Mowing 1023 E

[Karen Boehm]

Anybody out there having any luck mowing with a 1023 E?

 

[Piston]

Karen, welcome to the forum!

Can you explain a little more about your question? What do you want to know? Do you have one and are having problems with the quality of cut? Are you looking to buy one as your primary mowing machine? Do you want golf course quality manicured lawn?

 

[chevy]

I have a dressed up version of the 1023E, a 1026R & have over 100 hours mowing with it. I have not had any problems so far.

What issues are you having?

 

[Karen Boehm]

Anybody out there having any luck mowing with a 1023 E?

Our 1023E mowed a large groove in our yard when it was delivered. After 2 hours of work my husband had it working better (he is a mechanic), but wasn't very satisfied as it still scalped a lot. We took it back to the dealership where they acted like we were totally stupid (we have never mowed with anything but a JD) and we own a 2210 which was what we were hoping to replace with the 1023 as it had lots of mowing hours. On the 2210 you could remove the ROPS by removing a few bolts this one is not easy and mowing around trees or anything else is pretty much impossible. When you back up the mower deck shuts down and then the engine shuts down unless you pull up on the PTO switch BEFORE you back up, in other words it may be safe, but it SURE isn't much to mow with. The tractor shuts down when I turn my head to back up (it has been suggested by my friends that I may need a cement block on the seat beside me) which is an annoyance to say the least. We bought the 1023 as we were told that the loader and mower deck from the 2210 would not work on the the 2035, which we are also told is false by a JD dealer in Cincy. In a nut shell the 1023 has been a TOTAL nightmare. Any suggestions?

 

[s219]

The safety items are standard nowadays, such as needing to pull lever when going into reverse mowing. So you'll need to accept that if you want a modern mower. ROPS should be fairly easy to fold, but is not intended to be removed. The seat switch might be too sensitive and need adjusting, or maybe you don't realize you're lifting off the seat, but again that is a standard safety item on modern mowers. Even my large tractor will cut engine if I rise off seat while moving.

The dealer can fix anything thats broke, but it sounds like your main beef is with all the safety features.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

You WILL get used to pulling up on the PTO switch before you back up. It takes a little time, but it will become second nature. If it's like the older ones, you don't have to keep it pulled up as you back up. Just pull it up when you start backing up, and the mower will keep running unless you let off the reverse pedal and then press the reverse pedal again.

There's probably an adjustment on the seat switch that can be made to keep it from shutting down when you move slightly. Either that or you could gain a whole bunch of weight and that would help keep the switch pressed. Ok, that last one was probably a bad idea.

 

[Karen Boehm]

You are right some of my beefs are with all of the safety stuff that makes it impossible to use as a mower. I also can't figure out why ANY dealer would send a 1023 out that wasn't set up to mow. It mowed big grooves in our yard. It seems like this easy attach mower is not like other JD mowers other JD mowers are floating units that do a better job on uneven ground, this mower is attached differently and doesn't appear to float.

The hood on the 1023 E is not right either and the dealership says there is nothing they can do to fix it. It either has a gap on the right side or a gap on the left side or is even on both sides of the hood but the hood does not cover the lip of the tractor. Anyone had any issues like that with the hood?

 

[KennyG]

I know the 1023 has the autoconnect deck so it may be different from the earlier models, but my 2320/62D combination attaches with two lift arms. It's meant to be adjusted such that the gauge wheels are just off the ground when on level surfaces. Does that seem to describe yours?

If so, the mower height range is controlled by the lift arm adjustments which should be set such that the deck almost touches the frame when fully raised. A number of us found that the dealers did not set them high enough and we couldn't get a decent cut height. After adjusting the arms all is good.

Mine is early enough it does not have the reverse switch. If it had one it would be gone by now. Relative to the seat switch, I had trouble initially because, as an old timer, I was used to standing up on the tractor while operating it. I have since retrained myself and don't have a problem. However, since you are probably smaller and lighter than me you may want to look at adjustments to the switch.

 

[Karen Boehm]

Thanks for all of your help/suggestions, as for the technical aspects of how the mower is mounted that is a question for hubby, will see what he says. We have worked to get the deck to mow at the height that we want and I think that is ok now. The ROPS prevent us from mowing close to trees, we mow a lot and have quite a few trees and it now takes twice as long (or even more) to mow around the trees with a push mower. Safe is ok, but sure not helpful in getting the mowing done.

 

[Dutch445]

We bought the 1023 as we were told that the loader and mower deck from the 2210 would not work on the the 2035, which we are also told is false by a JD dealer in Cincy. In a nut shell the 1023 has been a TOTAL nightmare. Any suggestions?

just a quick comment on the implements, your old implements will not fit the new tractor, totally a different loader mount and mower mount/lift system.

are you folding the ROPS down to mow with? if so is it still too high?

the mower deck still hangs from the tractor, if you are getting scalping make sure your gage wheels are
just off the ground 1/4 -1/2 inch, or less if you want a more consistent cut. where is your mower deck
scalping?

 

[Deere Dude]

The ROPS prevent us from mowing close to trees, we mow a lot and have quite a few trees and it now takes twice as long (or even more) to mow around the trees with a push mower.

We bought a big lot with about twenty trees. After ducking and evading branches with the rops, I cut off all the branches that are to low. It makes mowing a lot easier.

 

[grove111]

Reverse mower safety switch is a pain in the .... Somewhere else (I was unable to find it in my searches) in the forum I found out how to by-pass the switch. It is located under the panel by your heels as you set on the platform. Two bolts and two Phillips headed screws will allow you to move the panel enough (height adjustment knob in the way for full removal - i.e. not necessary to remove) to find the annoying switch. In the previous instructions the gentleman said he used a cable tie and cutting a groove in the switch end to keep the switch depressed. The cable tie could possibly slip. After removing the switch, I used a continuity tester to determine that it is actually made up of two switches, one normally-on when not using reverse and the other normally-off and vice versa . It was simply a matter of unplugging the connector and then making a jumper for the side which is normally-on when not using reverse (I think it was the left side from the back, but check). If you ever want to put the safety switch back to normal (i.e., when selling it) just pull the jumper wire and reconnect the the plug into the back of the switch. As they say, only the operator is responsible for use of this information, i.e. don't be an idiot.

 

[Bavarian]

It's annoying to fight all those safety features when you just want to do the job.
Our Craftsman mower has the same backup safety installed but has the option to delete it with the ignition key.
It has two positions with the ignition on. If I start the mower and leave the key alone, I can't back up the mower when the deck is on. The key needs to be turned one notch back (counterclockwise) to make it work. Maybe JD has something simular.
The seat switch on my 4200 is disconnected and I've put a jumper in it.
It's simply too much safety installed nowadays.
The safest way to operate machinery is don't run it at all.