rockyridgefarm
Well-known Member
Hey all,
This is a long, embarrassing tale of life with my 4010. I only post it to give others a word of caution to learn from my bad experience. Don't feel bad if you don't listen to the warning - I sure didn't when I started out either...
Just got off the phone with the local shop that's working on my 4010. This tractor was bought 3 years ago from Sumner Implement in Sumner Iowa. It was billed as a nice older tractor that had everything working, but sold as-is. I even talked to the previous owner and he talked it up (wonder if he wasn't a shill). Said he only traded it to get a cab tractor ("driven only to church on Sundays by a little old lady"). He told me he had the engine rebuilt 1500 hours ago, but no paperwork to back it up.
They told me I needed to pay with direct funds transfer before I got there because they got too many bad checks. If I didn't like the tractor, they'd give it back. This is a John Deere Dealership, not some Mom n' Pop store with 6 tractors and 15 implements.
Had I known what I was doing, I would have left it where I found it.
Right out the gate, the load sensing shaft failed before it left the trailer at home. Apparently, they can fail due to being chained down and hauled. NBD, I put a new shaft, seals, and pin in the front.
The next day, I went to start it cold (60 degree outside temp) and it wouldn't start to save its life. Finally a snort of ether got it going (they had it warmed up when I went to look at it). The engine sounded smooth, but there suddenly was a lot of blow-by (musta been there when I bought it, but I was too excited about the "new buy" to notice)
Then, I hooked it to my 6 row cultivator. It wouldn't pick it up unless I was turning 1500 rpms or better. It also wouldn't hold rpms, I had to weight the lever or hold it constantly. I then hooked it to the spreader and found no. 1 remote did not work at all. I got the minimum I needed to get done with it and took it to the shop. They told me someone had been in the 3 point and did some booger welding and wrecked quite a bit of stuff and it'd take 3500 to go through the hydraulics. they also told me the adjustment on the throttle was too far gone and couldn't be tightened up anymore. I called Sumner Implement - they said, "Sorry Charlie - as-is is as-is". I told the shop to fix the 3 point only just so I could get my cultivating done = $1700.
I lived with it for another 2 years (maybe 100 hours of use MAX) with only one remote and a poor sounding engine. Then, the power steering started to fail a couple minutes after warm up. I lived with it for a couple months and then took it to the shop. You guessed it, brakes disintegrated. They said they had been apart for a long time - never seen one so bad. In fact, no1 remote didn't work because the brake material had plugged up the valve under the dash. A month of work and $3500 more, and I get the tractor back with both remotes disconnected because I needed it back for cultivating. This was last spring.
Along the way, I've put rims on it, a radiator in it, and a few other "smaller" things
Back to the phone call. The engine could be pricey. I found a 404 out of a 4430 for $2800. It was listed on craigslist, but in the small world in which we live, it turned out it was a customers engine sitting at their shop. they said it was a good engine and I could hear it run in the 4430. They'll put it in for the old engine, if all goes well. It's gonna be up to $2000 to finish up the hydraulics. I've decided to take the schwartz off and stick a 4430 wide front on, and my wife has decided I need a ROPS (with canopy) - $2550
So, I have $19,450 in a 4010 that I'd be lucky to get $8000 out of. My only hope is that I can now get 20 good years with only maintenance costs.
Moral of the story - If you're gonna buy an older tractor, know what you're doing and don't trust the dealer, even if it is a Deere dealership.
2nd moral of the story - Old stuff is expensive, too.
This is a long, embarrassing tale of life with my 4010. I only post it to give others a word of caution to learn from my bad experience. Don't feel bad if you don't listen to the warning - I sure didn't when I started out either...
Just got off the phone with the local shop that's working on my 4010. This tractor was bought 3 years ago from Sumner Implement in Sumner Iowa. It was billed as a nice older tractor that had everything working, but sold as-is. I even talked to the previous owner and he talked it up (wonder if he wasn't a shill). Said he only traded it to get a cab tractor ("driven only to church on Sundays by a little old lady"). He told me he had the engine rebuilt 1500 hours ago, but no paperwork to back it up.
They told me I needed to pay with direct funds transfer before I got there because they got too many bad checks. If I didn't like the tractor, they'd give it back. This is a John Deere Dealership, not some Mom n' Pop store with 6 tractors and 15 implements.
Had I known what I was doing, I would have left it where I found it.
Right out the gate, the load sensing shaft failed before it left the trailer at home. Apparently, they can fail due to being chained down and hauled. NBD, I put a new shaft, seals, and pin in the front.
The next day, I went to start it cold (60 degree outside temp) and it wouldn't start to save its life. Finally a snort of ether got it going (they had it warmed up when I went to look at it). The engine sounded smooth, but there suddenly was a lot of blow-by (musta been there when I bought it, but I was too excited about the "new buy" to notice)
Then, I hooked it to my 6 row cultivator. It wouldn't pick it up unless I was turning 1500 rpms or better. It also wouldn't hold rpms, I had to weight the lever or hold it constantly. I then hooked it to the spreader and found no. 1 remote did not work at all. I got the minimum I needed to get done with it and took it to the shop. They told me someone had been in the 3 point and did some booger welding and wrecked quite a bit of stuff and it'd take 3500 to go through the hydraulics. they also told me the adjustment on the throttle was too far gone and couldn't be tightened up anymore. I called Sumner Implement - they said, "Sorry Charlie - as-is is as-is". I told the shop to fix the 3 point only just so I could get my cultivating done = $1700.
I lived with it for another 2 years (maybe 100 hours of use MAX) with only one remote and a poor sounding engine. Then, the power steering started to fail a couple minutes after warm up. I lived with it for a couple months and then took it to the shop. You guessed it, brakes disintegrated. They said they had been apart for a long time - never seen one so bad. In fact, no1 remote didn't work because the brake material had plugged up the valve under the dash. A month of work and $3500 more, and I get the tractor back with both remotes disconnected because I needed it back for cultivating. This was last spring.
Along the way, I've put rims on it, a radiator in it, and a few other "smaller" things
Back to the phone call. The engine could be pricey. I found a 404 out of a 4430 for $2800. It was listed on craigslist, but in the small world in which we live, it turned out it was a customers engine sitting at their shop. they said it was a good engine and I could hear it run in the 4430. They'll put it in for the old engine, if all goes well. It's gonna be up to $2000 to finish up the hydraulics. I've decided to take the schwartz off and stick a 4430 wide front on, and my wife has decided I need a ROPS (with canopy) - $2550
So, I have $19,450 in a 4010 that I'd be lucky to get $8000 out of. My only hope is that I can now get 20 good years with only maintenance costs.
Moral of the story - If you're gonna buy an older tractor, know what you're doing and don't trust the dealer, even if it is a Deere dealership.
2nd moral of the story - Old stuff is expensive, too.
