After my JohnDeere 850 died, I spent some time with a local diesel garage looking for a replacement engine. In the long run of the saga, I happened across Fredricks that could just swap the engine that died with a restored 3T80. After looking at the poor condition of the JD850, it was smarter to just trade it in on the YM2610. The YM2610 is the PowerShift version of the JD850. I tried a YM2500 (aka the JD850 stick/gear shifting), but immediately fell in love with the PowerShift. Plus, this also meant my wife and dad could drive it when needed.
The YM2610 being a near clone with the JD850 has benefits of knowing that the JD service manuals and parts are more readily available. Plus, I can cross-reference accessories too.
On a personal note, I had spent about 5-hours at Fredricks. I saw first hand the clean operation and setup. They have their act together totally. Machines are rebuilt in a disciplined manner while structured from phase to phase much like an assembly line, but with equal care to quality throughout. It's not easy to say it in words without writing a long worded essay on the restore process. The Fredricks operation is not a mom-n-pop or overnight whim. It's a full fledged operations. Everything is neat and orderly. Even with the unloading of the large shipping containers, the tractors are inventoried and placed in the restoration cycle lines per models and makes.
One other thing to note. What Fredricks has listed on their website for tractor inventory is very modest to say at best. Take the website inventory and multiply that by 20X. There are hundreds of tractors onsite!
Fredricks will even restore John Deere Yanmars too. He was mine after the restore. If you would had seen how pathetic the JD850 was, you would be shocked. That JD850 should have went to the scrap yard, not due to rust, but the dents and twisting broken lights and rotted tires made it really ugly along with the cracked head and block that the previous owner neglected.
