new to me. jd 425

[BlackRaptor]

Like the title says I got a 425 with low hours. Pretty excited this was my dream mower growing up. The seat though is all busted up and it seems like every 425 I've seen has a split seat. do most people just replace the whole seat guessing there isn't much saving it? also whats a good wax to get years and years of oxidation off the hood and fenders.
Thanks.

 

[Gittyup]

I own a 425. My seat split at 17 years, 1000 hours. I plan to just buy a new seat this year, if I don't sell it to get a new X739

Can't help on the wax. My paint is still bright. Though, I don't think it's seen more than about 2 washings in the 18+ years I've owned it. I never leave it out in the sun, though. . Sounds like yours was left out in the sun. JD paint jobs are the best I've ever seen: Thick and hard. So, you should be able to bring it back to life.

 

[Carl Bert]

Like the title says I got a 425 with low hours. Pretty excited this was my dream mower growing up. The seat though is all busted up and it seems like every 425 I've seen has a split seat. do most people just replace the whole seat guessing there isn't much saving it? also whats a good wax to get years and years of oxidation off the hood and fenders.
Thanks.

You can usually find a new seat at a decent price on eBay. As far as the oxidation, depending on how bad it is, a good cleaner wax will do a good job on the metal surfaces. If its really bad then maybe you want to start off with a polishing compound. The plastic hoods are another story. I don't know if you can ever get the original luster back . NOVUS makes a plastic refinishing wax. It's a 3 step process. I've used it to remove some scratches on my JD hood and it worked pretty good. I never tried it on a hood as you described, but it can't hurt.

By the way, that's a beautiful 3320.

 

[BlackRaptor]

Thank you guys. Ill look around on ebay maybe ill try to find a seat from a x700 series. Wonder if they newer seats will bolt up. If not I have drill bits haha

Thanks! 3320 is my dream toy it gets washed more than my car haha.

 

[Gittyup]

For the 425 there are two different seats. Older models below a certain serno used a low back seat. After that they had a high back seat. I think the hole pattern is different so they are not interchangeable. It would be wise to stick with one that matches. It's not as simple as drilling new holes.

 

[BlackRaptor]

Thanks for the info I didnt realize there was a lot more to that bracket.

 

[BlackRaptor]

I have to laugh i'm picking the 425 up today and of course we're in a full on blizzard snow storm. whole winter has been dry just lots of ice the ONE day i pick to get the mower it storms haha

 

[pennwalk]

You might want to try the seat first before you replace it. I found that my 425 seat made my back ache. I replaced mine with a suspension seat from a 455. No more back ache. The suspension seats off the newer tractors look even nicer but of course they are even more expensive. But if you think about what you would pay not to have an aching back half the year it starts to look like a better deal.

Chris

 

[creekbend]

I have to laugh i'm picking the 425 up today and of course we're in a full on blizzard snow storm. whole winter has been dry just lots of ice the ONE day i pick to get the mower it storms haha

I think that's called "Murphy's Law". Drive carefully and be Safe.

 

[BlackRaptor]

Thanks! All is well and the 425 is home. And holy cow this mower is built like a brick talk about heavy duty construction .

Its in the shop now thawing out so I can get all the snirt off it and get it cleans.

Now its a 97 with 605 hours . Dealer said 1000 hours change the hydro fluid. I'm wondering if I should just change it now. Anyone know how many gal it holds?
If it only holds lets say 2 gals that's cheap piece of mind.

 

[Gittyup]

Thanks! All is well and the 425 is home. And holy cow this mower is built like a brick talk about heavy duty construction .

Its in the shop now thawing out so I can get all the snirt off it and get it cleans.

Now its a 97 with 605 hours . Dealer said 1000 hours change the hydro fluid. I'm wondering if I should just change it now. Anyone know how many gal it holds?
If it only holds lets say 2 gals that's cheap piece of mind.

I would change the fluid and filter. I don't have the manual in front of me (too nasty to go out to the barn), but as I recall it's only 5 or 6 quarts. I'll look next time I'm out there at the manual. BTW, if you can pick up a used service manual, do so. They give a tremendous amount of detail. Congrats on the 425. I love mine, but thinking hard about a new X739.

Do you know if the cam gear was changed on your new purchase? The early models like yours and mine had plastic cam gears. They fail usually around 700 to 1000 hours. Mine failed at 998 hours. The new CAM gear is all steel, but even if you do the work yourself it's several hundred dollars. I changed mine 2 years ago and while in there it's best to change a lot of other little stuff: water pump, oil pump, governor gear, push rods,valve seals, lots of gaskets and o-rings. All told I think I spent about $550 on parts. Not really that hard of a job: Took me about 3 hours to remove the engine, and about 2 hours to put in the new parts, another hour to put it back in the tractor. Some say you can do this without removing the engine. Probably so, but I felt better making sure I was working from a clean table top with easy access to everything. I hope yours was changed. If not, just drive it until it fails (it won't start and the governor will start acting funny just before it fails outright). It's a great tractor and worth fixing should it fail in you.

 

[BlackRaptor]

I was told this one has the updates cam. Sure hope so.
Far as fluid before I use it ill do a complete fluid change

 

[Gittyup]

I was told this one has the updates cam. Sure hope so.
Far as fluid before I use it ill do a complete fluid change

I hope you are right. I think the new metal CAMs were used starting in 1998. I could be wrong there. Anyway, a prior owner may have replaced it too. On mine, I kept the old CAM and receipt so I could prove to the next owner that I did change them out. I don't think too many make it past 1000 hours or so without it failing. I know I baby my tractor. Change the oil every 25 hours. Always warm before use and cooled down after. Keep the carb and radiator clean. Dealer said that's probably why it lasted as long as it did. Don't know. Just doing all I can to keep her running.

BTW, real nice 3320 cab. Very nice tractors.

 

[Gittyup]

Here is a photo of mine with my hydraulic dump trailer.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...672145-dump-trailer-pict0016-2-compressed.jpg

 

[BlackRaptor]

I hope so too haha otherwise ill be wrenching way more than I want to. I picked the 425 because I needed something super heavy duty to handle the rough grounds on my place.

Dealer told me 97 was the year they updated the cams. Hmmm little worried now.

For now I guess ill just do a top down fluid change take super good care of it.
Do you guys have a choice non deere hydro fluid you like? Going to fleet farm tomorrow.

Thanks on the 3320. Its an amazing machine.

Love that dump cart!

 

[rdpaul]

I bought a new seat for my 455 last fall from this ebay site:
New High Back John Deere 445 455 GX345 LX GT Lt GX Lawn Mower Seat w MT Bracket | eBay

Could not be more pleased
Best price around (currently 120.00)- quick shipping
These are JD brand new seats - been in storage awhile - mine was in perfect condition
Highly recommend this guy "joelstractors"

Not sure but I think the 425 and 455 seats might interchange
Give him a call - his number is at the bottom of his add

Good luck

 

[BlackRaptor]

Perfect . Thanks!

Been gathering everything to do a complete fluid change plugs and filters.
We are deep in snow right now and I'm having terrible cabin fever so good time to make my 425 perfect .

3320 is almost at 50 hours so this is practice for the complete fluid change on that one.
Than this summer 70 needs all its fluids changed. This is the year of oil haha

 

[pennwalk]

The 425 seat has 3 holes in the bracket where you attach the pivot pin so you can set different seat angels. The 455/445 seat bracket only has 1. If you try to use the 425 seat on the 455/445 suspension you can attach it but the seat will not tip fully forward. Might not make any difference to a lot of folks. The 455/445 seat works fine on the 425 but you only get 1 seat angle position.

Chris

 

[BlackRaptor]

Well tonight me and the 425 became friends. I gave it a complete once over.
Really don't know a machine until you get greasy working on it.
I did.
Rear hydro/tranny fluid change an new filter.
Engine oil and filter change
Air box cleaning and new filter.
New spark plugs gapped and installed
New fuel filter
coolant flush
Greased every zerk.

After I finished and started it. It popped off and idled smooth as butter. Clogged air filter and dirty fuel filter and plug changed made it a whole new machine.

Summer yet? Haha

I cannot understand why people don't keep up on the little things.
Oh well she is perfect now just needs wax.

No idea why that posted upside down the image on the PC looked fine hmmm

 

[BlackRaptor]

Try this upload again.