manager. I go a call back from the service manager in less the 3 minutes & given excuses as to why it wasn't back yet. I was told he would deliver it today at about noon. My wife called me about 11:00 to say he was there.

Now the strange news.

When I got home for lunch, I had a nice shiny 2720 setting in front of my garage. When I got on the tractor to put it away, I saw that it had over 25 hours on it & about a quarter tank of fuel. When the 2720 was picked up, it had just under 15 hours on the meter & close to a full tank of fuel.

Is this normal for a service department to put over 10 hours on a tractor trying to find a problem???? Or is it more likely that someone took it home & used it for a several hours?

yelbike · Nov 3, 2012

I would not be happy either, but what can you do? It was a no charge service call. They tried. Does it still have the same problem? If so don't go back to that dealer.

tractchores · Nov 3, 2012

Somethings fishy, 10 hours is an aweful lot for trouble shooting

chevy · Nov 4, 2012

yelbike said:
I would not be happy either, but what can you do? It was a no charge service call. They tried. Does it still have the same problem? If so don't go back to that dealer.

It started raining yesterday shortly after I got home for lunch, so I did not get a chance to try it out.

This morning I install the loader & pushed on a tree stump. It still stalls out in both high range & now in low range also. On wet soft sod, it would not even attempt to spin the wheels. The trans just moans, the engine RPMs do not drop at all.

logankelly · Nov 4, 2012

if your stalling your engine then when does the transmission whine? next time you take it to another john Deere dealer and push against something there to show the mechanics. My 2720 has 20 hrs on it and spins the tires in low but will not in high, but again I consider high range road gear. If your not happy get a different tractor without hydrostatic transmission and it sounds like your are not happy and probably will not be while you have that tractor

PioneerMan · Nov 4, 2012

I think you missed the issue. The engine doesn't stall, it sounds like the hydro trans just gives up the ghost without applying power to the wheels or loading the engine like one would expect. Could it be your relief valve is somehow not working? I wouldn't expect much out of high, but much more effort from low...

tractchores · Nov 4, 2012

Low should certainly spin the wheels. I spin my wheels in high to on my kubota unless ive got good traction when pushing on something thats to heavy. I think you've got some issue, maybe try another dealer?

shortthrow50 · Nov 4, 2012

10 hours isnt much. That is not even tractor in motion hours. The ket could have been on and idle time, etc. My tractor has the default display wich is key on or engine idling and in motion. There is also a in motion display. i was amazed how at 50 hours, my machine was actually only working for 30 hours. People dont realise this especially when servicing. Dont worry about it at all man. just take it for what it is and enjoy your machine

yelbike · Nov 4, 2012

chevy said:
It started raining yesterday shortly after I got home for lunch, so I did not get a chance to try it out.

This morning I install the loader & pushed on a tree stump. It still stalls out in both high range & now in low range also. On wet soft sod, it would not even attempt to spin the wheels. The trans just moans, the engine RPMs do not drop at all.

My 2320 will spin in low except with a deep cultivator which adds down pressure on the wheels. If the cultivator gets buried or stuck than the transmission will whine. Other than that it spins. High gear is for the road only, i think that's a common complaint from the 2320 owners though. High gear is too tall.

Back to yours, i think you have a problem. See another dealer. Also try one of there's out on the lot. If the problem is the same with demo then check seat to steering linkage. It might be defective.

I think the relief valve is a good lead.

chevy · Feb 1, 2013

An update on this issue. I had another dealer look at the 2720. After a lot of tests, including comparing it to a new 2720 they had on the lot, they tore it down & changed 2 valves.
Before completely putting the 2720 back together, the mechanic brought it back to me to try it out to see if I thought it was improved. The mechanic stayed to watch & he told me to work it hard. I put the loader & weight box on & tried to scoop some dirt from a partly frozen pile with it in high range.
It is a different tractor. In stead of just wining, the engine pulled down, I pushed down more on the pedal & it it broke through the frozen dirt & I got a scoop of dirt. I did this a couple more times with the same results.
After doing some other work with it, he loaded it up on the truck to take back to the shop to complete putting it back together. I believe they have the issue solved.

greasemonkeyok · Feb 1, 2013

The "another dealer" sounds like a keeper to me.

Dutch445 · Feb 1, 2013

that's good news, just too bad it took you so long to get it resolved.
kudos to the new dealer for addressing an issue on a tractor they didn't sell,
and good call on your part not to just give up on the tractor.
let us know the final outcome when you get it back for good.

chevy · Mar 21, 2013

Another update on this. I used the 2720 for about an hour yesterday to move some compost for a driveway to my new barn.
I did all of the work in high range. No problem at all scooping & going uphill with a loaded buck in high range. Now the 2720 works just like every other hydro tractor that I have used. Although I still wish it had 3 speed ranges.

topstoy · Mar 22, 2013

What a story and way to stay on it and not settle. Do you know what 2 valves they replaced?

chevy · Mar 23, 2013

topstoy said:
What a story and way to stay on it and not settle. Do you know what 2 valves they replaced?

They changed the 2 anti cavitation valves.

Green Guy · Mar 24, 2013

Great news and your persistence is a good example for everyone!

pinetree10 · Mar 25, 2013

I read with interest because I have the same tractor. I'm glad you solved the problem and I appreciated hearing the outcome but there seems to be a common theme lately that too many JD dealers aren't taking care of their customers like they should. Nobody should ever have to chase after a dealer to get a job done or contact the customer in a reasonable amount of time. I wonder if writing the company headquarters would do any good. After the experience I had trying to buy a tractor from the dealers around here, I'll be giving it a try. Glad your tractor is working like it should.

yelbike · Mar 25, 2013

pinetree10 said:
I read with interest because I have the same tractor. I'm glad you solved the problem and I appreciated hearing the outcome but there seems to be a common theme lately that too many JD dealers aren't taking care of their customers like they should. Nobody should ever have to chase after a dealer to get a job done or contact the customer in a reasonable amount of time. I wonder if writing the company headquarters would do any good. After the experience I had trying to buy a tractor from the dealers around here, I'll be giving it a try. Glad your tractor is working like it should.

I wonder if some of the "poor" service experience comes from the fact that our tractors are $20-30k machine versus $100-200k combines/ farm tractors. The only time i brought mine in for work was at harvest time, it took 4 weeks to get resolved. Its sucks but how do i complain? They cant take a tech off of a $250000 machine to work mine so i can mow grass, the other guy needs his machine to feed his own family.

chevy · Mar 25, 2013

yelbike said:
I wonder if some of the "poor" service experience comes from the fact that our tractors are $20-30k machine versus $100-200k combines/ farm tractors. The only time i brought mine in for work was at harvest time, it took 4 weeks to get resolved. Its sucks but how do i complain? They cant take a tech off of a $250000 machine to work mine so i can mow grass, the other guy needs his machine to feed his own family.

The 2 JD dealers in my area have separate service departments for ag & compact equipment.