Articulating 4wd harder to service

DavidT1

Member
Those of you that run both 2wd say a 5020 or similar and articulating 4wd's like a 8430 or similar is the service on the 2wd easier or harder? Would you say it costs more for the 4wd or about the same for parts and similar items? Thanks
 
We have an 8430 and I would say the day to day stuff is pretty easy to service. The hinge area with the U joints is something I would rather not do but all in all is not a bad job plus it is an area that you do not want to neglect. It's a 10 hour service interval but there have been times it has gone past that a few hours but no harm done. The U joints take 10 shots of grease apiece. Easy to overlook are the front pins that have a grease bank over by the engine filter area on the frame rail. You have to probably stand on the drawbar unless you are real tall to add hydraulic fluid to the transmission. The front axle is not "common" with the main transmission but the check plug is easy to get at plus important to monitor if roading a lot such as with a manure tanker. The engines are not perfect in the 30 series articulated tractors but it is real important not to oscillate the front axle to where it comes hard against the stops on the frame rails as it creates stress on the engine block. We have had a 5o series engine in the tractor that was a factory new unit and consider it a vast improvement over the original engine.
 
I have an 8430 also and covered it well. Only other issue I had is the hyd filter by the piviots is a pain to get to seal. It's a little underpowered but works well for what we do with it.
 
Yes, you have to be careful just like the hydraulic canister on a 4020 in that it needs to draw in square. I did a change one time and did not get it quite square and managed to blow 2.5 gallons of fluid out in a several seconds.
 
Our 8630 blew the o ring going down the road! Made quite a mess . glad we traded it off! I have had the 8430 blow the o ring right after I changed it. Does not take long to pump out a few gallon.
 
We do not own a 5020 but I have run one. Engine oil change cost will be similar when compared to an 8430. The 8430 transmission capacity is 25 gallons and I would guess the 5020 is 20 gallons or more. I don't know if the 5020 had dry air elements or not but depending on conditions the oil bath might be cheaper to maintain. As hinted at before you will need to keep a tube or two of grease on hand for the 8430 where one grease servicing on a 5020 will go quite a few hours. Unless you have tasks where a 2 wheel drive is far more advantageous I would get the 8430 hopefully with a 50 series repower. If I had playing around money I would not mind sticking a 619 into a 5020 to give it some wallop.
 
I run an 8430 with a 50 series engine in it. It has been on this farm since new. It seems like everything that you need to do involves a split of the tractor. It's not like it has been a real money pit or anything - it is good cheap horsepower. However, when the transmission or something in the rear end goes the thing is going to scrap. The tires on it are extremely worn out, but it isn't worth 8 new tires. I had a boot put in one last year and the Co-op said they wouldn't promise it to hold. I told them to do it anyway because I wasn't sure I wanted to put even one new tire on it. It's not that it is a piece of junk. Not a scratch on it, air works, it fires right up, etc. It's just an old huge tractor with a cab that constantly sifts dirt down on you all day long. Big articulated tractors like that are just such a niche market.
 
The 4 wheel drive 30 series were just an end loader made into a farm tractor and sounded like one. Who would have designed the front axle so you have to pull the engine or axle to drop the pan. I liked my old 310 Steiger but the hydraulics were terrible and the center shaft in the drop box was poorly designed and created many problems. The 8960 and 9400 were jokes compared to the 4430 and 8400 tractors. The 8400 transmission was like a wild horse ride at times when you shifted it, yet other tractors with Funk PS transmissions shifted excellent,ie Ford.
 
If you are comparing JD two wheel drive tractors to their own 4x4s, I would say the 4x4s up to the 60 series are more expensive to keep going. Harder to work on which means more labor time, and there are more moving parts that eventually need work. Add in the fact JD made the engine part of the frame on 4x4s which shorten the life of those engines in some situations. Now if you are comparing a Versatile to a JD two wheel drive or a 4x4 then it is no contest that the Versatile is cheaper to maintain. A lot fewer moving parts, lower level technology that doesn't require as much cost when fixing or replacing.
 
Those filter O-rings simply do not "blow". When correctly installed they are pretty much surrounded by metal and CAN'T get away/

If you had that happen, it was carelessness and inattention on the part of the guy that changed the filter.

Dunno how you blame the tractor or DEERE for that, but I guess you COULD blame them for not making the job "idiot proof".
 
Day-to-day "servicing" of the 4X4's is no harder than taking care of the RWD's of the era.

Obviously, a clutch replacement or an engine OH is tougher/more time consuming, but with any decent care those repairs will be at over 10,000 hour intervals.

Of course, there are those who can mess up an anvil with a rubber hammer!
 
The later serial 8400 shifts just like butter I have ran some of the first and 4 to 5 was hard and 12 to 13 was hard the rest were very smooth put a lot of hours on them we had one with 16000 hours before engine overhaul and no trans work
 

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