John Deere 1050 Advice

Supposed to go look at a 1980, John Deere 1050 tractor with 4x4 and loader tomorrow being sold by an individual, so I an seeking advice on what to look at/for when I go. I currently have a 640 Ford so this would be an update to what I currently have. From what I can see from TRACTORDATA it is a 1.7L turbo charged Yanmar Diesel with a sliding gear transmission.

It appears to be a work tractor with dinged fenders, faided paint, 50% rear tires and in need of new front tires.

Besides the obvious signs of abuse (worn out lift arm ends, bent and broken things, oil in the antifreeze, antifreeze in the oil, lots of blow by, leaks...) what should I look for as signs of trouble? Keep in mind that I am mechanically capable of simple repairs but do not know my way around a Diesel engine nor have I ever owned or used one.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated as this tractor sounds like a bargain, but money is hard to come by. Thanks

Gidday, I had one of those quite a few years ago.
Built by Yanmar for JD. Engine was sweet and ran very nicely. Trans used to make some strange noises but worked ok. Hydraulics were slow
as mine had a loader on it. Parts were available but VERY EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!
I couldn't get anything aftermarket, not even filters. The clutches were not strong, and plates were super expensive compared to any others. I
did end up getting a heavy duty clutch with the bronze paddles for it. That worked quite well.
One thing you must take note is if it front wheel assist - have a good hard look at the front hubs. They are very thin castings, and the loader put
too much weight on them. Company I worked for had 3 of those tractors and they all broke hubs. Again, a very expensive fix. We ended up
shifting the loader frame further back to reduce the load, plus we welded stops on the steering in order to reduce the force on the hubs when
turning with the bucet loaded. They had a very small turning circle so the hubs turned incredibly sharp. Must have been hard on the hubs.
That made them a lot more useable.
Have a good look and be pre warned, but all the best with it.
Rex

Check the clutch for free play and engagement. Clutch can be a labor intensive job on that unit.

After talking with the guy some more I have decided to pass on the tractor based upon unknown hours and a transmission that only has high range. I guess it was too good of a deal...

I have a 950 from the early eighties. That I bought with 50 hours on the clock. It now has a little over 3000 hours. It is the same tractor as the 1050 just mines the turbo. I have a loader and backhoe for it. Other than the regular oils changes and filters. I have replaced one battery. One battery ground strap. Two front tires and one hydraulic hose. I had some starting problems with it. There may have been a service bulletin about it that required and additional relay ($10) part I put on and it stopped my intermittent starting trouble. Mine does all I have asked and then some and very trouble free.

The hydraulic pump works by turning the steering wheel to the right. Left works, but only about half as well as right. Try to lift the loader or 3pt without doing that, and they won't work by design. They're nice little tractors, but are little tractors. The 1050 is about 27HP because of the turbo. Think 950 is 25, 850 23. As someone said, if they do break, parts are expensive and hard to come by. I had clutch problems on my 950 about 10 years ago I'm guessing, and needed to replace the flywheel while I was at it. The Deere guy needed to go third party because stuff was pretty back ordered through the motherland. They're ok little tractors and the 1050 MFWD could come in pretty handy. From my opinion though, there are better tractors out there, especially for the money and parts availability. They weigh the same as a Ford 640. The 1050 has a live 540 RPM PTO though. Slightly less HP than the 640. If it's been setting, the brake rods sometimes rust up, but can be loosened up with oil on the rods. The 1050 is four speed with a high and low range making it an eight speed. Trans lube and hydraulics are the same Hydraulic oil in the trans, filter under the left floorboard. They are ok little tractors, but I'm of the opinion that there are better tractors in the same or different colors for the same money, probably not MFWD though.

Good luck.

Mark

They are almost the same tractor as my Yanmar 330,great little tractor and plenty of parts available from Hoye Tractor.