4630...good tractor?

[Dave from MN]

Mech FWD, power shift, recent overhaul. What do they bring and are they a reliable/dependable tractor?

 

[Roger in Iowa]

Don't believe they had MFD. Only Hydraulic assist.

 

[GaryinKs]

Get a 4640

 

[gregger]

www.external_link has 83 listed

 

[2cylpartsinfo]

The hydraulic assist was not very efficient. As somelse suggested go with a 4640 and mechanical front wheel assist.

 

[Big 86]

(quoted from post at 17:38:22 09/14/11) The hydraulic assist was not very efficient. As somelse suggested go with a 4640 and mechanical front wheel assist.

I believe MFWD became available in the 50 series Deere's. The 40 series tractors still used the hydraulic FWA. But agree with others that a 4640 would be a better choice than a 4630, mostly because of the 466 engine.

 

[JMS/.MN]

30 series had hyd FWD- crap at best. 40, 50 series way better with MFWD. Probably the best JD ever was the 55. I have a 1983 4450 MFWD with around 9000 hours, first engine, PS transmission, rear end, etc. Similar hours/condition on a 4430 I sold, (over 11000 hrs) and my 4240. Minimal maintenance. 55s were even better. I know you want to upgrade, but I"d say, keep looking, no matter the price. Buy once, and keep it for a decade or more. Bought my 50 in the mid 90s for a bit over 30 grand, private party, when dealers were almost 40 grand. Never a regret. You will regret buying a hyd assist- they are not meant to run full-time- just hit the switch when you"re about to get stuck. MFWD runs full-time if you want. I never do tillage in 2WD- you can see the spurt when you hit the switch! Way more efficient.

 

[JMS/.MN]

Would disagree- I"ve seen 40 series with MFWD, but rather rare. 50 series were more popular when farmers recognized the advantage of real FWD. Yes, every series advance had engine and reliability advantages.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

(quoted from post at 21:22:51 09/14/11) Would disagree- I"ve seen 40 series with MFWD, but rather rare. 50 series were more popular when farmers recognized the advantage of real FWD. Yes, every series advance had engine and reliability advantages.

Four thousand 40 series with mechanical FWA are so rare, they don't exist. If you saw one, it was because someone put a 40 series sticker on a 50 series tractor. OR maybe you saw a TWO thousand 40 series

 

[larryanderson]

4630 were a good tractor with a nice cab.The hfwd only has value in the collector world.Condition & tires make several thousand dollars difference.With a correctly done overhaul 12K will stop a lot of 4630s and a good 4430 will bring 15k sometimes For another 5K you could get a 40 series which were improved

 

[JDBert]

Its not ENTIRELY true that there were no MFWD 40 series- just depends on where you live.

Run dont walk away from these though. European built- basically built about the time the 50 series was in production here.

Now back to the orginal question-

4630's are good tractors- 404 turbo'd and cooled, A series bosch injection pump- 8 spd power shift- not all that bad just learn to shift it, quads are my favorite they also came in a 8 spd syncro.
I wouldn't buy a HFWD for a working tractor- just to much goes wrong with that front end for the usefullness you get out of it- not really a TRUE FWD they were designed more for "tough spots" NOW if I'm putting one in a collection- thats different.
another thing depends on what your going to do with it- the 4630 has a nice narrow hood where the 4640 you jump up to the wide hood-

If it helps any--Bought this 76' this spring- planting/spraying/row crop rig for us. Gave $16,000 delivered- tire/rim set up (14.9x46's) is a year old, had 300 hrs on a JD overhaul with paper work, 5500 hr tractor total.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Depends upon what you are going to use it for, to some extent. We had a 4630 (2 wd and ps tranny) for 22 years and traded it for a 4960 MFWD last fall. We put on at least 5000 hours of the nearly 9000 which were on the tach when traded. We stuck quite a bit of money into the 4630 for the first few years, paying for the "sins" of previous owners by doing a lot of work to the transmission. We took this tractor off heavy duty tillage duty after owning it for 8 years, and I think by then, we had most of the problems resolved. The 4630's lack in engine cooling capacity when pulling them hard in hot weather. This problem seemed to be really fixed when they came out with the 4640, as we have never had a heating problem with that tractor at all. I was told the 8 speed power shifts were better in the 40 series, but I cannot say for sure, as our 4640 is a quad. In these 30 series and 40 series tractors, I would be hesitant about buying one with a power shift, unless there was some proof of recent work. I would be far less hesitant with a quad. I really like the 15 speed much better, and I tend to believe with the 15 speed, just the smaller jumps between gears as well as the enhancements to the transmission can only help add to the longevity of the transmission versus the 8 speed power shift.

 

[tim s]

I agree with you Eric, and the 4960's are a real work horse, we have two of them now and get along great with them.