Belarus 420 AN

[oneparsec]

I'm going to look at a Belarus 420 AN tractor next week. Any pros or con's to the model. I understand it has an air cooled engine. Any particulars on the Belarus, other thanit's Russian made? HELP!

 

[Bird]

Have you thought about where you would get parts for it when they're needed? Do a google.com search on Belarus and see what you find. I remember when we used to have a dealer selling the new ones cheap, 12-14 years ago. And a number of people in my area bought them, but I've never personally known any Belarus owner who was not trying to figure out how to get rid of it. However, as many of them as were sold, some folks must be happy with them, and you may like it, as long as you know what you're getting.

 

[rtimgray]

I had a Belarus 420 AN for several years. I would say that it is a mixed bag at best, but could be a good deal.

The electrical system was extremely primitive and poor - I ended up replacing the original alternator (generator) with a normal self-exciting one and changed out most of the wiring, fuses, switches, etc. Took a while, but well worth it.

Most of the hydraulic system leaked, and if I remember right, it used motor oil instead of hydraulic fluid (30 weight or something, I think).

It took two good batteries to start it up, but it did start well in cold weather as long as the glow plug/manifold heater worked.

The engine never leaked a drop of oil, or burned it, but it was L-O-U-D. I remember that most of all. I changed to a synthetic oil and that helped with starting and it actually seemed to run quieter, but that may have been my imagination.

I don't know if parts are difficult to come by now or not. At the time I owned mine, they were easy to get but pricey.

If it is less than $2500 or $3000 and runs, it might be a good deal, other than that I don't know if I could recommend it.

Take care and good luck.

 

[Dargo]

In my area parts appear to be abundant. Just look out in old fields and you'll see several Belarus tractors sitting in the fields rusting away. They came in here by storm and were the cheapest tractor, by far, and sold a bunch of them on price alone. And I do mean a bunch of them. I know the guy who was the dealer. Fortunately for him he created a separate LLC for selling them. Within about a year or so he couldn't possibly keep up with all of the busted and broken tractors coming back in to his tiny repair shop. He quickly closed his doors and moved out of the area. A dozen or more of the tractors seemed to have just been dumped on his old dealership property and never picked up. A LOT of people got burned on them around here. Personally, I would never consider one even if it were offered to me free.

 

[Bird]

were the cheapest tractor, by far

Yep, in 1995, before buying my Kubota B7100, I visited 4 Kubota dealers. One was strictly Kubota, one was Kubota & Massey Ferguson, one was Kubota and Case International, and one was Kubota and Belarus. At that time, there were ads in the newspaper which made it appear that the Belarus was about half what a comparably sized John Deere cost, which meant a bit more than half what a comparably sized Kubota cost. So that dealer did sell a bunch of Belarus, but then dropped them in a year or two, but at least he did stay in business, even expanded his Kubota inventory.