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My rusty 1025R adventure, the novel.

11K views 72 replies 35 participants last post by  Cornach 
#1 ·
Hi all. I've posted a couple different posts with questions on my 1025R and my blower, but figured I should post a quick summary on but adventure. You can skip the first post if you don't want to read my novel and would rather see technical learnings :).

I've purchased a 1025R, 2019 (so 2 years old at the time of purchase), 300 hours, with all the gizmos (block heater, third function, electric snowblower chute control, two rear hydraulic functions, factory heated cab... It also came with a front quick hitch 47'' snowblower and a loader mounted hydraulic snowblade. I had it for 15000 less than a new one. I made a horrible mistake, because it was a 4 hours from my place, I bought it without seeing it.

When it got here, being my first tractor, I didn't know what to look for but from the outside quickly, it was great! I was so excited! The delivery guys dropped it and dropped the loader and the blower on my lawn. I have a 500 feet very steep driveway and he left the stuff in the middle because he couldn't get any close to the home, curves are too steep for 52' trucks.

Once he left, I brought the loader up and when I went to unhook it, the left lock would not budge. It wasn't even completely closed actually. I had to get a 10 pounds hammer to lift it. I went back down to get the blower attached. I parked the tractor using the parking brake, removed my foot from the pedal and as I was stepping out, figured the tractor was going down fast, even though it was still in low gear. So, trouble number 2, no parking brake.

I left the blower there, manually moved it off the driveway and got the tractor in the garage. I started to inspect it and posted on this very forum about the stuck 120R loader. More knowledgeable people pointed me towards what was probably a more general rust problem with the tractor.

I jacked my new best friend up, removed the rear wheels and started working the parking brake. Rust. Rust everywhere.

After some very Sherlock Holmes like investigation, I found out the tractor was used for sidewalk maintenance, including very generous salt spreading. It was also not very well (not at all) maintained.

Will I try to get my due from the seller? I might. Past mistakes taught me that fighting for months if not years for money will get you sick and depressed, often more than its worth, so I hesitate.

So. That's where I was. 25K$ CAD down money wise, with this big, scary new friend, that was clearly sick. Oh, and with a 300 pounds blower at the bottom of my driveway, that the wife, unaware of all the above, saw every time she got in or out.

Now. I'm not the type to throw the towel on the first punch, so I got my sleeves up and my grease gun out and got to work.
 
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#3 ·
First things first, I forgot about the frozen loader and got to the parking brake. Gotta get the blower out of the driveway, safely.

I'll have you know that the drawings you'll find (on this day) on this forum are for pre 2019 models. In 2019, the instrument / driver column has changed, and the parking brake adjustment too. For the better I should say, now that I know it. Know that (as far as I know) on a 2019+ model, in order to adjust the parking brake, you can only play with the brake tightness which, when **** isn't all rusty, is very easy to do!

So, rust first, I went from this:

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Motor vehicle Tread


To this:

Tire Wheel Crankset Bicycle tire Automotive tire


Now everything you see (or almost) on screen has been removed, sanded, buffered, whatever it took, than painted black where it seemed possible and then reinstalled. It was then all soaked in anti rust fluid (fluid film). As for the brake, I took it completely apart, removed the rust, painted it all, then adjusted it properly so the parking brake would engage properly. The problem on mine was that it was too loose. on 2019+, because the parking brake lever no longer has an adjustment, you have to set the brake to be tight enough wherever the parking brake locks it. This is done by screwing or unscrewing the bolt to the right of the spring loaded part you see on the right of the pictures.

Now. What did I discover while doing this? Look at the bottom right of the rusty pic. Yup, the oil line for the front attachment are rusted.... a lot.
 
#4 ·
Hi all. I've posted a couple different posts with questions on my 1025R and my blower, but figured I should post a quick summary on but adventure. You can skip the first post if you don't want to read my novel and would rather see technical learnings :).

I've purchased a 1025R, 2019 (so 2 years old at the time of purchase), 300 hours, with all the gizmos (block heater, third function, electric snowblower chute control, two rear hydraulic functions, factory heated cab... It also came with a front quick hitch 47'' snowblower and a loader mounted hydraulic snowblade. I had it for 15000 less than a new one. I made a horrible mistake, because it was a 4 hours from my place, I bought it without seeing it.

When it got here, being my first tractor, I didn't know what to look for but from the outside quickly, it was great! I was so excited! The delivery guys dropped it and dropped the loader and the blower on my lawn. I have a 500 feet very steep driveway and he left the stuff in the middle because he couldn't get any close to the home, curves are too steep for 52' trucks.

Once he left, I brought the loader up and when I went to unhook it, the left lock would not budge. It wasn't even completely closed actually. I had to get a 10 pounds hammer to lift it. I went back down to get the blower attached. I parked the tractor using the parking brake, removed my foot from the pedal and as I was stepping out, figured the tractor was going down fast, even though it was still in low gear. So, trouble number 2, no parking brake.

I left the blower there, manually moved it off the driveway and got the tractor in the garage. I started to inspect it and posted on this very forum about the stuck 120R loader. More knowledgeable people pointed me towards what was probably a more general rust problem with the tractor.

I jacked my new best friend up, removed the rear wheels and started working the parking brake. Rust. Rust everywhere.

After some very Sherlock Holmes like investigation, I found out the tractor was used for sidewalk maintenance, including very generous salt spreading. It was also not very well (not at all) maintained.

Will I try to get my due from the seller? I might. Past mistakes taught me that fighting for months if not years for money will get you sick and depressed, often more than its worth, so I hesitate.

So. That's where I was. 25K$ CAD down money wise, with this big, scary new friend, that was clearly sick. Oh, and with a 300 pounds blower at the bottom of my driveway, that the wife, unaware of all the above, saw every time she got in or out.

Now. I'm not the type to throw the towel on the first punch, so I got my sleeves up and my grease gun out and got to work.
You're not alone. While I haven't bought a big ticket item like this I do seem to be too trusting when buying used tools/machines. Toro 721 Snow blower - I have enough into it to have bought a new one. Log Splitter- my purchase price plus repairs = a new one.
I had a boss early on who said until you've had it apart, you don't know what you have or how it works. But when you're done, you will know.
Best of luck to you.
 
#6 ·
By the way, this first part took me a good 10 hours.

So, oil lines. I'll have you know, those buddies are not easy to get to. Remember in the intro when I said I had the factory installed heated cab? Yeah, it better pay off next winter, because I had to remove a lot of stuff to get to those lines, and the cab was a pain.

For those who would doubt the oil lines needed some love, here's a pic.

Automotive tire Wood Textile Tread Line


It was clear to me that the lines needed to be at least rust controlled. But to get to them, remove them and repair them, I had to remove the right fender and the black thingy under the fender.

Is that all you say? Nope. You see, this thing in the next pic, was very rusty. And it was not possible to remove the oil lines from it.

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Tread Motor vehicle


So to get to this, and frankly to get to the part where the lines connect to the SCV, I had to remove the floor so I could really remove the left fender. This is where I have to apologise. I didn't take before after pics nor do I have a walk through. I can put it in words though.

First, for those who wrote that the floor on the 2019+ model is really hard to remove. Meh. Not really. Remove all the screws and then push it from one side or the other so the middle comes up, it will go. Do take the time to remove every knob in the way (looking at you rear diff lock knob).

NOW, for those who have the heated cab. You have to remove every bold in front or around the brake and forward/backward pedals. Remove the metal plates. Obviously, remove all the insulation and rubber. Then, you'll see that you can ben the bottom rails of the cab a bit. Give it all you've got, you'll be able to get the floor past the cab rails and then remove it.

This should get you here:

Automotive tire Motor vehicle Wheel Tire Automotive exterior


And then if you lift the fender you get access to the SCV!!!

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Hood Tread


On this one, you'll notice that I've remove two of the 4 lines. In the end, 1 out of 4 would not budge. I had to break it and buy a new one. For the other 3, I sanded them like an idiot and painted them with black shiny rust paint. I'm hoping it'll last. But to be honest, now that I'm done, that is one of my regrets. I should have shelled the additional 100$ and got all 4 replaced brand new. For the younger folks reading this, always be aware of what your time is worth. I saved a 100$, but if they break, in the winter, will I be happy I have 100$ more, or really mad I have to put another 10 hours to get them changed?

Removing the floor, working the rust, painting, changing the line, putting everything back, also working the connectors, took me around 20 hours.

Oh, by the way, did you know these guys in the next pic can be taken apart? They're like new now! But TBH, 1 month later, they are starting to rust again. I should have bought new ones.

Light Wood Gas Paint Auto part
 
#7 ·
What's next you ask? Well, I did the right side, I had to do the left side! I'm not gonna go in as much details because it was basically just remove part, remove rust, paint, put part back. Boring but time consuming, another 5 to 10 hours. Here are some pics!

Before:
Automotive tire Wood Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Bumper


Quick view of the pile of crap I removed to treat, including the lawnmower adjustment thingy, real pain:

Safety glove Automotive tire Automotive design Wood Motor vehicle


And the end result! Pretty proud of this one!

Automotive tire Tire Tread Alloy wheel Wheel
 
#8 ·
While doing this, I also went to the nearest hardware store, bought calcium chloride and filled the rear tires. I used a small pump that you drive using your drill. Very cheap but does the work. Two things I've learned:
1. Calcium chloride, once mixed with water, creates a significant exothermal reaction. Or if you prefer, the liquid gets freaking hot!!! Show your kids!
2. Calcium chloride, once on your skin, will hurt you. Wear gloves. I could go rob a bank, I no longer have finger prints.

What you need is:
Calcium chloride. One 30 kilos bag will do both tire with some to spare.
Tool to remove tire air valve stem. 5$ in your nearest car parts place.
The above mentioned pump. 10$. Otherwise, you can gravity feed, but I tell ya, it'll take a day per tire.
Water. Gotta mix the thing. I'll point you to your 1025R manual. They give the proper ratio. Don't want to be responsible for a typo or change of mind.

Calcium chloride is corrosive. This means it will rust metal. But, only if oxygen is available in good quantity. That is the key point. Fill the tires with the valve at it's highest possible position. Once it starts leaking liquid there, put the stem back. Not before! If the rim inside the tire isn't completely soaked in water / calcium chloride mixture, it will rust. If you don't feel safe doing this, ask your dealer for a safer solution, like agri lime. Am I sure? Well, I'll get back to you in a few years.
 
#10 ·
Remember I had a snow blower attachment in the driveway? Well, a month later, I got it up the driveway!!!! I'll have you know that my wife is now in on all the details. I didn't marry a donkey, so I had to explain. I think she's pissed at the money I spent on a broken thing. I also think she's sad at the fact my last 10 weekends were spent on a tractor rather than with my kids. So am I to be honest. This evening, my youngest came to ask if I'd play video games with him of if I still had to work on this tractor of mine. Poor little thing. I left the tractor and played Age of empire, but that gives you a hint. This ain't a sob story guys. The fact I have to work 2 jobs is probably a worst factor here. But I wrote this post to remind you. Time isn't free. Working on something to save a couple of bucks isn't always worth it. Think it twice. You ain't getting that time back.
 
#11 ·
I'm caught up.... and I should have microwaved a bag of popcorn before I got sucked into this choose your own adventure novel. ha!

I'm going to say without hesitation that I read every word you typed... and I pictured myself around a campfire and you telling me this story. Your narative skills sucks ya right in !
Now I'm thinking I need some smores to continue! lol

This may end up being a good old Canadian - howshegoin on the howto nodoubtaboutit rust check before purchasing thread!!! - yes I'm Canadian so I get to do this ha!

Good luck on your adventure here sir.
 
#13 ·
Allright. Who's next? Ah! Right! The only reason I bought this tractor is to take care of the driveway in the winter!!! The snow blower! Let's open up the bets here. Who thinks the blower was in perfect, not so rusty shape? Yeah, nope. I'll save you the time here again. Oh, one thing to add, they hit something real bad with the blower. The front quick tach is bent a bit. I can see the place where they hammered to get it straight again. I removed all rust and got it all black again!

You can see the bend on the left here, and the as received condition. Notice on the left where the spring loaded arm was replaced by a loose bolt... Sigh...

Automotive tire Wood Bumper Motor vehicle Automotive exterior


Here is the after pic. Took a while, another few hours, but it's in great shape now! The bend isn't great, but does not seem to affect the hitch functionality.

Automotive tire Milling Bumper Composite material Gas
 
#15 ·
Y'all remember, in the very beginning, 13 posts back, the trigger? Right, the left loader bracket arm thingy would lift so I could put the loader on the parking stand and go get the blower. Well, once the blower was up and my shame lessened, I decided to give that problem a go. So, the pin that holds the parking stand to the loader frame and, at the same time, the hydraulic arm to the same frame was jammed tight. For those wondering, I'm talking about this part:

Plant Automotive tire Motor vehicle Road surface Asphalt


In the end, after trying to gently fix the problem with PB blaster, a propane torch (is that still gently?), wood shims and a rubber mallet, etc. I took the 10 pound hammer out and got the f*ucker out. It obviously broke to a point where I had to order a new one. But it was worth it. There was so much emotions in those couple heavy hits I'm not sure if physics took the pin out, or if it the pin was simply trying to escape the negative emotions thrown at it. The new pin was around 20$ and putting it back in wasn't too hard. If you have to do this, I warmly suggest you find a friend to help you. The parking stand is going to nag you for a while otherwise, not willingly aligning its hole with the frame.

One thing I should mention here, just for fun, I had a company lay asphalt in my driveway last year. This thing will get soft every time its really hot. I'll let you guess what happened to wherever the loader was putting its weight.
 
#17 · (Edited)
So, this thing got a front snow blower. Remember? I said so a couple hundred words ago. No matter what you think, I am a cautious buyer. So when I got this tractor, I knew right away I should buy a metal impeller. My local dealer as a deal with this shop that makes 250$ metal, 4 fins impeller that probably doubles the throwing distance and helps a lot with slush. I bought it. It looks amazing. So I put it on! Oh, wait. Can't be that simple. Of course not. The old impeller? Plastic, 3 fins, remember? Well, it was completely fused with the impeller shaft. I tried everything. I heated it, I hammered it, I PB blastered it, it soaked for a week in the damn juice, nothin. It would not budge. So, I went to the HW store, bought a brand new metal blade for my angle grinder and did what I had to do. For the plastic portion, well I heated it with the propane torch and cut it with my flat screw driver. YOU READ THAT RIGHT. THIS BASTARD DID NOT DESERVE A KNIFE.

Now now, calm down Butch, you're telling a story here. Here is a pic of the result.

Hand tool Tool Metalworking hand tool Artifact Font


So once I sawed the damn thing off, I noticed. Well. My snow blower was so afraid of my intentions it peed on the garage floor. The impeller shaft oil seal melted when I heated the impeller to get it off. So I ordered a new one at JD!

Fast forward 1 week, JD got the piece, I go get it, in the meantime I had obviously done what I was put on this planet for, removed all existing rust from any part of the blower and painting it.

Before
Hood Yellow Road surface Automotive tire Asphalt


After

Wood Asphalt Automotive tire Road surface Gas


I don't know if you are familiar with oil seals, but they have one rule: get the right size. They need to fit tight with the outside, and the need to snuggle very tightly with the shaft they protect. Sadly, John Deere CE17406 tries to respect rule #1 too much, and has a good 1/8 of an inch extra. Yup, you read that right, John Deere themselves don't know the right parts for their stuff.

At this point guys, I have to admit, my temper, patience, karma, whatever, is pretty bad. I tried to fit the damned seal anyways and broke it. I was pissed. I barely slept (no kidding). When I woke up the next morning on a sunny Saturday, I had one goal and it was to see the end of this freaking snowblower story. No JD dealer in a 50 miles radius had the part in stock nor did they have a clue what to do with my oversized seal problem. Then, following your advices my forum friends, I called my local auto parts store. They basically told me to F off. We don't carry tractor parts. But, one of them, ONE, finished his impolite sentence with an important advice, call Harvey Bearings, they have all the oil seals in the world. Now, do they really have all the oil seals in the world? I highly doubt it. Are they open on a Saturday morning? You bet they are! Were they able to give me right away the correct seal based on the old melted one for 1/6th the JD price? Damn right they were. Did they confirm the JD one would never have fit my hole (!), yes they did (at this point, I needed this confirmation).

Oh, I forgot to mention, While I was working on the seal, I noticed I could move the shaft a good half inch up and down, which seemed odd. While looking inside the gearbox, I noticed a circlip all alone and all bent. Well, it seems my friendly attempts at hammering the old impeller out damaged the gearbox. Well, at least that clip. I replaced it (10$, yes, 10$ for a single clip) and it seemed ok afterwards.

I didn't get pics of the snowblower cleaning process, but it was rather boring. Only advice, be careful, there are 3 keys holding the moving part together and you don't want to loose them. Otherwise, here is the best pic I have of the 4 fin metal impeller. You'll notice at the bottom right of the pic the previous impeller metal core looking at it's replacement... I feel no shame for letting that happen.

Crankset Bicycle tire Automotive tire Bicycles--Equipment and supplies Bicycle handlebar
 
#33 ·
...My local dealer as a deal with this shop that makes 250$ metal, 4 fins impeller that probably doubles the throwing distance and helps a lot with slush. I bought it. It looks amazing. ...


View attachment 804031
A (new and improved) steel impeller for $250? Do these guys know they could make a small fortune selling those if they advertised it?
 
#18 ·
WOW
 
#20 ·
Well, that's all folks! I still have to change all the fluids on the tractor (I've lost a lot of oil through all this) and I still have the two bottom arms 3 point hitch knuckles completely jammed, but that'll be for the next weeks. I wanted to make a summary of my story so far, hoping it would cheer up anyone living something similar.

In the end, I don't regret it. I hope it'll fix my driveway maintenance problem for the winter. We'll see. Would I have paid this price had I known the state it was in? No. Do I have only regrets? No. I know my machine pretty well now. The blower has no secrets for me. The 1025 brakes, oil lines, floor, quick connects, rear diff lock mechanism have no secrets for me now. These are all positive arguments! So I will sure post a few things during the winter to let you know how the beast behaves in good old Canadian winters. Until then, have fun!
 
#21 ·
You have done an amazing amount of work! And, that was an amazing amount of rust to deal with. I have done a fair amount of disassembly on my 2015 1025R, some of it things you have done and I cannot even imagine the extra time and effort involved to having to do the process complicated by extremely rusty parts and fasteners.

I spent this afternoon working on my brake linkage. I wish I had seen your posts and some of your pictures before I tackled the job. Even with the tech manual and no rust it was slow going.

Nice work. And thanks for taking the time to document and post with pictures.
 
#24 ·
Great story, you've got skills both mechanically and in writing. Now I look forward to seeing your photographic skills.
 
#25 ·
Oh hell no, we need something to get buggered up so this story continues. We need you to be the guy that narrates the rebuild of the burned up cab tractor...
 
#39 ·
Yes The story line is superb
 
#26 ·
Those pictures with everything covered in rust made me cringe.
You certainly had a daunting task to go to work to mitigate it all like you did.
I would dare say that by now you have touched more parts of your tractor than most of us ever will.
Great job!
 
#28 ·
One hell of a job. I admire your work ethic. what we're looking at is the abuse of a machine by people who don't pay the bills for it.
 
#29 ·
I remember when you brought this home and posted the pictures of the rust and the "sticking" valves, no brake, et all..........You have worked hard and done a great job.

One STRONG suggestion for you, purchase 12" long hydraulic hose extensions so your connection point for the front mounted hydraulic connectors is not under the front of the cab, which is difficult at best. Once the extensions are installed, you leave them on and connect and disconnect on top of the large loader frame mount, instead of standing on your head trying to get the quik hitch and snow blower hoses to connect back under the front of the floor.

Sounds like you have a number of sources for parts, any hydraulic hose shop can make these for you. If you were in the U.S., I would suggest simply ordering from Ken;'s Bolt on Hooks, but since you are in Canada, it might be easier to get the 12" hose extensions locally.....

Here is a thread with pictures of the hoses and the details you would need to have them made. Don't go longer than 12" in total length, including the couplings, as it will make the other hoses too long and require you to secure them out of the way.............Good luck and great job on rescuing that machine...........

 
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#37 ·
I remember when you brought this home and posted the pictures of the rust and the "sticking" valves, no brake, et all..........You have worked hard and done a great job.

One STRONG suggestion for you, purchase 12" long hydraulic hose extensions so your connection point for the front mounted hydraulic connectors is not under the front of the cab, which is difficult at best. Once the extensions are installed, you leave them on and connect and disconnect on top of the large loader frame mount, instead of standing on your head trying to get the quik hitch and snow blower hoses to connect back under the front of the floor.

Sounds like you have a number of sources for parts, any hydraulic hose shop can make these for you. If you were in the U.S., I would suggest simply ordering from Ken;'s Bolt on Hooks, but since you are in Canada, it might be easier to get the 12" hose extensions locally.....

Here is a thread with pictures of the hoses and the details you would need to have them made. Don't go longer than 12" in total length, including the couplings, as it will make the other hoses too long and require you to secure them out of the way.............Good luck and great job on rescuing that machine...........

Thanks for this, I will certainly look into it.
 
#30 ·
We need to create a “Tractor Rescue” forum and pin this to the top! I’m envious of your patience and mechanical skills. Many would have let this purchase beat them down. You didn’t!

you mention cutting into family time, but there is an upside - you have demonstrated the value of what can be accomplished with determination and strength of character.
 
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