Just over two years ago my father passed away, and he left behind his John Deere 1010 crawler tractor. I wish I had taken the opportunity to learn more about it when I could. Now I’m in the predicament of learning about it while I attempt to repair it. During the winter.
My stepmother is planning on selling her house this spring. That means I need to move the tractor to our property, but in order for me to do so I need to get it running. I’m not super mechanical to begin with, but I’ve never worked on diesel equipment until now. So it’s been a fun, learning experience. It would just be a lot more fun if I didn’t have a deadline. Or if it was summer.
As far as I can remember, the last time my father had the tractor running was 10-15 years ago. He had used it extensively when he built his house. From what I know, it worked incredibly well to establish and clear his building site and driveway along with trails throughout the property.
Since it has sat for so long, I would like to do a thorough overhaul and make sure all of the routine maintenance is done. That’s going to have to wait until summer though, so for now I just need to get it loaded on a trailer.
To start with the basics, I’ve added fresh fuel with some Diesel 911 additive to try and eliminate and frozen moisture in the system. I’ve replaced the fuel filters and purchased a new battery. I have added new battery cable clamps and also blown out most of the fuel lines. So far, it’s been a work in progress, but I am making progress.
A month ago when I started I just turned the key and hoped it would start. I’ve learned a lot more since then. No, it’s still not running, but I’m getting closer. My new battery had died from repeated attempts to crank it over. It’s on the charger now, but I know with certainty now that I have fuel all the way up to the injector pump. It has to purge the air from there to the injector heads; if I don’t get fuel at the injector heads then I know there’s a blockage in one (or more) of those four lines. If I do get fuel at the injector heads, then I can surmise that I probably need to replace the glow plugs.
So again – no, it’s not running yet, but I am comfortable with the progress that I’ve made – especially recently. Next week the weather is supposed to be considerably warmer; I’m hoping that will bring me good luck to get this beast fired up.