Preventative maintenance is an important part of owning a tractor. If you want that machine to run as strong as the day you bought it for as long as possible, you have to be dedicated to maintenance every day and at every service milestone.
Things tend to break down just when you need them most. You might be gearing up for planting or getting ready to harvest when you find an issue that requires repair of your tractor. Whether you catch it during routine maintenance or out in the field, you need a fix and you need it fast.
Replacement Parts for Routine Tractor Repair
There’s a long list of issues that can sideline your tractor. If you’re ready with the right parts, you can make the necessary repairs or replacements to get back to farming with little delay. Stock up on the parts listed in your operator’s manual so you have backup in case something goes wrong.
1. Filters
Tractors do the dirty work. So, naturally, they get dirty. A variety of filters help protect critical components from the dirt, debris, and dust they kick up during a day’s work. You’ll need an extra oil filter, air filter, hydraulic filter, and fuel filter to change out old, dirty ones.
John Deere makes it easy, providing all four filters your compact tractor needs in one convenient package. Since you need to check and change your fuel and engine oil more frequently, you may want to have several additional filters on hand.
2. Oil and Fuel
Despite the best efforts of the filters, oil still gets dirty and can easily gunk up your tractor or cause it to stall out. Engine oil and hydraulic oil are needed for regular maintenance items, so it’s important to have plenty around.
On some sub-compact tractors, the hydraulic filter is low to the ground and subject to damage from rough terrain. If a stick or something else breaks your filter, you can lose hydraulic oil quickly, so it’s important to have extra gallons available if you run a smaller compact tractor.
Having a full fuel supply might seem obvious but it’s easy to overlook. If you don’t keep an eye on fuel levels, you can waste a lot of time filling up. You also need to ensure your fuel is clean. John Deere diesel fuel conditioner is a fuel additive that improves fuel quality and maintains peak engine efficiency.
3. Fluids and Coolants
Oil and fuel are the most important fluids you need to fill to keep your equipment’s engine running. But there’s a wide variety of other fluids that your tractor needs to run efficiently. Checking the engine coolant, hydraulic fluid, radiator fluid, and transmission fluid — and topping off empty tanks — should be part of your daily preventative maintenance routine.
Clean coolant helps avoid internal damage, rust, or clogs in the engine, which helps prevent much bigger engine troubles. Many new tractors have combined systems where hydraulic or transmission fluid is shared between the machine and an attachment. To keep both your tractor and your implements running at full power, you need full tanks of clean fluid.
4. Light Bulbs
It might seem like a minor inconvenience, but burnt bulbs should always be replaced immediately. While you can ignore a slightly dimmer room in your home for weeks, tractor light bulbs are there for safety — yours and those around you.
Take stock of the specific light bulbs you need for your headlamps, taillights, and warning lights. Keep them in your shed, garage, or even in the cab of larger utility tractors, so that you can quickly swap out a burnt bulb and keep the lights on.
5. Replacement Belts
Your tractor has several different belts that keep your engine running and other components moving. Over time, alternator belts, fan belts, and air compressor belts can loosen, crack, or split. The belts for your specific tractor model may not always be in inventory at your local dealer or tractor supply store. Plan ahead for replacement belts, especially as your tractor approaches the 200-hour mark, to keep a quick and easy switch from causing prolonged downtime.
6. Zerk Fittings
Greasing your tractor should be part of your daily maintenance checklist. You need to regularly grease the joints and Zerk fittings on your equipment.
Zerk fittings are all over your machine, and many are exposed to wear and tear. While small, a damaged or missing Zerk fitting can contaminate the grease inside your machine and cause much bigger issues. So keep a lot of spare fittings around so you can easily replace broken ones and keep your tractor in good condition.
7. Fuses
Whether you’re tractor’s big or small, all agricultural equipment is becoming more and more powered by electrical components. And every electrical circuit on your machine is protected by a fuse.
Electrical issues aren’t always expensive fixes. Sometimes, it’s simply a blown fuse. Your tractor’s fuses are color-coded and have the ampere rating clearly marked to ensure proper replacement.
Where to Buy John Deere Tractor Parts
Small fixes have small costs. It’s easy and affordable to stock up on new John Deere parts and maintain your own inventory. Any time your parts supply is running low, your nearest TriGreen Equipment dealership has a large inventory of in-demand parts for the most popular tractors in the Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi service areas. And since farming hours are much longer than normal business hours, we have an after-hours parts program to help you in your time of need.
If you’re planning ahead, you can simply order parts online through the TriGreen Equipment customer portal and keep them in their boxes until they’re needed.
Because even the little things can stop your tractor in its tracks.