4300 Quote

[matttusken]

I have been reading the posts on this sight for a week or more now and it is amazing how well I can relate to what everyone has said. I am moving to a house with nine acres in two weeks and have been looking for a tractor for over two months (JD4200 & 4300, NH TC33D). Anyway, I have been driving myself crazy trying to decide what I need and what options I think are worth paying for. Finaly today I bought a JD4300. It is a 2001 Demo with 50 hours on it. It has the full two year warranty and I got the 420 loader too. I paid $18,325 with Hydro, R4, Mid PTO. According to the other posts this is not the best price but not too bad either. My question is: What other things should I consider before I take delivery next week? I see some people comment on things like welded hooks for the bucket, rear work light etc. Those are things that sound like they could be handy, but are they worth it? Once the tractor makes it to my house, I am afraid I will have a hard time giving it up to have anything else done to it. Thanks for any help.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hello Matt,

Congrats on the new green machine...

List your priorities on what you plan on using your tractor for so we can better assess some immediate accessories you can use and maybe some ones to avoid...

 

[glennmac]

Congrats, that's a fine tractor. Most people find 2 or 3 welded hooks to be occasionally very helpful. Which also means you need chains. I use 5/16, grade 70 chain. I believe JD has a set of ROPS lights that you can swivel to the rear or the front. I would get those. Tractor headlights are somewhat useless when you have the fel on the tractor. If you are going to cut brush, I would get the armor shielding that goes around the hydraulic lines under the floor deck. You should also decide whether you want to fill the tires, if they are not already filled, and what you want to fill them with--calcium chloride, antifreeze, rim guard (beet juice) or foam. There are threads here on all these subjects.

 

[cowboydoc]

I agree with glenn's comments. In addition I would think seriously about the wheel weights if they are an option. With the filled tires they are major bucks to fix one if it has a flat. The bucket hooks and rear work lights are invaluable. If it's really cold where you live a heater to start the engine when it's cold will save alot of wear on your engine.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for the quick response. This site, and the information on it, is a great example of the wonderful uses the Internet can have. As far as my use of the tractor is concerned, I am going to use the tractor to mow, disc up an arena, maybe eventually build my son a small track for his dirt bike, but mostly to help out around the barn, we have five horses. I am sure there are all kinds of uses I will be able to put the tractor to that I have not even considered yet......this is my first tractor.........recently married a country girl and lovin it. I did not plan on filling the tires, maybe I need to rethink that. As far as temp. is concerned, we live in Kansas (basically Kansas City) and the winters are not too bad, although last winter it did get below zero a few nights.
Thanks again for your imput - Matt

 

[hoghead]

Hey matt,ck your messages..I too, live close to you and dont plan on filling tires as I dont see the need..I just use my finish mower for a counterbalance and has worked fine so far..I also dont plan on getting a block heater cause my green machine always sits in the shop, but it is not heated..One more thing..the dealer you bought the tractor from is excellent..case inpoint, I just ordered the stuff to do the 50hr service and he was about 50 dollars cheaper than the dealer in my home town...Go figure..anyway good luck with your green machine!!!!!!!!!!

Hoghead

 

[kerr]

Way good fella. You have bought a fine machine fer sure.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well, here is what I have decided so far. First of all the tractor does have an engine block heater (excuse the ignorance if this is not what it is called) so that has already been taken care of. I asked about the ROPS lights and the saleman said that they could do something "like" that, but that as far as he knows Deere does not have that option, so for now, I ordered the rear work light...$38.00. Also, I am having them weld hooks on the bucket (got to learn how to weld) and I ordered a tooth bar for about $200. All of these suggestions have come from this site and I am sure they will pay off.

 

[MJB]

Deere does make ROPS lights that can be flipped to point either forward or backward. The product number according to the John Deere configurator is LVB25023 and the price is $50.00. You will also need to buy the warning light brush guards (LVB25016 $29.00) in order to have a place to mount the lights. The lights will flip over to point straight back but will not point down toward the ground without some modifications to the mounting bracket. Attached is a picture of my 4300 with the lights on the ROPS. Hope this helps.

I love the smell of diesel in the morning./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by MJB on 10/18/01 11:14 AM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[glennmac]

MJB,

Do you see any reason why those lights would be specific to a JD--ie, any reason why they couldnt be attached to a different tractor?

 

[TerryinMD]

I would have to say that it is because of the brush guard and how they mount.

Now, if you're creative.... probably adaptable.

I saw the different light types (trapzaoidal, flood, spot) at my local JD dealer and, believe it or not, they were cheaper that Quality Farm and Fleet!!

Terry

 

[MJB]

I think that the lights would work on any tractor as long as you have a flat surface to mount the bracket to. The lights are held on by only one bolt and could probably be mounted on either a vertical or horizontal surface. The the lenses look like they may be optimized for horizontal mounting however. I'll look closer at the lights when I get home tonight and let you know what I find.

I love the smell of diesel in the morning./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[kerr]

I'll be barn,the grandson and me were walking the local DEERE dealers yard and i thought those lights were real nice compact little dudes fer sure.I didn't know they rotated also.I think we all need us a 6-pack of them bad boys!Like ol Bob Seagar says " BRING ON THE NIGHT"

 

[MJB]

After taking a closer look at my lights, here is what I found. The lights throw a very wide and diffused light, probably classified as floods. The lights are not as bright as the halogen headlights on my 4300. There were no indications of the wattage either on the light or in the installation manual. Each light comes with about four feet of two-conductor wire, so they do not need to be mounted on a grounded surface. The lights will point either straight forward or straight backward by loosening the horizontal mounting bolt and flipping the light over vertically. On a 4300 with folding ROPS you will need to insert the ROPS pins from the inside instead of the outside in order to allow the lights to flip. A little creative grinding on the mounting brackets would allow the lights to be pointed more toward the ground in both the forward and reverse directions. If I were to mount them on a tractor without the warning light brush guards, I would mount them on the underside of the top bar of the ROPS. With the folding ROPS I like the existing mounts because the lights don't move if the ROPS is folded down. Hope this helps.

I love the smell of diesel in the morning./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[matttusken]

Again, thanks for the information. I have already lined up the rear work light and was told that it points down towards the implement (or ground). The picture of your 4300 (besides making the wait until delivery on Monday next to impossible) makes me think that the ROPS lights could come in very handy. I have one more call to make with a few more items on the list now. I will try and take a picture next week for your "review". Matt