Weekend Freedom Machines banner

From N to drive "smoothness"

1K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  dhager4692 
#1 ·
One thing I noticed about my 420 is the less gradual transition going from N to drive. I drive a 318 the other day and it was much much more gradual. (Although that 318 felt wore out.)

Is there a way to adjust that?


My 420 I think has around 700 hours, the 318 I looked at had 1100 hours and the steering axle was super sloppy and the engine smoked badly. My 420 steers like new and no smoke. What did the owner do/not do on that 318 to have it go downhill so badly after after 400 hours more? (I will do the opposite!)



:)
 
#2 ·
What did the owner do/not do on that 318 to have it go downhill so badly after after 400 hours more? (I will do the opposite!)
I don't know but here are my suspicions:
1. Didn't change oil regularly.
2. Ran low on oil.
3. Allow the cooling tins to become clogged and overheated.
4. Took belly screen off and didn't use it.
5. Did no maintenance on tractor such as replace worn parts.
6. Did not care enough about his "Deere".

I applaud you for wanting to do the opposite.:yahoo:
 
#3 ·
cbwho,

The transition from neutral to forward and/or rearward travel being 'jerky' is often an issue with these tractors once the dampener gets old/worn and is also contributed to by worn linkage joints in the hydro control linkage. One way to tell if the linkage is getting worn is to try to go up or down a grade at a constant ground speed. If it speeds up going down and slows going up (all without touching the speed control lever...) then the linkage has some slop. The dampener's job is to take some of this hysteresis out of the linkage motion which smooths it some.

There are lots of threads about jerky control issues on this forum. Here is a typical thread that has links to several more discussions as well... https://www.wfmachines.com/forums/showthread.php/32409-John-Deere-322-harsh-engagement

There were four versions of the linkage used over the production years of the 318 and 420 and at least three versions for the 322 and 332 which began in '87/'88 so they did not have the first version. What year is your 420 and what is the serial number? Be aware that the version of the linkage changes were made mid year in most cases, so the SN is an important piece of information...)

You likely will not be able to see the wear in the linkage joints unless you take them apart, as a little slop translates to a large ambiguity in the linkage positioning and resultant jerky behavior. Below is a picture of some badly worn parts compared to their new counterparts for illustration, but much less wear wil cause noticeable abruptness in the transitions of direction.

Fastener Auto part Cylinder Hardware accessory Screw


Chuck
 
#5 ·
Doug got the majority of why that tractor is in such poor shape.
1 thing I'll look at is the grease fittings.
If you cant take a few minutes to grease a few zerks, you think they did any mantience at all. Doubt it.
Run it till it dont start no more, then to shop for repair.
Oopps, too much to fix, go buy new.
Put out for sale at high price cause its green, and they found 1 that sold for 3k.
 
#6 ·
Doug got the majority of why that tractor is in such poor shape.
1 thing I'll look at is the grease fittings.
If you cant take a few minutes to grease a few zerks, you think they did any mantience at all. Doubt it.
Run it till it dont start no more, then to shop for repair.
Oopps, too much to fix, go buy new.
Put out for sale at high price cause its green, and they found 1 that sold for 3k.



And that is pretty much the truth of it.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Yes the REV1 linkage version is often said to be the smoother version, but I have never been clear if that was due to its design or just to the fact that it did not seem to wear the joints so fast. Since the 322/332 tractors all have only the later versions -- for them you would be best off with a REV4 and the oversized dampener.

What year is your 420? Here is a chart from the PC1925 parts catalog cover sheet this is helpful in determining the year model from the SN. Not shown on this chart is that the 1992 model year started with SN 110,001.

Motor vehicle Vehicle Transport Tractor Mode of transport


Chuck
 
#11 ·
I have had that feeling on my 318 and it was my fault. I was on a hill and didn't want to go in ditch. I moved it too fast from reverse to forward and made the front end jump up a little. But both of mine are easy on acceleration.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top