Great job !!
Good thing JD didn't have to guarantee the 345 for 4 year 500 hours :ROF
The hood looks exactly like he one I had on my LX279 but that had no problem. just the bumper ( if you can call it that):sidelaugh:sidelaugh:sidelaugh kept breaking !!

 

After breaking mine I lift it from the vents (both sides). That center deal is bad. Thought about shimming the latches back.

Those knobs should help.

 

That's awesome, and a good idea on everything. I like the knob ideas, except they might snag or "hook" stuff like if you mow close to something over grown. Looking at all your shiny, non scuffed paint, I would say you never do such a thing. :trink39:

I thought about cutting up a spare hood I had and putting this little ABS plastic cowl hood inert in it. I would be function able since my K341 is air cooled and all. Just have not decided which way to point the opening on it.

~F~

 

Great idea -- I can see some reinforcement per your instructions in my GX345's future.

PS - I like the X500 series seat and grab handles mods-- I hope you found my posts on these & that they were helpful to you. You need to put in the GX345 cupholder next! =)

 

FL, I didn't search on who else had done some of these "add-on's" to their tractor. I did the grip handles about six years ago when I was at a JD dealer and they had a 300 series in the show room with these grip handles. That is when I got the idea to add them. I added the black front metal bumper this past month. As for adding a cup holder. I've considered that, and I could fill my favorite beverage in this "******" mug to place in the cup holder. But, after looking the amount of space on the fender, I don't think I have the room. BTW. The grip/knobs really work great when opening the hood. I can do it from the seat, front, or sides.

 

I like the idea of the grab handles also. Too bad I can't do that to mine because they would interfere with the cab in snowblowing season. The frame of the cab rests right were you have them placed.

 

If you use the ones in my .sig, they can unbolt in only a minute or so. Actually, they ones above should unbolt fairly quickly also. You could probably find a new place to reposition them somewhere in/on the cab for the wintertime, which would be a useful bonus.

The ones on FD's machine are a lot thicker than the ones I used, but they're more comfortable and much cheaper, though I thought they didn't seem to sit as well on the fenders as the '400 series style'. Both styles & all the part numbers are in the 'Grab handles' link below.

 

Nice work on the mod and a great looking tractor. slkpk

 

Very impressive. I wonder if maybe John Deere might be interested in that hood/grip modification? Might save a ton on warranty replacements.

 

if i ever get a new hood, i'm gonna fiberglass the inside to keep it from cracking. its so **** flimsy to begin with, it boggles my mind that someone thought it was a good idea to have that design.

 

It figures, the thread with a fix that i need and no pictures load....sigh..

 

That's the problem with useing another web site to upload pictures, rather than upload directly from your computer. The links from a host site change without notice and they're lost.

 

Or people get banned and remove their pictures. Then a informative thread is ruined. Some sites I belong to only allow pictures uploaded to their site and the poster can not remove them after a day. Like we can't edit a post here after an hour or so.

Missing pictures ruin threads that had a lot of info.

 

Missing pictures ruin threads that had a lot of info.

So true!
Very frustrating!

 

I have always used the bottom of the rear of the two sides of the hood to open the engine bay. I learned a long time ago to NEVER use that guaranteed-to-crack slot that JD put into the top of the hood. The two little black balls that hold the hood down can be adjusted to be less grippy. BTW, fiberglass will not stick to this junk plastic for long. It will act like it's going to stick but at the first twisting motion, it will separate from the plastic. One other area that I have found that cracks, is where the two side lobes on the front bumper meet the bottom front edges of the side panels. If the front bumper, what a misnomer that is, is ever bumped then the two side lobes are driven back into the side panels and they usually crack. As we all know, those useless two orbs can cost you $215 for a new lower hood. They are only cosmetic but have the potential of causing a lot of damage dollar wise.