4420 stuck in the mud

Cornguy77

New User
Hi everyone. Just bought a Deere 4420 combine. I
have a few more acres of corn to get in and it?s
been raining a lot. Before i attempt going out there I
was wondering where the best place to hook a tow
strap before I get into trouble
 
I don't have any experience with that combine but it will help everyone to know just how stuck are you? maybe a picture or two.
 
I have the straps and chains. I was just wondering where to hook it to the combine so I don?t break anything. I️ was thinking right around the header or between the finaldrive and the machine
 
I think the front axle would be your best bet. There is not a lot of structure in the side frames and rear end of that machine. Be careful not to mash up the cleaning fan housing underneath when you pull your strap/chain tight. We run a 4420 here, which replaced a 4400. They will go over quite a bit of soft ground that the big new ones will not, but we sometimes wait for the ground to freeze solid here in western MN to get done harvesting.

Good luck!
Lon
 
I thought most guys tried to pull them out from the back ? Plus you would have to drive over/smash a bunch of crops to get to the front ?
 
Pull off of final drives. Those little combines will go thru alot mud, I will also say they produce a real clean grain sample if set right.
 
You hook to the front axle on both sides as close to the final drives as you can get. When you are pulling the combine backwards you can get into trouble with the chain hitting the bottom of the clean grain elevator, the tailings elevator and the cleaning fan housing so you have to be careful. The front axle is the ONLY place you hook to. The combine might be bellied out in the mud so have a spade and dirt shovel along to dig down to get the chain in the right place. Pulling from the front might be easier but usually there is a mud hole ahead of you so that jinxes that idea. Whatever you do, don't get in a hurry and look the situation over well. Have spare dry gloves and a pair of clean jeans along so you can change after the deed is done.

If you do get the combine stuck, stop! driving back and forth trying to get out just sinks you in deeper and makes chaining up that much more work. We had combines stuck many, many times on the wheat harvest, mainly in Oklahoma and we never wrecked a combine but we were very careful pulling them out.
 
Ok hopefully I won?t need to. Thank you. It does seem to be making some pretty clean stuff i have the cylinder speed down to about 475. It?s cracking about a kernel per handful not too bad considering the quality of this years corn. Big ears and small ears throughout the field it?s not leaving too much for the deer. I?m looking forward to messing with it next year hopefully we have a better crop to play with
 
I have the drive tires on backwords on my 2144. Can't drive in the mud far enough to get stuck. Then can always back out. Can't always steer it when backing out so will run down some corn but running down $6.00 worth of corn is a small price to pay instead of walking back to truck, drive back to get tractor and wife. Minimum of two hours time and puts tremendous strain on marriage.
 
That?s a pretty good idea. Seems like they all should be setup like that. It?s like your trying to pull a plow with it. Thanks. That?ll be this winters project
 
I ran a Deere 4420 for several years. Honestly, I have never pulled one forward. Honestly, I never ever got the girl stuck. I have gotten hung up a few times with the corn head crossing a deeply shaped waterway where there may have been a cut occur over the growing season. Since the Deere 4420 doesn't really raise the head as high as some combines the skid plates under the head would catch on the other side of the shaped waterway. That would take weight off of the drive wheels and they would dig in trying to push the head forward. I would always hook under the rear "A" frame right in front of the rear axle and pull it backwards. It generally didn't take much to pull it off the high spot. I would not yank on the "A" frame. Make sure the chain is tight before you pull hard. I had a Deere 6620 rear wheel drop in a tile hole and the entire welded tube pulled out of the "A" frame. I think a key is if you are going forward and seem to be cutting in and getting stuck, STOP, and back out before you get stuck. I guess if it is that bad wait till it freezes some. Keep the hopper on the empty side. I really think that there is too much to damage by wrapping a chain around the front axle (brake lines/hydraulic hoses). Plus, would the chain clear the bottom of the header???? I remember over the years some guys flip - flopping the drive wheels (right on left/left on right) so the tread direction is reverse. That way if the combine can't go forward anymore you have a better chance of backing out of the wet area. Good luck.
 
I had the tires on my 95,105 & 7700 reversed most of the time, really helped backing out of the mud. As another guy said , when going forward getting stuck, we usually could back out.
Reversed tires will wear a lot less when on the road . clint
 
I have experience with 4400, 6620, 9500. A 4420 is obviously much lighter thus not prone to being stuck as easy as the other two. In mud conditions do not fill the grain tank, I know it is small to begin with. When it starts going down back out you have nothing to gain by trying to see how far you can stick it as it is just too muddy then. Leave what you have to and return after it firms or freezes. I do have rear assist on the 9500 and that actually makes me more concerned as a stuck then is deeper and way more weight than a 4420.
 
Been stuck many many time with just about every brand and size combine. On the 4420 hook to the rear axle around the center pipe, not the axle. Then pull at a 30-45? angle, NOT straight or too much angle. And don't use straps, YouTube has lots of videos on what happens there. Also I keep a small chain in the combine for that purpose so the chain will break before tearing off the axle. A 5/16 grade 7 chain is perfect.
 
I would like to know where wgm lives, the desert? 2014 was our last wet year. The guy I farm with put 1250 floaters on his 9670. I was trying to run the grain cart with my left arm broken in a splint. We made a lot of ruts that year.
 
If you farmed in Missouri in the 1960's-1980's you would have mudded out a great many crops or lost them..It was a way of life for every farmer here.....I've been stuck dozens of times...Everyone quit plowing around 1980 and since 1990 the mud problems havent been nearly as bad..All combines here have RWA..

In 1981 it took me 6 weeks to mud out 300 acres of wheat..That fall I mudded out all 300 acres of double crop beans following the wheat..Our soil is sandy and works up fine after mudding out crops...The yields the following year never suffered..
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There were lots of 4400's-4420's in my area that got stuck years ago and all were pulled out by hooking to the housing that the back axle is attached to..Never hook to the header and no one in my area ever hooked to the front axle between the finals..Most combines have a tow hook on the rear end..

My 715 IH and F3 Gleaner were pulled out dozens of times from the tow hook and were never hurt..I also pulled out lots of neighbors and no combines were ever hurt by using common sense..
 
Brand new demo N-7 Gleaner mudding out double crop beans in Nov 1981..Got it stuck once and pulled it out with a 715 IH..1981 was a horrible year for mud..
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Alot of good ideas below, Make sure your drive belts are tight and the brakes are adjusted as well as they can be. If you have 23" fronts you'll be surprised what it'll get you thru. I called my 4420 the Jesus combine it'd walk on water. I have a 9400 now and it just slides sideways.
 

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