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New Member and NEW 1026R

6K views 27 replies 14 participants last post by  Joe 
#1 ·
Great site, started reading all the reviews and post about the SCT's vs the 700 and 500 series lawn tractors and you guys help me decide to go with the 1026r for it's versitility. Thanks and here are some pictures. I'm sure I will have many more question and decisions about attachments. Thanks again.
 

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#2 ·
Welcome to the 1026R club,,,,unofficial that is

I have a 1026R also. Had a few bugs in the auto-connect deck, but those are worked out. This bugger really cuts grass. Hang on. Did you cut yet? I put the I-Hitch on it. I have a 48" box blade and will get a snow blower soon.
 
#5 ·
I have a 1026R also. Had a few bugs in the auto-connect deck, but those are worked out. This bugger really cuts grass. Hang on. Did you cut yet? I put the I-Hitch on it. I have a 48" box blade and will get a snow blower soon.
Was delivered last Friday and I had a change to cut some yesterday. Man this thing cuts, it put a smile on my face. The cut was quick and fast. I did notice it cut a little lower on one side than the other. I checked the level on it in the garage and the deck checked out level. Seems like I read the wheels are not supposed to touch the ground but I think this would have kept it from cutting lower on one side. It's got to be out of level, what else could it be. Will play with it some more tomorrow and recheck the level. I will check the auto-disconnect too. I want to take the deck off a couple times just for practice. After that I want to try out the FEL. But so far I am very impressed with this machine, love all the creator comforts. Will report back in a couple days and write a review.
 
#3 ·
nice tractor, is a bagger available for those yet?
 
#10 ·
OK, had some more time to look into this scalping issue that I was getting with my first cut. If your deck is in a lower mowing poistion then every time your tires run into a dip your deck with scalp your yard. The longer the wheel base is on a tractor the more scalping affect you will get if your mower is set low. I rised the deck to a much higher setting (at or near H on the dial) and it is not as noticeable, although I'm sure it is still cutting a tad lower in spots you have the dips. My yard looks level but it is not perfectly flat, it has slight dips here and there. The only way to reduce this dipping affect is to lower your wheels down to support your deck when the tires dip. The recommended wheel height is 3/8 in between wheels and ground. Check on level ground or cement driveway each time you adjust your cutting height to insure wheels are in correct poistion to ride over high spots in yard. This will elimate scalping yard on those high spots when tractor tires drive into those dips in your yard. This is what I did with mine and I was much happier with the final cut.
 
#11 ·
Here is a review of my new 1026r after a few hours of use. The overall tractor is one fine deere, and a great machine. Anyone thinking about this tractor will not be disappointed. Although the machine itself is a big improvement and a great machine there are some minor issues that need to be addressed by John Deere. The first one deals with the auto-connect deck, I have the same issue as some others here have had with the deck not reconnecting. There needs to be a redesign in the spring loaded latch on the rear of the deck that snaps back in place to lock the deck on when reconnecting. Either the spring is too weak or needs to be relocated in a different position as to apply more pressure on the latch. This is an easy fix, but it should be address at the factor level not after it is delivered to your home. Needs to be redesigned. The second thing I have noticed so far deals with the dial for the mower height. This too needs to be redesigned or just readjusted. Setting the dial at or below the "L" setting on the control dial is too low for any normal mowing. At this level you will be mowing dirt, nobody is going to mow a yard at this setting or you will just kill your grass or damage your blades from hitting dirt. It would be better if the control knob had 1", 2", 3" or 4" on it for the height settings so you would not have to guess or measure at what height you're cutting. That would be a big help and a nice redesign. And last it would be nice if the fuel gauage was on the instrument panel where it belongs instead of on the fender, but I understand why it's not. And I don't understand why these tractors have to idle at 1500 rpm's seems to high to me,but if that's the normal operating range then that's what it is. Ok to me, still one great tractor. Will update you guys with anything else I notice as I get more time in the seat.
 
#13 ·
Yes on the garden hose connection. However, I would let the mower spindles cool down for about 5 minutes before I would
spray cold water on the deck. Then let your tractor sit outside for about 10 mins to let excess water drain off. It is going to
leave somewhat of a mess wherever you clean it out.
 
#14 ·
Welcome to DT!

I agree 100%, cold water and hot spindles are not a great combination. I would not use the port at all myself...
 
#15 ·
Congrats on your new machine and :welcomedt
Is this the largest deck you have used on your grass?
If it is,you may have to experiment with different ways of approaching the problem areas.
Just something to consider because I had to change the way I cut mine going from a 48" to a 62".

Greg
 
#16 ·
Thanks for the comments ONEFINEDEERE. I am considering a 1026R myself, and your negatives are the same as mine, and thankfully those are minor, at least for me. And I am with Kennyd on just not using the wash port on the MMM.
 
#18 ·
glc, it is the largest mowing deck that I have used and will try different angles of approch to see if that does the trick. Along with verifying the wheel height I'm sure I will get it figured out and get that great cut that we all expect with JD.:thumbup1gif: Also today I will try to correct the weak spring issue on the latch for the auto-connect. Will update you guys with my ideas for a fix.
 
#20 ·
54 vs 60

I'm getting close to getting a 1026R. I was looking at the Kubota BX2660 and that unit needs some updating when compared to the 1026R. I'm going to stay away from the auto connect deck since I know I won't have any problems with the std set up. My question is do you guys think the 54" deck would do a superior job vs the 60" deck? Thanks.
 
#22 ·
Ok here is the latest on the auto-connect spring loaded latches. After I removed the spring and two bolts that hold the latches on I discovered that there are bushings that the bolts go throught. The latch actually pivots on these bushings. It was rubbing metal to metal so I put some grease on the bushings and put it all back together. What do you know, that cured the latching (or not latching) problem and the spring that came in the deck is doing it's job just fine. Springs back nicely now. So if anybody is having a problem with the auto-connect deck not latching.......I bet this is your problem and fix for it too. While I had the deck off, I greased all the pulleys and fittings and checked the gease in the gearbox. I suspect they were dry too because the deck sounded like it was crewing up marbles with a roaring sound to it. Also cleaned the underside and discovered that the underside was painted very lightly almost just an overspray, so I removed the blades (that was placed in the wrong position anyway), taped everything up and painted it like it should have been from the factory. And while I had the blades off I touched them with the file and put them back on in the correct position so I'm good to go. Stay tuned for more updates.
 
#23 ·
Are these new decks being built in Mexico? Wouldn't surprise me in the least.
With all the little nuisance problems and oversights, it seems quality assurance sure went south (no pun intended) with this new model.


Greg
 
#27 ·
Mexico...mmmn

My wife works at Carrier. Carrier moved some of the production lines to Mexico a few years ago.When they bring the units back into the states,they first come to the warehouse here.There is a 85-90% failure rate...as far as there is always something wrong with them...from missing screws,the wrong capacitor,leaks,etc. But...Carrier only pays the workers there the equivalent of 100.00/week. No benefits to the workers......
They are in the process of moving all the lines to Mexico.
 
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