John Deere 425

[ricky racer]

This is my John Deere 425 garden tractor. I purchased this back in 2013 or 2014. My intention when I purchase it was to fabricate a loader for it. I chose the 425 because it had everything I wanted for a small loader tractor. It has power steering, 1" spindles and onboard hydraulics. Normally any 425 is out of my price range but I ran across this one on Craigslist in central Indiana. It looked like it lacked love and must of set outside a good deal of time. The seat was shot the grill was broken and the paint was faded but everything worked as it should and it ran pretty good.
The 425 came with a 54" mower deck and I used it as my primary mowing tractor for a while but the deck blew out a lot of debris out from under the deck which I didn't like. While mowing I found out that it used oil even though it ran well and I never noticed any blue smoke while mowing. I pulled the motor and rebuilt it, replaced the seat and grill and fixed everything I could find wrong with it. Then gave it a fresh coat of paint. The older I get the less inclined I am to fabricate a loader and I've now found a mini loader that I'm going to pick up tomorrow.
To prepare it for the loader, I've replaced the tires with 6 ply tire front and rear. The AG tires should aid in traction over the turf tires that came on the tractor. I've added 200# of cast iron to the rear wheels and filled the tires with windshield washer fluid for an additional 150# of liquid ballast.

 

[tldec50]

Nice looking tractor,great job, post pics of loader

 

[T-Mo]

I had a 445 with a 60 inch deck and a 54 blade a few years back. Great tractors. A few years ago I ran across a free 425 that caught fire. After replacing about all the plastic pieces on the engine and wiring harness, and got it to run off of a pony tank, I sold it. Currently I have a X720 was a replacement for the X4XX and X5XX tractors that replaced the 4X5 series tractor. If you need a TM for the 425, send me a pm with your email address and I'll send you a pdf copy.

 

[twotone]

I’ve had 3 425’s. They’re a joy to mow with.

 

[ricky racer]

I had a 445 with a 60 inch deck and a 54 blade a few years back. Great tractors. A few years ago I ran across a free 425 that caught fire. After replacing about all the plastic pieces on the engine and wiring harness, and got it to run off of a pony tank, I sold it. Currently I have a X720 was a replacement for the X4XX and X5XX tractors that replaced the 4X5 series tractor. If you need a TM for the 425, send me a pm with your email address and I'll send you a pdf copy.

I appreciate that but I've got a copy I purchased for only $5 online. Thanks anyway.

 

[ricky racer]

I picked up my Buford Bucket over the weekend and put it on the 425 last night. I'm looking forward to [strikethrough]playing[/strikethrough] working with it. The Buford Bucket isn't a full size loader but will do 95% of everything I will need it to do. My main need for the loader is to move stuff around the farm and I don't really need to pick anything up high. It will lift high enough to load or unload a pickup truck at the tailgate.

I'm using it here to move a blowdown limb back in the woods.

 

[T-Mo]

Nice. I wonder if George Buford is still making these loaders?

 

[Stanton]

Nice JD 425 with loader. It’ll be very helpful around the farm.

Congrats on the loader and thanks for sharing the story. :hattip:

 

[ricky racer]

Nice. I wonder if George Buford is still making these loaders?

They are made by Pete Liskey hoosierpete@hotmail.com now.

 

[ricky racer]

A few more photos.

 

[tldec50]

Very nice setup,that will save the backache many times over

 

[T-Mo]

Nice. I wonder if George Buford is still making these loaders?

They are made by Pete Liskey hoosierpete@hotmail.com now.

Yep, I knew that, but it's been a while that I seen any mention of a Buford loader. From my memory, Pete does have a brother name George, but his surname is Liskey....It's been quite a while since I've seen mentioned of a Buford loader on WFM or GTT.

A company called Superior Tech makes tractor shovels for different brands including John Deere. A few years ago, Deere was selling their products for various of their tractors. But you can't get one anymore from Deere - you have to go to Superior Tech. They are tractor shovels and not loaders, but can come in handy.

 

[outdoors4evr]

Is the bucket fully extended in the bottom picture? Will it dump the bucket when at full height?

 

[Shadow_storm56]

A few more photos.

I have one of these, I never in a million years would have thought it could run a loader. Cool!

 

[ricky racer]

A few more photos.

I have one of these, I never in a million years would have thought it could run a loader. Cool!

John Deere made a loader for them, the 40 Loader.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... EhHdDI_XlT

 

[Shadow_storm56]

Does it have an extra hydro pump added on or runs on the one for the mower deck lift?

 

[ricky racer]

The tractors hydrostatic transmission has a pump that operates the hydraulic system. The two levers on the steering column operate the valves to direct the fluid. With the loader, one lever operates the lift and lower and the other one operates the bucket tilt.