My new old YM240

   / My new old YM240 #1  

robsym240

Member
Joined
May 10, 2013
Messages
47
Location
columbia illinois
Tractor
yanmar ym240
new tractor.jpg
PHP:
So I have been looking for a good tractor on and off for years, we have 10 acres of ground with about 6 acres of grass to cut, all open fields. Every time I cut it with my rider it was a 2 day project not to mention all the breakdowns and my beat up body afterwards! Again, this spring after my rider broke down on the 1st cut of the season, I went to St. Louis Craigslist (the closest big city) in search of a tractor and I see a Yanmar YM240 listed under tractors and thought ''what's a Yanmar?'' I clicked on the listing and found myself looking at a pic of a nice clean John Deere 850! The seller turned out to live only 5 miles down the same country road I live on here in rural Southern Illinois so I figured I'd go take a look. The tractor was in the driveway idling when I got there, it looked real sharp and clean but as I got closer to it I heard this ''clank, clank, clank'' coming from it. The seller came out and showed me all over the tractor, the original owner painted it to look like a J.D. 850, the seller had it for 4 trouble free years and it's always been garaged, it came with a J.D. 60'' finish mower and a nice swivel blade. It was a sweet machine but for the sound it made while idling (once the rpm's were up it sounded great) and I left with a ''thanks, I'll get back to you'' knowing I wouldn't, I didn't need another machine that may break down and that ''clank, clank'' noise couldn't be a good sign. I couldn't stop thinking about this tractor so I Googled it, found this group and started reading everything you folks have posted here about Yanmars and realized what I had the chance to buy was a fantastic tractor! I called the seller and he still had it so I drove right over, gave him a deposit, and picked it up 3 weeks ago. I've done 2 full cuts with it and it's a world of difference, my entire cut time is under 2 hours and it's a blast to drive, it's one mighty little tractor! Thanks to all of you I am now a proud Yanmar tractor owner and a new member of this group.
 
   / My new old YM240 #2  
Welcome Aboard..... they are awesome!
 
   / My new old YM240 #3  
That's not a rod about to come through the block, its the sound of raw power! :D

I learned to use earplugs or muffs to eliminate hearing fatigue. That clank goes right through you.

The good news is I have now put 9 troublefree years on a YM240 that looked abandoned when I bought it. After an initial cleanup I've only had to fix problems that I caused myself, such as pressure washing the old mechanical voltage regulator. I've had far fewer issues than many new tractor owners have.

Welcome!
 
   / My new old YM240 #4  
Welcome to the group! Some of us swear by power service gray bottle to quiet our engines down some. We use it @ double strength and it helps but most of that noise is the way they sound normally. He sure did make it look like an 850 wow!
 
   / My new old YM240
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thanks for the welcomes, I needed this forum, my wife, my kids, my friends, and even strangers are getting fed up with me talking about my Yanmar tractor, I needed this group! I've seen many of you post prices and that was very helpful to reference so I will share what I paid; I got the tractor, it reads 433 hours on it, a john deere 60'' finish mower in great shape, a nice swivel 60'' blade, front bumper weights, and a IT shop manual for $2500. ...I found the operation manual for it on Ebay and just received it today. Did I say I love this tractor! ; )
 
   / My new old YM240 #6  
Wow, what a deal! I sort of wish I had one of the two cylinder yammer hammers but I'll just have to stick it out with my quiet :D 3 cylinder 2002d.
 
   / My new old YM240 #7  
Welcome to the site. :welcome: Happy tractoring with your Mighty Yanmar
 
   / My new old YM240 #8  
Thanks for the welcomes, I needed this forum, my wife, my kids, my friends, and even strangers are getting fed up with me talking about my Yanmar tractor ... Did I say I love this tractor! ; )
You and all your friends will love this: :D

I must buy a Yanmar Tractor

Re that JD850 appearance - this is an 'early' series YM240 with the hood hinged at the rear and headlights alongside the grill, not within it. About 1977. Its shape is closer to a Deere. Not much difference from the 'late' series YM240 aside from the sheet metal. There were four 'revision levels' and that is the first.


wish I had one of the two cylinder yammer hammers but I'll just have to stick it out with my quiet :D 3 cylinder 2002d.
Eh? Winston? I can't hear you. :)


CarDoc's advice on PowerService is a good idea. But Friday I gave the YM240 a third dose of PS, now 50% over the 'premium' proportion, when the racket was getting to me during monotonous hours running the backhoe in one location. I'm not sure it helped. What does help is the HF Yellow $10 earmuffs that give real silence. Their two red versions aren't as effective.
 
   / My new old YM240
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Thanks for all the good tips and advice and thanks California for helping me confirm it's age, I figured it was a '77 as well, the rear wheels aren't stock, they look maybe to be Kabota. As for the ''clank, clank'' noise, once I learned it wasn't a problem, and is just how these 2 bangers sound, I kinda like the noise, i'm kinda proud of it. I've really enjoyed going through all the posts here, reading about how ya'll found your Yanmars, in many cases resurrected them from becoming scrap, and It's been a real eye opener to see how many implements and the workload your tractors handle. It's also great to see how so many of you offer advice and help troubleshooting when someone has a problem with their machine. I've spent hours surfing this site and I've learned a lot about the proper way to use and maintain my machine, like I said, I would not of bought this tractor had I not found this site. It's also good to see that there are companies like Hoye that have a dependable supply of replacement parts. There is something cool about using a 30 yrs+ old machine that still runs the way it was designed to run, it's the same reason I drive a 1975 ford f100 pick up, they both have great, simplistic design that withstands the test of time and are easy to work on and they're also a small piece of history from when things were built better and meant to last! peace.
 
   / My new old YM240
  • Thread Starter
#10  
...I stand corrected, after getting my operation manual I think the wheels are original to it.
 
 
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