alternator on 990

I did call my dealer and at first he told me all I had to do was to buy a 35 amp alternator part number AM880339 for $350 and just put it on and it would work. I would not need to do anything else! I asked him about wiring upgrades and whether there needed to be any other items like fuse boxes etc and he said no. Just put in the 35 amp alternator and your set. I questioned him more and then brought up this kit with the part number listed in my first post. He knew nothing about it and was adamant about all I needed was the alternator. I pressed him more and he asked for the part number. I gave him that and he looked it up and said yes I would need that kit at $660. He just added $30. Then he said he was wrong and that I needed this kit to upgrade it. As I said I don't think that these guys have a clue at least they don't give that impression. One minute they are adamant and the next they change their minds when I bring up a different kit and question them further. Again if any one has some knowledge here that would be helpful.

Thanks

Martian said:

I'm not an electrician by any means. Actually the only thing I won't do myself is electricity after a shocking experience (pun intended) one time. But, I believe that as long as the volts stay the same, amps is just going to change how fast it will recharge the battery and increase the amount of stuff it can power. Now if it changed it from say a 110V to a 220V, then that would change, but as long as volts stay the same, you should be good.

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I am not an electrician however I do have a little electrical background and know ohms law I=V/R etc. Iv'e done a good amount of my own electrical work in my house to code when I have done any updates. Of course this may make me knowledgable enough to be dangerous.

The most important thing I would think is if you allow a component to draw a higher current over a wire and if that wire is not a large enough gauge for that amount of current it can get hot and even burn:fire:. so my biggest concern is that the wiring harness which was set up with 20 amps in mind is able to handle 35 amps. Those are my thoughts and whether they are correct or not could be debatable. We have probably all experienced the reality using an extension cord and if its wire gauge is too small for the device that is drawing the current it will get hot and it is not a wise thing to do if you know what I mean. This all has to do with the R of the equation which is the resistance and if the V doesn't change which it shouldn't then I the current increases. Maybe if one does not try adding on new components to the existing wiring harness everything will work out alright. I wish that I could see the components on the High Capacity Alternator Kit just to see what it includes.

Pete would probably be a good person to comment on this with all of his electrical background etc. I may try to PM him if he does not comment.

I did that kit on my 670 so I could add a bunch of lights for my night time backhoe work. was exact same kit. I soldered the wires and used shrink tubing. ( degree in electronics, and a boat owner made me anal !LOL)
On my 990 ( the very last one produced, Dec 2007.) I just added some 12 v LED lights.( so I could see my BLI, and for backhoe work) They draw next to nothing for current. Mine had the 20 amp alternator. I looked a early 4005 on the lot at the same time and it was a 20 amp as well. So save your money cause the LED bulbs can get pricey. the "warm" ones tend to be less offensive than the "cool" ones. I also ordered extra fender handles for my dads 790 and my 990. The 70 series came with handles BOTH sides, NOT the 90s.
I wish I could still drive one( have bad leg) There is nothing like a stick shift tractor. When that clutch comes out you KNOW something is going to move!
edit sorry this pic didnt show my darn lights ugh!

Thanks for the response. Yes I would have loved to see your light setup. That is what I want to do. So you think that if I stick to only LED lights that the 20 amps will be enough?

My 990 is a 2005. The previous and original owner had the ROPS cut off by the dealer so that it would fit in his garage which was only 7'. I would like to get a new ROPS for it and then also buy the canopy that JD has for it. It isn't inexpensive but it does have lights and of course it fits properly. I would like to put 2 lights, one on each fender and then put some on the ROPS as well facing both front and back. I would also like to put a cigarette lighter on it for plugging in other items for power too. So I am wondering still if 20 Amps is enough.

Here is another question for you since you know electronics well and are attention to detail. I am pretty good with electricity and electronics. Those are easy to determine where to get the power from or where to tap in. However I have never added things to a vehicle of any sort. As you add these different things where should one attache the wires to get the power? I am assuming you want to put a fuse in the line to cover something blowing. And in addition I would not think that you come directly off of the battery but maybe off of the voltage regulator as you start to add wires. Am I thinking correctly?

Also I noticed you are from New England by your info that you have posted. It also made sense in your picture as well because it looks like New England. I am from New England originally. Born and raised in Sanbornton, NH. Right almost dead center in the state.

Hi neighbor... I am on the Maine border, just to the right in the picture and across the river, In NH too.
I cut the rops on my 990 as well because it was over 7 ft by about an inch. I kept the part, put on yellow extension ladder covers, and planned to and bought the hinge part and the pins to weld it up to it was able to drop out of the way for the garage. These never got installed and I sold the tractor due to my health, 3 years old and 20 hours on it. I did, have a lot of work lined up for it after the floods of 07. Driveway and culvert work..It replaced my 870, which was 10 years old and 250 hrs, 440 loader,8B hoe, Frontier forks, mainly due to the design of the quick loader hook up grease fittings on the bottom of the bucket, getting trashed.
I know the 990 inside and out and feel its the best CUT ever made by Deere.( 4005 same thing) REAL frame for a a REAL backhoe... ( mine was with 300CX FEL , 8B hoe, Frontier forks)
For the money you get Much more ground clearance than a HST,( especially the backhoe) and more HP to use for attachments. The newer 990 with the 300 cx loader has big benefits and some drawbacks..they should have used the 400cx loader as was on other 4000 series but the 990 sat too high off the ground.
I will say this, I carried "Long Tones" of coal on pallets with the 990 you see and those forks. ( obviously I adjusted the rockshaft, but used a gauge) I noticed Deere was a bit scared of doing a lot of weight on the cast uprights, and they already had a recall on the quick connector which was made wrong, out of cast ( the early 300x loaders mostly)
For lighting up the tractor, check out this website>>>Work Lights, HID Work Lights, HID Lighting, Work HID Lights, LED Work Lights, MobileHID offers it all!
For hooking up the lights. I used a JD weatherproof switch, and ran it off the battery. I also cleaned that dumb battery and used marine waterproof grease on the terminals. I ended up changing it under warranty once, and on my 870 put on new better battery cables. My( ex) 990 has a block heater from the factory which kicked butt because it goes right to LOW idle in the garage.
With LED lights, your adding about 5 amp draw for 4 big lamps. the 990 only draws about 7 will everything going in stock form. The 20 amp alt is fine for this.

Whew I spewed a lot... well if you have any questions, need a manual, I have it Bruce

Bruce, thanks for the info. Whoever bought your 990 got a great tractor and with very little hours on it as well.

I live down in NJ now and have for the past 28 years. I came here after I was discharged from the Navy in 84 with my wife and have raised 3 kids here. I still have some property in Sanbornton so I go up there. I have my great grandfathers 1928 Buick with 24k original miles on it in a garage there up on blocks.

I got the 990 with 174 hours on it. I wish the guy would have kept the part of the ROPS that they took off then I could have had it welded back on.

Thanks for the link to the lights. I will check them out. Also for the info on the draw on the alternator as well.

My 990 has the 300CX FEL with the heavy duty bucket (I ordered up and put on the knife edge), the 8B BH, the Frontier pallet forks and the JD BB and a TSC Countryline 3PH wood splitter which is the Speeco unit. I like the 990 very much. It has some real power to it and the 8B BH works nice as well. I just wish it had a little more lift power on it. The original owner had only used it once and the paint was not even off the bucket. I put 3 ware plates on the bucket and added some weld on the sides to give it some good life since where I live there are more rocks than you can think of. I bought a bolt on thumb for it as well from Bro-Tek and it works nice at moving rocks and trees :thumbup1gif: Bro-Tek is supposed to be making a hydraulic option for it so I am looking forward to that and can see the advantage to it. I also wish the turn cylinders on the 8B were more powerful as well.

How high did you adjust the pressure too? I think without looking that the factory speck is 2500 psi or something like that. I have wondered about doing that but I have no experience at it and I surely would not want to damage the pump or anything else. KennyD who is one of the moderators has a thread where he showed how to make a guage to check your pressure. you can find it here http://www.greentractortalk.com/for...rifiying-hydraulic-pressure-your-tractor.html I want to do that when I get some time to make the guage.

You can see what I have been doing with the 990 here on this thread http://www.greentractortalk.com/for...do-your-jd-compact-utility-tractor-today.html. I have been giving it a work out and have added about 20 hours on the tractor.

I have a leaking bucket curl cylinder on the left side looking at it from the drivers seat. I am going to buy the kit to replace the seals etc and it was recommended that I do both at the same time so that is a project that has to be done here some time. I am wanting to put in a solenoid valve on the bucket curl at the same time so that I can use it with a grapple and also use it with a plow with hydraulic angle capabilities. I was thinking that I might get a 4 in 1 bucket for it as well at some point. I can see how handy they are. I would also like to set up 3 SCV's running off of the PB when the BH is off. This could work well with a BB with angle and tilt and also some other attachments. Well as you can see i have a list of things that I want to do with it. Of course it all costs money and I will have to work slowly at it since it will all take a great amount of time.

I have been using it to prepare an area to build a shed. I'm looking to build a shed first and then a barn. The shed will be used to house the 990 and then I will build the barn which will be the ultimate keeper of the 990. The shed will be a pole barn design and will be 8 x 22. That is about as big as I can go with that due to zoning laws. The barn will be able to be bigger. I purchased a TSC Countryline PHD (I was told this is a Speeco product and it surely is) over the weekend. I got it for their sale price of $50 off since they had none in stock when the sale was on and had to order one for me and gave me a raincheck on the price. This was pretty good. I hope to use it in helping with digging the footings for the poles.

Thank you for the offer of the manual. I have the original users manuals in hard copy. I have purchased the parts and service manuals for it in electronic format on CD's.

I grew up with tractors that were stick shift with a clutch. I don't even remember tractors with hydro transmissions. My dad had a MF which was an industrial with a BH and it had a johnson bar so it was easy to go from forward to reverse but that was it. That was a great tractor.

Again thanks for the input on the 990. There are not many users on this forum with this model. there are a couple with the 790 and 3005 and one or two with a 990 or 4005 but they are pretty silent. So it is good to talk with someone who likes the 990 like I do.