I have a 1989 John Deere 1070 tractor. For the most part the tractor has been a tank and has always started right up and ran like a champ. I had back surgery in December so I hadn't operated until a couple weeks ago and even then it was just to scrape the driveway of snow. It seemed to run just fine then. Then I took it out to pull a deer camera and used it because of the deep snow. It was going just fine until again, I started up an incline. It started spitting and sputtering and then bogged down. When I down-shifted it seemed to cure the issue. The rest of that trip it ran fine.
Now last weekend I again took it out and when I got to an incline it spit and sputtered then died. I got it running again and headed back to the house. Again it killed. I got off and I looked under the hood but all looked OK. After sitting a few minutes it started up OK and I got back to the house.
I went to Farm/Fleet and got some stuff to remove water from the diesel fuel and put it in the tank. Later I used the tractor to again to scrape the driveway. It spitted and sputtered when I started but then seemed to improve with use so I thought whatever I put in the tank was helping. When I got done it seemed to be working normally so I took off down the road to see how it would do. It was fine until I got to the first hill....it died. I got it turned around but barely made it back to the house (200 yards).
Does this sound like a water in the fuel issue or plugged fuel filter? I bought a new filter from the dealer but haven't installed it yet. Anything I need to know there?
Now last weekend I again took it out and when I got to an incline it spit and sputtered then died. I got it running again and headed back to the house. Again it killed. I got off and I looked under the hood but all looked OK. After sitting a few minutes it started up OK and I got back to the house.
I went to Farm/Fleet and got some stuff to remove water from the diesel fuel and put it in the tank. Later I used the tractor to again to scrape the driveway. It spitted and sputtered when I started but then seemed to improve with use so I thought whatever I put in the tank was helping. When I got done it seemed to be working normally so I took off down the road to see how it would do. It was fine until I got to the first hill....it died. I got it turned around but barely made it back to the house (200 yards).
Does this sound like a water in the fuel issue or plugged fuel filter? I bought a new filter from the dealer but haven't installed it yet. Anything I need to know there?