# jd hydraulic front wheel assist



## greenfield (Dec 28, 2011)

anyone have any experience with the john deere hydraulic front wheel assist ? does it only work in forward and not very reliable ? am looking at a 4230 and 4240 with one . any input welcome thanks ks


----------



## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

I don't have any experience, but most people have said that they're boat anchors (and heavy), they turn for crap, parts are expensive, and even when they work, it's not that great.

Rodney


----------



## MT hayer (Mar 1, 2014)

Well they were a nice thought! A "juice drive" typically is just an assist and that's it. They work the best in cold weather so the oil stays cooler. Essential your buying a two wheel drive tractor with big front tires for a nice ride. They work for a loader, but I wouldn't get carried away with it. Nice haying tractor with the power shift. I would also recommend going with the 40 so it will start. What shape is it?


----------



## greenfield (Dec 28, 2011)

40 has 4600 hr and a list of repairs 30 has 3000 hr have not looked yet,was interested in a front wheel assist for winter work as feeding bales an snow blower also for summer hay I thought the jd trans would be good for that. was surprised to find these but felt it would be good to see what others knew about them before going too far. started out looking for 2wd jd. thanks for input ks


----------



## MT hayer (Mar 1, 2014)

I would say you would get by fine using it in the winter. I wouldn't use it as a mechanical drive, but it will get you out of a snow bank I think. Those are reasonable hours, what does the 40 have for a transmission? Are they converted to 134 ac?


----------



## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

We had a JD 4440. The switch has a high and low to adjust power to the wheels. The tractor was a breeze in terms of handling, etc. didn't seem to affect it at all. It works forward and reverse, but not thru all the gears (I think it shuts off the light power after 5th gear on the 8 sp powershift, and maybe 3rd or 4th on the full power setting. I jsut remember that they shut off at different times.).

We had no issue with the tractor at all, left out farm with just under 11,000 hours, and it was bought new. Probably the best tractor we owned. The 4240's are good (we had 2 of them) but they are a little underpowered and tend to be ran harder than they should have been. Check to see how much it was turned up. We ran our 4240's at about 145 hp, the 4440 at about 165 hp. The downside, you can't run it in fwd all the time. Really design to get you thru a tough spot, then shut it off. It will get HOT if you run it continuously, especially if you are under load , say pulling an implement.

I would suggest keeping spare hydraulic lines for each wheel on hand. They do blow periodically, and the tractor is dead in the water until it is replaced. Its not hard, and doesn't happen all that often, just a pain in the ass when it does and always see to happen when you are a long way from the shop.

Again, this was our experience with a 4440, don't know if there was much difference in the smaller tractor.


----------

