3-Point Hitch John Deere 4300 Broken upper 3point hitch

[SandyTX]

Just wanted to say my first post; but have been reading for a few months now.

I've just acquired a 2001 John Deere 4300 tractor with 430 loader and shredder.

I got it for a great price.

Good
It runs great and the hydraulics work flawlessly.

Bad
Broken Hour meter (LCD Screen is shows nada)
And the upper 3 point hitch mount is broken off under the top adjustment pin.
The upper hole works fine; but the left side is broken off eliminating the lower 2 adjustment points.

Its fine now with my shredder; but I'm planning on buying a roto tiller and or other implements in the future and figure something which weighs more such as a plow may need a lower adjustment.

So my question is; can the cast (if it is cast) metal be welded or does it require a whole new rear end (I sure hope not).

Thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of the holiday (for most folks anyway).

I'll try to get a picture up soon of the damaged area.

Picture Below

Click Here

What I'm worried with is if I hook up to a 500lb plower or tiller; it may break the 3point hookup.

 

[JB4310]

Welcome to TBN

It's a good question,
I'm not sure of the right answer but I would try and repair it first, be worth it to bring to a weld shop and ask them what could be done.

Since you got the machine for a good deal You have some buffer there to take on a little more expense.

I would make it work for me one way or another

 

[beenthere]

Add the hyd. top arm ram and get the best of both worlds.
Prolly less expensive and less headache.

 

[kebo]

Welcome to TBN. Can you post a picture of the broken top link mounting point?? I'm just wondering how much metal is left on the one side that is broken?? As for repairing it with a weld, if can be done but you would obviously have to have a new "bracket" machined (unless you have the broken piece handy). If you followed Dave's rebuilding of the rental JD 430 in the Parts/Repairs forum, he had a similar issue. There were some broken castings on the rear end housing and he had them rewelded, but not just anyone can do it properly. You might go back through all the pages of it and see if you can find the posts where he dealt with rewelding them, he had some good info there. Or maybe try and contact him for more advice? Good luck with it.

 

[kennyd]

Another welcome to TBN

What part is broken? If it's #21 JDParts list's it for $470.00! Really need to see a picture to help you more...

 

[SandyTX]

Thank for all the great info so far everyone.
I've updated my original post with a picture.

 

[kennyd]

Thank for all the great info so far everyone.
I've updated my original post with a picture.

I assume you have the piece? It is possible a shop could weld it, definitely NOT a DIY type job. You will still have to remove it and that's not easy either.

If I was going to go through the trouble of removing it-I think I would just replace it. If you got a great deal as you say than suck it up...There is a great chance the weld will fail and you would be replacing it again...I would rather do it once.

 

[SandyTX]

The thing is; I do not have the broken part. I bought the tractor as is.

I'm leaning towards getting the part from the dealer and having it put on.

I'm guessing if the part is a $470 part; then itll prob be a $1000 service cost to put it in.

So would a machine part welding on be good enough for a 600lb disc or tiller/plow? Or would my best bet just to have a new one ordered and put in at the dealer?

I guess I have 3 choices.

1) Do nothing (till it breaks and then fix it)(use the top mount as it is now)
2) Have a part made and welded
3) Get a new part

 

[jenkinsph]

The problem with the repair route is you need someone proficient with cast iron to make the repair. In the past I have had welding repairs like this done to the lower links on an old Farmall, and the repair did last. This isn't for an average welder Joe, though. When you factor in the costs for this repair and recognize that the problem may reappear and further it detracts from the value of a future sale, then it may make more sense to just bite the bullet and change out the entire top housing.

I think you would be much happier knowing the problem is resolved and the top link is restored to new.

 

[kennyd]

I guess I have 3 choices.

1) Do nothing (till it breaks and then fix it)(use the top mount as it is now)
2) Have a part made and welded
3) Get a new part

I would stay with #1 for a while...#2 will cost close to the price of #3 since you don't have the broken part.

Save up for the new part, and do the repair yourself maybe next winter when you don't need the machine as much. You can buy the FSM (factory service manual) on CD for under $100 and it would be priceless to help with this repair.

 

[SandyTX]

Thank you everyone.

I'll keep using it as is now until it breaks.

Then I'll probably just replace it with a service part.

Does anyone know if it is now drastically weaker for pulling implements with this part broken off?

 

[JB4310]

Thank you everyone.

I'll keep using it as is now until it breaks.

Then I'll probably just replace it with a service part.

Does anyone know if it is now drastically weaker for pulling implements with this part broken off?

It's definitely much weaker the way it is.

It looks exactly as I envisioned it from your first description.
I don't like the idea of wait for it to break, that's gonna happen right in the middle of a project, then what are you gonna do, wait for a week to get back in service?


The best thing would be replace with new, but the next thing I would try if I was trying to do it cheap, would be a combination of welding, filling, plating and bolting/pinning.

Would definitely be a compromise as it would sacrifice the upper and lower holes for pins/bolts, but would give you the center hole for use.
Using the upper and lower holes to to reinforce the center hole, which would be made of thick plate to match existing, fish plated with thinner plates tying everything together.

That's what I would do, but if you had to pay for all that it might cost more than the part
Out of necessity I'm pretty good at being able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, though this repair most likely would look like the sow's ear

JB.

 

[dfkrug]

Wow, that looks bad.

I would use it as-is until it breaks, as others have voted. Possibly the
lower part of the bracket was broken off due to improper side forces
placed on it (user error).

As for the fix, the 3-pt cyl housing is made by HEMA in Turkey. Who
knows what kind of metallurgy was used in the cast steel (or cast iron)?
You may be able to find someone with lots of experience welding cast
steel/iron, but it is still a gamble. A skilled expert may charge several
hundred $, too.

On my 4300 rebuild, the broken castings I had welded were aluminum, and
the fix vs. buy choices led me to pay an expert $400 to do both axle
housings.

The good news is if JDParts quotes $470, you may be able to shop around
for a dealer who will sell it for about $400. That thing weighs more than
75#, however. Removing/installing is not too bad....at least you don't have
to split the tractor!

 

[JB4310]

Maybe a tractor bone yard?

 

[jenkinsph]

dfkrug,
I would think Turkey is a place where metalurgy skills are quite high. This ain't there first rodeo.

 

[dfkrug]

I would think Turkey is a place where metalurgy skills are quite high. This ain't there first rodeo.

I am sure they are. I said nothing of their skills. We still know little about
the composition of the casting, except that it is ferrous. There are many
different ferrous casting metallurgies in production today, all over the world.

 

[mfreund]

Maybe a tractor bone yard?

I looked for a steering cylinder in early 2009. Not much out there then. The tractors are still too new.

 

[SandyTX]

Thanks again everyone.

I'll use this for my small 20 acre place (loader/shred work mostly). And plan on plowing a small 4-5 acre sunflower patch. If it breaks; I can deal with waiting a week or two to get it fixed. This is not a job dependent tractor (thank goodness).

I think when I get it fixed; I'll have a mechanical hour meter installed too.

It would be nice to know when to change the fluids.

I'll try to post some pictures of the actual tractor later.

 

[mfreund]

The easy way to remember the fliuds is I change the engine oil every fall and the hydro every other year, coolant every other year. Cheap insurance.

 

[Big_Lug]

Last year I bought a 2004 4210 and I had to replace the dash (hourmeter cluster), the guy left the tractor outside so it was messed up. Then I broke the top link like yours. I was setting up a hydraulic top cylinder and had to weld eyes on the cylinder and the way I set it up when I lifted up the 3 point arms there was no free play and "pop" it tore the thing apart. Me and my 12 year old took the seat off along with the seat skirting and then removed the bolts that bolt it to the chassis. I then used a pulley to lift it off the tractor. It was a little challenging to get some of the bolts off. The ones for the seat were the worst. But it is not worth $1000.00 to pay someone to do it. Maybe $150-$200. It took us about 5 hours to do it. But I had some real difficult screws to deal with. I changed all my fluids and filters after I completed the job. I even saved or didn't damage my gasket. Good luck with it. I only have minimal mechanical skills also. Be sure to get some boxes and label the screws and bolts.