Thinking about buying a JD 1010 Edit: New pictures

[fixedforever]

I am thinking about buying my first machine, it’s a John Deere 1010 crawler, gas motor. The guy wants $3,500 for it. It starts and works pretty well. Is something this old worth buying, is it worth $3,500? How difficult is it to get parts and work on? I am worried that it’s going to break right away. What things should I look at before buying this? And how much does this weigh, he said 10,000lbs? And any other information would be appreciated.

Andrew

[Gil]

There was a rather involved discussion under the title "What To Buy" on a November 21, 2008 post in this forum. Thirteen replies addressed some of the considerations that might be of value to you.

p.s. I wouldn't buy a crawler in the dark! Wait for it to stop snowing and look at it in the sunlight ha ha

[Jason Z in MO]

This is all pretty new to me but it looks like track is sagging quite a bit. Are the upper idler rollers in place?

[Tigerhaze]

I am thinking about buying my first machine, it’s a John Deere 1010 crawler, gas motor. The guy wants $3,700 for it. It starts and works pretty well. Is something this old worth buying, is it worth $3,700? How difficult is it to get parts and work on? I am worried that it’s going to break right away. What things should I look at before buying this? And how much does this weigh, he said 10,000lbs? And any other information would be appreciated.

I think the answer is: It Depends. We are unable to give you much input from the pictures as they are not clear. It is apparent the right track is not tensioned correctly. it is also apparent it has an inside mounted blade (a plus). It also appears that either the tracks have the triple bar pads (usually used on loaders) or the grousers are worn down, but really tough to see in photos.

I think the first question you need to ask yourself is: What tasks do i want to have this crawler do and how often am I going to use it? If you are going to want to load materials, excavate holes, or remove larger trees then you probably will not want a dozer. If you are wanting a machine used daily, then you probably will not want to get a 1010 due to parts availability, although they were designed to be used as daily machines in the 60s.

I don't want to discourage you from this machine, but you will want to know as much as possible about your needs and about the particular issues with a 1010 before you go look again. There are many excellent posts recently about 1010s and the issues with them as well as over the last few years- do some searching on here to read up on them- the last poster (Jason Z in MO) was involved in the recent posts. also read up on how to inspect undercarriage- there are some good posts on that as well.

After you have an understanding of the issues with 1010 dozers then I would go look at it again in the daylight. Check fluids. Ask to have the machine run into piles, push under load, turns, etc. so you can observe the undercarriage, engine, etc. Take plenty of clear close up pictures of the undercarriage and any other questionable areas of the crawler so we can give you an informed opinion.

We can tell you this right now- 1010s have some parts availability issues (especially with undercarriage) so you will have to take that into consideration if you want a daily used machine. Also the parts that are available are generally not cheap, but that is true of all crawlers. It is impossible to tell you if it will break right away or not, but current condition is a big part of that and if we see some clear pics of the undercarriage may be able to give you an opinion on that. Having said that, I have used my 2010 crawler even with significant undercarriage wear. The weight you stated is probably close- I thought the dozers were more around 8,500 (maybe that's the bare crawlers) but probably depends on blade type, etc. 10,000 lbs is probably a pretty good estimate, as I believe my 2010 loader is around 12,500 lbs.

I know all of this is a little daunting- I went though all of this a couple of years ago when I bought my 2010 and unfortunately did not have time to read up on them on this site. We'll try to help you out as best we can- but ultimately you will need to decide if it is worth it to you based on what you want to do with it and how often.

[Tigerhaze]

The new pictures do help some.

I can tell now that you do have the triple bar pads typically used on loaders rather than dozers- it will not hurt to have them but you won't get as much traction. It does appear someone tried to weld grousers on a couple of the pads; either that or they are severely bent.

In addition those pads are worn down to the mounting bolts- the result will be wearing of the bolt heads until they wear off. It's not an immediate issue, but will be over time. I am having that problem with my 2010 now.

The track tensioners are too loose- however it looks like there is sufficent room on the trackframe so they can still be tightened and are not at the end of their adjustment range. Whether they will still adjust is a different matter.

It's hard to tell about the rest of the undercarriage because it is covered in mud/dirt and because the rock guards are in place over the rollers (a good thing). Sprocket teeth don't appear to be too sharp yet, but hard to tell. It does appear that some new bolts were used to mount the sprockets- not sure what to make of it.

The dash is missing- not a required piece but it contained all your gauges so you won't have oil pressure, temp, etc.

I'll try to look these over again later and give more feedback.

[Lavoy]

The crawler is a 4 roller, so no upper idler would have been there. In terms of useage, it will have a little less floatation. It is a little unique in that you don't see many 4 roller 1010's. Count the number of links in the track, my bet is that it has been short tracked seeing how far back the front idler is. Sprockets look kind of thin, rails are a little hard to tell.
As Tigerhaze said, parts availability is poorer on 1010's than the earlier or later crawlers. Worth is a matter of perspective, that is more of a personal thing I think, and varies greatly with your situation, needs, desires, etc. I guess my opinion is that his price is way out of line for what is there, and maybe more importantly what is not.
As to breaking down, a 5 year old machine at 10 times the money can break down, so that is more a function of maintenance, care, and abuse than age. The crawler does not weigh 10,000, I would guess 8,000 give or take.
One thing I have always told people looking at buying a crawler is buy the most crawler you can afford. Don't buy something cheaper and think you are saving money. You will get to a final number sooner or later, whether you pay it up front, and get there in parts bills over time. Often times, if you buy a better crawler, you likely won't be paying full price for the parts installed, and often times the previous owner ends up eating the labor he put into it. I know it sounds odd, but trust me, I have done enough crawlers over the years to find this out the hard way. You buy a crawler like the one you have pictured, and then end up pouring a bunch of money into it. Then you decide to sell it, and it has not gone up in value to compensate for you time, and the cost of the parts you put in. In that situation, the buyer benefits.
Lavoy

[Tigerhaze]

Andrew- Lavoy has posted pictures of the 1010 dozer he is selling. You should take a look- at the very least you can see what the tracks are supposed to look like and some of the other components that are missing on the one you are l;ooking at.

[gus]

The real question.......are you a good mechanic??????????

That tractor looks like a money pit to me. It's had some bubba work already and looks a little tired.

On the other hand, when you get everything fixed you will have a good tractor and know what's been done. About $$$$$ later.

[JD440ICD2006]

Unless you just have piles of money to throw at this one, pass; no walk; no, run away as far as you can.
He will be lucky to sell it to anyone that knows much about these. And, as stated in other post, the scarce or non existant parts adds to the reason on a 1010C.

[JD430C]

hello, my brochure says the gas 1010 with the 610 blade is 8,340lbs. it doesnt say if thats for a 4 or 5 roller, but i am guessing its for a 5 roller. theres no belly pan which is a no no, my uncle ripped the oil pan off a rebuilt engine in his 1010 because of no belly pan. IMO i would pass at that price, looks like a money pit to me.



andrew

[fixedforever]

How much is this machine worth?
Will auto part store gauges work (tach, temp, oil)?
It comes with the engine skid plate and another set of tracks.
I’m going to look at it with a friend who has a couple machines.
I have a nice shop to work on it in, and I would say I am a good mechanic.
And would something like this be strong enough to drag a truck with no wheels on it?

[joeturner1977]

This machine looks like it is on the no maintinance program. The seller does not seem to take care of his equipment. It's all muddy and never got cleaned off. I don't mean washed, but at least shovel it off. If he did not have time to do this esspecially in the winter makes me wonder how much he cares.

Do you know the seller? Did they just change the oil? I see the drain plug on the oilpan is clean. The onlything that is clean on the whole machine eventhough it is "forsale". Did the seller know you were coming to look/buy? Check the oil. How full is it? Is it new? Then look at the grease fittings. "If" the oil was changed the grease fittings should have gotten some attention to.

Just stand back and look at it from a "good mechanic's" point of view. Look at the stuff they own. Is it all taken care of the same???

Also remember, everything is for sale for a reason. The question is why.

[JD440ICD2006]

One of many tricks that sellers use is to make you think that "another fellow is on his way to look at it." It makes you think "others" see value in it and that you best buy it to beat the other fellow. I can assure you, I would not buy it if you gave me the money and I knew where it was located and had a way to haul it.
At best, it is very close to a parts tractor. Even at that, some of the good parts have already been welded so they are of little to no value. Others are missing which further reduces any value.
For comparison, look at the machine that Lavoy has for sale, ask him any questions that you can come up with.
Ask the seller what the oil pressue is, that is very important to know what condition the engine is in. (he cannot tell you since it has not had an oil pressure gauge in a long time) Ask him what RPM the engine is set at, that is very important that it run close to the rated speeds. (he can't tell you since it has not had a tach for along time)
This machine has not been cared for, any good mechanic can see that.

I know there is a lot of satisfaction in thinking that we can "rebuild' one of these, but you really need to start with a much better unit.
The best mechanic in the world cannot buy parts that are no longer available, and that is just one of the hurdles that the 1010 presents
My guess is that you will end up with at least twice in this machine than it will ever be worth, and that is conservative.

[Lavoy]

I may be alone in this, but that is a $1000 parts crawler, period. You buy it to scavange the few good parts left on it to fix up a better crawler if you need parts.
There are plenty of crawlers out there so that you don't need to look at junk like that unless you want if for a donor crawler.
My bet would be that this wreck would suck up a couple thousand dollars in parts in a hearbeat. Now you have $5500 in it plus your labor. It simply is not worth buying as it is, or at least at anything close to that price. Will he get his price? I will almost guarantee he will, I get calls from people all the time that bought a crawler like this one, then got it home and started to work on it. There is one like that an hour away from me, also a 1010. I did not have them time to work on it, so it went to a friend of mine. His quick estimate on making it a good serviceable crawler was in the $8000-$10000 range. Bear in mind, that a lot of that would be labor which you would not have, but still a lot of money.
Lavoy

[Tigerhaze]

How much is this machine worth?
Will auto part store gauges work (tach, temp, oil)?
It comes with the engine skid plate and another set of tracks.
I’m going to look at it with a friend who has a couple machines.
I have a nice shop to work on it in, and I would say I am a good mechanic.
And would something like this be strong enough to drag a truck with no wheels on it?

I think that we are telling you that the machine is not worth much with some mechanical work, and that you may not ever get the value of your time working on it back out. The extra set of tracks may be useful and add value if in good condition, but likely won't make up to the asking price.

Since market conditions regionally vary, we can't really say a dollar figure but since you know the asking price is $3700, we are saying it is likely worth substantially less than that, if you want to take on repairing it. For example, I purchased a 2010 crawler loader listed as a running, usable machine that had many new parts and decent undercarriage but still not fully functional (steering clutch problems, etc.). I payed less than $2K for it (mainly because of good undercarriage).

I used to fall into the trap of assuming someone could assign a blue book value to one, but like vehicles it is really based on how well it was cared for and how many new or rebuilt parts are on it. It is much better to talk about range of values based on condition and region. Your main problem with working on the 1010s would be availability of some parts like undercarriage, and high cost for parts that are available. If you have your heart set on buying it, Lavoy is a big help in finding parts for these older JD crawlers.

As for dragging a truck with no wheels, it is possible but depends on size of truck (pickup or medium duty) and soil conditions. It will be much easier if you can find a way to slide it across the ground rather than drag it through the ground. Just to give you an idea, my diesel 2010 loader has no problem dragging non-rolling pickup trucks but can barely move a non-rolling medium duty grain truck. A 1010 dozer would get better traction with grousers (the one in the pic has worn triple bar pads like my loader), and the gas engine has less torque than my diesel 2010.

Hope this helps and please don't take it wrong that we are being critical. We just want you to go into this with your eyes open. I was as guilty as anybody of being starry-eyed and new to crawlers when I bought my 2010 for more than I should, but know more about them now and have been lucky that I haven't had anyhting major break on mine.