While they do have a great interactive website, most aftermarket dealers work from the same aftermarket parts book, us included.
OEM Yanmar parts distributors MAY sell parts for grey Yanmars, but if they do so they do so in violation of their contract with Yanmar....so that speaks volumes about their integrity.
Parts support for many grey models is far better than for most of the models originally sold domestically in the US. If you don't believe this, ask those OEM parts distributors who come here why they sell from the aftermarket parts catalog too. There are also far more grey models in the country than models originally sold domestically. We sell only grey models for which we know we have good parts support. MANY of the notorious recon machines go to auction; that is why the auction units are cheaper. We probably average 4-6 calls a month from "locals" who bought such a unit at auction around Columbus or London and found a major defect (most often a block or head crack) and now want a quick inexpensive fix. There isn't one. Additionally there is the issue that these units often have home workshop type repairs, and replacement parts sometimes don't fit because something has been altered. While not all of them are bad, they seem to have a major defect rate many times that of the rest of the market.
If you want a discussion about the new contract tractor made by Yanmar for Cub, read this
THREAD. Parts availability, albeit aftermarket, for many grey models is far better than for most contract tractors in history. The early Shibaura made Fords, the Hinomoto made MFs and ACs, the Iseki made Whites, and now even the early Yanmar made JD models. Most of those contract tractors are more recent than the grey Yanmars we sell, but there is not enough demand for parts to attract the attention of aftermarket parts developers. The grey Yanmars are here in enough volume to get their attention, thus the parts support, the OSHA approved ROPS, etc.
One of life's ongoing truisms....we don't always get everything we paid for, but we almost NEVER get more than we paid for. There is no magic formula for finding a good quality Yanmar cheap. If there were, we'd use that formula ourselves.
. I have a list of models that give specs of each tractor. Some over rate hp a little. If you look around you will find that some rate a 2000 at 22-23 hp while others rare them at 20 hp. My 3110 is rated by some at 31 hp while others say 28-30.My spec sheet rates my tractor at 35 hp
