JD 420 Crawler/Loader

[deerguy]

Hey Folks,

Now that the 330 TJ is out of the garage for this year, I'm already thinking of the next project. I have a running 420 with a bucket loader. It has a 2 cylinder gas engine, and is screaming for a re-build. My issue is parts. Undercarriage and final drive parts especially.
Does anyone know where there might be some old JD parts laying around ????

I would love to have the old beauty on a skidway with a set of forks on to supervise log loading !!!!

Thanks,  Deerguy

[Al_Smith]

That's a little rascal .As far as parts J-D  like Caterpillar can get or might have most of them in the system some place .Just like Cat though they would be pricey .

Since Surplus of Fargo N Dakota closed up shop a few years back I'd have no idea where to find used or after market  parts .Someone might though .

As far as track rollers ,front idler bushings etc I have no idea what type JD used .However it may be such a thing they are somewhat standard bushing or they might be tapered Timpkins .You might have to get creative .The seals however should be standard sized SAE .

I assume the engine is a standard 420 so parts shouldn't be that difficult to find .Most twin putt putts though can go for decades with no engine work .

[snowstorm]

deere unlike cat has forgoten about a lot of the old stuff. with skidders anyway a lot of parts you cant get. for undercarrage parts try berco. be real careful about loading the bucket to heavy. i have seen several old 420's with broken trans housing.

[beenthere]

I used to have one, and did a fair amount of rebuild. Parts needed were available from Deere in middle 90's.

Sold it, but it showed up again at a farm a few miles from here. That guy died and his kids peddled all the old Deere tractors to one buyer. Lost track of where it is.

Have a neighbor with one in bad shape (looks wise) but will inquire as to the condition of the undercarriage. That is in WI.

Is it 4 or 5 roller? They were both.  But may not make a difference for parts.

[Al_Smith]

I've never seen anything I couldn't repair even if I had to make the parts myself .Let me tell you though you might wear out an automobile driving to find the parts .

Refurbishing old equipment is not for the impatient .

[snowstorm]

couple things to look for on a 420. way back when i had to work on them. some things i recall. if it has been setting long. often times water would find its way into the steering clutch housing then rust. final drive housing has to come off. also the 2cyl gas motor would get water in the base and freeze i should say the oil pump freezes someone trys to start it and it breaks the square culping to the oil pump. if they didnt have oil pressure that was the first place to look

[deerguy]

Guys,

I appreciate all the info already posted. Let me add some detail. The old queen still runs great. The engine was re-dun maybe 200 hrs ago, and the hydraulics still work like the day they were made !!

I have 1 steering clutch that hates to work right, so I would like to re-build both of them. I work for a bearing manufacturer, so bearings and seals aren't an issue. My biggest issue I suppose is undercarriage. Both track chains need to either be changed or shortened, as I've been out of adjustment for 20 years or so.
Might also convert the beauty to an alternator, as the generator has operational issues......

Deerguy!

[snowstorm]

if the chains are too long ......the pins and bushings and sprockets are worn out. steering clutchs arent a big deal. break the track. should be a master pin unbolt the final drive housing hold it up slide it out

[deerguy]

Thanks Snowstorm, appreciate the advise. There-in lies the problem.... I've pulled a final before. Finding the parts to fix the old girl is the major issue. Clutch/brake bands, chains, rollers and sprockets are all items I cant find anywhere up here....

[snowstorm]

alot of the time a wire brush on a grinder was all that was needed to take care of the clutchs. they use several fiber and steel discs.

[Al_Smith]

Generally speaking you can get brakes and clutchs relined .You'd have to find someone who does industrial clutches though because the average automotive shop would have no idea how to do it .

I have no idea exactly how the steeering clutchs are made on that thing .However an old trick on the early Cats was to put the plugs in the clutch compartments  and flood them with about 10 gallons of kerosine .Run it back and forth a tad .Then tie the clutchs back and let it sit for a day to drain after you let the kerosine back out .

[Al_Smith]

On that sloppy track if it hasn't been done already you can have the pins and  bushing turned .You'd have to take them to someone who has a track press though .

[snowstorm]

when i worked for a jd dealer. this was manys yrs ago. guy comes in wanted the bushings turned in his 350. the track press guy says nope ya dont turn bushings in something that small. the steering clutchs are dry. i wouldnt try the kerosine trick

[Al_Smith]

They are dry on a 2t Series Cat D4 also and it works .

Now the track .I'm sure if nothing else you could figure out how to rebuild the track but you could probabley buy an entire machine for what it would cost .

The problem as I see it is if the track is so loosey goosey you have to pull a shoe in order to gain some adjustment the chain is chewing up the drive spockets .The used to make "Dakota"  sprocket caps you weld in place to repair sprockets .If they make them that small or in fact any of those at all any more I'm not sure .

I don't know how the track is made but as silly as it sounds you might be able to put the track chain on backwards where you have good bushing contact .You have to reverse all the track shoes else being on back assward they'd pull mud .Half -fast fix but it might work ???

[Tramp Bushler]

I'm not a mechanic . But I helped rebuild a small Case dozer . The chains were shot . My friend found an old scrap air track . The chains and pads were like new and the same pitch as the drive sprockets . Most of the bolts were in great shape as well .

[Al_Smith]

I don't know how many actually know but the JD crawler was the brain child of one Jesse Lindeman of Washington state .

As the story goes evidently Mr Lindeman was a mechanic or owned a JD dealership and figured a way to use a set of tracks from either a Holt or Best crawler coupled to a John Deere model D .

The big wigs from JD heard about it ,liked it and the early  JD crawler was born .Later after only a few model D's they used model B's and later Mc's .Then the model 40 ,420 etc .

The little "2 ton " crawlers had their day in ag work because they could  hold the sides of a hill that would roll over wheel tractor .JD ,International Harverster ,Caterpillar  ,Allis Chalmers ,Cletrac /Oliver all made little crawlers at one time .

Fact until JD came out with the R model crawlers just about dominated hill side farming .The little crawlers are pretty much musium pieces now .

[treefarmer87]

heres the only one i have ever seen

http://harrisonburg.craigslist.org/grd/2897206207.html

[Ford_man]

There is a dealer just west of where i live that has a very large lot with  nothing but OLD JD tractors and Jd Crawlers for parts. the name is McCrew Tractor Parts
New Paris In.
866-521-9515
I have seen all the old models in his lot

[brokeniron]

Deerguy,
Glad to see another JD420 being saved.I work for a JD dealer and have helped many owners get parts and fix their machines.I also own a 420 and have done the steering clutchs.Most wear items are still available oem or aftermarket. Check with your local dealer.
As for the tracks I belive the links are still available but are priced accordingly.
You could also try taking out one link.
I have seen people use JD 350 chains and pads.But you would have to cut the centers out of your sprockets and weld them to the 350 sprockets because the pitch is diffrent.
The bottom rolls interchange between a 420 and 350.
Before getting into the clutches be sure they are bad.
Drive the machine up to something that will not move.If both tracks keep moving the clutches are good. When you pull the lever it disengages that clutch and applys the brake band.
If you do need to do a clutch job you will need to get a copy of the clutch gauge tool. It sets the hight of the clutch fingers on the pressure plate. Set the hight wrong and you will have to pull it all apart and start over.(I found out the hard way)
I used to photo copy the tool for our customers.
Have fun

[Al_Smith]

From what I've seen many of the little putt putt crawlers had rivited track pads .They looked like heavy sheet metal stampings rather than forged grouser pads .I've also seen bolted heavier track shoes .

Regardless of how they were made those little machines all seemed to carry rather wide shoes for the size of the machine .

I've seen people get real creative in repairs of old obsolete machines .My old bud Darrel used track rollers from a D7 Cat on an Allis HD 10 by making spacers to align the rollers .

Nothing is impossible and unless you're a real "purist"  often times with some intiutive of the infamous "junk yard dawg " something can be made to work . 

[Okrafarmer]

There are plenty of places that supply parts for old John Deere stuff, probably more so than any other brand of tractor (except maybe Ford). Get subscribed to Green Magazine, a magazine that specializes in the history, collection, and restoration of older John Deeres, and there are dozens of ads in there for places that supply parts, as well as classified ads, too. Don't know if you have Tractor Supply store up in Canada, but if you do, some of them also sell Green Magazine in their magazine stand.

Your steering clutch could be just out of adjustment, as it was on our 350.
Tracks are probably the most expensive part to deal with.

[Al_Smith]

Rambling on about this ,in addition to standard stuff a lot of after market options we avaiilable for little crawlers .

For example they made "high track" conversion for vegetable farming using skinny 6" wide tracks for the little Olivers .Worthless for any other thing than running peat ground cultivating vegetable crops .

Historically most manufactures made "orchard " versions to use in groves with fenders to help not catch low branches and rear mounted low seats .The tracks were not as hard on the tree root sytems as would have been the skeleton lug wheels used during that period of time plus the tracks didn't pack the ground .

It's only been a few years since Cat ,JD and Case /IH has made a resurgence in crawler  type ag tractors using rubber tracks .They seem to be gaining in popularity in these parts .

[beenthere]

There were two different tracks (chains) on the 420 (in jdparts). 2-bolt and 4-bolt.
As I recall, they were forged, not stamped.

 

  

 

[Okrafarmer]

I looked in TSC store today and the March issue of Green Magazine was still on the stand. On the back was a picture of a 420 crawler pulling a model 70 tractor and pull-type combine through a miry grain field.

A look inside showed at least one advertisement for a company specializing in parts for the John Deere crawlers. I should have written it down for you, but I was in a hurry and didn't have a pen with me.