Just bought a 4230, now what?

[Kodiak45]

I picked up a John Deere 4230 the other day and now I'm trying find which implements I can use. I plan on putting an extra remote valve on it for a batwing setup. What is a safe disc size for this tractor? I have the dual rear wheels for tractor if needed. I didn't know if a jd 220 disc would be pushing the tractor to hard. I would like a fold over style disc for transport reasons. What should I be looking for?

 

[jeff9366]

TRACTORDATA.COM LINK: TractorData.com John Deere 4230 tractor information

Is your Deere 4230 2-WD or 4-WD?

Diesel or Gas?

Ag tires or Industrial tires?

Rear tires filled with air or filled with liquid?

What type of soil do you have?

How much land do you have to work?


List the tasks you wish the tractor to perform.

 

[Kodiak45]

Good call.
Diesel
2wd
Ag tires and not filled
Soil is clay
Mowing 20 ac
Plowing 5-15 ac

 

[jeff9366]

I pilot a Deere 5103 / 2-WD regularly. I pull a Deere Disc Harrow with 20" diameter pans on 9" spacing easily.

Behind your much heavier Deere 4230 you should be able to pull a Disc Harrow with 22" diameter or 24" diameter pans.

Draft resistance come from pan diameter, which equals weight, which equals cutting depth, which equals draft resistance. With either 22" or 24" diameter pans you will have good ability to perform secondary tillage in clay. If you will disc when ground is wet, you will need disc scrapers to keep clay from clogging everything.

In terms of moldboard plows you should be fine with 4/12", 4/14", uncertain about 4/16" in clay, with 2-WD. All under assumption plows have bright moldboards and sharp wear parts. (I am recommending conservatively because I do not have first hand experience plowing clay.)

I have no experience with batwing mowers, sorry.

 

[whis]

jeff he's talking about old 4230 over 100 hp

 

[jeff9366]

jeff he's talking about old 4230 over 100 hp

I understand that, but only 2-WD to put that power to the ground and mgraham112 has clay.

 

[joeu235]

I think a 220 disk would be right on the edge for clay. I have a 16 ft disk and a 4020 used in blackland clay and it pulls real hard. I think what you should do is ship it to me in Texas

 

[Kodiak45]

I have a set of duals that came with the tractor if that makes a huge difference. I definitely don't want to push it too hard and put extreme wear and tear on it.

 

[jeff9366]

Plowing 5-15 ac

Assuming you only want to Disc Harrow the 5-15 acres you want to plow, why get a max width Disc?

Will not 8' or 10' width suffice?

As for the dual rears, aren't they more to increase float and avoid compaction of your clay, than for traction??

Here in north Florida, where good farmers manage to get three crops off the land per year, plows are rare implements. Most land is 'Hogged very short after the harvest, then tilled with 22"-24" pan diameter Disc Harrows, seeded and rolled with big rollers, not Cultipackers. (Our soil is sandy and the land is flat.)

A lot of hay is raised here. But the increasing summer crop, on unirragated land, is peanuts.

 

[Kodiak45]

That's a great point about the duals being for compaction rather than traction. I never even considered that as a purpose. I would like a disc that would cover the tractor width and with duals, guessing this would be about 12 ft

 

[jenkinsph]

A 210 disc would be a better fit than a 220 bi fold model. I would be looking for a 10 to 12 ft disc with 22 inch blades with 150 lbs/blade weight. Lots of good brands out there, I only mention the 210 for reference purposes.

 

[joeu235]

have you thought about a 3 or 4 bottom moldboard plow?

 

[jeff9366]

That's a great point about duals being for compaction prevention rather than traction. I never even considered that as a purpose.

Ags are narrower than Industrial tires. Ags have less float, they sink into soil deeper, allowing the ag tire bars to grip to soil around a more inclusive perimeter of the tires.

When you go to dual setup, it is usually to improve float.

Here in North Florida, where mud is nonexistent, even pretty large tractors have Industrial tires. Lots of our farmers have scattered fields, or share equipment so they run on the paved roads quite a bit.

Tractors with dual setups are the exception. They always have four ag tires around me.

 

[Kodiak45]

I have a 2 bottom mb plow, but I never use it. I will probably just have to settle for what I can find locally and being able to pull the disc behind my truck to the farm as paying someone to haul is going to be expensive. I'm not even sure pulling a 12' disc on the road is realistic, at least not a great distance. I might try to come up with some figures to build one or even refab and add on to the small pull behind and 3pt I have now, both are 6'. Building one couldn't be that bad, but I imagine all the parts/steel would cost close to new one.

 

[jenkinsph]

I have a 2 bottom mb plow, but I never use it. I will probably just have to settle for what I can find locally and being able to pull the disc behind my truck to the farm as paying someone to haul is going to be expensive. I'm not even sure pulling a 12' disc on the road is realistic, at least not a great distance. I might try to come up with some figures to build one or even refab and add on to the small pull behind and 3pt I have now, both are 6'. Building one couldn't be that bad, but I imagine all the parts/steel would cost close to new one.

I have had to move some used equipment in the past where width was an issue. We broke down the frame and disc gangs for transport and I reassembled them when I got it all back to the farm. Just a thought.

 

[joeu235]

you could also wench it on a flat bed trailer, twist it 90 degrees and take the tongue off.