john deere 4230

Somebody told me that all John Deere 4230s were hard to start and I was wondering if that was the truth about those tractors or not thanks?

Have had 2 of these. Both have been decent starters and I live in upstate NY. These have both been in like new condition when we started to use them and the most recent one is used for play (pulling) as well as work.

I had one. The problem as I saw it was the way the batteries were installed and wired. First they use 2ea. 6v batteries in series...daisy chained, one behind the other. What this does is to put the internal resistance of the batteries (and all batteries have this) in series so the current that you want to start your tractor has to pass through 2 resistances.

The next problem is they use 1/0 wire. The ground for the right side battery is at the engine block adjacent to that battery. Then from that rt. side battery the single 1/0 wire goes under the cab and over to the left side battery. Then through the battery and onto the starter solenoid.

I had one wired like that and in the winter I had to use a starting aid.

So to solve the problem, as it was awkward to remove a radiator screen and shoot ether into the inlet drain (rubber squeezie), I just rewired and rebatteried my tractor.

I got 2ea 31 series 12v OTR truck batteries from a local OTR shop for about $60 each. Cheap because they used them by the skid and got a good price break.

While there I had some custom cables made up. I had them made from 2/0 wire with 3/8" terminals to fit the 31 batteries....no lead posts problems.

I ran both wires from the right battery over to the left battery which is sitting adjacent to the starter. Now I have 2ea. 2/0 wires connecting two 12v batteries in PARALLEL which halves the circuit resistance ( rather than doubles it ).

Then with the left battery sitting adjacent to the starter, I connected that battery with about a foot of the same wire hot (+) to the solenoid, and return(-) with about the same length to the case of the starter mounting bolt.

I don't need to elaborate on the subject. When I hit the starter that sucker didn't roll more than about 3-4 revs and she was lit. No more ether and no more grinding the starter.

This cost about $250 and considering the price of the tractor well worth the expense.

Mark

Put two big 12s and big wire like mark and it'll start

They cetainly can be and if they have been O.Hd with higher newer style pistons they sometimes start much better.Some late 69/72 4020s would start easy and some would not when new.Timing can help and good batteries and cables are a must.Until the 50 series the either injector got used more than it should have.Tired engines with blowby are in a different category.I had many NewGen tractors and some will and some wont and they have same of everything.The engine heater should be used when it is below 25deg as either in my opinion if not used right can hurt the engine over time.