Awesome TRACTOR FOR VALUE AND FUN

I've had my 1023e for the better part of 2 years. I considered the 500 and 700 lawnmowers as what I got this for was mostly cutting grass. My previous mower was a Honda Harmony H1011 Riding mower that worked great, but took well more than an hour to cut the yard and did require a bit of body English to get traction in some of the challenging sections. I have always liked John Deere products so my bias is showing. My machine (named Jade) cut the mowing time down to 20 minutes but I spend more than that out cutting anything I can find (road frontages mostly as well as the street side parts of my country neighbors). It's great fun to ride on (and cut grass). Durability has been great (no trips to the shop except for initial oil change and servicing). I get about a year's worth of grass cutting out of 10 gallons of diesel (basically it uses about a gallon per hour). The four wheel drive is a beast, especially when I press the rear locker down with my heal. I've taken out more of the woods at my property and have been mowing over the weeds that grew back. If you really want something that is pretty cool, take a test drive. The dealership in Williamsburg Virginia is awesome too. Just saying. Kindest regards, Donner Grigsby

Pros

• nothing runs like a deer

Cons

• upsets my neighbors that it's too cool

What is with the hydraulics ?

I purchased this model (1023e my 3rd John Deere) when my GT225 was showing its age at 20yrs. Started off fine but the hoses on the hydraulics lines started showing lots of wear due to Rubbing on either the mower deck of something else. It only has 138 hours on it and one of the lines started leaking. I have had it for 4 years, it now sits in the shop waiting on repair part. Frankly, I am not happy with this model. I have a my 5310 that is a champ at 19 yrs old and my gt225, square baler, disc mower and tedder all are green. The 1023e just hasn't been as reliable as my other Deerequipment

Pros

• love the mower deck

Cons

• design defect in hose placement

Very Good Tractor

Never owned a tractor until this 1023e. Watched a bunch of tractor Mike videos, looked at a Kubota and chose John Deere. Power was not an issue because we are suburban on 3 acres. The 1023e is on the low end of Sub Compact power. Meets all of our needs. Also got wheel weights and beet juice in tires. The D120 Pin on Loader was over a thousand bucks less than the H120 Quick Change loader. So we bought the D120. Glad we did. Rarely take the loader off. Twice a year. Its the loader you need and use the most. Only takes 15 minutes to switch it out. Had dealer weld on chain hooks to bucket. Use them a lot. Sips fuel. Oil stays clean. Easy to maintain and keep looking new. We keep it in a garage. 15k is too much to let sit outside. Compared to Kubota I tried, John Deere sounds better and looks better. I thought it looked better built. Plastic hood and fenders are a good idea I think. Dash board is fine. Some complain its dated, Please. Its a tractor. I would rather have my gas gauge on the fender if that's what it takes to make it reliable and accurate. Which it is. The dashboard has all the info you need to maintain and operate. I will admit tractors are hazardous. Careful with kids around. Careful climbing on and off while its running. We started a rule where it has to be shut off before climbing on and off. Otherwise you are relying on the safety systems. Hooked a jacket on the Forward lever too many times. The safety switch stopped the engine every time, thank goodness. Just take it slow all the time and think before acting. Swinging the bucket around will do real damage to your parked car, or getting the PROPS hooked on a branch, or too much weight in loader causing rear wheels to bounce etc. etc..... Respect the PTO. I haven't had these mishaps, however once I started using tractor a few months, all these issues come into play. Love the tractor and the new found tractor culture. Again, very useful piece of equipment.

Pros

• well built and useful

Cons

• expensive like all tractors

Solid machine for the $

So I've had the 1023E for a year now. Very impressed with the engineering of the drive over deck and quick attach bucket. I have mowed, pulled shrubs, moved mulch and even topsoil with ease. If you can afford however the 1025R adds aux lighting and a suspension seat, both of which I wish I had.

Pros

• ease of use

Cons

• toolbox is a joke

Needed one years ago!

I bought this tractor after talking to my local JD dealer. He was knowlagable and honest. After questioning me about my uses he recomend the 1023e. And with endless well built implaments from Deere and Frontier this little tractor is unstoppable! I pull wood, back blade brush and level new road beds, push snow, mow, broadcast spread lime/fertilizer, you name it. The 1023e will really suprise you on how easy it operates and what it will do! I've operated loads of heavy equment so I feel like I'm quailifed to say this little tractor is a great machine! Thanks Meade Tractor and John Deere for making my chores so much easier!

Pros

• endless uses for its size
• well built

Cons

• wished it had the position control on the draft

small tractor big results

I worried when I bought this tractor if I could justify the cost and if I really would utilize the loader. I purchased a mower, loader, bush hog and snow blower for my 1023. A year later the answer to was it worth it? You bet it was! We have about 3 acres and a third of it is lawn. The mower cuts beautifully, the snow blower here in coastal Maine is a must have ( I am out there pulling my neighbors truck out of the ditch in a snow storm). With my loader I am moving logs, mulch, loam, gravel, shrubs, trees, pulling posts...the list is endless. Switching attachments was probably the most challenging aspect of the machine but a year in I have manged to go through the cycle without any calls to the dealer and the changes go pretty smoothly.

Pros

Cons

Ive had mine now for 10 months love it

Yes it has its limitations but i knew that going in. It has done everything that i have asked it to do. Moved 48 tons of ball field dirt. Mowed thigh high grass. Graded, pushed, dug. The wife loves it around the yard. Very easy to use and holds way more than a wheel barrow.

Pros

Cons

Rear cutter

The JD promo department make it look very easy to remove and attach accessories like the brush cutter.....the opposite is quite true spent an half an hour or more to get it on and to get the drive shaft attached.....you engineers need to go back to the drawing board.....

Pros

Cons

Lots of Uses

I've had this 1023e for about a year now and it's been used for grading, mowing, moving hay bales (5 ft round), spreading fertilizer, trenching, tilling, discing, planting, and a bunch of other things. I bought an Artillian fork set attachment and their trencher attachment, both of which worked well on the front loader. Low fuel consumption, easy starting, and easy controls, plus quick-attach systems are all big pluses.

Pros

• good power
• easy to change attachments
• relatively quiet

Cons

• rear lights have been knocked off numerous times
• pretty tight fit for anyone over 6 ft tall
• needs led lighting

No Regrets

I traded an equally powered Kubota BX series due to dealer issues for this tractor. Out of the gate, the 1023e has more power than my Kubota. I have been plowing snow with a 66 inch snow pusher; and snow a foot deep doesn't bog the tractor down one bit. I was skeptical about the auto-attach mower deck, and H120 easy park loader, but refreshingly both work as advertised with no effort. { I will not miss laying on the ground pushing and pulling the 300lb mower deck trying to align the driveshaft splines on my old Kubota}. The 1023e is fuel efficient, and has power to spare. The fit in finish on delivery was excellent, and I found the manuals easy to follow. If you are looking for an all around workhorse for your acreage, or small farm, you can't go wrong with the 1023e.

Pros

• huge return on the investment
• extremely powerful yet fuel efficient
• fit and finish
• endless supply of attachments available

Cons

• i did not buy one sooner

Great tractor for 4 acres or less.

Bought a 1023E for my 2 acre home. Best investment I could have made. I bought mine with a bucket, rear blade and 54" quick release mower deck. The lot needed work, with this little work horse it took no time to level and improve it. Easy to use, powerful for it's size, which makes it just right to fit in the barn and get around tight spots. Unfortunately, too many neighbors are jealous and want to borrow it. It even came in very useful for unloading some heavy equipment (400+ lbs) from my truck recently. Much better than buying a lawn mower and trying to load it up with accesories, this gem is designed to work with buckets and blades.

Pros

• easy to get on/off of.
• nice solid hand holds on fenders
• quick release deck - sweet!
• digital dash w/hour meter

Cons

• air filter is a pain to service.
• neighbors want to borrow it.

Excellent little TRACTOR

I have owned my 1023e for over a year now and absolutely love it. I have the H120 quick connect loader that is a snap to install and remove, on average I would say connecting and disconnecting the loader is less than two minutes. I also have the 54d mower deck with auto quick connect, this system works excellent. I am on average about one minute connecting and disconnecting the drive over deck. The mowing quality is excellent no scalping an no uneven cut lines. The mower deck has just as good of quality cut as my commercial zero turn (z920m). With this tractor I also purchased a Frontier RT1149 tiller that works awesome and connecting is a breeze with my I-Match quick connect. My Frontier 2048 yard box works great behind my 1023e. I am extremely happy with my tractor and feel it is an exceptional good piece of machinery. I purchased it at Washington Tractors Chehalis location from Robin Henderson and was treated excellent.

Pros

• appearance
• quality
• quick attach mower deck
• quick attach loader
• rugged
• stability
• ease of use
• fuel consumption
• starts great in cold weather

Cons

• short warranty period