2010

[Christos]

I realize I'm probably opening a can of worms but I was at the JD dealer getting some hardware and I saw a 2010 Gas Row Crop ROM with a loader.

I bought a service manual for a 1010 and understand that both tractors use that weird sleeve and deck engine.

Why were these tractors so bad? I've seen you all mention that the hydraulics are weird and the engine and there is poor parts support.

Probably not going to buy it as I'd prefer to have a MF 165 or Ford 4000, but what was was wrong with these things?

Christos
 

[wisbaker]

They weren't one of Deere's better ideas. As you mentioned they used the unique engine and realized it was a mistake and moved away from it pretty darn quick. It also seems they crammed a lot of stuff into a small framed tractor so getting to anything to work on is a PITA. In my opinion they were not as stout as the other new generation tractors, they don't seem to have the longevity their other tractors enjoyed, to put it another way if worked under the same percentage load of the tractor's rated capacity they just don't seem to run as long as a 4010 or even the 2 cylinders.
 

[buickanddeere]

A gasser 1010 can be made to function decent enough.
Either diesel or the 2010 chassis is trouble.
 

[mkjd420]

finding a 2010 utillity with a good tranny is a task we ended up with a bad one with 3000 hours 1963 seen a guy scrap a nice one with 2200 hours and loader ours will not go into high gears with all new linkages , his was the same way , the tractor aint worth $4000 or $5000 to fix
if your going to take a bath on restoring or fixing a tractor might as well bath in one you'll get your money back with one day
 

[mkjd430]

owrs is going to end up as a pto power plant for a folly bell saw one day, it will cut small crap i think
 

[LJD]

I like the 10 series crawlers. The ag tractors not so much. Brakes were never very good. Tractors got little to no aftermarket parts support. That being said - the 1010 and 2010 series had many "firsts" for Deere Co. First full size wet-sleeve engine. First diesel to use the Stanadyne-Roosamaster rotary injection pump. First Deere engine to use positive-type valve seals. First Deere crawler (1010) to have a hydraulic power-shift reverser. First crawler (2010) to have a hydraulic power shift Hi-Lo-Reverse transmission. Also - maybe the only indirect injected diesels Deere ever built?
 

[cjn]

There are many things I don't like about mine, but it keeps on plugging along and hasn't died yet. Who thought it was a good idea to have you 'glow-plug' a tractor when its 80 degrees out or when it's already warmed up? It takes 2-3 tries to start it in the summer, and 5-6 tries in the winter plus waiting 30 minutes before it becomes useful. Like was said in a previous reply. They tried to stuff too much into a little tractor. It would have been an awesome tractor if they could have pulled it off. A little bit ahead of its time. Just my 2 cents.
 

[schultz47]

I farmed with a 2010 from 1978-1995. It was my "big" tractor on a 60 acre hobby farm. It was a great tractor, had 13.9 X 36 tires on it. It shifted well, never did anything to it except when I hooked up a 3 point log splitter to it, then it would plug up the hydraulic filter. I would have to pull it and clean it out. Put it back in and back in business. Sold it at my auction for $1000 more than I paid for it in '78.
 

[Leroy]

Those gas engines were used in the 40 & 45 combines for years with no problems.
 

[FarmerZeb]

you can't really point to just one thing. they are a pretty useful tractor if you can find a good one and keep it running. i have one i use as a utility with a loader for misc stuff (lifting, logging, splitting firewood, back blading). I do not use it for anything that requires a load be put on on it.

problems i have had with mine:
transmission high range synchros
continual carb adjustments for the weather
eats points on an irregular basis
hyd screen filter plugs up now an then
 

[mkjd430]

when they work right they do have power
and good lift on the loaders
 

[DONALD ANGSTADT]

SIR The 2010 was a unique tractor and a quote from a now deceased j.d. dealer was that if the J.D. co. would have made all there tractors like the 2010 they would now be out of business. From a mechanics view point I did not like the five compartment trans, the reason that there was such a loud trans. noise. The dry overcent multi disk pto clutch was very poor
and very difficult to repair you had to remove the rockshaft. The hyd. system was open center with a full flow filter was ok but the gear pump
was in the center of the tractor. Gear shift linkage had many more wear points as compared to the 3010, 4010. I swore I would never own one in my collection, but I changed my mind when I could locate 2010 diesel fork lift. I guess I will never learn Good luck
 

[tim s]

Very nicely put Don...it"s hard to find anything nice to say about a 2010, they were indeed a Mechanical Nite Mare...
 

[jddave]

I hate to hear about John Deere failures. Gives one pause because, engineering-wise, why didn't they just make smaller versions of the 3010 and 4010 with all the good stuff for the 1010 and 2010?
 

[Tx Jim]