First time tractor owner

[bikerzing]

Hey guys, first time posting here and first time tractor owner. I bought a 1970 John Deere 1020 and am loving life! Up till now, I have been stalking you guys by reading as much as I can prior to my purchase and you have been super helpful and want to thank you for that. I plan to use the tractor for driveway maintenance in all seasons. Plowing snow in the winter and shaping the gravel driveway in the spring/summer/fall. I also plan to mow and garden. The previous owner only put 100 hours on in the last 12 years so here is my plan to make sure this thing runs smooth through the winter. Please add to my list of necessary to dos as to prevent potential issues in the future.

1. Bought engine oil and filter and changing those out. Oil levels were spot on BTW.
2. Bought Hygard hydraulic oil and filter. Changing those out. Fluid was about 2 gallons low when purchased. Keeping an eye out for any leaks and my have never been checked over the last 12 years.
3. Purchased a service manual. Will be here Friday.
4. Purchased a Model 37 loader service manual. Will be here Friday.
5. OMG there are a ton of grease zerks.
6. I feel like I should change/clean the air filter but can't find the **** thing.
7. There is a bowl up front that has a small bit of oil in the bottom and the sticker says to check daily for residue? Well I checked it but there is none. What the heck is that thing?
8. I assume that power steering works off the hydraulics. Is there a separate drain plug for that?
9. I also purchased with the tractor a rear blade, rotary mower, and a finish mower. Can you speak to any preventative maintenance that should be performed on those immediately given the limited use?

 

[Gary Fowler]

It has been about 40 years since I saw a 1020 but IIRC the air filter is way up front behind the radiator screen side panels. But if you follow the piping from the oil bath bowl (that is a dust pre-filter) downward toward the engine you WILL find the air filter.

I don't know if those tractors have a separate system for the power steering or not so when you drain and replace the hydraulics, you might get it all. Best way to be sure is to follow the hydraulic lines from the steering motor (attached to the steering wheel) and see where they go. You will have a supply and return line and they will go back to the steering hydraulic pump if it has one. It should be easy enough to find and determine.

About all the maintenance needed is on the mowers. Grease any and all zerks on them, grease the sliding PTO shaft and then check the oil level in the gear drive. There should be two plugs (usually square top) with one on top of the housing and one on the side. The top is the fill point and the one on the side is the oil level. I doubt you need to do anything other than fill with 90W gear oil to the required level. IF the oil coming from the level port is milky or off colored, then you likely need to drain and replace. Without removing the stump jumper from underneath and removing the gear housing, there is no easy way to drain them that I am aware off. The easiest way I can think off is to remove both plugs, hook the bushhog to your FEL and pick it up on its side so the oil flows out the level hole.
Most of the time, you will never need to drain and replace the oil in these gear boxes, hence there is no easy way to drain them.

If your finish mower is belt driven, and most of them are, then you should inspect the belts for cracks and abnormal wear. If they appear ok, then check the tightness of the belts. Amount of deflection should be in the OEM manual for the piece of equipment. Many of these are online if you didn't get the manual. Usually about a half inch of deflection between pulleys is about right.

 

[KennyG]

Sounds like a real find. Congratulations. I think you're on the right track and the service manual will answer most of your questions. At some point you will probably want to change the oil in the mower gearboxes, but immediately I would just check and make sure they are full. On the later small diesels the air filter is right on top of the engine but maybe yours has an oil bath air cleaner like old tractors?

 

[jeff9366]

Here are threads in the T-B-N archive, using Deere 1020 as the search.

Note: multiple pages.

Google

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the TBN forum BikerZing. We are glad that you joined us here. Isn't it great to be a tractor owner.
Now, besides all your other chores, you have to take care of the tractor also. But if you take good care of it, it will do a lot of work for you.
We all love pictures, so please post them often.

 

[bikerzing]

Some photos.

 

[bikerzing]

Any thoughts on how to know if the carburetor needs to be cleaned out? Sitting directly in the path of the exhaust may be incorrectly making me think it runs a little rich. But maybe I need to look at other areas as well. Heck, the same tank of gas could be in there for that last 5 years too.

 

[jeff9366]

There are a number of "fuel revitalizers" on the market. One ounce per 2.5 gallons gas. I bought this yesterday at Home Depot:

B3C ETHANOL SHIELD - FIX POOR / NON-RUNNING ENGINES, REVITALIZES STALE FUEL, CLEANS CARB, NO REMOVAL

LINK: Ethanol Shield Fuel Stabilizer | B3C Fuel Solutions


At this moment I have no experience with the product. Soon to try in a Stihl engine.

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Enjoy the site.

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

"I feel like I should change/clean the air filter but can't find the **** thing.
There is a bowl up front that has a small bit of oil in the bottom and the sticker says to check daily for residue? Well I checked it but there is none. What the heck is that thing?"

You found what you were looking for. That is your oil bath air cleaner. I thought the later model 1020's had a dry filter element. My 66 has an oil bath cleaner. You may want to check the serial number to verify the model year. Look on tractordata.com for a list. The earlier models have some differences in power steering, hydraulics and such. I saw that you ordered the service manual, a good idea, get an operators manual as well. The service manual will answer most of the questions you have. I really like my 1020, and use it for quite a few tasks around our 20 acre farm. The 37 loader is very handy. I reworked it with new cylinders and hoses, and quick connects for the bucket. Pull 4 pins, disco the hoses, and lets go plow, mow, or bale hay.