# John Deere 4230 load shaft question



## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

My load shaft on the 4230 is leaking. I have replaced the seals and shaft on a 4030, but the 4230 is different. I bought the bushing kits. Just wanted to know if I can just knock these bushings out with a long rod through the transmission housing or is there a better way to go about it? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Tim


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Just for info . I kept having seals leak on a 3010 . We replaced shafts and seals over the years and the leak kept returning. I found an upgrade kit on ebay at patspartstore. I used this kit which has a different style seal and have been leak free for 3 or 4 years. This a great improvement . I'm not sure if this will help you but it should help others. I wish I had found it many years ago,it would have saved my father a lot of hydraulic oil over the years. Good luck.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

I knocked out the bushings on my 2355 and I believe I put a rod through the case the welded it to bushing, then tapped it out. Let us know how you do it as I need to do the load shaft on the 4040


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

You could use a slide hammer with a hook and not have to reach all the way through. However I have always reach through and knocked them out.


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## jd4230ps (Dec 9, 2010)

You can drive bushings out with a long shaft as you said. It is the easiest way I have found. To get the longest life out of seals you should also replace bushings in "wishbone" or lift arm mount bracket, and the load shaft. Just my 2 cents.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I was taught when I was employed at a JD dealer to only replace the bushings if the bushings show significant wear. Changing bushings unnecessarily can remove material from trans case causing bushings to fit loose in trans case causing leaking oil. Be sure to put L/D control in the minimum position before removing shaft. Also place shims(see snip) between trans case & wishbone to remove any side to side motion of wishbone. 4230 has a far superior factory seal design than the 10 & 20 series tractors(3010). My 4255 with nearly 11,000 hrs that done considerable 3 pt work plus towed a JD rd baler over many 1000's of acres still has "ORIGINAL bushings".


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## [email protected] (Mar 23, 2015)

I have a JD 2355 that would stream fluid out of the load shaft when I got it. I tried replacing only the seals but then realized the shaft was worn down so I replaced the shaft. It quit leaking completely, I had the bushings but did not want to pull them so I just replaced the seals and it fixed the leak. The shaft had worn down almost an 1/8th of an inch but the bushings seemed fine and were not egged. Good luck with yours


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## DonMc (Jun 16, 2015)

I want to drop the wishbone to put bushings in. Is there a roll pin through the pin the wishbone at the front. Then do you drive out the cross pin the wishbone hinges on?

Thanks,

Don


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## DonMc (Jun 16, 2015)

I should have said I am working on a 4230


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

DonMc said:


> I want to drop the wishbone to put bushings in. Is there a roll pin through the pin the wishbone at the front. Then do you drive out the cross pin the wishbone hinges on?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Don


YES & YES


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## DonMc (Jun 16, 2015)

Thanks for the reply. It looks like the roll pin would hit the case if driven up but I guess that is the only way. I have the load shaft out and let the wishbone down with a floor jack so I will try to drive the roll pin out in that position. What does the roll pin hold in place? The bushing? I scribed the pin that holds the wishbone and let it down. The pin did not rotate. Could a man just drive the pin out and then take the roll pin out later where it would be easier to work with as in on the work bench?

Don


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## DonMc (Jun 16, 2015)

My tractor has seen many hrs of 3 pt work based on the wear on the end of the hitch where you hook to a plow. I bought this tractor used and over night almost it went to no leak to a small leak and when cold weather hit the leak became a stream. I put a couple hundred hours on it this summer pulling a bale wagon. No three point work. The load shaft has considerable wear at the ends where it comes through the bushings. I could measure the bushings as the book suggests but I can't imagine there is not wear in them. How do I decide whether or not to replace them? My plan is bush the wishbone and make sure the drawbar fits tight to avoid any back and forth on either the drawbar or 3 pt so as not to hammer the loadshaft/bushings. A new set of loadshaft bushings should last as long as the first set. That would be another 30 yrs. Did I miss anything?

Thanks,

Don


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

My JD 4255 that I've owned since Feb,'93 has over 11,400 hrs on the tach. It still has original L/D bushings. It's had seals & shaft changed twice. It's plowed countless acres both with 3 pt & draw bar PLUS pulled a rd hay baler to bale over 100,000 rd bales. Pulling with draw bar or 3 pt utilizes the same bushings.. I was instructed while serving as a JD dealer service manager to only change L/D bushings when absolutely necessary.


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## DonMc (Jun 16, 2015)

Would you still change bushings in wishbone if only replacing loadshaft and seals? I will check the wear on the end of the shaft and see if it limited to the portion of the shaft riding in the wishbone bushings as this area is not protected by oil and is exposed to dirt and moisture.

Thanks,

Don


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## DonMc (Jun 16, 2015)

I would rather not replace the bushings if not necessary to avoid any damage to the case


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

DonMc said:


> Would you still change bushings in wishbone if only replacing loadshaft and seals?


My 4255 has original bushings. I'm not a big fan of changing bushings only if there is a problem getting seals to stop leaking.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

Like Jim said, the shaft wears a lot faster than the bushings. If you pull the shaft and only see a little wear, then you know the bushings are hardly worn at all. Cold weather does make the leak worse. We have a 4455 that did not leak at all, then it got cold and it got a little leak, then it got warm and the leak stopped..... the next year it was a stream. From what everybody has told me, the A&I seals are the best, as the JD seals have changed? I went with A&I last year....... we'll see how long they last.

Rodney


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## dchikousky1964 (Aug 6, 2020)

how do you get the just the seals out?


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

After L/D shaft has been removed utilize a sharp pointed tool similar to a dental pick to pull seals out of bushings. Put new seals in warm water before attempting to install so seals will be more flexible.


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