are they really that bad?

I also looked around the net and some people say to stay away from the 1010's Are they really that bad? jb

From my limited research and tinkering I've found the 1010 fell into two classes when it was manufactured; "Good Tractor" or "You Can't Fix It." The 1010 is a hodge-podge of old and new. Old from the 400 series and new technology of the New Generation. It also seems a few "innovations" were tried, like the one-piece sleeve deck (shared with the 2010). I don't know if it is necessarily good or bad until you have to work on it. You have to replace it as one piece instead of being able to only replace/repair one cylinder.

I would imagine that today most running 1010s, 40 years later, are probably "Good Tractors" as far as old tractors go. I don't think I'd buy a 1010 out of the weeds and hope to bring it up to speed. I just don't think it is worth taking that chance when there are other "proven" green tractors out there.

I don't know if other tractors do this, but the steering running through the fuel tank and radiator makes it difficult to work on. On mine the power steering control valve is right above the radiator it and the steering box leaked and coated the radiator and engine with oil and made a huge greasy mess. Not that mine is fixed up it's a pretty nice tractor. The only other tractor I've owned was a MF30 which was a well constructed beast.