John Deere 6820

[biggles]

Going to look at a 6820 that's for sale tomorrow with a friend. neither of us have any experience of 20 series tractors. what and how do we test everything and check all is good. its an 04 40k with tls, is it a good tractor to be putting on a round baler and fitting with a loader? what do I need to watch out for with them? cheers

 

[daveydiesel1]

As with all jds the headgasket can be suspect. Check oil colour. Check footsteps and exhaust cause they arent the best quality. Check round the linkage for wear especially the cross shaft. If u do buy it the minute u get it home get the brakes replaced and a full service for peace of mind

 

[KB6930]

Yes good simple tractor I really wish I still had my old 05 plate 6920 it was the best pulling JD I've ever had

 

[biggles]

Will an 04 be common rail? Anything else to look out for? Cheers

 

[milkloss]

F5 on the head bolts are the new ones. If they're F4 then the head will need doing at some point.

 

[KB6930]

Will an 04 be common rail? Anything else to look out for? Cheers

Some 04 were common rail if it's not I personally wouldn't buy it. The older ones were bloody numb things . I had an 02 6820 and it was terrible.

Local contractors I used to do a bit for had 2 6620's one common rail one not the earlier one was chipped and wouldn't touch the common rail for power .

If it's clean and tidy at that age it'll just be fine there's potential small issues with anything but I can't think of anything specific other than wear in the lift to look for really

 

[nick...]

I’ve got a 17 year old 6620 which has been brilliant.no troubles at all but cross shaft replaced a year ago but all Deere’s have this problem along with linkage wear.and the paint falls of the wheels aswell.just kept serviced,washed after every use and loved and cared for.still on oem headgasket so hope that comment does not tempt fate
Nick...

 

[neilo]

Some 04 were common rail if it's not I personally wouldn't buy it. The older ones were bloody numb things . I had an 02 6820 and it was terrible.

Local contractors I used to do a bit for had 2 6620's one common rail one not the earlier one was chipped and wouldn't touch the common rail for power .

If it's clean and tidy at that age it'll just be fine there's potential small issues with anything but I can't think of anything specific other than wear in the lift to look for really

I have an 02 6920 (pre-common rail, basically a 10 series engine) and I've been happy with it. I was always led to believe the common rail engines had more problems (& more expensive ones) with the fuel system, as well as injectors being far dearer & temperamental.

 

[KB6930]

I have an 02 6920 (pre-common rail, basically a 10 series engine) and I've been happy with it. I was always led to believe the common rail engines had more problems (& more expensive ones) with the fuel system, as well as injectors being far dearer & temperamental.

Out of at least 8 common rail JD's since 2005 some of which we still have none have had anything other than the odd sensor here and there . Our 6820 the Bosch pump packed in and had to be repaired or replaced I can't remember which. It was as dead as a door nail compared to our 6810 which is still here and working away fine

 

[ollie798]

Just took one in part exchange with 8 hours on the clock... it had done 20,008hrs and looked like it had done 6000hrs. If maintained well they will go on and on.

 

[biggles]

Cheers for all the advice, unfortunately it was a non starter, it was rotten as hell, think it must of been on a line spreader or washed out at sea all it’s life!

 

[neilo]

Out of at least 8 common rail JD's since 2005 some of which we still have none have had anything other than the odd sensor here and there . Our 6820 the Bosch pump packed in and had to be repaired or replaced I can't remember which. It was as dead as a door nail compared to our 6810 which is still here and working away fine

Fair enough, maybe I’ve just been lucky then. Tempting fate now but (other than the usual head gasket replacement & cross shaft), mine’s not had any issues mechanically yet. Mine is one of the first 6920’s apparently, which was effectively a 20 series engine in a new body. I don’t intend getting rid any time soon anyway.

There is a 6820 locally that I know of that is on over 12k hours. It’s on it’s third head gasket I think, but out pulls pretty much everything else on the (contractor’s) farm. Only when they put it on a dyno did they find that it was putting out 208hp on the shaft, so presumably remapped rather enthusiastically/recklessly by the previous owner. I don’t think they changed anything after though.

 

[J 1177]

Ripon have a tidy 6920 03 reg In if that's any use

 

[biggles]

Ripon have a tidy 6920 03 reg In if that's any use

cheers, he’d already seen that but it’s not got front suspension which is his main reason for upgrading, ideally he wanted a 6420 tls but there seems non about locally.