John Deere 2001 4400 telehandler buying advise?

[Keydog97]

Ive been searching recently for a cheap telehandler for some farm work. Went to look at a manitou the other day but it was a basket case missing door pissing every possible liquid. Needless to say I didn't buy it.
The question is I’ve come across a jd 4400 2001 which seems in fairly good shape cosmetically and mechanical (from what I’m told). What should I look out for when going to see it? There’s little to no information about these things online other than they seem to be quite good and be light on the brakes or you’ll end up though the windshield....
It’s 2001 from the photos seems in good condition with usable tred left on the tyres.
only issue I see from the photos is the right mudguards and battery cover are missing which I find odd
and help would be greatly appreciated! Going to see it tomorrow hopefully

 

[Keydog97]

Also what kind of money would you expect to spend on such a machine?
thanks!

 

[Keydog97]

Also would I be correct in saying it can’t be 2001?! 98 the last year they were made?

 

[ACEngineering]

Also would I be correct in saying it can’t be 2001?! 98 the last year they were made?

1997 at its youngest i think, built by matbro.

 

[Robt]

Ive been searching recently for a cheap telehandler for some farm work. Went to look at a manitou the other day but it was a basket case missing door pissing every possible liquid. Needless to say I didn't buy it.
The question is I’ve come across a jd 4400 2001 which seems in fairly good shape cosmetically and mechanical (from what I’m told). What should I look out for when going to see it? There’s little to no information about these things online other than they seem to be quite good and be light on the brakes or you’ll end up though the windshield....
It’s 2001 from the photos seems in good condition with usable tred left on the tyres.
only issue I see from the photos is the right mudguards and battery cover are missing which I find odd
and help would be greatly appreciated! Going to see it tomorrow hopefully

That machine was bacially a matbro in green paint. What your budget as that is £6k max , great machine mind

 

[Keydog97]

Is that knocking a bit of for the missing bodywork?
The absolute rock bottom price I’ve seen here in Northern Ireland is 6500 for a telehandler, that was the pile of crap manitou tough. Needed piles of work. This is closer to 7k with my absolute max budget being about 7k.
anyone any suggestions for what to look out for?
Ace I saw some of your posts about the manitou 626, really helpful when I looked at that basket case! Thanks

 

[Tractortech]

Now Then..
The JD4400 was a machine built in the Dungannon Matbro factory for John Deere. It was the same as a Matbro TS270. They all had the Carraro axles which often leaked oil around the wheel stud end of the hubs. Easily fixed with some spanners and instant gasket. The pins and bushes of the Z linkage can be a bit sloppy. The bottom of the cast lever in the Z linkage can crack. This can be fixed and strengthened with a welder and some plate. The pin retention was never good with the 2 M10 bolts per pin always shaking loose. A little 'engineering' of the pins will help (don't just weld them!!).
The silencer on the early versions used to crack all the time. The later ones and the 'fix' was to mount it in a frame with more bolts onto the cylinder head.
They could be difficult to start when warm. I used to fit the pressure dump kit from a TS280 which sorted the issue.
Other than that, not a bad machine. 20 years old don't forget. So some of it will have issues somewhere, eh..

 

[ACEngineering]

Is that knocking a bit of for the missing bodywork?
The absolute rock bottom price I’ve seen here in Northern Ireland is 6500 for a telehandler, that was the pile of crap manitou tough. Needed piles of work. This is closer to 7k with my absolute max budget being about 7k.
anyone any suggestions for what to look out for?
Ace I saw some of your posts about the manitou 626, really helpful when I looked at that basket case! Thanks

Your looking at the very bottom end of the market there will be plenty of scrap and plenty of polished turds I'm afraid.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

They were a decent machine before everything got too big and thirsty. It'll lift 3t and turn on a sixpence. It was the next model on, the 3200/3400 that had the sharp brakes but that is just a case of getting used to them, much better than NO brakes.

@Tractortech has covered the gist of it. The engine and transmission were JD items but it was mostly Matbro otherwise.

At that age it'll be Z linkage pin wear and axle end seals to watch for.

 

[Keydog97]

Perfect thanks everyone think I’ve got enough info for now!

 

[Daesal]

Hi Keysoe. Did you go and look at that JD? I see its listed on DD now. I'm looking for something like that or maybe a bit bigger...but small budget too. I was thinking of going to look at it

 

[Keydog97]

Oh the same one listed?
no neverwent to see it, the guy took a bit long getting back to me and then to be honest I changed my mind to maybe wait it off a save a bit more.

 

[Daesal]

Looks the same allright. I was looking for a JCB 520 or 530 but then I saw the JD and thought might be worth a look

 

[Keydog97]

The missing body parts concerned me, I thought it had maybe been involved in a rollover accident of some kind.

 

[Phil P]

If I had to give one piece of advice about the buying a 4400 it would be DON’T!!!!
The reason it looks tidy is because it’s probably spent most of its life broken down spewing oil all over the floor or the pumps got that hot it boiling the oil.