4230 Fuel Tank Dent Repair

[SoDakretired]

My 4230 collided with the hay rails on a bale trailer and dented the fuel tank. New ones are not available and used ones are expensive. Has anyone tried having a body shop use a dent puller or other method to repair such a dent?

 

[IAfarmguy]

How bad is the dent? Is the tank leaking? Is the tractor a parade unit or an unusual variation of a 4230? I would be tempted to leave it be. It would be a conversation starter at the local tractor ride or plow day!

 

[Watthour]

Do you have a photo to share? There might be some non-destructive options.

 

[SoDakretired]

How bad is the dent? Is the tank leaking? Is the tractor a parade unit or an unusual variation of a 4230? I would be tempted to leave it be. It would be a conversation starter at the local tractor ride or plow day!

Dent is not real bad. Doesn't leak. Tractor is nothing special, just my everyday loader tractor. I am retired and it is all the loader tractor I need. It looked nice when it left our yard however and I would like it fixed. Neighbor borrowed it and it was damaged at his place. I am trying to save him some money getting it repaired.

 

[SoDakretired]

Do you have a photo to share? There might be some non-destructive options.

Thanks for asking. Neighbor has the tractor and it is not home yet, so i do not have a photo. I stopped and looked at it briefly after he told me about the dent, but I did not think to take a picture of it. The dent is in the lower 1/3 of the tank, below the JD emblem and not very deep. What options do you have in mind?

 

[tim s]

My 4230 collided with the hay rails on a bale trailer and dented the fuel tank. New ones are not available and used ones are expensive. Has anyone tried having a body shop use a dent puller or other method to repair such a dent?

I have "carefully" welded short 5/8" bolts to the dent area then screwed on dual hook eyeletes to them and pulled the dents with a small cable comalong,,tapping at the dent area a bit to relieve the tension ,,getting the dent closer to being right then using a small amount of body putty to make the finish nice

 

[Mark-Ia]

Body filler and a can of paint, it will look good as new.

 

[Paul_IN]

My 4230 collided with the hay rails on a bale trailer and dented the fuel tank. New ones are not available and used ones are expensive. Has anyone tried having a body shop use a dent puller or other method to repair such a dent?

The metal may be too thick for this trick but won’t cost you much but some time to try. Drain the tank and heat the area of the dent with a heat gun or could use a torpedo heater. Try for 300 deg F to not damage paint nor have much chance of igniting vapor. Apply ice cubes in the lowest part of the dent, hopefully there isn’t a hard, sharp crease. Goal is to shrink the metal and that pulls the dent back closer to straight. Having a few psi air pressure in the tank should help the dent move out.

 

[dieselade]

is this a front mounted fuel tank and not inside of the grills ,hood, front shields.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

I think that front piece is separate from the tank at least most other tractors it is

 

[Deezbales]

Find a tall 4020 front weight. Once installed it will hide dent.