Hi All,
First, a special thanks to all who have done such great work posting. I've been a "lurker", reading hundreds of posts for months on various sites. All in all, i think that people who own and run tractors are a lot nicer than the average poster out their on the 'net. The trollish comments are pretty rare. Perhaps it is because people who own tractors are more from the group who actually know how to work, and thus are part of productivity and not just takers shooting off their mouthy opinions.
After having a variety of lawn tractors over about thirty years, we finally ordered a 1023 with the FEL, MMM, and BH.
Right now I think I'm fairly well-versed on the strong points of everything sold within seventy-five miles of Ellsworth, Maine. Oddly, I did not consider Deere at first. The reason is that I'd heard their parts cost a fortune and my experience in ordering parts for a Kawasaki powered commercial walk-behind confirmed those suspicions. Also, I'd heard that the tractors cost a lot more than the other tractors. Well, I learned that the reason the parts were so high is that I was ordering Kawasaki engine parts, not Deere parts, and that part for part the Deere is not worse than the rest. Also, the tractor price was within a couple hundred of the 'bota. I was amazed! Also, some of the Deere implements are cheaper than the imports.
Our neighbor may as well bathe in Green paint. He painted our mailboxes green. He owns two Deere tractors, the little windmill and the toys, etc. He told me to talk to Tyler (owner) at Greenway, Ellsworth, Maine. The only reason I went in is my neighbor whom we respect very much. Tyler met all my objections and I am so grateful our neighbor sent us his way. The ease of the drive-over deck...all by itself...would be reason enough to buy Green. And so while I had been a little annoyed with the brand loyalty of many Deere owners, now I can see some of the reasons. And not just this deck, but the location of the joystick for the loader--not having to hold your arm out in space, that is a big deal. The construction of the back hoe is stronger, too, and the hydraulics smoother.
Currently we are running a 1969 Case 444 for mowing. That is, when we are not fixing it. If my son and I didn't know how to mechanic, weld and fabricate, we would be better off with using hedge clippers to mow this acre of grass. It has needed fixing every week this year and we have a bunch of ditching and drainage to do, along with moving around a lot of mulch and compost. So it is a good time to buy this 1023. THis is not to 'diss the old Case--it is just getting old and really needs restoration, as it is a classic. Plus, it doesn't do the rest that we need to do to landscape these three acres.
It will be two weeks until we take delivery, and I think the first mod will be to disable that reverse switch thing when mowing. For this year we plan on snow plowing with the FEL using the float feature. Not sure how it will work, but we'll give it a try.
Thanks for all the help!
First, a special thanks to all who have done such great work posting. I've been a "lurker", reading hundreds of posts for months on various sites. All in all, i think that people who own and run tractors are a lot nicer than the average poster out their on the 'net. The trollish comments are pretty rare. Perhaps it is because people who own tractors are more from the group who actually know how to work, and thus are part of productivity and not just takers shooting off their mouthy opinions.
After having a variety of lawn tractors over about thirty years, we finally ordered a 1023 with the FEL, MMM, and BH.
Right now I think I'm fairly well-versed on the strong points of everything sold within seventy-five miles of Ellsworth, Maine. Oddly, I did not consider Deere at first. The reason is that I'd heard their parts cost a fortune and my experience in ordering parts for a Kawasaki powered commercial walk-behind confirmed those suspicions. Also, I'd heard that the tractors cost a lot more than the other tractors. Well, I learned that the reason the parts were so high is that I was ordering Kawasaki engine parts, not Deere parts, and that part for part the Deere is not worse than the rest. Also, the tractor price was within a couple hundred of the 'bota. I was amazed! Also, some of the Deere implements are cheaper than the imports.
Our neighbor may as well bathe in Green paint. He painted our mailboxes green. He owns two Deere tractors, the little windmill and the toys, etc. He told me to talk to Tyler (owner) at Greenway, Ellsworth, Maine. The only reason I went in is my neighbor whom we respect very much. Tyler met all my objections and I am so grateful our neighbor sent us his way. The ease of the drive-over deck...all by itself...would be reason enough to buy Green. And so while I had been a little annoyed with the brand loyalty of many Deere owners, now I can see some of the reasons. And not just this deck, but the location of the joystick for the loader--not having to hold your arm out in space, that is a big deal. The construction of the back hoe is stronger, too, and the hydraulics smoother.
Currently we are running a 1969 Case 444 for mowing. That is, when we are not fixing it. If my son and I didn't know how to mechanic, weld and fabricate, we would be better off with using hedge clippers to mow this acre of grass. It has needed fixing every week this year and we have a bunch of ditching and drainage to do, along with moving around a lot of mulch and compost. So it is a good time to buy this 1023. THis is not to 'diss the old Case--it is just getting old and really needs restoration, as it is a classic. Plus, it doesn't do the rest that we need to do to landscape these three acres.
It will be two weeks until we take delivery, and I think the first mod will be to disable that reverse switch thing when mowing. For this year we plan on snow plowing with the FEL using the float feature. Not sure how it will work, but we'll give it a try.
Thanks for all the help!