John Deere 4430 Tillage ?

[carsofarms]

Hi just wondering How many of you guys have used a 4430 for tillage. Just heard the 4430 could have some rear end issues when used for heavy pulling. Which surprised me as I thought the driveline on these machine's would be really tough. A guy I know has a 4640 which has spent hard pulling hours, he never had to fix the rear end in that 4640.

 

[Tx Jim]

Early model 4430 had differential/planetary failures. JD updated the differential/planetaries from 2 to 4 pinions but I couldn't determine at what serial # by viewing 4430 parts catalog

 

[Scott 730]

I worked for a guy that bought 2 4430's new. Had the 4630 intercooler added to them. Don't know what pump work may have been done. Pulled 6-18's with coil packers with them. Not much low end power, but pulled well when wound up.

 

[Hayfarmer]

Many years ago when I worked for the JD dealer I remember them doing some recall work on 4630 axles. We didn't many of those. I don't remember any problems with 4430 other than the perma clutch that had sticking problems and I replaced a bunch of those on recall.

 

[carsofarms]

Purchased the 4430 with blown engine. its a 76 model. It has the newer style steering system. Seller said work has been done to the transmission at some point at John Deere dealership. Axel gaskets look non original to me. They may have been pulled at some point. Also noticed suction screen has been replaced. Brakes work good but they do make a slight grinding sound, hopefully they are ok. A bit of noise might be normal

 

[used red MN]

Hi just wondering How many of you guys have used a 4430 for tillage. Just heard the 4430 could have some rear end issues when used for heavy pulling. Which surprised me as I thought the driveline on these machine's would be really tough. A guy I know has a 4640 which has spent hard pulling hours, he never had to fix the rear end in that 4640.

You can’t compare the 4430 with the 46 and 4840 tractors. The drivetrain in the larger two was built heavier.
Here is information on the 4430 differential changes copied from a thread in the Machinery Talk forum on AgTalk by member “pirlbeck”
“All 4430's came from the factory with 2 pinion differentials, the 4 pinion was not introduced until the start of the 40 series. The 4 pinion was later replaced by a 3 pinion differential and the 3 pinion gears rotated on needle bearings. A lot of the factory 2 pinion diffs were replaced with the 4 or later the 3 pinion differentials.”…
If you really have to know, assuming this is a QuadRange tractor by removing the top 3 point attachment block pulling the plug behind it then pull out the transmission pump drive hex shaft which is long because runs up to the engine flywheel. Then you have to jack up one wheel and take the transmission out of park. After that with a borescope you can purchase to hook up to a cell phone you will be able to rotate the differential and determine how many shafts it has for the differential pinions.
Here is a link to a YT thread about a 4630 rear end. The pictures of the differential there were taken with the rock shaft cover (rear end cover) off. JD 30/40 series rear diff thread
In reply 22 there I give a link to an example of an inexpensive borescope (endoscope) available for a phone.
It is also normal for the brakes on those tractors to make occasional growling or rumble type sounds, if the sounds are constant or excessive during braking that indicates that the linings are worn away and you are likely metal to metal. Excessive metal shavings in the hydraulic suction screen would be an indication of this, they can also come from a failing differential.

 

[carsofarms]

Its a quad range. I don't want to pull axels to check brakes but It wouldn't hurt to look. I assume If I treat the tractor good and don't let the diff chatter hard in the mud or something I will most likely not have issues. Differential lock can be very helpful. I put 100hrs on disk/ cultivator since I owned the tractor it seemed to pull ok. Even if I had to fix it it would still probably be more affordable than getting a new tractor.

 

[brendonh]

I would expect nearly all 30 series tractors have the '40' series rear ends in them by now. 4430 typically wouldn't destroy itself (in my experience) like the 4630 would, but that being said, people loved turning both of them up, and the rear ends did not like that.
Our 4630 was making 185hp, and I ripped the spiders out of it with a 5 shank subsoiler pulling off the 3pt in northwest kansas when I was about 15 years old. Dad had the local dealer fix and said they put the '40' series parts in it. I don't know, I never saw them.
The 4640 was pulling about 200hp even and it handled the same ripper without issue. Over 9500 hours, the 40 never had the rear end looked at or even split at the clutch. The 30 got a new engine, the rod bolts stretched, a clutch and the rear end/planetaries replaced over the 6500 hours we had it. Both tractors handled a 5x5 sweep machine (blade plow)., which was the implement pulled 90% of the time. They would run 80 to 95% of max rated power doing it, especially in the stubble right after harvest when the ground was road hard.

By the time I got into the wrench turning at Deere myself, in the same dealership, all of those tractors were basically phased out of main line work. 4850's and 4wd's were the main stream by then. 15 years later, the farms there had transitioned into tillage by sprayer. I did learn the fastest way to ruin a PTO clutch in anything before 8000 series was the haybuster tub grinder.

 

[620 John]

My '77 4430 dynoed at about 140. Don't know how long it's been that way. The rear axles and transmission case have been apart at one time because there's silicone on the gaskets. Someday I'd like to get in there with a bore scope and see which differential it has in it. So far this past year I've pull a 20 ft disc 5-18" semi mount plow, and 2 fully loaded 365 wagons to town. Haven't shelled anything out yet. The previous owner left this thing sit for quite a while and didn't use it for a lot of heavy work when they did use it. So there's been a few gremlins that have showed up from getting brought out of semi retirement but nothing in the rear end. I figured since I'm not farming half the county I'll keep using it like normal for the 180 acres I do.

Main thing is don't pull oversized tillage equipment. Especially if the pump is turned up. Just because it can pull it doesn't mean it should.