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John Deere 430 year 1987 model I brought home week ago

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Discussion starter · #22 · (Edited)
CantKeepUp said:
Three possibilities:

1. Cut and grind method
2. Torch inner race nice and cherry red hot. While hot it will be expanded and will come off easy
3. Bearing separator
View attachment 2646300
Click to expand...

There is only 1/8" of space behind the bearing but this type of small separator/puller is probably worth a try and I had thought about getting a set of these.
 
Discussion starter · #23 ·
CantKeepUp said:
Three possibilities:

1. Cut and grind method
2. Torch inner race nice and cherry red hot. While hot it will be expanded and will come off easy
3. Bearing separator
View attachment 2646300
Click to expand...



Good News!

I used a bearing separator set and as suggested by CantKeepUp it worked out great!

Than you!

1/8" of space behind the bearing was just enough to get enough grip to start the bearing to move out and the rest was easy.



Image
Image



I will use this separator set and rebuild couple of extra complete spare spindles.
 
#24 ·
arto98607 said:
Update

I bought a used 60" mower deck few months ago and instead of using it as is, decided to take it apart & overhaul completely.

It's been slow process due to the holiday season and other projects.


Underneath the deck is in excellent condition and practically does not need any work, but it had some surface rust up on top where the safety shield was.
Under the shield there had been some (wet) grass clippings, hidden from the previous owner!

Here is how it looked after surface prep. and coat of Por15 paint:

View attachment 2646200


Here is how it looks now after prep work & topcoat:

View attachment 2646229


I am tempted to delete the shield...

Overhauling the spindles & refitting new idlers, wheels etc. is in progress now.
Click to expand...
H

How right you are. The 430's are difficult to beat. A couple questions:
1. Please post details of the primary and secondary filters used. Does the secondary also provide H2O separation?
2. Your deck is looking great. Thinking that's something I should try to work in the schedule before spring. How did your gear-box check out? That is something that makes me nervous and know sometime it will need replacing or factory rebuild. Most of my mowing is essentially finish mowing and I wouldn't mind a few more RPM on the blades. A little research suggested the factory might have a couple ratio options on the gear box.
3. It's easy to relate to the cherry picker for lifting. Those Deere decks are not the candy store variety.
 
#25 ·
If I had a good gearbox I wouldn’t open it up. Why mess with it. I run heavy duty stock blades on my 430 deck and they are so heavy they have serious momentum. I’ve accidentally hit baseball sized rocks and it will chop them in half. If you did want more deck speed you might be able to go up a tiny bit on the drive pulley. I think it’s limited by the gearbox mount bracket though. I’ve never thought I needed more deck speed. I run wide open which I think is 3450 but I’ve never checked it. One mod I will do this spring is change the two front deck wheel mounts to a zero turn mount to accept a fat front caster wheel like the zt’s have. If I’m not super careful and don’t lift the deck backing up the wheels dig trenches in the lawn. I check the oil in the gearboxes twice a year. Sharpen the blades every 3 or four mows.
 
Discussion starter · #26 · (Edited)
Gerry Brown said:
H

How right you are. The 430's are difficult to beat. A couple questions:
1. Please post details of the primary and secondary filters used. Does the secondary also provide H2O separation?
2. Your deck is looking great. Thinking that's something I should try to work in the schedule before spring. How did your gear-box check out? That is something that makes me nervous and know sometime it will need replacing or factory rebuild. Most of my mowing is essentially finish mowing and I wouldn't mind a few more RPM on the blades. A little research suggested the factory might have a couple ratio options on the gear box.
3. It's easy to relate to the cherry picker for lifting. Those Deere decks are not the candy store variety.
Click to expand...

Thank you,

1. This filter setup is identical to what I installed in my Kubota F3060 couple years ago: Primary filter is 50 Micron Kubota, followed by 2 Micron RACOR 120S, see photos below for details.


Primary:
Image


Secondary, RACOR 120AS with R12S filter:
Image



Here is what RACOR says about the 120AS filters: "Filtration options provide for a variety of micron ratings and ensure virtually 100% removal of water and solid contaminants for diesel engines."



RACOR S, T & P meaning:
Image


Image




2. The deck gearbox seems to be in good condition and the oil in it looked pretty clean, however my plan is probably to replace the output shaft oil seal anyway while the gearbox is out already.

The OEM gearboxes are pretty pricey, but there are good very low cost aftermarket 1:1 ratio right angle bevel gearboxes available.
I have been testing one of those in my Kubota F3060 deck for over two years now and it works great - OEM from dealer was/is not available for this particular model 72" RD deck anymore!

Perhaps the mower blade speed can be increased at a lower cost by switching the bevel gearbox pulley to a little larger diameter one?


3. Yes the engine hoist makes kind of usable shop hoist, but has it's limitations...
Works pretty good for lifting & handling a mower deck though.

Cheers,

Image
 

Attachments

Discussion starter · #27 · (Edited)
TempletonJDguy said:
If I had a good gearbox I wouldn’t open it up. Why mess with it. I run heavy duty stock blades on my 430 deck and they are so heavy they have serious momentum. I’ve accidentally hit baseball sized rocks and it will chop them in half. If you did want more deck speed you might be able to go up a tiny bit on the drive pulley. I think it’s limited by the gearbox mount bracket though. I’ve never thought I needed more deck speed. I run wide open which I think is 3450 but I’ve never checked it. One mod I will do this spring is change the two front deck wheel mounts to a zero turn mount to accept a fat front caster wheel like the zt’s have. If I’m not super careful and don’t lift the deck backing up the wheels dig trenches in the lawn. I check the oil in the gearboxes twice a year. Sharpen the blades every 3 or four mows.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply,

The gearbox oil was pretty clean, but the output shaft seal had signs of very minor leakage.

I am fine with the blade speed as is based on little bit of test mowing we did during last fall, and agree about the mounting bracket limitation but that's relatively easy to modify if someone really wanted to change to a larger pulley for some reason.

Our mowing season usually begins in late February or early March while the ground is still pretty wet and soft and the plan is to keep the JD deck wheels off the ground, but we will see how that works out (our yard is mowed to 3-1/2" height).

I have a similar situation during late fall & early springtime with the gauge wheels in my Kubota F3060 digging in the soft ground when backing up, which is part of the reason I got the JD 430.

Converting the Kubota gauge wheels to much larger wheels is on my project list...
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
Update,

Here is a photo couple of days ago of my 60" mower deck with new paint job, rebuilt spindles, new pulleys, idlers & gearbox lower oil seal.

It is little older design (meant for JD400), but I bought it because it was virtually rust free underneath, the price was right and the vendor was ready & willing to ship to the West Coast.

The deck fits JD430 OK, but the both front & rear draft arms had to be modified little bit.

Looks like the gearbox in the 60" JD400 mower design is mounted couple of inches further back, which required little modification of the rear draft arm lateral support.
I think the JD400 60" deck design did not have the lateral support bar at all.


No problem at all getting parts for the deck.


IMG_7635.jpg Snap 2025-01-26 at 11.27.56.jpg

PS. The deck could have been used as is without repainting, replacing pulleys, idlers etc. but I chose not to do it that way.
 
Discussion starter · #32 ·
TempletonJDguy said:
I’m referring to the caster wheels that dig in on every turn or every time you back up!!
Click to expand...

Yes I have been there!

I will use the JD430 rock-shaft adjustment which also can set the mowing height, as long as the caster wheels are elevated high enough so they are not touching the ground.



Image





Item 5. Depth Control:
Image



It's probably a bit of a compromise as far as cut evenness on a fine lawn, but I will be mowing a yard and it's perfectly fine for me.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Does it do this even with a bunch of split spacers on the support shaft for the wheel assembly?
...
 
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Discussion starter · #35 ·
I measured my 60" deck with the casters at the highest setting they can be, and at 2.5 inch mowing setting the casters would be touching the ground and turning.

All of my mowing is done at 3.5 inch setting.
 
Discussion starter · #37 ·
It has worked out about as I was expecting - the caster wheels are not touching the ground when mowing leveled yard to 3.5 inch height (as my mowers have been set for a long time).
The casters obviously turn when they touch tall grass, but there is no weight on them and they are "idling".
 
#38 ·
Just an fyi for anyone who’s wheels are digging in when they backup while turning. I took the front caster forks off my deck and widened them to 3”. Then I used the ball style caster wheel on the smaller decks at the highest setting. No more digging in and they work great. I’m mowing at 3 1/2 inches that leaves my lawn anywhere from 2-4.5 depending on where you measure but mostly 3.5”. It’s mowing great and no digging in from the wheels.
 
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