JD 2010 What to look for to purchase

[oldrustyranger]

Hi, Patience please. New guy.

I have been passing a JD2010 Crawler Loader while on my drive to work. I have a couple of acres of ground that I have been considering for some light excavation. I mean light, just a little leveling, grading, etc. I want to do it on my own schedule so I prefer not to rent or pay someone else. Also I want to play a little.

I have been researching this crawler primarily because it is not too big and the asking price is, compared to most, low and negotiable. I haven't talked to the owner yet. $3500 OBO It does appear to have been used recently.

I admit to being a novice here, but I am pretty bright and handy with a wrench.

Assuming this is not a parts machine, which it does not appear to be, what kinds of things should I look for and / or avoid?

If it goes forward / backward/ left / right and the loader operates am I fairly certain to get some use out of it?

Hope I am not too naive.

[bent]

I bought a 1010 for the same reason, dirt to move, snow to push and bobcats are $30,000 or $70/hour. I have sunk a fortune into it already and it was moving before I started tearing into it, but, for some unknown reason, I am still smiling about it. I have started to figure out what it is, and came to the conlcusion that tracotrs are just simply boring and crawlers are awesome. Very few people have them and even fewer want to work on them. I have had lots and lots of guys tell me I'm nuts because everything on a crawler is heavy. Well, I'm here to tell anyone who will listen that its not true, and that you only have to be a little smarter than the crawler to get it to do what you want. Keep that thought in mind next time someone tells you they are difficult to work on.

All that being said, thet price seem okay if the thing will move, but just be forewarned purchase price is irrelevent if you have to start fixing. But in the long run, I still think they are cheap to operate. Compare spending $1000 on your tracks vs $1,000 on rear tires for your tractor. In 5 years your tires will be cracked and checked but you rails will be fine.

Good luck,

bent

[pjl]

I, as well, bought a 1964 1010 for the same reason, I've run machinery, but never a crawler. I wish I knew more of what to look at when I bought it. It looked good and worked well when I tried out on flat ground, it's history sounded good. The guy I bought it off had it for 5 yrs with no problems, he never really pushed it though. I got it home, after about 1/2 hr fooling around on my drive way, I took it down the hill to do some real work. I found then, that the seal in one final drive was done, so it puked some oil onto the steering clutches. I barely got it back up and into my shop. I ended up overhauling both final drives (bearings and seals, dried the clutches) to zero time them. All manageable though, but a bit of money to lay out. I've got about 55 hrs use on it now, moved alot of dirt. One track keeps slipping off, which gets me a little frustrated. So this week I'll be rebushing and pinning both tracks, even though the rails are quite worn (should fix it enough for my needs).
I don't want to discourage you, this was a good learning experience for me. The machine is accomplishing everything I bought it for, and will sell for what I paid for it when done. The parts are the cost of a couple hundred hours of pasture work. I would at least recommend that you get a pro to prepurchase inspect it for you. If I buy again, I would probably try to get a generation newer machine, primarily for parts cost and availability, '70 something. This is my experience of 3 months with it in my yard, my 2 cents only. It definitely is a fun machine to operate.
PJL

[2010OWNER]

Look for cracks, loose bolts, and sloppy fits. I bought a 2010 bucket loader for parts and it had welds and stretched bolts all over it. Looked like it had been shook to pieces. It was in much poorer shape than my crawler though it was a couple of years newer.

If you want to level a little bit of ground, rent something. It is cheaper. If you want a playtoy/hobby, buy an old piece of iron. You'll spend almost as much time working on it as with it. But it will be some of the most fun you'll ever have, this side of Disneyland.

PJL is right on when he talks about buying a "next generation" crawler. 2010 parts are getting more & more expensive. A drive sprocket for a 2010 is about $830 last time I looked. A JD 350 sprocket was $250. A few parts aren't being made anymore.

He also gave you very good advice, get someone knowledgable about crawlers to go look at the machine with you. It could be the difference between buying a parts machine and something you could actually use.

I've had my 2010 since 1975. It was a little "tired" when I bought it. Over the years I've put more than twice the purchase price back into it.

All that being said, I have absolutly no buyer's remorse. I did quite a bit of land clearing and logging the first 20 years. Hauled it all over the county doing odd-jobs. Now it is semi-retired. Dug a nice duck pond with it a while back, I keep the driveway leveled, and if it ever snows here again I'm ready.

Wish you well,
Brian

[oldrustyranger]

Gents, Thank you for the sage advice. I still have not contacted the owner. I will continue to research. There is this little kid in me that always wanted some real Tonka Toys. I have very valid need for the tool but really need to be realistic as you have noted.

I'll check in and let you know what I do.

Gary (oldrustyranger)

[fryguy]

You guys all make excellent points, and I agree. I find my crawler to be very relaxing to work on and get away from daily stress. It is also good for the economy; helps to keep Lavoy, JD and my NAPA store in business. Always interesting to discover, uncover, fix and learn about crawler problems and make them right. Besides, there are some people on this earth that blow a $1000 worth of drugs up their nose in a day and what do they have to show for that?

When my wife (she claims she is a "crawler widow") complains that I spend too much time and money on my crawler, I have to remind her that I don't smoke, drink, do drugs or play cards with the boys on Friday nights. Heck, I even give the kids there baths some nights. If having a crawler is a vice, so be it.

My son who is 6 is starting to show interest in the crawler as he drove it with me one time. He is safer around me and that crawler than at the local mall.

Just my point of view; did not mean to ramble.

fryguy