New JD 3720 Questions

[nickhh]

I'm getting my first Tractor next week. It's a JD 3720 open station with 300CX FEL, 61" HD bucket, 60D auto-connect mower, 60" root grapple and frontier 1105 5" chipper. I have an old piece of property Upper and lower flat areas divided by a hill sloping from shallow to steep. Lots of big beautiful trees (also saplings and old dead ones), 2+ acres. Once well kept (I grew up there),It's been the buckthorn capital of our county for the last 20 years.

I want to clear, restore and regrade parts of yard over the next few years. Also want to take down / replace many 80 year old retaining walls (all under 5 ft and already falling down), pull out many old posts and generally make it easier to maintain.

I have these questions so far.

1. Can I have the front wheels (R4 27x8.5-15 6PR) in the wide position and still drive over the auto-connect mower? My dealer thinks not. I am setting the rear wheels (R4 43x16-20 4PR) in the wide position because of one part of my hill that has a steep rolling grade (and lots of rock/buckthorn).

I've read on this site that front tires in wide postion might plow and fight on turns. Do they add that much more to stability on grades when using the FEL?

2. Insurance? I've heard that JD writes it into their financing agreements. Haven't discussed with my dealer yet. I saw up a Sentry (JD sponsored) physical damage protection program. Is something like this worth it? I quess I need to talk to my homeowners policy agent too...

3. Anything else I should be thinking about? I'm new to this....

 

[AKfish]

Welcome to TBN, nick. Couldn't say exactly if the wider position fronts will still rollover your deck.. Might just check your deck surface with a tape measure and compare that with your new tire width.

Yep... wider track - front and back - is very important to stability. And, the ease of turning and subsequent "crabbing" of the front tires does change. Although, IMO - the trade-off for improved safety is well worth the aggravation of any increase in front tire skid.

JD does offer supplemental insurance with their financing plan. The last 2 tractors that I've bought, I rolled the additional insurance from Deere into the loan. It was much cheaper than an add-on to my homeowner's policy. But, a quick review of the policy appeared to only cover any outstanding balance remaining on the loan. In short; Deere would get what's owed to them - and the replacement costs - would be on you!

So, I now have BOTH insurance options. The Deere policy would pay off the loan and my homeowner's will help with buying another tractor.

One added question - how much of a problem are "buckthorn's" and rubber tires? You might consider renting a tracked Skid-steer or a small excavator to tear out the worst of your buckthorn's and do all the finish cleanup and landscaping to your new 3720.

Or foam fill all your tires...

Good luck and fun tractorin' with your new Deere! :thumbsup:

AKfish

 

[radman1]

Wider set of front tires won't help much on the hillsides. If tractor starts to tip over on a hillside, the front axle will just pivot to its maximum, then the axle hits the frame/stop. Most likely, if it is already tipping over due to a hillside, the front axle is probably not going to stop it unless the tires are set very wide. However, if you have a heavy load in the FEL, the back end becomes light and a wider front would help keep it from tipping on flatter ground.

Usually, the front and rear tires are set to travel in the same track. I would also not put the tires out beyond the width of the bucket on the FEL. More frustrating to use a FEL with tires wider than the bucket.

 

[AKfish]

Wider set of front tires won't help much on the hillsides. If tractor starts to tip over on a hillside, the front axle will just pivot to its maximum, then the axle hits the frame/stop. Most likely, if it is already tipping over due to a hillside, the front axle is probably not going to stop it unless the tires are set very wide. However, if you have a heavy load in the FEL, the back end becomes light and a wider front would help keep it from tipping on flatter ground.

Usually, the front and rear tires are set to travel in the same track. I would also not put the tires out beyond the width of the bucket on the FEL. More frustrating to use a FEL with tires wider than the bucket.

Have you ever used an older model tractor with a loader and a "tricycle" front end? Front tires that are configured in a narrow stance versus the rear tires will have a tendency to tip over in the direction of the downslope rear tire. Similar to the old, tractor "tricycle" models.

That is/was one of the major safety issues with the older model 3-wheeler ATV's as well, even on flat ground at slow speeds.

The R4's on the 3720 (your previous model tractor..) are a 2-position rim - in or out. It's possible with his 61" bucket that the tire setting might be wider than the bucket... but, I'd be surprised if that's the case.

AKfish

 

[sunnyside360]

Congrats. The 3720 is a very nice tractor....... wouldn't part with mine. With a FEL you should have lots of ballast on this tractor, ie, wheel weights or fluid in rear tires and ballast box or other weight on rear 3ph. Tractor dealers in my vicinity will not even sell a tractor with FEL w/o at least having weighted rear wheels. Many models will also specify additional weight on the 3ph in the Operator's Manual. Depending on how steep your hills are, you may also want to add rear wheel spacers to improve stability -- makes a huge difference.

Regarding insurance, some home owners insurance will cover what you need in order to finance your tractor but you would need to check it out. I did not have to buy additional insurance when I financed my 3720.

Good luck with your new tractor.

 

[radman1]

Have you ever used an older model tractor with a loader and a "tricycle" front end? Front tires that are configured in a narrow stance versus the rear tires will have a tendency to tip over in the direction of the downslope rear tire. Similar to the old, tractor "tricycle" models.

That is/was one of the major safety issues with the older model 3-wheeler ATV's as well, even on flat ground at slow speeds.

The R4's on the 3720 (your previous model tractor..) are a 2-position rim - in or out. It's possible with his 61" bucket that the tire setting might be wider than the bucket... but, I'd be surprised if that's the case.

AKfish

Still drive a Farmall M with tricycle front. Wide setting on a JD 3720 with R4s, only gains a couple of inches in total width on the rear. I had mine set to the widest but if benefit is minimal. Not sure what the front end will gain set to the widest, but the benefit will be minimal . On a hillside, if the tractor starts to tip over, the pivoting axle on the front will allow a lot more tip before the limit of the axle pivot comes into play. The center of gravity will be far beyond what the relatively narrow front end will ever stop. On a hillside, a wide front end can give a false sense of security.

The OP would be much farther ahead getting fluid or weights on the rear. Buy skid steer spacers to set the rear wider is also an option, but then the rear will be wider than the standard 61" bucket. I had a 66" skid steer foundry bucket on mine.

 

[greg_g]

The 3x20 series have a comparatively narrow wheel base, which bothers the **** outa folks like me who have to work hillsides. When new and unballasted, it just felt "tippy" all the time. I had it up on 3 wheels more than once. And that was with meaningful weight on the rear hitch.

If you're in that category, I strongly recommend liquid-filled tires. I subsequently filled all 4 of mine to the 70% mark with RimGuard. That put 900+ pounds over the rear axle, but that's still not far enough in the rear to counterbalance a bucket full of sand or gravel - especially over uneven ground. For that you need a ballast box. And compared to the tractor, the small JD ballast box is a relatively inexpensive option.

//greg//

 

[DanD78]

A 4in1 bucket and a set of forks are great for cleaning up like you are planning. I have the 5' Frontier 4in1 and really like it. Rimguard in all 4 tires and rear wheel spacers make it pretty solid. Mine is a 3320 but the same frame tractor.

Dan

 

[charleyfarmall]

The tractor may FEEL tippy ( is that a word?) but a lot of it is perception. Now, I have had one on three wheels so I do know what it is like, but that's because I had an unbalanced load on the pallet forks... on level ground. Flat platform tractors seat the driver VERY high on the tractor to get the flat platform so there is a perception that the center of gravity is very high. It's lower than you think.

Generally, 15 degrees of slope is all you can take a tractor on unless it is very wide at the back. 15 degrees gives you major pucker factor regardless of what the tractor will do.

On steeper slopes, you need to go up and down, not sideways.

Fluid filled tires help, they hurt the dirt, but not the axle. They don't help as much with a filled bucket, which is why the ballast box is a good idea.

I think you will love the 3000 series. They are an excellent utility tractor.

 

[greg_g]

The tractor may FEEL tippy ( is that a word?) but a lot of it is perception.

**** right it's perception. Real world perception. This 3720 (cab) is only one of five tractors that have worked my 30 acres over the last 15 years, all using the same type implements to do the same jobs on the same ground. I never once felt unsafe on any of the previous 4 tractors (25-45 hp open station Chinese 4wd), but this 3720 at times has gotten downright scary. Never once put any of the previous four up on 3 wheels either. That said, I've never operated an open station 3720, so I don't actually know how much the cab on mine contributes to raising the center of gravity.

//greg//