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

[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.