JDcrawlers Messageboard

Hi: Does it have a backhoe or winch on it? ROPS? The goal is to try and get troublesome side up in the air so that you can spin that track without moving the machine, and gain slack. Sometimes you can build cribbing and use the bucket or blade to lift the front; use the backhoe to lift the rear, or ...

I had fairlead arches on a 350b and on a 450c, and preferred the 450c for several reasons. the 450 was a beefier tractor and held up to the strain better, and could move more wood per hitch comfortably. The 350 needed to be shifted into neutral to winch where the 450 had a "half clutch" position whe...

Hi: If you got to the John Deere parts catalog web site shown below, yo can get a parts manual that shows details of how your machine is put together for free. in your case, type in "440" for model, click find, and down load the crawler PDF file. You can see how the adjuster works,more or less. If t...

I guess I should have asked what kind of arch - a winch/crawler mounted one, or a tag along?

I'll bet that someone will be willing to swap you fairleads for your arch. I ran an arch on my bunching bunching crawler and liked that it lifted the logs out of the mud and over some obstacles, yet when it seemed appropriate, we could fish the cable down so it pulled off the winch directly. If I ha...

I think you have two reasonable choices at his point - it sounds like both will involve some swearing. Loosen the track adjuster to gain the room needed for the track to be levered back on, or if the master pin happens to be in an accessible place, split the track, then fix your adjuster, then reins...

I'm going to have to defer to a 440 owner for specifics. On the 420, there are two nuts per screw rod used for adjusting the track - one in front of the idler yoke and one behind. There is a third nut used to pretension the spring that is not supposed to be messed with by mere mortals. Loosen both t...

If it's like my 420, the threaded rod passes through the idler yoke. I found that wire brushing the threads well, applying penetrating oil and heat allowed me to loosen the nuts a bit. Once they loosened it just took patience, oil, then grease, and working the nut back and forth to get every thing m...

Do you have a hydraulic track adjustment? Have you removed the grease fitting and tried to squeeze out the grease to gain some slack? Then work th track back on and go from there. I wouldn't use heat you could damage the seals - others may offer different advise. good luck. Paul

My life has been full of projects - some how I get them done, or give them up. either way they cost money and time. Some of my most satisfying ones have cost more of both than expected. So who's to know if you made the right choice. Good luck pulling it all together. My wife's more recent comment wa...

Hi: Have you run a 450 dozer with a back hoe on it? Unlike a 450 tracked loader with a back hoe, a dozer unit tends to dance on the back rolls and sprockets. This isn't too much of a problem on flat solid ground, but I rarely got to work in perfect conditions, and a tender dozer gets spooky on steep...

Thanks, Snoopy. Let me know what you see. Paul

Hi: When I adjusted the valves on my 420, I set up cylinder #1 on DC. The manual says to then turn the engine to bottom, but doesn't say exactly where that is. I found an unmarked engraved line on the flywheel that I assumed was the location. Was I correct? (there is a third line labeled "Spark"(whi...

Oops, I've got to proof read my messages more carefully when drinking wine. I meant to say, If time allows tomorrow, I'll check out the running on one vs two cylinders. Paul

Thanks for sharing you experience. If time allows, I try your suggestions. My Dad used to show off his Model As running on two cylinders and taught me how to tune them and use the retard/advance lever on the steering column effectively. Unfortunately these lessons occurred over 40 years ago, so I've...