(quoted from post at 20:03:35 11/01/17) I am looking at an old John Deere Industrial 400 loader (no backhoe). The sheet metal is in really rough shape and it has a few small leaks. I can't tell how many hours are on it and the owner has no clue when the meter stopped working. The engine starts and runs great. It has to warm up for about 3 minutes before the loader lifts smoothly. What would be a fair price? I have no idea. I appreciate your help.
Looks identical to My John Deere 401
Have had mine for 20+ years and it is a great tuff machine.
3 minutes sounds like an excessive amount of time for the hydraulics to come to life.
When you start that tractor the pump in the transmission sends fluid to a tank mounted above the main hydraulic pump, the purpose of this tank is to supply a steady flow of oil to the inlet of the main hydraulic pump.
I seem to recall if you were to keep your foot on the clutch after starting the tractor it will delay the filling of this tank.
As far as value goes I have seen examples of this machine in VG condition at dealerships with asking prices of $10 000+
The one you are looking at is far from pristine but last I checked cows don't care what a tractor looks like.
I paid just under $3000 for a parts machine with a bad transmission, it had a rebuilt engine in it along with many other parts my old one needed and in my opinion it was well worth the price.
The steering column/control valve for the power steering can be somewhat temperamental on these units, mine is on it's 3rd one.
The coupler between the front of the engine and the hydraulic pump has been replaced a few times as well.
Gauges, the coolant gauge on mine will not move unless something is plugged up, runs very cool and at first I thought mine was not working.
Traction wise=very poor unless you have weight on back.
Messy winter feeding I run cast weights, loaded tires and chains.
With all of that it still needs a bale on the 3 point to really get around good.
If it was me and the machine was in good working order I would think a fair price would be somewhere between 3-6 thousand.
No idea where you are located but if you were not far off I have most every part you would need to bring that one back into shape.
Drawbar
Rollover protection
Fenders
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