yanmar diesel life expectancy? how many hrs u have?

[canucklehead]

I have a 430 mower/tractor with a 3 cylinder Yanmar, 20 or 22HP. Oil changed regularly, coolant flushed, and regular repairs (almost none) and maintenance. So how many hours should I expect to get out of this? How many hours on yours?

USE: cutting grass on relatively flat area, mild climate (Pacific NW), not worked hard IMHO.

I had someone come look at buying it and he said they are a 3000 hour engine. I think that is utter BS . I'd guess 10,000 hours (assuming looked after). and the rest of this unit seems very heavy duty, industrial quality to me.

 

[wyndhamhomes]

I have a JD 4300 with 2487 hard hours. It pulls a 12' wide batwing mower for rough cutting 40+acres every week, all season long. Had it for 12 years and she runs like a fine swiss watch. I've got hills, sand, dust dirt etc. I wouldn't be afraid of this motor.

 

[canucklehead]

I think the 4300 is a compact utility tractor, and mine is more like a mower, but beefed up mower. here's a couple pics:

 

[Gator6x4]

I think he was talking about the Yanmar engine being one tough animal, regardless of which tractor or mower it is in.

 

[canucklehead]

oops, I meant to say that in my post too, something like.."I assume you mean the yanmars are tough"....

now my front PTO suddenly started to act up.

 

[KennyG]

The small diesels are fine little engines, but 10,000 hours might be optimistic. That would correspond to something like 500,000 miles on a road vehicle. Some engines will run that long, but 5000 hours might be a more realistic expectation if it's well taken care of.

 

[wyndhamhomes]

oops, I meant to say that in my post too, something like.."I assume you mean the yanmars are tough"....

now my front PTO suddenly started to act up.

That's what I meant. My 4300 is bigger, but it is a Yanmar 3 cyl 20 something hp.

I've got my rear pto apart for a new bearing...

 

[WilliamBos]

The small diesels are fine little engines, but 10,000 hours might be optimistic. That would correspond to something like 500,000 miles on a road vehicle. Some engines will run that long, but 5000 hours might be a more realistic expectation if it's well taken care of.

With proper maintenance, 5,000-10,000 hours should not be a problem.

 

[canucklehead]

I have a wisconsin robben motor on my pressure washer. ages ago a small engine repair guy told me they are a great motor, industrial quality, and I should get 10,000 hours out of it. it still runs great and is a beast. I guess i just assumed a good diesel well cared for should get the same. now lets not even talk about the life expectancy of my ford 6.0 diesel... ya just might hit a raw, burnt-empty-pocketed nerve.

 

[JDTank]

Honestly, I feel any tractor will fall apart around the engine, long before you will need to think about rebuilding it.

Quite frankly, in a garden tractor, you will never reach a point where you will need to rebuild a diesel engine if you have one. The hydraulic pumps on these small machines, while good, are not the kind of pumps you would find on a $250,000 excavator. At around 2,500 hours, it comes time to think about rebuilding your hydraulic pump(s) and your trans-axle. It will take years and years to reach this point. At this point, myself, I would buy a new tractor. I don't believe in throwing money into old equipment. You can forever try to keep old equipment running, or just make a payment and it works every single time you go outside to use it. Either way, regardless of what some might say, you WILL spend the money. Pay now or pay later.

I recently seen a X495 I think it was, with the Yanmar diesel. It was at my local dealership and had just been traded. It had close to 5,000 hours on it. The engine was still running, sounded great, but the transaxle was about done and it was on it's 2nd hydraulic system, ready for it's 3rd. The guy who used it started a commercial landscape/maintenance company. If this machine was not mowing, it was running a big rotary broom through the front PTO. It had a hard life and worked a TON of hours. To this date I have never seen a garden tractor with so many hours on it. Needless to say, Besides the water pump and the alternator, the mechanic was pretty sure it was all original. It was sent straight to auction and sold for next to nothing, really isn't worth anything at that point.

Like someone else said, use the tractor more, worry less. I just bought a 2012 X740 in February, I have 50 hours on it now. I don't even have my 54'' Quick Hitch blade yet, when I do, my hours will REALLY go up. I don't sweat it. I bought the machine to use it to it's fullest of capabilities. Every hour on the hour meter is an hour NOT on my back and legs. I plan to put about 100 hours on the machine per year. Even at this rate, I will get 20 years out of it, 16 of which will be payment free. I worry more about the hydraulics and trans-axle than the engine. Actually, the Yanmar under my hood is the last worry on my list.