Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help.

   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help. #1  

Noodlez914

Bronze Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2012
Messages
60
Location
New York
Tractor
John Deere 1023e
Hello everyone.

I am about to pull the trigger on purchasing my first SCUT. I have a home with lots of property with lots of chores and ideas but I also have a budget, so my wife will not allow me to buy every attachment John Deere offers (although I would like to).

I am definitely purchasing the Bucket and mower deck, thats a given. But here is where I am on the fence and hope some people that have been doing this forever can help me....

My projects for the immediate and far future are as follows: Moving some dirt around and reshaping a back area of my home. Not major earth moving, just leveling down uneven areas, filling in ruts, moving brush, leaves and rocks etc. Moving snow in the winter. Have a huge snowblower but wouldn't mind using the tractor as well. Have very wooded property that has rutted trails to fix as well as wanting to make some new trails. I cut my own firewood, so i need to go in and out of the woods. Will also be moving some nice size boulders out of areas of the property.

With all that in mind and you had to choose a 3rd attachment (already will have bucket and mower) what would you go with? Rear rake, Rear Blade, or something else I am not aware of??

Any input would be helpful. I am new to this and want to make every cent worth it that I spend on this tractor and utilize its full potential.
 
   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help. #2  
A box blade.

Also consider a rear blade for snow, but you may get too much snow for a rear blade to be practical. I guess it all depends on how fast it comes down and how much time you have to plow.

What are you using for ballast with the loader?
 
   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help. #3  
Agree, box blade.
 
   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help. #4  
Moving some dirt around and reshaping a back area of my home. Not major earth moving, just leveling down uneven areas, filling in ruts, moving brush, leaves and rocks etc.


The best attachment for leveling land is a box blade, the best for brush is a grapple, but I'm not sure if you can get a grapple on a 1000 series. I think, as long as it's only minor brush/leaves, pulling it around by hand/rake would be fine. There's no one implement to do both of these jobs, though. I would definitely go for the box blade, though.


Have a huge snowblower but wouldn't mind using the tractor as well.


How deep is your snow? For up to under a foot average, I think a rear blade works great, over that you'd need a blower for the tractor.


Have very wooded property that has rutted trails to fix as well as wanting to make some new trails.


The best for this is a box blade as well, as I mentioned above.


I cut my own firewood, so i need to go in and out of the woods.


A set of pallet forks with a custom pallet set up would be nice to move the wood. Plenty of people have done that on here.


Will also be moving some nice size boulders out of areas of the property.


By good size what do you mean? Your best luck to move a bolder would be slipping it on some pallet forks, but they can be heavy and if they get to big your best bet is to rent a larger machine for a weekend to clean them out.


With all that in mind and you had to choose a 3rd attachment (already will have bucket and mower) what would you go with? Rear rake, Rear Blade, or something else I am not aware of??

I think your best option for one other attachment is a box blade as it fits a lot of what you need to do and works as a great ballast. I would look into a set of pallet forks as well as they are very handy.
 
   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help. #5  
If you are planning to do any digging you might consider a toothbar for the loader.
 
   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help.
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Hey thanks everyone for all the input. Well I am definitely gonna look into a Box Blade for sure then. I don't know why I thought a box blade was just for grooming gravel. Our winters are pretty brutal (except this one). East of Lake Ontario snow belt. I figured a tractor bucket or rear blade wasn't the best for snow removal but figured it could be put to use. Especially when the snow mounds start to mount up, figure i could use the loader then. The ballast I'm getting is the John Deere one. I will look into the tooth bar as well. I guess I will learn as time goes on what the most effective tools for the job.
 
   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help. #7  
If you are going to be driving in the woods on rutted roads or chasing firewood as you say, you may want a tractor with more ground clearance. I was very serious about the JD 1023E/1026R, and came close to buying one, but ended up going with something a little bigger with a lot more ground clearance. And let me tell you, in the woods, that makes a huge difference. I have been doing a lot of firewood cutting in the last few weeks, and appreciate every bit of that extra ground clearance. I think I would have been cramped with the 1023/1026 -- they're just too low to the ground with tires that are too low profile. These tractors are really intended for working on land that has already been cleared/improved.
 
   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help. #8  
Pallet forks I think are a must. Great for moving brush. And with a pallet firewood too.

Look into the 1026r too. You are getting a better tractor with a little more HP and for very little extra. The extra lights I am sure would serve you well in the woods.

You could also look into a rear blower if you feel you need it for the snow.
 

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   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help.
  • Thread Starter
#9  
If you are going to be driving in the woods on rutted roads or chasing firewood as you say, you may want a tractor with more ground clearance. I was very serious about the JD 1023E/1026R, and came close to buying one, but ended up going with something a little bigger with a lot more ground clearance. And let me tell you, in the woods, that makes a huge difference. I have been doing a lot of firewood cutting in the last few weeks, and appreciate every bit of that extra ground clearance. I think I would have been cramped with the 1023/1026 -- they're just too low to the ground with tires that are too low profile. These tractors are really intended for working on land that has already been cleared/improved.

Well these rutted trails I am hoping to clean up so I won't be dealing with constant rutted trails. And going into the woods and having clearance issues will only be about 10% of what the tractor will be used for. I am trying to balance a very complex scale. I have looked at other tractors a step up (Which really go above my price range) And they just seem too big and the tires seem like they would really put a hurting on my lawn. And cutting the lawn with it will be very often. I know that there is no magic bullet of a tractor that will fulfill the exact needs for what I want so it seems like the 1023e so far seems like the one. As far as the 1026R...... I feel like i am shelling out 1,000 extra for 2 more HP. Seems like everything else are just luxury items and I have no plans to be working in the dark. At the end of the day I need a tractor that will cut a pretty soft lawn as well as handling some dirty tasks.
 
   / Purchasing a 1023e. Need attachments help. #10  
Well these rutted trails I am hoping to clean up so I won't be dealing with constant rutted trails. And going into the woods and having clearance issues will only be about 10% of what the tractor will be used for. I am trying to balance a very complex scale. I have looked at other tractors a step up (Which really go above my price range) And they just seem too big and the tires seem like they would really put a hurting on my lawn. And cutting the lawn with it will be very often. I know that there is no magic bullet of a tractor that will fulfill the exact needs for what I want so it seems like the 1023e so far seems like the one. As far as the 1026R...... I feel like i am shelling out 1,000 extra for 2 more HP. Seems like everything else are just luxury items and I have no plans to be working in the dark. At the end of the day I need a tractor that will cut a pretty soft lawn as well as handling some dirty tasks.

There are some really worthwhile upgrades in the 1026R -- in fact the engine horsepower is really only a minor detail.

I had started looking at the 1023E for the price, but realized the 1026R is a better value when you consider all the extra features. The big ones are position control on the 3PH, cruise control, more PTO power, and *much* better seat (the one on the 1023E is worse than what I have on my 10 year old Deere riding mower). If you consider this to be a long term purchase, then I'd strongly urge you to consider the 1026R.

The only problem then is that puts you in a price range where larger compacts are viable options too, so be careful before spiraling out of control. I got a price quote of $14600 for a 1026R with H120 loader, and suddenly the Kubota B2620+loader at $14700 was the better choice (I ultimately went with the B2920+loader for $15400 to get extra PTO horsepower).

I do think the sub-compact 1023/1026 will be better mowers than a compact would be, but be sure to consider turf tires if hurting the lawn is a big factor. The 1023/1026 ship with R4 tires, no different than many larger tractors. Generally the tire pressure (which goes hand in hand with tractor weight and tire footprint) is going to tell you how a particular tractor will do for lawn damage with a given tire type, so it's entirely possible a larger tractor with bigger tires would do less damage!

The R4s on my B2920 do fine on my fescue lawn, but have torn up the field behind my yard a little bit, where the ground cover is not as consistent (who would've thought a fescue lawn would be hardier than a field -- not me). So factor in your grass type and lawn condition when thinking about tires. For my uses, on the lawn and in the woods, I am really liking the R4. If I had a more fragile lawn, I'd want turfs.
 
 
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