Anybody had any experience with a JD 1010 crawler? I'm looking at one for some small time skidding and a little road work. Don't need anything big, but the small size of this will help working in the woods without doing too much damage.
My experience with them has been forest fire related, and has been negative. 1010's are among the first bulldozers the VDOF bought for fire control.
We found them to be weakly powered and prone to mechanical problems. You get the blade up against a 6" diameter oak and they just sit there, then choke out. Not enough power to push it down. Not enough power to do any digging. Since they are gasoline and not diesel, there was some fear that they were more prone to fire problems in the engine compartment, although we never had any real problems in that regard, so that is probably a myth.
I would think skidding would be fine. I wouldn't expect them to be good for road building, where a lot of pushing is done, but they would probably be alright for road maintanence - smoothing out ruts, cleaning drainage outlets. Just my experience.
The Deere 1010 is a small dozer......not meant for pushing trees down or any major earth moving. It is Deere's first change from the 2-cyl engine (last of the 2's was a 420 in the crawler and I think the 1010 is on the same frame, tranny, and brake/steering clutch system, just a different engine).
I've heard the engines are troublesome, and whereas I always wanted one, stayed away because of what I'd heard about the engine.
But for a small dozer, that gets around great in the woods with little damage, they can't be beat. Just that parts like tracks and the high-wear parts, might be hard to get. It was built in the very early 60's, if not in '59.
I had a Deere 420 crawler, and while it was in tough shape, it was a great tool in the woods. It had great pulling power for it's size, and would climb a hill that felt like it was straight up (not really but close :) ).
Depending on condition of tracks, the other things can be worked on. But I'd go for a later clutch/steering arrangement that is more modern and in an oil bath (don't know when that began).
As stated above. The 1010 and 2010 were troublesome. Also best to be sure that you are looking at an industrial model.
John deere 1010 (http://www.johnnypopper.com/weirddeere/NG/The_1010.html#crawler)
I have 350 diesel, later generation, more or less the same size, that I have used for skidding. My experience is that if you don't have a winch and arch you will have a tough time moving logs of any size and the logs will be loaded with dirt when you get them where they are going. That should tell you what the ground behind you will look like. Mine has a winch and I made an arch, and for selective logging in the right circumstances it is great. One big circumstance is that the wood better be worth a lot if you are doing it for the money! If you try to move much with machines this size they will break a lot.
I had a 350 with a winch, pretty close to the same machine. Wish I had another one. Pretty fair little machine for me, mobile winch platform, pull off the hill and finish skidding with 80hp tractor. If the 1010 is all your skidding with it would be fine for personal use but not commercialy, Too low production.
Thanks for the info. Kinda given up on the 1010, now I'm looking at a 350 dozer or a 450 loader. A little more money but they seem to be a better buy considering upkeep needed on the 1010.
I think that is a good decision. :)
I think you made a good decision. We actually bumped up from the little 1010s to 350H's.
A much more powerful tractor, rarely had mechanical problems. Narrow enough to weave between trees. We got the tilt blade, an innovation back then. Pretty good for log road stabilization, plowing fire lines, etc. Had mine for 25 years until it was replaced.
A frontend loader allows you to push down bigger trees since you can get more leverage raising the bucket up higher on the trunk. But if I had only one machine choice, for woods work I think I'd go for a dozer.
I've had to do with a couple different 1010's, both had diesel engines. Also a 440, nearly the same as a 1010 but had a 2 cylinder gas engine. All 3 machines were logging equipt with winches, canopys with sweeps. They all had a weak spots in the main frame that were prone to breakage. They also had problems with stearing clutches. I think they would be ok just for occational home use dutys-plowing snow-light road maintenance-skidding firewood logs-maybe an occational load of saw logs. In other words a hobby cat. You are wise going with a 350 or 450. They're far better, well worth the extra money, especially with a 6-way blade, IMO a full hydraulic 6-way blade is what really makes a small dozer shine. You might also consider an International TD-7. A tad bit smaller than a 450. I had one for a few years & was very happy with it, wish I still had it. To anyone interested. I have complete repair manuals for TD-7/TD-8. Repair manual & Parts book for a 1010. I won't sell them but I'd be happy to scan a page & E-mail it.
It appears that I'll have the use of a 1961 JD 1010 soon and now have a better idea of what I'll be faced with. My FIL just bought one ($2800) that is in good shape. He wants to reslope part of his property and we'll use it to skid logs and dress up the logging roads on my property. I'm wondering if it will push 6" stumps out of the ground? The comments about using the 1010 as a skidder concerns me, I've never done skidding but it doesn't take much imagination to figure out the potential problems or damage. The solution will be not be as easy, I'm sure. The jdcrawler website is a wealth of information and one that I've bookmarked. I'll get some pictures soon and work on posting them.
You will have to dig a 6" stump out with a 1010, not push. Not enough weight or power with no leverage.
Talked to the guy with the 450 loader. He says steering brake on right side doesn't work. Is this something I could fix easily or cheaply, considering I'd do the work myself. Other than that everything seems OK. He wants 6K for it which seems reasonable. I think I'll go with a loader instead of a blade. In the short term a blade would be more useful but in the long run I think I'll have more work for the loader.
What letter designation is the 450? A,B,C, etc. I had a B for a few years, it had the dry clutches. What a pain. You had to run the machine every week or two just to keep them cleaned off, or they'd get all pitted and need worked on. I got mine for a good price, but spent just as much fixing the clutches and undercarriage.
I might be wrong, but I think they staryed using oil bath clutches with the C. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Quote from: Kcwoodbutcher on August 05, 2007, 09:34:39 PM
Talked to the guy with the 450 loader. He says steering brake on right side doesn't work. Is this something I could fix easily or cheaply, considering I'd do the work myself. Other than that everything seems OK. He wants 6K for it which seems reasonable. I think I'll go with a loader instead of a blade. In the short term a blade would be more useful but in the long run I think I'll have more work for the loader.
Easy and cheap are relative terms and easy and cheap on a crawler doesn`t relate to easy and cheap on your Chevy pickup, it is going to cost pretty dearly for any part that you have to replace on a crawler and they are usually pretty heavy and dirt/rust encrusted so disassembly will be more of a challenge.
There is a guy near me who runs a shop that rebuilds and repairs tracked machines of all types. He has saved me alot of money with used parts and good inside info on how or where to get things done if I was doing the labor myself, maybe you have someone like this near you?
Another thing, any crawler loader that I have seen had narrow pads with short grouser bars, not optimal for flotation or traction on loose ground. If you do decide to buy a crawler loader try to find one with a good 4 in 1 bucket, it will be much handier than a straight bucket.
More food for thought. It was first pointed out to me by the guy who rebuilds these machines that Case machines generally have a better ground clearance between the tracks than a JD if you are using it in the woods. Replacement parts for the Case are also going to be cheaper.
What is the correct oil to use for the steering brake?