FIX this STINKIN’ Hood Release! John Deere 1, 2, 3 and 4 Series Compact Tractors! 

It's the little things that really can make a huge difference!!

What a simple, elegant solution to an aggravating problem. Kudos to 3D Labs.

Love the ending picture. Put some casters on it and it would be a wheelie bar for the Johnny X. Great video!

Thanks Tim! That’s just what I needed! I am tired of being in the field and wanting to open the hood on my 2038R and not having a tool to push in on the opener and having to scavenger the area to find a small stick to open it!

Sweet! I'm getting that and now I see they have a bunch of niceties to update like grease cap covers. Main thing I hated and never knew why they made a hood release like that. Had to keep an extra screwdriver in the tool box on the tractor any time I wanted to pop the hood and blow out the dust. Hey! now I just saw the end credit scene. There's a potential new logo design for you. Looks like you're on a horse. Giddy UP!

Glad my old 1026R has the old "push sideways" lever. Nice piece for the newer tractors.

Oh my goodness. I already purchased and installed the deck plugs over a month ago after seeing the inventors post at a 1 series facebook group. I can’t believe I actually got something before Tim! First time ever for me. :-) Tip: A few plugs were a tight fit. I found a bit of saliva / spit helped provide lubrication. Between that and the heel of my shoe, the plugs all slid into place.

That hood release has been an annoyance for as long as I've owned the tractor. Ordering this today, thanks Tim!!

Placing my order today!! How a European member on one of the facebook groups put. The EU wanted it so the operator could not open the hood with the engine running. ,Hence, shutting the tractor off, using the key to open the hood is suppose to ensure this. Lol

Last summer, the hood on my 1025R, (2 yrs old at the time), began bouncing up and down while I was mowing the yard. Upon closer inspection, I found that the latch hook mounted under the hood, had broken free of the slots it was clamped onto. It broke the plastic from the slots, and the broken plastic between the U-nuts was still clamped to the latch hook, which was still in the latch! I was accused of slamming the hood or otherwise damaging it, but once I sent pictures to my dealer, they were awesome to deal with. It appears that the two bolts holding the latch hook to the hood had been overtightened and completely cracked the plastic between the U-nuts. It was amazing it held together for 250 hours. They replaced the hood under warranty. Now, thanks to this product, I can do away with that crazy key operated push button. Thanks Tim for informing us of these upgrades!

Thanks for this info video. Every time I go to open my the hood on my 2025R I question the engineering abilities of John Deere. Man the frustration when I go to open the hood. Don't get me wrong, I love my tractor. I don't know how I survived or got anything done around the house before I had it. I have already ordered my hood release and got the bucket grease caps too.

Thanks for bringing this product to our attention, that factory hood release is a pain. I will be ordering one right away.

Those nuts are a variant of a speed nut. A spray of silicone may help those buttons from sticking.

Clever, simple and economical solution to some annoyances. Nice work. Blessings😊

In the Automotive industry that nut is called a “speed nut” it was used to attach trim, letters and whatnot to cars.

Cars and trucks have had hoods for over 100 years. I would have thought JD could have figured out how to use hood latches by now!

The plastic latch mechanism broke on my 4066r. Came across this video when searching for info on how to fix the issue. This 3D Labs product is absolutely amazing. I ordered this product and completed the repair today. Thanks for posting this video!!! 👍👍👍

On your recommendation I ordered one of these hood releases for my 1025 (yellow). The over all design of the release is good but the quality control leaves a lot to be desired. The one I got should have been rejected and sent to the scrap heap. The function of it is fine but the cosmetics will take some work so that all of the imperfections will not accumulate dirt and ruin the cosmetics of the release. Looks like #D Labs needs to work on their QC.

This AWESOME that someone can up this alternative to release the hood! I'm definitely going to change out this for my 2038R. THANK YOU!!!!

Had the latch rod fall out but managed to simply use a heavy duty metal coat hanger to go thru the hole and push the locking latch. With a couple of bends in the right place so it was in similar shape to the rod. I did raise the bucket but did not really need to. You do not have to drill any holes or cut/break the latch push area cover.

thanks Tim, I went ahead and ordered it. I have been putting a little screw driver with a high powered magnet on the loader arms. worked great until I needed to open the hood out in my field. only problem loader was off.

Nice fix! Also nice wheelie in the end🤣

Hey Tim….my Kioti, doesn’t have such nonsense!!😎🤣🤣🤣🤣 Looking on the bright side, an American business is capitalizing on that same nonsense. Really love the Bible verse at the end…..and oh yea…the wheelie!!😁👊🏻

I have heard of "Elf on the Shelf", but in the first half of your video, you had a "Cat on the Shelf" in the background.

Thanks Tim I tried to cobble one together and gave up. Ordered it. 😊

What a Great Product! Makes Life Easier! Thanks Tim!

Great video. In a video the other day you did some welding and the more I got to think about it, might be a good idea to unhook the battery if you are going to do a lot of welding. Electric current sometimes does strange things and would hate to see you replace a battery or anything else electrical. Just a thought but something to keep in mind. Thank you for everything.

This has always driven me crazy with my 1025r. Might have to break down and go this route. Thanks Tim!

The thing that i absolutely hate about Deere compact tractors is the lack of quick access to the battery. If I need to clean/change the battery I want to able to simply lift the entire hood,just like any other brand of tractor.

we have it on our 6175R....I have absolutely no problem with it. its such a minor thing....I dont really know why its such a pain for some people...sorry😬

Tim, I just stopped your video long enough to order one of these. If you asked me to mention the features on my new 3039r that I hate the most it's this crazy hood button . Thanks for pointing me to the fix.

Glad my 4300 don't have the safety Sally crap on it.I put my Wood Max chipper together yesterday. This thing is sweet. Seems to work well so far.

fixed it with a little superglue. Now works great.

An update to my previous comments about my experience with my JD 4066m hood release which cost me $200 to fix and JD refuses to cover the cost and denies any flaw in the system. I just got off the phone with a John Deere customer response representative that told me they do not have any (many) reports of the Hood Rod becoming detached and falling in the engine compartment. I used a small screwdriver pushed in the access hole on the JD 4066 (and others) the hood opened... a day latter I attempted to access the compartment using a screw driver and there was no rod in the holder, I could see it floating around still attached to the hood release. Once that happens there is no easy way to access the engine compartment to open the hood with out removing other parts of the tractor compartment to get to it. In my case our JD dealer said they had to remove the front screen of the tractor to get access to it, then they replaced a part and put it back together for a total cost of about $200.00 the part they replaced was $19.99 and the labor was $174.00. The dealer told me that just the day before they had a 4052 with the exact situation. My tractor only has 117 hours on it... not even time for a service and because it is now 3 years old, out of warranty JD would not cover the repair (on a $40, 000 tractor). From the various posts on RU-vid and forums this obviously is an issue on the new tractors... I was told that anything after 2017 JD has been using this hood release design. I'm pissed not at the dealer but at JD for not covering my cost to have this changed and my guess it is the exact same way that it was from the factory so, the same thing could very well happen again! NOW FOR THE REAL ISSUE! My wife asked me that what would happen if this happened and I was out in the field, noticed some smoke coming out of the engine compartment or other major issue... how would I get the hood open.... Think about it folks if you had a clump of hay get in to the compartment and heat up how would you get in and put it out? There is No WAY! I told her that I guess I'd step off the tractor and watch it burn up while trying to call JD for service... this is a flaw and a real concern and everyone with a tractor with this design should think about it... Yea, someone will say, just spray water on it... OK, so it's sitting in the middle of a 100 Acre farm smoldering.... where's the water to put it out? The I brought all this up to the agent that I was speaking to... he just said he understands but was not going to reimburse the cost to us... I asked if he would escallate the concern and issue to somone that could authorize a payment... He just said now this is where it stops... I'll document the concern but JD will not authorize any reimbursement. End of discussion. So I thought I'd start here and other forums bringing this issue up... as JD does not thing its a big issue! Sorry for the rant, we have over $80,000 invested in JD equipment because I thought they cared... obviously not! The agent I spoke with didn't even do any research on the issue and had no idea how the hood release system works...I'd think he would of at least looked at a tractor to see the obvious issue.... He just was not that interested! I hope if nothing else we can spread this story on JD and tractor forums and get JD to recognize this is an issue for their customers.....

Yah! Foiling the safety patrol and then popping a wheelie. I like it!

Great fix Tim. Thanks for this info. I often wondered how in the world the original design came to be. Will be doing the upgrade on my 4066M ASAP.

I love your videos. Your voice is just like Mike Huckabee!

If that hood latch bothers you you're working on your tractor WAY to much and should probably consider trading it in! But only for a green one... never orange :)

That's so nice and refined looking. I printed the parts on my 3D printer for a friend's 1025R that addressed the latch issue. A bit different, but works.

Thank you for sharing! I got mine last week and works great. I hated the one that came with my 1025r!

Road homologated tractors in Europe have to follow an all new regulation since 1st of January 2018. There are many helpful demnads and a hell of a lot of boring demands which forced vehicle manufactures to redesign their products. Unfortunately most redesign efforts were needed for compact vehicles. One regulation is reg. engine hood. It is not allowed anymore to open a hood without any type of tool. This could eg the ignition key ore something else. Im quite sure a lot of European compact tractor users will also modify their JDs like you did. Many thanks for the hint.

That's fantastic Tim. Great Find.

I welded an extension on mine and it works great .

Thanks Tim it's ordered I enjoy all of you're videos 👍🏻

Tim, have you ever heard of the FEL being crooked on a 1025R? We just got a new 2023 model TLB, and the loader is maybe 3/4" lower on the left front than the right when looking at it from the driver's seat. I've measured everything and it's not the bucket.. it's the loader. Not the tractor either, it's all straight and the tops of each upright are exactly the same, somewhere around 41" high I can't recall now but they're identical to each other. Have you ever heard of that before? I've let the dealership know, waiting on a call back from them now. My guess is they just need to replace it with a new loader? There's only 1.8 hrs on the machine now 😢 Thanks, David Rogers

That's a great idea! Too bad... I just took the latch release rod out of my 2038R and took the bent angle part and put it in a vice and straightened it a little bit. Seems a bent rod gets longer when it's squeezed out a bit. Works fine for me. But buying a better mousetrap seems easier. Not john deere approved tho.

Wow, I've never seen that type of latch or top access only engine hood. My 2008 3320 has a steel lever that is accessible from the bottom front, and the entire engine cowling swings up and out of the way for unobstructed engine access. I wonder why Deere didn't do the same thing on the smaller / newer tractors.

I don't have this problem, I have the orange tractor. the orange tractors are very well-designed

I just welded and extinsion on to the release rod and painted it red. at the time i modified mine could not find any aftermarket fixes. going to have to call Johnny, Popping Johny now. LOL

Those are really nice. Sadly I came up with my own fix before seeing this video. I removed my unlatch rod wich had a wonderful trick of falling in where you cant get at it ,and threaded it . Installed a coupling nut and a longish 7/16th bolt. Works good just took a little longer .

Had one of these on my 3038e. It was great until it wasn't. The push button seems like it is too short and the rod didn't sit into it far enough. I rigged up a work around for that. Next problem was my push button broke in 1/2 and the hood release rod fell down inside the tractor. Now the hood is stuck shut. After some fiddling and a couple of beers, I got the hood back open and had to reinstall the oem release. I've contacted them asking for a replacement button as I'm willing to give it another shot. Hope they send me a replacement and it works this time because it is a much nicer way to do it than the oem. Oh, and why did the put the release on the opposite side of the tractor you get on and off from?

Riding the Deere... Hang on here you go... GREAT video..... 👍😄

I use my car key typically. I was about to 3d print a little extension for mine

What I love about JD is I don’t own one! 😅 JK…they all have they’re issues !

Thank you

Did you see my FB post in the Series 1 group last week, I drilled 2 holes in the grill, cut the material in between, and put a 3" stainless bolt through the front grill like the pre 2018 models. 2$ of hardware and 5 minutes to install.

Just ordered one for my 3046R. Thank you Tim.

Thanks for this upgrade video

Very nice gadget.

Thanks Tim, great product review.

Another great idea! Thanks Tim

Good idea. I'll give that a try; thanks!

Genius. It’s ordered. Thank you very much.

Wow! ordered immediately thanks I enjoy watching vids and also TTWT coupon

Good video Tim!

I have zero of these tractor or interest in getting one but always enjoy your videos…. Let’s get started

The next engineering mistake is to fix that dumb 4x4 lever in the floor on the 1R. I moved mine up beside hitch control. No more bending to reach.

I have zero problems with my hood release on my 2 series . I keep a crescent wrench with a pointed handle and it works perfectly

Very nice solution.

My JD 1023-E has an ignition key placed on the hood to relece the hood. But my JD dealer's service department is lousy here in NJ, to say the least! I have been a tractor owner for many years and can say with conviction that JD has fallen in quality of service and that's a big problem for future dedication to their products.

Thanks Tim, Just ordered mine

I just welded an extension to the rod so that it sticks out of the side hole and welded a flat washer on the extension, painted it black and Bob your uncle.

I remember you talking about the release when you were over there.

Did you have a video about installing rear lights on a 1025r

Nice fix I have to have one thanks Tim 😊 👍🏻.

That’s a nice upgrade.

Perfect timing, I just broke mine the other day.

I have a new 4066m that has only 110 hours on it the hood probably had been opened maybe 5 times ... came in from mowing in some pretty high weeds so decided to flush the radiator... .Ok it opened just fine and when I finished closed back fine... 2 days latter went out cut more of the property... wanted to flush the weeds and dirt out... went to push a screwdriver in... nothing I actually could see the rod hanging down... Problem is, could not get the hood open and no access from the bottom.... called the local John Deere where I bought it and they had no suggestions but to bring it in.. so, they picked it up (decided to have a service Oil and filters) so figured they had the magic tool... .Wrong got a call today.. .they said they fixed the hood release... then when I asked the total and it was about $200+ more than original service estimate... I get the tractor and bill next Monday.. My guess they charged me shop time to open the hood! I am extremely interested in your fix Looks great and easy ... Thanks for the video. By the way, the service guy said to me that the day before he had a brand new 4052m in the shop the day before with the same issue... I will probably contact Deere about it... Im sure the dealer feels he did the work... (yes, I am out of warranty)

Funny how in Europe they can drive their tractors on the road with a license plate but we just have the SMV signs (in most states). The tractor MFG’s put brake, reverse, and turn signals on them but they chose this part to be the same globally… Same with UTV/ATVs but the US models don’t get that stuff meaning if your state allows it you are forced to go aftermarket for those items rather than being able to get them at the dealership

Thanks Tim..I'm ordering some today..great improvement!!?

Thanks Tim great video

I believe they call Mother Regulations, some of our tractors here in Australia are hex locks which Allen key can be use. I use T handle Allen key 8mm or 5mm depends on tractor brand. Funny this was meant stop kids opening tractor bonnet but kids are not allow operate tractors LOL. I guess these city folk don’t realise kids are driving tractors like me when I 8. I remember dad showing me at 5 to start old WD6 n A554 but we were told not start it unless he was present.

Here in the uk the farm size case ih tractors have a relese the exact same not a good idea if you needed to get under the bonnet/hood in a emergency

Its crazy how the little details like that can be so annoying. Deere should just add that little fix with all new tractors. No installed but in the form of a complimentary kit.

Hum... While I agree having to have a tool to open the hood is silly, I don't know I would rather have a button exposed like that, especially if you mow a lot of tall brush. Maybe the brush guard is enough to avoid that, but having your hood open while the unit is in use would be annoying. I would rather have a recessed latch of some sort up top where the hood meets the grill. Neat Video.

Speaking of some minor mechanic work could you or would you possibly show how if you know, how to do the general maintenance on your tractor. For example the JD book says you need to adjust and lubricate the hood latch. Tighten bolts so on and so forth not saying bolt tightening needs to be showed but maybe where they are all at as example I don’t mean bolts specifically. If you aren’t interested in that maybe give us an idea of someone who does these types of general maintenance on RU-vid be awesome to. Thanks Tim neat product you’ve shown here!

I have a 2032r and my hood release rod has 2 bends in it. Real easy fix was to take rod off and straighten it a bit and install it so it sticks out about a

3D printed!

Amen!

My is already broken. The previous owner, I think, couldn't figure out, nor read the manual, and he/she yanked the thing up, leaving the metal U bracket in the lock mechanism. Now I'm figuring out how to glue it back. Plastic hood? Yeah, it's plastic. I hope that is nothing plastic in the motor.😂 And if the FL is on the tractor?

Thanks!

My 2013 3032E has a simple latch in front…easy peasy.

Thanks for posting this! Most annoying stock invention ever from Deere. Can’t wait to replace it!

I have a 2016 1025 LRB and just have a simple latch release on the front of the grill. My 2012 1026R didn’t have anything other than a simple latch release on the front of the grill. I don’t know what is different with what you all are buying, but I’ve never had this issue.

Thankfully I have a 1026R with a proper Hood Release, Front Wheel Drive Control Lever and a proper Air Cleaner Mount.

After looking again at the video I decided to push the buy button and my order is on the way to us. One question that I had is how is the rod kept in the hooder (button) if it isn't at leased glued in or attached I can see this having a similar drop off problem... I like the idea and I'm sure it will be better than the factory method but with out seeing the button release I do have a question on keeping the rod in the button..... If that falls out were back to square one!

What I would like to know did you go yeehaw when it reared up 🤠😄👍🚜😎

Ah, the European thing makes sense! I had a Massey 5455 with the metal bonnet, and you had to use an allen key to open turn the knobs the held the side panels to the tractor.

Very nice! Tim are you in Illinois? AHW is where I just got my new 1025R…..

Wow... great mod! BTW... we call those nuts "el cheapo nuts". They are used when the manufacturer is too cheap to use normal hardware. :-)