JD 2440

[RollingsFarms]

a fella I'm friends with informed me yesterday that his father-in-law had this tractor for sale. his hobby is buying old iron, restoring it to new condition and selling them at prices most sell BEFORE restoration. he likes to keep 'em moving that way. he told me to go check this one out and see how i liked it, and i took a couple of pics to show ya'll and see what ya'll thought. tractor has 2,800 hours on it(hour meter works). it's a 1980 model and as you can see in the pics, everything has pretty much been restored. here's the kicker....he's selling it for $9,000 or reasonable offer!!! i wanted to see what ya'lls thoughts were on this tractor and the price, because i know he wont have this one long before someone passes by and snatches it up. anyone have a 2440? what are the good and bad of this model? the tractor is 60hp.

 

[dgl24087]

That's a steal of a deal. I can't think of anything bad about the 40 series. Wish I were close enough or had a big enough truck to pull it with, I'd buy it at that price.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I've got a 1979 2440. From 1977 to 1979, they were built in Dubuque Iowa. 1980 on, They were produced in Mannhiem Germany. The earlier ones were essentially a 2030 with 40 series hood/grill.

219 cu in 4 cylinder diesel, 61hp on the pto. Very good hydraulics for the size. Probably the LOUDEST tractors I've ever been around. A little rough on fuel economy. Well balanced, but just a bit heavy for it's size. $9000 is a decent price. I've seen 77/79 models sell north of $11,000. If that one is in as good of condition as it LOOKS, it'll bag $9000 fairly quick. They're popular tractors. If it has the hydraulic HI/LO shifter, be prepared for $$$$$.$$ if the tractor ever needs to be split (ie for a new clutch) Some have an odd arraingment for the park position on the primary shifter. It can be retrofit with a MUCH simpler set-up. With that, the shifter can tend to be in your way getting off and on. Watch the engine. That was one of the years and models that were proned to electraulysis (sp?) The blocks would get loose rust particals in the cooling system, coolant would get acidic, and cavitation would combine to eat holes in the cylinder liners. INSTANT coolant dumping into oil pan. I've heard of them doing so in as little as 500 hours. Keep coolant system clean and use a diesel coolant treatment.

I bought mine new. I still own my 2440. It was my "big tractor" on 190 acres for most of my farming career. It's logged just over 4000 hours with very little problems. (leaky hydraulic return line, brakes that constantly need bleeding, tie rods/bellcrank wear, and lighting wiring issues from day one) It's still an every day worker, running a 7' Bush Hog on a mowing crew.

 

[RollingsFarms]

That's a steal of a deal. I can't think of anything bad about the 40 series. Wish I were close enough or had a big enough truck to pull it with, I'd buy it at that price.

he told me it was listed on ebay but i havent looked it up. just type in "john deere 2440" and i'm sure it will pop up.

 

[RollingsFarms]

I've got a 1979 2440. From 1977 to 1979, they were built in Dubuque Iowa. 1980 on, They were produced in Mannhiem Germany. The earlier ones were essentially a 2030 with 40 series hood/grill.

219 cu in 4 cylinder diesel, 61hp on the pto. Very good hydraulics for the size. Probably the LOUDEST tractors I've ever been around. A little rough on fuel economy. Well balanced, but just a bit heavy for it's size. $9000 is a decent price. I've seen 77/79 models sell north of $11,000. If that one is in as good of condition as it LOOKS, it'll bag $9000 fairly quick. They're popular tractors. If it has the hydraulic HI/LO shifter, be prepared for $$$$$.$$ if the tractor ever needs to be split (ie for a new clutch) Some have an odd arraingment for the park position on the primary shifter. It can be retrofit with a MUCH simpler set-up. With that, the shifter can tend to be in your way getting off and on. Watch the engine. That was one of the years and models that were proned to electraulysis (sp?) The blocks would get loose rust particals in the cooling system, coolant would get acidic, and cavitation would combine to eat holes in the cylinder liners. INSTANT coolant dumping into oil pan. I've heard of them doing so in as little as 500 hours. Keep coolant system clean and use a diesel coolant treatment.

I bought mine new. I still own my 2440. It was my "big tractor" on 190 acres for most of my farming career. It's logged just over 4000 hours with very little problems. (leaky hydraulic return line, brakes that constantly need bleeding, tie rods/bellcrank wear, and lighting wiring issues from day one) It's still an every day worker, running a 7' Bush Hog on a mowing crew.

thanks for the info! i thought i remembered you had this model but wasn't sure. i didn't really spend a whole lotta time messing with the tractor, i just looked it over really quick. didn't even start it up or drive it. he was just showing me some tractors his FIL was working on and that one caught my eye. he had about 3 other tractors(Ford, IH, and another Deere) he was redoing. all i kept asking myself was "do I want this to be my do it all tractor for the next 20 years?", and while I'm sure it would and more, I'm glad you made me aware of some of the possible problems I might run into. i did tell him to keep me informed about future tractors he got in and was restoring because if the right one caught my eye I'd be all over it.

as for loud....I couldn't immagine that 4 cyl being louder then my 3 cyl Yanmar in my 950!! that thing will rattle the tractor at times it seems like. always ran great though, never had a problem. i just need to go bigger, a good bit bigger to be realistic. been kicking around the idea of buying two "older" tractors, or just save up the $$$ and get one new one to "do it all".

I will say this for the man though, he made those old tractors look young again!! you really would have to see them in person to appreciate the detail he put into him. your MF 150 and 2440 are no eye sore either by the way. very impressed with the shape of your tractors, especially to be used everyday in a mowing business. mines all dusty and greasy from field work. i could wash it today and you'd never know it tomorrow!

 

[Farmwithjunk]

thanks for the info! i thought i remembered you had this model but wasn't sure. i didn't really spend a whole lotta time messing with the tractor, i just looked it over really quick. didn't even start it up or drive it. he was just showing me some tractors his FIL was working on and that one caught my eye. he had about 3 other tractors(Ford, IH, and another Deere) he was redoing. all i kept asking myself was "do I want this to be my do it all tractor for the next 20 years?", and while I'm sure it would and more, I'm glad you made me aware of some of the possible problems I might run into. i did tell him to keep me informed about future tractors he got in and was restoring because if the right one caught my eye I'd be all over it.

as for loud....I couldn't immagine that 4 cyl being louder then my 3 cyl Yanmar in my 950!! that thing will rattle the tractor at times it seems like. always ran great though, never had a problem. i just need to go bigger, a good bit bigger to be realistic. been kicking around the idea of buying two "older" tractors, or just save up the $$$ and get one new one to "do it all".

I will say this for the man though, he made those old tractors look young again!! you really would have to see them in person to appreciate the detail he put into him. your MF 150 and 2440 are no eye sore either by the way. very impressed with the shape of your tractors, especially to be used everyday in a mowing business. mines all dusty and greasy from field work. i could wash it today and you'd never know it tomorrow!

The 2440, like all the Deere's of that era, have an external hydraulic pump just ahead of the engine. It's a noisy pump as far as hydraulic pumps are concerned. The engine itself is loud. I never really understood why, it just is. As you can see in the photo, mine has the ROPS & canopy. Deere put the same sound insulation under the fiberglass "roof" as they used in the SoundGaurd cabs to deaden some of the noise, but they still tend to trap noise rather than deaden it. Back in '79 when I first bought the tractor, one of the very fiirst jobs it did was finishing spring plowing when the Ford 5000 it replaced snapped the crankshaft. I spent 3 straight days plowing. It took a month before my ears quit ringing. The 2440 is the reason why I started wearing headphones while on a tractor.

That picture was taken over a year ago. After nearly 2 seasons on the mower, it isn't quite as pristine.

 

[Rara Avis]

The fuel and radiator caps are reversed...

 

[Farmwithjunk]

The fuel and radiator caps are reversed...

Good catch! I'm assuming that whoever repainted the tractor also repainted the caps and did so in reverse. The radiator cap and fuel cap are so completely different that they couldn't possibly be switched in position.

 

[RollingsFarms]

i'll ask him about that. from looking at the pics, something was off to me but i couldn't figure out what it was. good eye!

 

[carl6583]

A 2440 is a good, solid tractor. I used one for many years with a 146 loader as my primary utility tractor and did everything from cut, rake, and square bale hay, bush hog, spray, to loader work. Mine had the reverser, and I never had any real problems with the machine. Put a new clutch in it at 4,800 hours but that was because it was the tractor my youngest learned to drive and he had a tendency to, shall we say overuse the clutch.

2440 and 2640's have been a good source of low cost horsepower around us for years now, but it looks like they're beginning to go up in price. $9,000 is about right. I believe most of Deere's current loader line is retrofit, and something from the 5 series would probably fit the 2440.