4840

[Brad Leighton]

I"m going to look at a 4840 today and am wondering what do I need to look for? Should the powershift be smoth when shifting? Do these tractors leak anywhere in particular I should look at? I think its a pretty strait machine but have never owned a Deere before. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Deere Scotty]

Good tractor overall; But the 8 speed powershift is pretty jerky when shifting due to the wide gap between speeds. a quad speed transmisssion would be better, or moving up to a 4850 with the 15 speed powershift is a remarkable difference. If You dont shift need to shift gears much; no real problem!

Scotty

 

[thurlow]

Had one for a long time.....way back when; I know of nothing that sets them apart from any other JD of the era or anything that was a particular problem. Was never a big fan of the 8-speed PS, but I'm reasonably certain that was the only transmission offered. Could of course be wrong about the transmission. Locally, the 4640s were often turned up to 175-180 hp and were much more popular.

 

[tim s]

You are correct they only came with the 8 spd power shift..they always seemed under-powered, a big tractor with a small engine.

 

[blkeele]

Are you being serious about underpowered??? My dad had one back in the 80's and it would pull anything he could hook to it. You're the first person I've ever ran across that thought that on a big framed Deere. I guess there are a few lemons out there on ever peace of equipment though. lol

 

[Howard H.]

I bought one in 1991 and still have it. It had about 7000 hrs on it when I got it. Put about 6000 more on it and overhauled it. It has about 20,000 hrs on it now and is still in great shape from the overhaul.

I love it. I've never heard of one being called underpowered... It is very comparable to Dad's JD 6030 and is a very nice row crop tractor on 8 row equipment.

It doesn't handle 12 row equipment (like a fully loaded JD vacuum planter with insecticide boxes and trash whippers) as nicely as Dad's 4850 fwa, though. The extra weight up front and extra traction sure make a difference.

The trannie will jump a little from 7th to 8th (mine has done that since I first bought it) and seems like a bit of a jump from 4th to 5th.

I agree that more gears (like in a 4850) are really nice, but I've done an awful lot of work with my 4840, all the same.

Check the front axle pivot point - those can wear on you and get into the casting if you don't catch it in time.

Its weird to me that - out here anyway - a 4440 will almost always bring more than a 4840. Not sure why people prefer the smaller tractor when a 4840 is such a nice "big brother"...

Howard

 

[buickanddeere]

Shift smoothness depends alot of where the adjustment screw has been dialed to.

 

[tim s]

No I was being serious about the under power, put one in the field with a 4960 and it will become very clear. I remember when I was a kid I thought a "60" was a power house, I guess when we get out a bit farther we get our eyes opened up....

 

[tim s]

The main thing that makes a 4440 worth more is the 540/1000 PTO, and the standard frame,which makes loaders and other frame mounted implments work out better, the 4440 has the same basic power unit with a slightly smaller injector pump,and no inter-cooler, both of them have been very dependable work horses. Deere put a lot of 'strong' improvements into the 40 seres line, I think a 4440 is one of the best tractors Deere made, they are strong and versitle...It's to bad they didn't have the MFWD offered...

 

[blkeele]

I guess the 4960 has so much power because of the 466 engine it has, as opposed to the 466 the 4840 has... :roll: :roll: :roll:

 

[LarrySTN]

Tim, what makes the 466 in the 4960 some much more powerfull than the 466 in the 4840? Was there any diffence in the engines? Ours has the crank driven oil pump. Our 4840 came from the factory at 220 hp. It even spent many years set at 300 hp. still runs great.

 

[larryanderson]

We had 4840 and 6030 at same time and the cab seemed to be the difference Neither one had any problems just not enough traction for the 250 h.p. they produced.We got a 8630 and thats when we found out about updates as it seemed there wasnt anything that didnt get changed and even the 8650 wasnt that great thats when we switched to IH steiger and problem was solved.

 

[gpuller]

We have a 4840 has been a good tractor lots of power, been running 240+hp since '78. Yes the powershift has large gaps from, 4th to 5th and 7th to 8th. Overall solid tractors. When it was the main tractor it ran tripples and 600gallon saddle tanks with a 30 ft mounted digger in the spring. In the fall it pulled a 7 bottom onland plow.
Also had a 4960 at the same time as the 48, the 48 would walk circles around the 4960, in my mind the 49 was a lemon, needed a head gasket about every spring and the pump was never touched. The 4960 was traded for an 8410, and the 4840 stayed home.

 

[JDBert]

Biggest thing on the 8 spd is to learn how to shift- yeah if you shift it WOT its gonna knock your head against the back window. Leave it throttled down and shift- then get into the throttle theres more then enough torque there to get you going. Biggest problem with a 4840 is getting the horses to the ground.

 

[gpuller]

Some 500lb weights on the inside of the drivers, heavy cast duals, add 4 20.8-42 Firestone Deep Tread Radials and you"ll get the power to the ground. Trouble then is getting enough weight on the front so you can steer.

 

[tim s]

Yes the extra wheel wieghts are needed, The 4960's balance out nicer with the MFWD, which gives them an edge over the 4840, and the engine head is re-desighned to flow "much" better,along with improved injection system, there are a lot of them around here,,we have two of them pulling drills and planters, the only time I've ever had a head off of one is to O/H the engines at the 9000 hour area, they are more popular around here than the early 8000 seres. I guess the extra speeds can give them a bit of an edge also. Every one has there own favorites for the different work involved, that's for sure...

 

[Kevin Schmidt]

Difference in the 4840 to 4960 466????

Lets see, better

Injectors, pistons, turbo, bigger valves, longer rocker arm ratio, injection pump, bigger intake manifold, bigger exhaust manifold, camshaft

 

[Anonymous-0]

the 4840 has a bullet prof transmission if treated right you should shift 7th to 8th with the cluth if pulling a load. have seen several in hills here in pa rip loss when shifted under load. I have one with about 6800 hrs and i love it. it has the heavy lift assist on the 3 point arms and will do any jobe my 8630 will do if it would go down.