John Deere 2038R Review After 650 Hours of Abuse

Hey it's Brock here with Rock Hill Farms And this is my John Deere 2038r with 650 Hours on it on this video I want to go Over my favorite things about it the Things I don't care for about it how I Think it compares to other tractors in The John Deere lineup in terms of price And performance and how I think it might Compare to some other manufacturers I've Done a lot of modifications to this Tractor I'm going to go over those how Well they've worked and just how well I Think this tractor does at a lot of Different tasks so we'll jump into that Right now and I'm going to show you a Lot of the work I've done with it and Then I'll walk through my opinions on it Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign 1500 pounds of firewood across a pretty Nasty mud hole without any problems but I wanted to throw in one thing that I Forgot to mention that is a big selling Point to me on this tractor is I think They have the best design for installing And removing a tractor backhoe that I've Seen I can literally take it on and off Within about two minutes Same thing with the mid Mount mower Which is a drive over deck and even the Loader John Deere has absolutely nailed Those three things in terms of how easy

They are to take on and off Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Thank you Foreign So as you can see I do a lot with my Tractor 650 hours and 90 of those hours Were pushing it pretty hard I'm usually Asking a lot of this machine and running A lot of implements that require every Bit of the horsepower it has And I've also weighed this tractor down To over double the listed weight I think I've got pretty thorough sample size on What it can handle and I watch a lot of Tractor review videos and this type of Content and people always say this Thing's done everything I've ever asked It to do I wouldn't say that I think That's a cliche thing I try to do all Kinds of things that this machine can't Do because it's a compact tractor now in A lot of cases it will do them just Slower but I actually got a skid loader For some of the heavier lifting I do and Some higher reach and things like that But let's talk about First the stock tractor because I ran it For a hundred hours before really doing Any modifications on it and it was just

An open station I really I loved this Tractor from day one and I've driven a lot of other tractors in The John Deere lineup and some from Other manufacturers and I'm gonna say This is the most well-designed ergonomic Tractor I've ever operated as far as Balance and placement of all your Controls Comfort to operate when I Compare this to a 1025 2025 And 30 46. I think that's a pretty good range of Models to compare it to And in each one when you go up you see a Big price difference four thousand six Thousand eight thousand dollars increase To go from one model to the next and you Would expect for that I mean you're almost guaranteed you're Going to see performance increases This tractor was dramatically more Capable than a 2025. And quite a bit less capable than a 3046 In terms of Lift capacity And clearance and just You know the 3046 has bigger tires It's got more horsepower to the PTO it's Just a more capable machine but the Question that anyone buying a tractor Has to look at Is within that range You can start with a garden tractor

That doesn't have a loader you know And just a PTO and it's very inexpensive And you can do things with it those are Handy you could get an old Ford 8N for You know a couple thousand dollars That you can do all kinds of work with Or you can spend a half a million Dollars on a giant ag tractor somewhere In that range you've got to find the Point that suits what you want to do And for me and what I want to do This has been a fantastic tractor it Honestly has now I I try to make money With my equipment and I think I push it A little harder than Probably the average person and for me The perfect tractor is probably in the 50 to 60 horsepower range But That's a very that's that range of Tractor is going to cost twice what this One does so it's all about where you Want to be in the market so let's look Specific things on this tractor that I Like I talked about ergonomics we'll Spend just a minute on that First I don't want to be negative Towards any brand because I think all The tractor companies make a good Machine About the only thing I don't like is the Kubota treadle pedal and that's personal Preference a lot of guys love it There's no right or wrong answer it's

Just what you prefer I will say on the Dual pedal machines Having run a 2025 and a 3046 and a few Other tractors these are perfectly Placed If you see right here my heel is on the Ground And I can push that pedal with my heel On the ground on the 3046 I had to lift My foot up to get it on the pedals Just little things right Operator station on this side My elbows on the armrest I'm not so it's fine I've ran tractors Where you reached out here to run it but This Is perfect to me Okay and Loader controls Three-point control Your auxiliary hydraulic controls PTO Mower deck height Mower deck height mower deck raise and Lower placement on all of these is Fantastic It's it's ergonomic Then on this side you have this Robust Emergency brake That's locked in hard it never tries to Move on me no matter what I do and it's Very easy in and out Same thing with the shifter In gear out of gear

That's every time I've been on a lot of tractors where It's kind of hard to get it in and out Of gear this one every time smooth Okay And your four wheel drive right here Easy to reach but it is a little bit Hard to get in gear you have to Sometimes let the tractor roll just a Little bit to engage it and then your Diff lock is right here Diff lock If you're interested on the cab I just Did a long-term two-year review on this Curtis Advantage cab It's not quite the same as having a Factory cab but it's so much less Expensive than a factory cab I give High Marks to this Curtis cab not going to Talk about it because I just reviewed it You can check that video out I'll link To it at the end okay now let's talk About this loader because I didn't buy The tractor with this loader I bought it With the standard 220r loader this is a Mechanical self-leveling loader Switching to this loader Has been a massive upgrade to the Tractor now there are people who don't Like it but I've done a full review on That too just a dedicated video to the Differences with the loader but I'll Summarize it real quick On the two series tractors when you go

To this self-leveling loader you gain Like 400 pounds of lift capacity That's a 40 increase it's dramatic I can Lift 1700 or 1800 pounds an inch off the Ground and at full height I don't Remember so I don't want to say it wrong But a working Range 14 1500 pounds you Can get it up and set it in a truck Better on a trailer that is a huge lift Capacity for A tractor this size winging a small Frame machine so the extra lift capacity Is great But also it's just phenomenal if you've Ever ran anything that self levels up And self levels down You just can't beat it I mean even on The skid loader itself levels up But not on the way down and that's an Annoyance for me really and you know you Can use it it's all about what you pay You pay only six hundred dollars extra For the self leveling And the reason some people don't like it Is you have less total curl back So I don't remember the numbers so I'm not Going to say angles but there's a curl Back angle that you normally get on your Bucket that lets you totally fill that Bucket through the Just the geometry of the way they made This mechanically self-level you lose a Little bit of curl back so instead of

Your bucket coming back to here It only comes back to here and the first Time you use it you're going to be Annoyed because you're getting less Material in that bucket and I Compensated for that by getting an Oversized bucket And so I'm still getting a full load and It with the extra lift capacity it can Handle that oversized bucket so for some People that curl back thing is a big Deal there's a fairly simple Modification you can do to get your curl Back back it requires some fabrication And there's one guy online who's been Doing it but It's basically a spacer on each side That pushes the bottom of your bucket Out and still uses your John Deere Quick Connect so but for me it hasn't even Been worth doing that it's not that big A deal so the next thing while we're up Here at the loader is an annoyance for Me which is a lack of third function This model of the 2038 this redesign has Been out for five years and they just Recently came out with a true Factory Third function That is not that much to ask for in my Opinion For a tractor in this price range to Come with Factory third function option And it didn't when I bought mine at this Point I could add it but I have a

Diverter kit from artillion and works Fine but I was a little disappointed That they didn't originally have that I Guess it's not that relevant if you're Looking to get one because now today you Can get it that way from your dealer Next thing while we're up here on the Loader John Deere quick attach I think it's better than skid steer Quick attach but with that said I think They should stop making it even though It's 10 percent better It's an annoyance that if you own more Than one tractor your implements are not Interchangeable I think standardizing attachment systems Is It just it needs to happen it there's no Excuse for different manufacturers to Have their own proprietary attachment System so I think John Deere should get In line with everyone else and put skid Steer quick attach on their loaders and I know why they do it It is better it's a little bit easier It's it's foolproof and it's lighter so On a small tractor you're saving weight My opinion though it's complicated but My opinion is they should switch to Skid Steer quick attach Let's see what else have we done on the Front I added a custom grille guard I think that would be a great option if

You could order it from the factory with A grill guard I did a video where we Fabricated the grille guard and put on Here Really not that much work and not that Much expense if you have fabricating Skills last thing on the front of the Tractor is broken bolts A lot of people have problems with loose And broken bolts on the front axle I Have not had that problem but something To keep in mind And Every tractor manual from every Manufacturer will tell you that Periodically you go through and Re-torque all your bolts to make sure They're not coming loose the fact that Major bolts like that can come loose is Just an accepted fact in the tractor World The only problem I've had in that kind Of category I've actually had two Honestly and the first was the bolts That hold the loader on and I think that Was on my original loader they came Loose and I didn't notice it immediately A couple of them broke and I had to have Those fixed but it's never been a Problem again now I check them second Thing is you've got washers on some of These pivot Points on the self-leveling Loader after 100 hours running the Self-leveling loader some of those came

Loose and I had to take it well I could have done It myself I understand what to do but It's under warranty and that loader was New and I just took it back to the Dealership and had them fix it to make Sure it was right and they replaced all That they replaced the washers that go Behind the bolts and they loctid those I Have a separate video just on the issue With those those uh bolts coming loose In the loader okay moving on from the Loader I don't like how small these front tires Are Not even I'm six foot tall but that front tire Doesn't even come up to my knee That once again goes into the category Of It's a small tractor But I hate how small those front tires Are and actually the rear tires are Pretty small for 38 horsepower and how much it can lift Needs bigger tires Another thing I've made a video about is Tractor rollovers and how prevalent it Is to have a tractor roll over Especially like with the 1025s those are Even more Tippy than Than this model is But I wasn't going to allow that and I've made a whole video on things I Think are good advice to prevent tractor

Rollover but one thing Is adding as much ballast as possible And I know there's such a thing as too Much ballast and I'm going to talk about That but I've got fluid in the front Tires which doesn't add up to much I've got fluid in the rear tires I've got wheel weights I've got the Backhoe subframe I always run three-point ballast and if I don't have a specific ballast I've at Least got a three-point attachment on it And stock the specs say this tractor Weighs like 2500 pounds I've weighed Mine with a heavy attachment like the Stump grinder or the Flail Mower I've Weighed mine in at almost 6 000 pounds Now 400 pounds of that is the cab which Is actually up high enough that it moves Your center of gravity up so that's not Really beneficial weight The downsides to weighing your tractor Down like that I weigh mine down as Heavy as I possibly could The downsides number one you're going to Sink more Driving it through your yard so if you Mow your yard with it a lot you're not Going to want to fully ballast it like This but I didn't set my tractor up for Mowing I set it up for how much can I Lift how much can I pull Every bit of weight you can put on it is The answer for that now with all that

Weight on there and I've had that weight On there most of the time I've owned the Tractor I've went through a lot of stuff And I've never gotten stuck in this Machine Pretty good does pretty good about that And I guess there are times when I've Just made a smart choice not to go in an Area that would have got stuck but I'm pretty happy with that aspect of it The negative I've found for me to that Much weight is running this flail mower With a six thousand pound load on this Small tractor It's taking half of the horsepower the Tractor has to get it up the hill so I Have to mow pretty slow Because that Flail Mower requires a lot Of horsepower it's mulching the material So I really had to go slow uphill going Downhill I could drive a lot faster and That's just a factor of I'm using all of The horsepower this machine has so in Terms of front end lift capacity I think We're doing pretty good The three-point lift capacity is A big fail in my opinion This is a 38 horsepower tractor if you Look across the entire tractor world at 38 horsepower tractors number one this Will be the smallest machine that you Find with 38 horsepower So that that's a factor but Every other

Tractor you're going to find with this Horsepower is going to have at least Twice the rear lift capacity this has a Maybe not quite that much but this has a 1300 pound rated lift capacity on the Three point and most of them will be 2100 2500 something like that and Something to be aware of I had to trade Out this Flail Mower not because my Horsepower couldn't spin it but because The previous flow molar I had weighed 1200 pounds And when you bring that weight back here I couldn't lift it off the ground So something to be aware of Another thing I think that deer should Make standard on this is these Extendable draft arms I've done a whole Video on why I think these extendable Draft arms are are great upgrade you can Use a extendable draft arm from a 30-25 On here and that's what I'm doing and I've been doing it for a long time works Great but It should be an option if it's available On a 3E with the same part number it Should be available on the 2038. I also Think they should have telescoping Stabilizers I upgraded to aftermarket Telescoping stabilizers and Personally I had an issue with them I've Detailed that issue already I switched Back to the stock stabilizers when I Bought the machine I added two sets of

Rear remotes that's what the two levers In the operator station are those work Perfectly Couldn't do half of the stuff I do Without them great add-on if you've got The ability to add those rear remotes Done direct from the factory and like I Said a second ago The fact you can control them so easily From the location of those levers is Very convenient fuel fill I really like The location of the fuel fill it's very Convenient place to refill as opposed to On the hood or a lot of other places I've seen them so that's a win a Negative I see and I see this with a lot Of tractors but there's very little tool Storage on this tractor and I've got two Really nice tool storage options that I've added aftermarket one is the Artillion tool rack and it's actually Not on here at the moment but it's a bar That goes across your Ops lets you put a Variety of different attachments on the Rops second thing is this ITC saw boss Well it's really not the saw boss ITC Stands for interchangeable tool carrier This is a chainsaw holder but I can pull A pin lift that right off put a toolbox In the same spot and a variety of other Attachments that you can put right on Here so I don't like that you have to Add your own toolbox but if you're going To do it at least there's some really

Nice aftermarket options so all of this Is Really a lot of it's nitpicky kind of Stuff Um what it really comes down to if You're looking to spend Your hard-earned money on a tractor But I recommend you buy this one And I touched on this at the beginning but You've got to make a list in my mind I Would make a list of things I Anticipated doing Am I moving logs am I moving firewood am I tilling my my brush cutting and What are the lift capacity requirements Of that task what is the horsepower Requirements of that task And then start looking at machine prices After that This is the latest redesigned John Deere Has done they redesigned this machine Four or five years ago All of their like all the three series Tractors their last redesign on those Was 15 years ago so when they do a Redesign on the 3r tractor I bet it's Going to be a big upgrade but this is The most recent and you can feel it in The ergonomics But If if you look at your list of things You're going to do and at 10 25 will do All of them you know why would you spend

An extra 10 12 Thousand dollars whatever the number is On this machine But for a lot of you maybe this isn't Even capable enough so it's about Finding a spot where you want to jump in Now I feel like the Gap from the 2025 to The 2038 Is bigger than the Gap to go up to a 30 46. personal opinion I feel like this Machine feels like a 3 Series to me And I it's definitely a lot more capable Machine than most of the 3E tractors I've not ran like a 30 38e or anything Like that to compare it to so I'd love To get the opportunity to get my hands On a 3038e for a day with the operator Or the owner of that machine and compare These head to head but until that Happens I will just say that seems like There's an arms race to see who can make The largest 25 horsepower machine And So I don't want to speak for all Manufacturers but like the deer 3025e Doesn't have near the lift capacity of The 2038 so You just have to be aware of all these Things do your research because there's So much of an investment being put into A machine like this you want to get the Right one I think every manufacturer makes a great Machine I do not regret for a second

Getting this machine but I would Honestly like to have something in the 50 to 60 horsepower range for myself Just because of what I do now and what I'm looking to do in the future I was intending to make this a really Short video and somehow it's gotten Really long But serviceability on the tractor is Great It's a great machine love having it Appreciate you taking time to watch I'll Put links on the screen to a couple more Of our videos and I'll see you next time