Changfa, are they here yet?

[Squid]

I have been following the posts with interest over the last year. I have been looking for a tractor in the compact/utlility range for some time, but have been reluctant to pay the price of the brand names. I have acreage to clear, mow, and landscape. I have seen the Jinma's, was tempted to buy a 40 HP Foton, but it blew a hydraulic hose on start up. This was a new tractor with lots of scratches -a shoddy assembly job I am guessing. I have looked closely at Kama and Dong Feng as well.

I have been researching for months and have tied into some China websites that refer to tractors with good reputations and awards in China, but I do not see them here. One such tractor is Changfa. It is ranked in the top 500 richest private companies in China. It is the leading manufacturer of water cooled single cylinder diesel engines in China. Their tractors incorporate a Dongfenghong motor which is the top selling tractor motor in China according to the China Bureau of Statistics and the oldest. The factory is integrated with everything except the motors manufactured on site. They are ranked amongst the top ten in China for technical innovation. There 55 Hp to 80 Hp tractors have a Ricardo diesel in them (an excellent reputation). What little I am able to find about their products in the North American market suggest their priducts are very reliable.

I ordered some promtional material and it is first class. The tractors look great and they sell about 10 thousand a year in China. I see an Ontario website with this tractor listed at the bottom. I know their prices are lower than Jinma, they are 250 lbs heavier than Kama (35hp).. Lifting capacity is up with Dong Feng. It has bigger tires, a smaller turning radius and an open cab, much roomier than Jinma and it is the most fuel efficient tractor in its class. I have yet to see one first hand, but want to see if any who have travelled have seen these tractors and would be interested in their impressions. It appears to be one to take a closer look at. I am seriously considering ordering a crate version and getting my hands dirty, but wanted to explore any extra information that may be out there.

 

[bluechip]

I was able to visit the new Changfa plant while in China last December. The 4 wheel tractor line was virtually stopped, of course it was december. This is a new entrant into the Chinese tractor manufacturing and they have closely patterned themselves after Foton. One thing Ihave noticed is that every factory in China is the biggest or best in some category or another. Changfa did have onsite fabrication facilities for body work but, at least when I was there, no on site machining of components like gearboxes, etc. which appear to be the same as foton uses (also no on site machineing). Changfa has plans to enter the US market and the basic framework is in place with several distributors. We have some generators and pumps in stock from this company marketed in the states under the name Apollo, and it may be that the tractors here will cary that name. The workmanship is very good on the products I have seen. I wouln't expect them tobe less expensive than JInma, since they are using exlusive distribution. They plan to be major player and maintain control of their dealer network in North America, but at the time of my visit in December they had no EPA approved engines available. Thier facilites were comparable to Fotons, huge place and all brand new, but a big part of it is for their power products. This will be a company to watch as they enter north america. I also expect Foton to eventually settle on a distribution channel that will allow them to build a dealer support network. The number of importers and distributors of Foton tractors has continued to increase, although there are several people who seem to have negoatiated "exlusive" arrangements over the last few years.

 

[Squid]

Thankyou for that added information Chip. A visit to the site certainly adds to the overall picture. A Changfa sales rep. indicated that they are reworking the designs on the compact tractors for a new assembly run, which may explain the delay you noted in December.

I was not aware of potential distributor plans for North America. I am looking forward to that. The quoted price I was given for a 45Hp Changfa tractor was slightly better than what I saw for a crated Jimna.

Again thanks for the feedback. I always look for your contributions. They are clear, reasonable and backed by personal experience.

 

[bjr]

Okay, you've research pretty well. Except any dealer support such as parts that are available in north america. I not being negative here as I assembled my own JM354 crate tractor about four years ago when Jinma was first emerging on the tractor seen . So far I haven't need many parts and have gotten american crossover filters on it now and am very please with the tractor. I did some work for a neighbor a year ago and now he owns a new JM354 also. The Jinma parts structure seems to be in place at the moment with a lot of accumlitive experience of a large numbers of owners. Just go into this wondering what parts availibity will be in a few years. bjr

 

[Cacinok]

squid, completely off topic here, but i spent a week fishing in and around vanderhoof a long while back. great place and incredible fishing, we took our limit rather quickly every day and moved onto catch and release. good times.

 

[Squid]

squid, completely off topic here, but i spent a week fishing in and around vanderhoof a long while back. great place and incredible fishing, we took our limit rather quickly every day and moved onto catch and release. good times.

That is one of the reasons I am here. At present the fish are growing bigger by the day. We have a huge pine beetle infestation in the area and fish are having a feeding frenzy. Lots of dead pine trees though...hence the need for a tractor. I took 65 pine trees off a half acre lot. Beetles got every one of them.

 

[Cacinok]

squid the friend i went up there with had lived there 10 or so years before and we staid w/ people he knew that owned a logging company. some of the lakes we fished at had only recently become accessible by truck, after the logging company made roads into the area. the trout we were catching were biting everything. we even used grapes at one point, why exactly we were using grapes, i can't remember now.

sad day about the pine beetles, i've heard horror stories about them.