Help With Widow's John Deere 2010

[rrausch]

The gal who handles my car insurance lost her husband recently. It was a bad experience for her. She is in her 30's and needs to sell his John Deere 2010. Does anybody know how much she should be asking for it. Some idiot offered her $1,000 for it, she was smart enough to turn him down. I believe it is a 1964 or 65 tractor, I haven't seen it, but she says her husband loved it and took great care of it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[redneckdr]

1960's 2010

just did a quick search on the John Deere site "machinde finder".

several 60's 2010's listed. priced from $4000-$6000. looks like depends on condition. if in good shape, ie good rubber, no hydraulic problems and engine not using or leaking oil, prolly in the 4-5 K $ range. hope that helps.

 

[GTop]

I have a deep interest in antique John Deere tractors. I'm currently restoring a 1940 JD B and I read the message boards on antique tractors daily. I have no first hand experience with the 2010. I prefer the pre 1947 hand start 2 cylinder JD's. From what I've read and heard the 2010 was JD's biggest mistake. I don't mean for my reply to be a flame and i'm not calling the 2010 a POS but from what I've read and heard most collecters stay away from them. If the tractor is in good mechanical/cosmetic shape it could easily bring more than $1,000. Believe it or not there's alot of old tractors sold on ebay. Might be worth a try, than she can get what she wants for it with a reserve auction.

 

[illflem]

Sorry but the 2010 is widely regarded as "the worst tractor that JD ever produced" and was only produced between 1960-65 before being eliminated. IMO early 60s hardly makes a tractor an antique, she should take whatever she can get for it. E-bay might be a good bet as sometimes things go for much more than they're worth.

 

[rrausch]

Thanks you guys. I really appreciate the feedback. just out of curiosity, why is the 2010 considered such a mistake? What is weak about its design?

 

[illflem]

The 2010 was one of four JD's "New Generation" 10 series tractors that were produced with all new parts and technology, sort of like a Duramax. A real bad point of these tractors was wet cylinder sleeve arrangement where each of the sleeves are actually attached to a plate which is sandwiched between the block and the head. It didn't work well and lead to leakage. They also had hydraulic and shifting problems. Not much else left to go wrong on a tractor. I still see some working though, they can be babied along.

The 20 series tractors, which were the same HP range, were produced before, during and long after the 10 series vanished. Many are still working and go for much more than they cost new.

 

[Jim Fulmer]

I wonder if all were the same, as I was growing up granddad had a 3010 then later updated to a 4020. The 3010 I don't remember driving but spent many hours on the 4020 and only had a few problems with it over some 10-15 years.



Jim

 

[Sled Puller]

Our '68 2010 JD Dozer had that cylinder design, it leaked coolant into the oil---27 years after it left the dealer.



Not bad service.

 

[CTabor]

The 2010's did suck 3010's and 4010's were good tractors. But with out a doubt the 4320 was the best one John Deere made. The 4020 was the next best.

 

[Leon R]

I too am a JD fan and I have a 1010 that I picked up and restored just because it was the first of the four cylinder line and I wanted one as an example. If the 2010 is in as good a shape as you believe it to be then a collector would sure to be interested. If not a collector it sounds that it would be a good small acreage unit that has a lot of life left in it and has to be worth 3 to 5 thousand. I know that a 1960's brand of anything doesn't seem "old" to us old guys but for the younger generation that is an old tractor.

 

[RedRam1]

Is that 2010 a gasser, or diesel? Obviously, most TDR folks are diesel fans, but with the JD1010's and 2010's the gassers are a lot better. I don't think that the gas burners have the wet sleeve design described in previous posts. We've got a 1010 gasser that my cousin bought new in '64. It's been a very good tactor. I've never had the head off of it, so I'm not positive about the sleeve business, never had any coolant leak problems in 5000 or so hours though.

I don't have any personal experience with 2010's, but have heard they were not very good. An issue of Green Machine magazine had an article about the 2010 a year of so ago, they claimed that the last year model or two ('64 & '65?) were pretty good units. They claimed JD had fixed most of the problems by that time.

As others have said, a '60's tractor is not considered old. If that 2010 is in good shape, it would bring at least 4 - 5K around here, more if any equipment was included. That price would be higher if not for the 2010's bad rep (everyone seems to know the 2010's troubled history). A 4000 ford is a similarly sized tractor, and one of those of the same vintage would bring 7K if in good condition.