John Deere hood cracked?

66324 Views 85 Replies 59 Participants Last post by x738, 4 mo ago

slongholio

Discussion Starter · Jul 14, 2009 (Edited)

I'm starting a new thread for everyone to post their pictures of their cracked hoods as a testament to John Deere that there is not a design problem with their plastic hoods.:thSick:

Show me yours and I'll show you mine. (Honestly, I haven't taken mine yet, or I would post it now...)

If you don't feel like posting a picture, at least reply with the model #. Mine is a 345.

:wwp:

In the end, I hope to print out the thread and send it to them and ask them what the ....?

To me it is a defect in material or workmanship, and should be covered. I've found pages of posts when I did a Google search of "John Deere cracked hood" If it's due to me having my tractor out in the sun, then what the >>>? It's a tractor. I mean I know they put lights on it, but I'm not going to buy a garage to keep it inside during the day and mow at night so it doesn't get sun on it.

It probably won't get us anywhere, but it's worth a try. Too bad lawyers don't read these boards, this would be a good one for a class action suit if we had enough unique pictures.

:thanku:

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davidg

· #2 · Jul 14, 2009

my L130 hood has a huge crack in it. i do NOT fault Deere for it. if it was a metal hood it would have ripped it off when it happened. it was right after we bought our house and i was trying to cut close under a Crepe Myrtle my wife refused to allow me to trim. a limb hit me in the face, and as i backed up my eyes were closed from the pain. i did not see that another limb grabbed the hood and opened it, and resulted in a split. i gave my wife the option of trimming the CMs or cutting them down!

i repaired the hood using JB Weld, and here it is 4 years later the hood still holds together fine. the front axle, well that is a different story!

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slongholio

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 14, 2009 (Edited)

davidg said:
my L130 hood has a huge crack in it. i do NOT fault Deere for it. if it was a metal hood it would have ripped it off when it happened. it was right after we bought our house and i was trying to cut close under a Crepe Myrtle my wife refused to allow me to trim.

Fair enough, let's not complain about broken hoods caused by the operator.

Mine however, just split down the middle as I was lifting the hood, by the hand-hold designed for this purpose. And very gently I might add, since I had read previously on forums of the problem.

PS: I had the same problem with the wife and crepe myrtles not being allowed to be trimmed. The solution is, anything I can't mow around because I'm not allowed to trim, she is responsible for weed eating around. In fact, that's my policy on anything we add to the yard that wasn't already there and needs to be mowed around. But your mileage may vary...:00000060:

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Tom White

· #4 · Jul 14, 2009

slongholio said:
Fair enough, let's not complain about broken hoods caused by the operator.

Mine however, just split down the middle as I was lifting the hood, by the hand-hold designed for this purpose. And very gently I might add, since I had read previously on forums of the problem.

PS: I had the same problem with the wife and crepe myrtles not being allowed to be trimmed. The solution is, anything I can't mow around because I'm not allowed to trim, she is responsible for weed eating around. In fact, that's my policy on anything we add to the yard that wasn't already there and needs to be mowed around. But your mileage may vary...:00000060:

Got a picture?

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davidg

· #5 · Jul 14, 2009

i have a weedeater but rarely use it. i fill my 15 gallon sprayer with round up and tha tis what i use to weedeat. i told her that anything she puts IN the yard better be RU Ready or it dies! she did not believe me until she lost 4 peach trees and 3 plum trees! we still have a few dozen more trees, so no major loss! :sidelaugh

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JDFANATIC

· #6 · Jul 14, 2009

JD 425 ~ 10 years old and 700 hrs on the meter. Plastic hood, no cracks.

JD 2210 ~ 4 years old and 375 hrs on the meter. Metal hood, first dent (I've since added to it).

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2

coach

· #7 · Jul 14, 2009

Stx38 '92. I rode a ladder down on top of the hood & it shattered into a bunch of pieces. Can't blame JD for my stupidity.
Just last week I checked the mounting/pivot attachment inside the hood & noticed one was broken & some were cracked. Definately a weak design. I always open the hood gently because I know how brittle the plastic can be. I''ve figured out a way to reinforce the area with wood and as long as I fix it before it breaks it should be ok. Some bolt heads will end up showing, but that's better than buying a new hood again. No pics yet.

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bontai Joe

· #8 · Jul 14, 2009

I have 3 Deere tractors from the 1970's and 1980's with plastic (fiberglass) hoods and no cracks.

wally2q

· #9 · Jul 14, 2009

Lets start another thread that complains about JD's metal hoods being made out of plain old steel. As soon as the paint gets scratched, which to some degree will always happen over 20 years of use, the hood will start to rust.

Sure one could touch up the bare spot before it rusts, but I lay the blame solely on JD. After all - if they used Stainless Steel for the hood, it would not rust at all no matter how much paint got scraped off. So you see, with JD doing it cheap (using plain steel), we have to deal with rust spots!!... (have you priced a JD touch-up stick lately?).... what gives?

cheers....

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slongholio

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 14, 2009

wally2q said:
Lets start another thread that complains about JD's metal hoods being made out of plain old steel. As soon as the paint gets scratched, which to some degree will always happen over 20 years of use, the hood will start to rust.

Sure one could touch up the bare spot before it rusts, but I lay the blame solely on JD. After all - if they used Stainless Steel for the hood, it would not rust at all no matter how much paint got scraped off. So you see, with JD doing it cheap (using plain steel), we have to deal with rust spots!!... (have you priced a JD touch-up stick lately?).... what gives?

cheers....

Check how much they cost to replace, they probably could make them out of stainless for that price. I know I can get a hood for my car for less than that, including paint. Anyway, if it's starting to rust after 20 years, can't complain about that. I was actually looking forward to having a 20 year old JD kicking around, even if it had some rust, but I doubt this one will make it that long.

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2_Late_I_Won

· #11 · Jul 14, 2009

I got this from the owner before me like this. Looks like it hit a tree LOL

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ccsial

· #12 · Jul 14, 2009

Too late for pics but my old 355D developed a small crack ( about 6" long) in the hood. Not sure why. I wondered if it was from slamming shut too hard on occasion. It once fell by itself. I'm very careful to open and close the hood gently on my 748.

slongholio

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 14, 2009

JDFANATIC said:
JD 425 ~ 10 years old and 700 hrs on the meter. Plastic hood, no cracks.

For those posting back with no cracks, let us know if it has been kept inside or out? Maybe that's the difference.

Yours sure looks nice.:thThumbsU

Before mine cracked, I used to keep mine in the barn. The sun might have been on it late evening when the sun is setting, but it never had to bear the brunt of mid day sun when not being used, but I still think it should be able to be kept outside. I keep it outside now since I'm using the barn for horses.

The paint might fade, but structural integrity should hold, with it being a John Deere and all, I thought.

I wouldn't make an issue if I hadn't seen all the resuts when I did the Google search. I'm definately not the only one.

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ccsial

· #14 · Jul 14, 2009

slongholio said:
For those posting back with no cracks, let us know if it has been kept inside or out? Maybe that's the difference.

My tractors are all stored inside, always.

farmer69

· #15 · Jul 14, 2009

I've had 4 JDs 165, LT166, 135 and now a GX345 all with plastic hoods and never had any issue with cracks. I wax them couple times a year and they look like new. The Roper we had before these had rust all over it, so I guess I would prefer plastic.

JDFANATIC

· #16 · Jul 14, 2009

slongholio said:
For those posting back with no cracks, let us know if it has been kept inside or out? Maybe that's the difference.

Yours sure looks nice.:thThumbsU

Before mine cracked, I used to keep mine in the barn. The sun might have been on it late evening when the sun is setting, but it never had to bear the brunt of mid day sun when not being used, but I still think it should be able to be kept outside. I keep it outside now since I'm using the barn for horses.

The paint might fade, but structural integrity should hold, with it being a John Deere and all, I thought.

I wouldn't make an issue if I hadn't seen all the resuts when I did the Google search. I'm definately not the only one.

slong,

That is a fair point. I did store that tractor in a shed whenever it wasn't being used, but I did wax the hood often. It got use mowing my lawn and snowblowing my drive. It averaged out to about 70 hours of use each year.

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wproct

· #17 · Jul 14, 2009

I recently traded in my 425 that I bought new and had owned for 12 years. It had 600 hours on it and had always been stored inside but never waxed. No cracks.

music-in-a-bottle

· #18 · Jul 14, 2009

No photos, but I cracked mine after dropping a toilet on it from a second story window, just a big crack and no other damage. Long story, can't talk now. Witness protection program. SHHHHH!

farmer69

· #19 · Jul 14, 2009

I always keep my mower inside. It is rinsed off after using and put in my garage. i would think that the sun will break down the plastic after a while wax or no wax. We have large farm tractors with fiberglas hoods that the sun doesn't seem to bother. At least I think its fiberglas.

freebird

· #20 · Jul 14, 2009

I received a cracked hinge on my LT133 when I opened the hood too fast and it hit the stop. Crack, and a piece fell to the ground. I glued the piece back on and am real careful now opening it.

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