Intermittent coolant leak- what's this? (Picture)

[pretendfarmer]

Shoulda bought the Kubota.

A little dig, I take it?

 

[California]

I don't recall anyone else here having so many problems.

As I said in an earlier post, it sounds like you bought a unit that has pretty much had the life beat out of it, and now needs quite a few things before it will give you the reliable service that most of us experience. It's going to take a little while to complete this repair project - and this time may not be a good match to how you have scheduled your use of the tractor.

Simply because these are 35 years old and gray market, they are not ideal for earning a living or anything where downtime will be a critical problem. That said, after they are restored to what Yanmar intended would be normal operating condition, it should be years before another problem appears that takes the tractor out of service. The low price of a 1970's gray market tractor is a tradeoff for not having a dealer in the next town like a recent-model Kubota owner enjoys. Most of us accept that this is simply the environment we have chosen.

Hoye is the best supplier available for the broad range of things needed to keep these in service for years. Fredricks is at least as good for breadth of stock, but in my experience not as smooth to actually buy from. Again, a local Kubota dealer might serve you better. Or for an old Kubota, he might have to wait for mailorder parts too.

Relax, you'll love the thing after your renovation is complete.

 

[pretendfarmer]

I see what's going on here. It was my mistake to buy the tractor and therefore any problems I experience in the future regarding parts, service, etc. is my own fault because, after all, I bought the tractor. It's just like someone who buys a lemon car, then gets ripped off by an unscrupulous mechanic for thousands of dollars in bogus repairs. It's their fault for buying the car. I got it.

 

[California]

Yep, unless you have a warranty from the seller that's pretty much the case. Caveat Emptor, as they used to say.

 

[pretendfarmer]

Yep, unless you have a warranty from the seller that's pretty much the case. Caveat Emptor, as they used to say.

Notice I used the word "fault" not responsibility. Since you took a dig at me I decided to take one back. As far as forums go, I've always believed in either offering helpful information to someone on their thread, or not posting at all. "I told you so" and "you should have known" and all that good stuff is nothing but self-serving rhetoric for people who are unhappy with themselves for one reason or another, and feel a sense of accomplishment by knocking someone down a peg.

 

[California]

Look, it's not my intent to knock anyone down. I am responding to your obvious disappointment with your Yanmar, and your early comment that you should have bought a Kubota instead because you expected it would have less problems. My experience, and I expect many who join this Yanmar forum, is that these elderly Yanmars were initially well built and can be kept in service with little drama. Your initial title for this thread you started is "Intermittent coolant leak- what's this? (Picture)" indicates you recognized a potential expensive problem. As I recall you also mentioned the tires are shot. If the tractor shows this evidence that its not in 'standard' condition, then its not a surprise that other problems have also become evident.

Over the years I've bought many used items, won the gamble on most and got stuck with turkeys in a few instances. Latest example, a few days ago, was a set of Panasonic DECT6 cordless phones, base station + 3 more handsets, (model introduced in 2009) for under $7 total from a thrift store. Half the handsets needed batteries, another $8 from Ebay. For $15 I now have a cordless phone that can connect from down in the barn. Ok, won that one. But long ago there were there were two Willys Wagons that need an hour's repairs for every hour used in 4wd, and a 60's Volvo with similar bad reliability. Then the 400ci Wagoneer that simply couldn't be restarted after it was warm. (turned out to be a bent crankshaft). All were cases where I lost the gamble. Fine, I sold each after learning I had made a mistake, and moved on. I'm still far money ahead compared to buying similar capability new. In fact when I did, the Trooper I bought new to replace these unsatisfactory 4x4's met its end when a tree fell on it in front of my house. But that loss was after 16 years use so I think it was cost effective.

My point here is you win some, lose some, and in general these Yanmars are worth what they cost. But there can be expensive exceptions and unfortunately you seem to own one of the exceptions. Seriously, you might consider selling it and starting with something that doesn't need as much to become reliable. Nobody need that much aggravation.

 

[pretendfarmer]

I'm well aware of what I bought. I don't honestly need people to continue to remind me of this every time I have a problem. And when I mentioned the Kubota, I was not saying it to insinuate they are better, I was saying it because I saw some that were newer and in better shape than the Yanmar I purchased. If I could go back, I would not have purchased this tractor, but it is what it is. I am strongly considering installing the parts and passing it on to the next owner. I just have not had the luck I had hoped. Sometimes it's best to move on, and I might be happier with something newer.

I am well within my right to be disappointed with a company which shorted me 3 items which I waited over a week for, one of which I was charged for. This costs me a lot of time, and like they say time is money. I am sure they will make it right by sending me the operator's manual, and the other two items should I decide I still want them, but the time is gone, and so is the opportunity to have them shipped under the same order to save on shipping costs.

 

[kenmac]

I'm just guessing here. Sometimes it gets busy and things are forgotten, It's a given he /his employees are going to make a mistake from time to time. Reason I say this is , I have a business and miss appointments , return calls, etc, when, we start receiving a lot of calls for service/repairs. I hate it when it happens, but It happens. I have bought from Hoye . I buy most of my parts (what little I've needed) from Fredricks. All my transactions have gone smooth with both suppliers.

 

[284 International]

I am well within my right to be disappointed with a company which shorted me 3 items...

I agree with you completely on this point. With that said, the difference between an excellent company like Hoye and a non-excellent one is how they handle their mistakes. I'm confident that they will rectify the missed parts in the order.

...which I waited over a week for...

You are being unreasonable holding the week shipping time against them, especially when, as you pointed out, just to bring something to you from a town of apparently modest size is

... $60 just in fuel and bridge tolls for 2 round trips...

I would suggest that a week shipping from Texas to that part of Washington is quite reasonable, given the way things typically work with shippers. Conflating a week for shipping time with missing some portions of the order isn't logical. I certainly don't speak for Hoye, but I have a hard time imagining they will ding you for a second shipping charge when you already paid for something that didn't ship.

... "I told you so" and "you should have known" and all that good stuff is nothing but self-serving rhetoric for people who are unhappy with themselves for one reason or another, and feel a sense of accomplishment by knocking someone down a peg.

You are WAY out of line here. California, Winston, and others are extraordinarily helpful to many people, myself included, and give vast amounts of time, energy, and resources away with nothing asked or given in return. To accuse California of being self serving or knocking someone down is insulting to those of us who have benefited from his counsel and knowledge. You owe him an apology, and shouldn't clutter up what should be an informative thread with snarky remarks about how people aren't helping you to your satisfaction. Reel it in a little. Nobody here is trying to beat you up, they really are trying to give sound advice and justification for their positions.

Hoye has an online help tool here: Support - Submit a ticket

The couple times I have used it they have been VERY quick in responding, even outside normal business hours. Perhaps, instead of waiting until Monday to contact them, you could submit a support ticket online tonight, then they could at least have a chance of getting it out tomorrow, and save you some time.

I hope you fix your tractor.

 

[bmaverick]

Hoye has an online help tool here: Support - Submit a ticket

The couple times I have used it they have been VERY quick in responding, even outside normal business hours. Perhaps, instead of waiting until Monday to contact them, you could submit a support ticket online tonight, then they could at least have a chance of getting it out tomorrow, and save you some time.

I hope you fix your tractor.

AND if you notice, Aaron who is employed at Hoye, is frequent in these Yanmar forums around the web. Just use the link and anyone of the people will get back with you.

Once I had order parts from Rockauto.com All but two things came in right away. After a week the other warehouse got stock and shipped out the items. The worse place I had experienced online from a know retailer was JC Whitney. It took 3 months of emails and calls !!! Hoye by far is better than that.