Whats the deal on Belarus?

[funny farmer]

Why are they so cheap? My nieghbor has one for sale, it's around 85 horse with loader and front wheel assist with only 450 hrs on it he had it listed for 13500 a couple years ago, last summer he told me that he would sell it for 12. I could probably give him 10000 cash for it now, the only reason he doesn't like it is because it has a cab with no a/c and it gets pretty hot in the summer. Then I see them on craigslist listed really cheap. Are they junk? Are the parts hard to find? Whats everyone elses take on these tractors?

 

[dgl24087]

Hard to get parts for, inconsistant quality, no longer sold (as far as I know) in the US. I think $10k would still be too much to pay. Maybe $5k.

 

[john_bud]

People have found some with castings that are porous and body filler smeared on to seal them up. They were made in Russia with poor quality, hard to get metric parts, no dealer/parts support and poor reliability.

When they worked they were ok, but when they broke down --- eh, not so much ok.

jb

 

[4720 OWNER]

Worked on one for a bit for an owner. Think russian military, right down to the electrical system (24V). A good one (not built after a weekend or major russian holiday) looks like something that could be dropped off on the russian steppe and held together with baling wire, spit, and a heavy hammer. Wonderful for getting into and out of fields surrounded by swamps and ditches. But what you get is what you get, no running for parts, ever!!

 

[peter_vii]

Hard to get parts for, inconsistant quality, no longer sold (as far as I know) in the US. I think $10k would still be too much to pay. Maybe $5k.

I tried to buy one from a dealer (belarus.ca); was told that Belarussia no longer
wants to export them, or that they cannot agree on the price. Basically,
you cannot buy them new. I guess the same goes for parts and service

Neighbor has one, a very sturdy tractor, no fancy stuff, just a workhorse.

I say, stay away from used ones.

 

[LBrown59]

Why are they so cheap? My nieghbor has one for sale, it's around 85 horse with loader and front wheel assist with only 450 hrs on it he had it listed for 13500 a couple years ago, last summer he told me that he would sell it for 12. I could probably give him 10000 cash for it now, the only reason he doesn't like it is because it has a cab with no a/c and it gets pretty hot in the summer. Then I see them on craigslist listed really cheap. Are they junk? Are the parts hard to find? Whats everyone elses take on these tractors?

Not to great.

 

[RichZ]

My neighbor has one. He has nothing but trouble with it. Parts are hard to find, and when you find them, they're expensive.

 

[funny farmer]

Thats what I figured, don't think I'll buy one, theres one on craigslist, not sure the size but it''s a bigger one they want $6500 for it and it only has 190 hrs. I was told that they arn't desinged for creature comfort just work horses.

 

[rtimgray]

I had a Belarus 420AN for several years and it was a decent tractor, but had a lot of issues. At that time, parts were plentiful, but expensive. I don't know if what the availability of parts is now. Most of the things that broke on mine were hydraulic lines, alternator, wiring system, etc. They were able to be repaired and adapted locally. I used it for a number of years and then sold it.

I would say buying one is a gamble. If you can get it cheap enough (say, double the going price for scrap metal), then it wouldn't be too bad, because your risk would be limited. I don't think that they have gotten that cheap yet.

If I ever come across one cheap enough, I might pick it up to have a back-up tinker tractor, but it will have to be the right set of circumstances. Good luck and take care.

 

[N80]

I had a friend who had one for many years. He had no trouble with it at all. Finally one day it died and he was glad because he wanted something bigger. He did not say what the problem was but that he figured it would cost too much to fix to be worth it. He is not the mechanical type so I have no idea what the problem was, but he took it to a little shade-tree tractor shop down the road and fixed it for less than $200.

He had it fixed but still bought himself a new Kubota L4400 after he saw mine. As far as I know he still has the Belarus and it still runs.

But I totally agree with the others, I wouldn't touch one. And that's probably the reason he still has his.....no one will buy it.