Yanmar Super Expensive?

[Tractorable]

I don't think the price of the new Yanmar YT series is out of whack. If you check the specs, these are high feature tractors that compete directly with the Kubota Grand L series and the higher end JD's. The prices of the new Yanmar's are either similar or slightly lower.

The YT347C competes directly with the Kubota Grand L4760 and one could argue that it's a superior machine at the same or lower price point. The YT has all the same features as the Grand L and the integrated hydro mechanical transmission (iHMT) is more efficient, just as user friendly, and is more serviceable. It has also been in use for the past eight years in Japan prior to being introduced to the American market, so it has a good track record.

Of note, the YT359 is only about $2k more expensive than the YT347 which is a lot of extra hp for the money. The Yanmar uses a larger displacement engine to achieve its hp rather than using a turbo on a smaller engine. The YT has a higher loader capacity than the Kubota's and also comes with two rear remotes standard with extendable link arms.

Also, compare the new YT235 to the Kubota standard L series. It's way nicer and is at a similar price point.

Yanmar has 100 years experience building Diesel engines and supplies JD with many, if not most, of their engines for their CUT's. In 1992, Yanmar built its 10 millionth Diesel engine. These guys know what they're doing.

Yanmar is back on the scene in a big way and they have an excellent product line that's as good or better than anything out there. What they really need to do is work on their marketing program to get the word out.

 

[GregP27]

Can't seem to find pricing and would NOT pay more for a Yanmar since I have NO basis for comparing or dealer support.

These guys better get real. They are the "new kid on the block, over here." If they donlt and want premium prices, I predict abject failure in the U.S.A. Same for everything ... when you;re NEW, you give a good deal to get some product out there. When the reviews catch up with the big players. you might want to bumo it a bit, but NOT right up to the top brands, or you will just fail. You have to be near or AT the top for awhile before you can charge what Deere ot other top brands are charging!

Hey Yanmar! Wake up! You ainlt selling in the orient, you;re trying to sell HERE, and you;re the NEW guys. All the Yanmars I have seen to date have been gray-market tractors, with a decent reputation, but NO apparent support. No support means no purchase for most of us, and gray-market brand reviews are seen against one another, not against the established brands. You need to be priced less than the LS, who have been here LONGER and have more dealers around with better apparent support.

What are you thinking? Want to make a adent? Get some tractor OUT THERE with great deals and some independent, top-notch reviews over several years. Maybe THEN you can charge as much as the others, but not MORE!

Not very bright, are they?

 

[California]

What are you thinking? ... Not very bright, are they?

You're ignorant of Yanmar's history in the US. They arrived in the US about the same time as Kubota and were neck and neck competitors for a few years. They established a reputation as good as the top traditional brands, Deere, etc.

Deere saw this new competitor was building quality they could only match, not exceed. So ... Deere contracted Yanmar to build all the under 50 hp Deere models for Deere, for some 20 years. This history of the Yanmar/Deeres and the original US Yanmars, plus the other Yanmar-powered equipment sold here, established a reputation for quality that is anything but 'new kid' for knowledgeable buyers.

Price? Yes, Yanmar is asking premium prices for premium quality equipment. They aren't going for the mass-market customer competing with Mahindra etc.

 

[Rustyiron]

Hold on there Greg, engage your google before engaging your mouth


I bought a brand new from the dealer Yanmar tractor in about 1986!
They do need to work on their dealer network & marketing.

 

[Oldoak]

You're ignorant of Yanmar's history in the US. They arrived in the US about the same time as Kubota and were neck and neck competitors for a few years. They established a reputation as good as the top traditional brands, Deere, etc.

Deere saw this new competitor was building quality they could only match, not exceed. So ... Deere contracted Yanmar to build all the under 50 hp Deere models for Deere, for some 20 years. This history of the Yanmar/Deeres and the original US Yanmars, plus the other Yanmar-powered equipment sold here, established a reputation for quality that is anything but 'new kid' for knowledgeable buyers.

Price? Yes, Yanmar is asking premium prices for premium quality equipment. They aren't going for the mass-market customer competing with Mahindra etc.

I believe you nailed it. :thumbsup:

I would consider a Yanmar YT359, if...........there was a dealer in my area. So it's still Kubota for me, which I have been well pleased with for 19 years. But I never automatically rule out the competition when contemplating a new tractor.

 

[Tractorable]

I have some background in the marine industry and Yanmar is one of the largest, if not the largest, supplier of marine diesel engines in the world. They have a reputation for being bullet proof to mariners who's lives depend on the reliability of their engines. If you're caught in a storm at sea with no engine you could die. Here's a quote from the Cruisers Forum:

"we just sailed around the world with a Yanmar 4jh4 that now has over 7000 hours on it. Never been seen by a mechanic. Change oil and filters often. That's all. Starts in a second. Runs beautifully"

If John Deere trusts Yanmar enough to build their engines and tractors for them, and men at sea trust their lives with Yanmar engines then that's plenty good enough for me. I would be proud to own a piece of equipment made by a company with a 100 year history of building quality engines and agricultural equipment.

 

[California]

And the farm equipment isn't even Yanmar's principal line. I've read that the owner (private corporation) wanted to extend the quality of his marine engines to the agricultural sector because he admires farmers for feeding the world, and he thought they would appreciate a line of top-quality products to make them more productive. Yanmar makes a lot of specialty machines such as rice planters as well as the construction equipment and tractors we see here. The guy sounds like sort of an Elon Musk (Tesla) visionary.

I can't speak for Yanmar's current products but my two early 80's US Yanmars simply run like new despite thrashed appearance showing neglect by previous owners. Zero oil consumption, no oil leaks, etc. A third one I sold looked even rougher but it dyno-tested exceeding its 1980 brochure spec.

 

[GregP27]

Regarding when they got here and their performace, it doesn't matter. Look at the participation in here versus Kubota, Deere, and other big player forums. When I SEE a tractor dealer, it is almost never Yanmar.

I'd think of Yanmar if I wanted a deisel engine for a Marine application, even a turbo, but their inroad into tractors is NOT impressive, at least to me. In my mind, that equates to not many dealers.

Let's see 2 in eastern WA. None in Montana, Wyoming, or New Mexico. None in Nevada, none in Iowa. None in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine. None on North Dakota. None in Arkansas.

Biggest inroads seem to be east coast. That does not impress me with dealer support. Might BE a great tractor and, given their reputation in the Marine engine world, I am automatically prejudiced toward a good opinion of their engines. But their tractors will have to be a great deal for me to even consider them as an option.

Opinions vary. I THINK they're a good tractor. But try finding one when you look for a tractor dealer in a LOT of places. Good luck. So, I'd need a VERY good price to go Yanmar, if only from perceived lack of dealer support and unknown parts availability as well as warranty reputation ... in the tractor world. In the Marine engine world, they're solid, but I don't see a prop on the back of a Yanmar tractor and I doubt the Marine dealers (numerous) will support one.

Not saying they aren't deserving of top ranking at all.

Rather, I'm saying, "I don't KNOW, and therefore need a reason to even LOOK at them. That reason would be a good price break over the established brands and, of course, a dealer with inventory somewhere near, who has been there awhile and is likely to survive."

I'm currently in the L.A. area. Never SEEN a Yanmar tractor here. Thinking of up around Spokane or Idaho. I have never seen one there, either, though there ARE a couple of dealers around. Lived in Tennessee. 2 dealers now, none when I was there, years ago.

So, you all get the point. If YOU pay a premium price for a Yanmar, that's dandy and OK. I'd need a good reason and don't see it. That said, I have nothing bad to say about a Yanmar, mostly because I've never seen one in person. The ONLY one I see is on a YouTube channel (Wrangerstar) and seems solid enough, but the difficulties HE had in just getting hydraulic couplings made me laugh. If you are in the compact tractor market as a vendor, use local standard hardware and couplings! Preferably, ones WE can get locally. Apparently, that wasn't the case in Oregon, for Cody. He DID get them, but it took several trips, including people who said thety knew, and they had it in stock! Wrong ...

So, price and implement deals would be the carrots. And they aren't, as far as I can tell.

Hope all you Yanmar owners out there get great service and little trouble. I'd even expect the little trouble part. But I don't want one until I can see it working in person and see it continuing to get dealer support.

The US market is NOT easy for newcomers when there are established players already.

 

[Tractorable]

I saw Wranglerstar's video as well and it was my understanding that the issue he had was a non standard hydraulic coupling provided by an implement manufacturer, not the Yanmar tractor?

I will have to watch his series of videos again to confirm, but it's Sunday morning and I need to brew some coffee and get some work done on the farm.

 

[Geosankie]

Don't know what you mean by "none in Pennsylvania"....look again, there are a number of Yanmar dealers in Pa and NY.. I know, I have visited many there. ( and just purchased a YT235.)

 

[Tractorable]

Geosankie, you know the rules. We need pics of that new YT235. That's a bad lookin beastie!

 

[Blue14]

Regarding when they got here and their performace, it doesn't matter. Look at the participation in here versus Kubota, Deere, and other big player forums. When I SEE a tractor dealer, it is almost never Yanmar.

I'd think of Yanmar if I wanted a deisel engine for a Marine application, even a turbo, but their inroad into tractors is NOT impressive, at least to me. In my mind, that equates to not many dealers.

Let's see 2 in eastern WA. None in Montana, Wyoming, or New Mexico. None in Nevada, none in Iowa. None in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine. None on North Dakota. None in Arkansas.

Biggest inroads seem to be east coast. That does not impress me with dealer support. Might BE a great tractor and, given their reputation in the Marine engine world, I am automatically prejudiced toward a good opinion of their engines. But their tractors will have to be a great deal for me to even consider them as an option.

Opinions vary. I THINK they're a good tractor. But try finding one when you look for a tractor dealer in a LOT of places. Good luck. So, I'd need a VERY good price to go Yanmar, if only from perceived lack of dealer support and unknown parts availability as well as warranty reputation ... in the tractor world. In the Marine engine world, they're solid, but I don't see a prop on the back of a Yanmar tractor and I doubt the Marine dealers (numerous) will support one.

Not saying they aren't deserving of top ranking at all.

Rather, I'm saying, "I don't KNOW, and therefore need a reason to even LOOK at them. That reason would be a good price break over the established brands and, of course, a dealer with inventory somewhere near, who has been there awhile and is likely to survive."

I'm currently in the L.A. area. Never SEEN a Yanmar tractor here. Thinking of up around Spokane or Idaho. I have never seen one there, either, though there ARE a couple of dealers around. Lived in Tennessee. 2 dealers now, none when I was there, years ago.

So, you all get the point. If YOU pay a premium price for a Yanmar, that's dandy and OK. I'd need a good reason and don't see it. That said, I have nothing bad to say about a Yanmar, mostly because I've never seen one in person. The ONLY one I see is on a YouTube channel (Wrangerstar) and seems solid enough, but the difficulties HE had in just getting hydraulic couplings made me laugh. If you are in the compact tractor market as a vendor, use local standard hardware and couplings! Preferably, ones WE can get locally. Apparently, that wasn't the case in Oregon, for Cody. He DID get them, but it took several trips, including people who said thety knew, and they had it in stock! Wrong ...

So, price and implement deals would be the carrots. And they aren't, as far as I can tell.

Hope all you Yanmar owners out there get great service and little trouble. I'd even expect the little trouble part. But I don't want one until I can see it working in person and see it continuing to get dealer support.

The US market is NOT easy for newcomers when there are established players already.

I was on Yanmar Tractor website and did a dealers search within 100 miles of my zip code and 17 dealership sites showed up oh and by the way I live in south central Penna. So when you said their were no dealers in the entire state of Penna, where are you getting your information?

 

[rustyshakelford]

At that price point why didn't you consider any Deere tractors?

Brett

 

[GregP27]

Hi Blue 14.

Used the Yanmar dealership map, on a Yanmar website I found for tractor dealers. No, I don't know which one as I never memorize URLs. If it isn't easy to find, I don't need it. The map was a slight bit unclear, but shows quite a few on the east coast, dropping well off as you go west.

Once again, I do NOT have a bad opinion of Yanmar, and am inclined to like them (Japanese and also made by the King of Marine deisels, Yanmar). But I also won't pay top dollar for a an apparently relatively scarce tractor. That usually doesn't mean bad IN service; it usually DOES mean a bit of time and hassle when parts and sevice are needed, especially if they're a long way off from wherever you are.

IF the tractors are similar to Yanmar Marine deisels, then they're good units (at least the engines!). I am assuming that is the case until and unless proven otherwise. So far, it hasn't been, and I'm not really looking for it to be so. But I WOULD rather have a dealer within 15 - 20 miles than within 150 or more. If an operator can have luck, it can be good or bad. With my luck, if the dealer is close, I'll have little trouble. If the dealer is far away, I'd get a lemon! It sort of works out that way.

C'est la vie ... hope all your Yanmars are as good and solid as I expect then to be. But they DO need to break into the top-tier market somehow. Pricing them above the best of the established brands isn't the way, at least in the U.S. market ... normally. To make a change to a newer, unproven brand (in a lot of places, anyway) , most U.S. people need a deal. Nothing else intended.

Cheers to you.

 

[Tractorable]

I don't see that Yanmar is pricing their tractors above the established brands. However, as it's been said multiple times in this thread, Yanmar really needs to work on their marketing. They have new tractors available in dealers right now but they don't have a "build and price" option on their website. This would alleviate all this conjecture about the price of new Yanmar's. So I'm going to send a message to Yanmar Corporate:

HEY YANMAR! YOU HAVE GOOD LOOKING QUALITY TRACTORS THAT MANY PEOPLE WANT TO BUY, BUT WE ARE UNABLE TO GET PRICING ON THEM TO COMPARE WITH OTHER BRANDS BECAUSE YOU DONT HAVE A BUILD AND PRICE OPTION ON YOUR WEBSITE. PLEASE FIX THAT ASAP!

For what it's worth, the prices quoted to me from dealers is as follows: $25K for a YT235 ROPS; $32k for a YT347 ROPS; $35k for a YT347 ROPS; and $37K for a YT359 ROPS; all with loaders, and the 347/359 come with the new iHMT.

So yes, pricing is not consistent across the map. Generally, with Kubota you can expect real world pricing to be 10% off the MSRP quoted on their website. The same may be true for JD. Either way, Yanmar needs to put their cards on the table if they want to play.

 

[Tractorable]

I just spec'd out a Kubota L4760 ROPS with loader and two rear remotes to compare it to the two quotes I got above on the YT347. This is an apples to apples comparison because the Yanmar has the same bells and whistles as the Grand L except that it puts out more power to the PTO and has a higher loader lift capacity.

MSRP on the L4760 came to $40K so factoring in their average 10% discount that comes to about $36K. The Yanmar is coming in at between $32-35K for a tractor with similar or even better specs.

 

[Blue14]

I got a quote on a Yanmar YT347C Cab with loader from a dealer with his normal discount off MSRP of $39,799 before any incentives or taxes,I also got a quote from a dealer for a Kubota Grand L 4760 Cab with loader with his normal discount off MSRP of $41,950 before taxes or any incentives with the Yanmar $2,151 dollars cheaper and the Yanmar YT347C comes with a set of rear remotes standard where as it is an option on the Kubota and as (Tractorable) quoted above the Yanmar has better lift capacity. My opinion is the new Yanmar YT series are a cut above in quality and workmanship,I have been a long time Kubota owner of 3 new Kubotas presently owning a B2650 Rops and I am very seriously considering the purchase of a YT347C Cab after test driving one this past Monday.

 

[Tractorable]

That is so awesome Blue14. If you do end up getting the YT347C you will have to make a YouTube video and give us all the details since Yanmar and dealerships haven't put much out there on these tractors. That YT347C is one good looking machine.

Some things I'd like to know is A) how the real-world pricing stacks up to the competitors, B) how the iHMT compares to a HST and shuttle shift, C) how serviceable is the tractor and iHMT, D) what features come standard, and E) how the loader and 3pt specs compare to the competitors.

I think what Yanmar is doing here is really pretty good. Building on their stellar reputation in the marine and construction industries, they develop an innovative new tractor with high quality fit and finish at a price point just below their target competitors. Nice

 

[azeller22]

Just called a Yanmar dealer by Springfield to get a quote on some parts for the SA424, they told me they aren't carrying the Yanmars anymore but will still be selling the parts for a couple months. Sounded like they just couldn't move the Yanmars on their lot so they stopped carrying them. Kinda sad! Since their engines are awesome!

 

[Katahdin]

I received a flyer in the mail yesterday from Yanmar, they are offering rebate discounts up to $5K for existing customers, plus free loader deals.