John Deere 1026 problems (new owner)

[denverdave66]

I just got my John Deere 1026 today I was so excited but not being mechanically inclined I am having problems, I am sure it is something simple but never owning a tractor before I have no idea what I am doing. I am thinking I should'nt have spent all that money on a tractor and just bought a lawn mower. I have a quick disconnect loader and I guess I didn't quite take it off right which made it a real pain in the butt to get back on but I did. Well, hydraulic fluid squitting out all over the place, I turned it off recheck the fittings and I got them in as tight as they would go. I thought it was kinda like the hose that connects my air compressor real easy to put in and it works. Well, I bet I have lost a bunch of hydraulic fluid. So I decided I would just skip that and mow, well, my blades won't even turn on. I am very frustrated any ideas what is wrong?

 

[Bladehauler]

I believe you answered your own question , but the pto( power take off ) which powers the mower is hydraulically activated, so......check the hydraulic level. should tell you how in the owners manual.

Good Luck !

And remember , we ALL start from knowing nothing !

 

[KennyG]

The hydraulic fittings should be as simple as air compressor couplings. If they aren't working easily, something is wrong. Don't be shy about going back to the dealer and getting this checked out. I've been around tractors all my life, but when they delivered my 2320, they showed me how to remove and install the loader and then watched while I did it to make sure I had it right.

Last winter, while pushing snow, I had a hydraulic fitting loosen up and blew hydraulic fluid all over. The next day I topped it back up, but I didn't loose any functionality, so I would suggest you go through all the processes. Keep in mind the PTO is interlocked so you can't turn it on unless you're in the seat (and you can't start the engine if the PTO is on.)

 

[TripleR]

If everything is working correctly, mechanical knowledge/skill is not required to operate these things. My wife hooks up the hoses on our loaders and is my "ground crew" when hooking/unhooking to the FEL on our tractors.

As mentioned, you should have been given a thorough tutorial on your tractor upon delivery.

Doing all of this can initially be intimidating, but these things were designed to be usable by the non expert. Now on our older tractors, it took a bit of time skill and oftentimes a near by tree to seat the pins.

As noted, if you can't figure it out, your dealer should help you out.

Good luck.

 

[denverdave66]

The hydraulic hoses were my fault cause I stretched them but they just needed to be tightened up, the pto not turning on the blades was not my fault. There service man came out this morning and spent 2 hours fixing it, some lever that needed to be adjusted. I am glad it fixed and hope nothing else goes wrong.

 

[denverdave66]

The service at Farm, Power lawn and leisure in Columbia MO is above and beyond. I called at 7:30am they said as soon as there repair guys got here they would send someone over. I live 25 miles away, they showed up at 9:00 am and had it up and going at 11 am. He showed me a couple of times how to take the deck off and the loader off. The reason I had troubles connecting the couplers cause I didn't know I had to release the pressure. Hopefully, I won't screw anything else up.

 

[TripleR]

Glad you got it up and running.:thumbsup:

 

[megaboz]

The service at Farm, Power lawn and leisure in Columbia MO is above and beyond. I called at 7:30am they said as soon as there repair guys got here they would send someone over. I live 25 miles away, they showed up at 9:00 am and had it up and going at 11 am. He showed me a couple of times how to take the deck off and the loader off. The reason I had troubles connecting the couplers cause I didn't know I had to release the pressure. Hopefully, I won't screw anything else up.

Well I'm glad the service department was prompt but the mower should have worked from the beginning.

As for the hydraulics, remember that heat can cause the fluid to expand. So if you take the fel off when it is cool it may not reconnect easily if it is hot. Also once you shut down to take the fel off, it doesn't hurt to rock the control in all directions.

If the lines won't connect because of the pressure press the tip against something hard, but keep it covered as the spray won't taste good.

 

[hectorb]

Please always remember to release pressure from hydraulic system before handling the hoses and/or couplings as a jet stream from it could cause severe injuries.

 

[urbandeere2520]

Please always remember to release pressure from hydraulic system before handling the hoses and/or couplings as a jet stream from it could cause severe injuries.

Amen to that!

Lesson 101, with the engine off, rock the FEL control repeatedly in all directions until ALL hydraulic pressure is relieved before connecting / disconnecting hydraulic couplings.

When I disconnect my FEL, (engine off) I'll sit there rocking the FEL control in all four directions until the bucket stops moving... this may take a minute or two, but I'm usually assured of a problem free disconnect. I rarely lose more than a drop or two of hydraulic fluid.

The gentleman who posted the original note is lucky he only lost hydraulic fluid and was not severely injured. Hopefully he was wearing gloves and eye protection. RTFM