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400 mower deck fit a 430

11K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  dhager4692 
#1 ·
Ok i looked at the chart. I deduct that a 400 deck will not fit a 420/430 directly.. however ive "heard" that if the gearbox, driveshaft and mount are swapped on the 400 deck from the 430/420 it will work.. whats the truth guys?
 
#3 ·
Thats what i thought too Rob.. ive had lots of both types tractors... but havent had the occasion to hybrid.. now i have 3 great 430s with no decks.. and 400 tractors are throwing rods like crazy and decks are becoming avaialable for those...
But i hear crickets from the forum on this one...
Anybody know for sure?
 
#4 ·
Used to be the other way around with 400 guys looking to mount 420 decks because they're newer and generally in better shape. In the past good 400 decks tended to get snapped up quick but I've noticed they aren't selling as quickly on eBay now.

Anywho, the front mounting points on a 420/430 deck are narrower. You'll need to modify a 400 deck by relocating the existing mounting brackets to the applicable locations, or you'll have to come up with an ingenious adapter kit of some sort. Far as I know the driveshaft (and gearbox) will work fine as is.


Army
 
#5 ·
Joe,

I had thought about doing this myself until I ran on to a 420/430 deck to rebuild.

The 400 and 420/430 gear boxes turn different directions, but because of the belt routing, you will want to leave the 400 gear box on the 400 deck and it will be driven in the correct direction. The drive shaft of the 420/430 is shorter, and I'm pretty sure that is the one you want to use. I'll attach the picture. The front mounts are narrower, so you'll have to cut and re-weld those, or attach additional mounts. The draft arms are also narrower, so you'll need different arms, or cut and bend the arms to the narrow position. And, lastly, the rear mounts have different arms, so you'll need those, or a way to fabricate those. Let me know if you need pictures of the differences and I'll try to give you those in a few days.



Mike
 
#7 ·
Hmm this is turning out to be a huge pain in the neck. maybe ill just get a 420/ 430 deck shell somehow.. i dont want to sell someone a frankenstien... If i was keeping the tractor for myself that would be one thing but i dont want to pass this headache on to someone else.. wether it works well or not initialy, i can see a future owner having a problem when it comes time to replace something..
 
#8 ·
Joe.. you were planning on using your existing 420 deck mounting pieces/driveshaft and just swapping the deck itself weren't you? That's what I was assuming anyway. If that's the case you only need to re-locate the front mounting points on the 400 deck and you're good. As long as you tell the next owner which deck/gearbox it is I don't see any issues.


Army
 
#15 ·
Hey older threads are still useful, just like us older JD guys.

My brother is interested in running a 60 inch 400 deck on his 420 so he can cut closer and/or under his evergreen trees. He has a 50 inch deck now and I have a 60 incher I`m not using. He`d be able to use the parts (driveshaft, lift arms, etc) from either deck to make it work so relocating the front mounts sounds like the only change needed? It can`t be that simple though, can it? I`d like to try that 50 incher on one of my 400`s too just fer the heck of it.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I don't know if the PTO RPMs match

420 and 430 are 2000 RPM
 
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