New owner of a model on the 'Models to Avoid' list - Yanmar FX235D

[WYdirt]

WYdirt--any more pics and details of your great looking Yanmar?

Thank You, Here's my post with video & pictures http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/yanmar/377839-yanmar-240d-yoshi-pictures-video.html . I bought it a little over a week ago in northern UT. It was bought locally new & the guy I got it from bought it from a dealer/service shop that was closing down, he only had it about 6 months. He already had a 1510 (I think) that he tilled and mowed with and just sold this one. After digging into it, servicing it & cleaning it up, it is pretty easy to tell this tractor has had a very easy life. I have been looking for a tractor for a long time & patience finally paid off! I just could not see having a tractor payment & I want to be able to work on it myself.

 

[clemsonfor]

That's why we all have these yanmars!! You did good

 

[Wagtail]

Are the Yanmars you see there the 'export' version sold by dealers representing Yanmar corporation, with English manuals and labels? What we see here now is some of those sold here originally before Yanmar abandoned the US market, but outnumbered by Japan-market versions imported used/clean condition in some cases, and often the condition of the used imports is 'reconditioned' in VN after what may have been a second lifetime of use there. Yanmar-US won't discuss or sell parts for anything but the English-language 'export' version Yanmars that they originally brought over.

After a fatal rollover of a VN recon some 10 years ago Yanmar-US sued all the gray market importers and drove most of them out of business. Fredricks is (I think) the sole exception, they already had an agreement with Yanmar to properly recondition and add US-spec safety gear on their recons so they were allowed to continue.

Yanmar returned to the US market recently and is now selling their current models here, again, after some 20 years absent.

How does this compare to what you see there?

I honestly can't say, Mate. The only old YANMAR around here that I know of belongs to a Mate of mine in town. It is one tiny tractor but seems to go on forever.

 

[Neat 1500]

Yanmar returned to the US market recently and is now selling their current models here, again, after some 20 years absent.

How does this compare to what you see there?

Yanmar Excavators yes, tractors no. The excavators are extremely popular here but have never seen a new tractor. That may change now once they re-establish a market in the US again and it should flow on "down" here.

 

[California]

Yanmar Excavators yes, tractors no.

Do you guys get the VN 'rebuilts' then?

 

[Wagtail]

Not that I've seen or heard. The market here is small enough as it is that even Chinese grey's have difficulties getting a toehold.

If there's a VN 'rebuilt' market on this side of the world I'd look local SE Asia or Africa.

 

[Neat 1500]

Do you guys get the VN 'rebuilts' then?

When I bought mine about 8 years ago there was a few suppliers of VN refurbs around stocking several models and brands. Now they are very scarce. We don't see refurbed excavators only tractors but even they are rare now. I was doing some googling and snooping around a few weeks ago and found numerous refurbed Iseki's advertised. Don't know where they came from. Mine has LCI belts and hoses on it so I can only assume that's where mine came from as the tractor seller I bought off is no longer around. The only problem I have had with mine was a collapsed wheel bearing in the front as they were assembled dry and it seized up.

 

[azeller22]

I got the fuel gauge working and dug into the UFO controls. There are a few clipped wires on the circuit board (it's a two layerd circuit board about 2.5"x9") and it looks like the previous owner wired the lift joystick directly to the lift solenoids. I'll just forget about getting the UFO controls to work. Everything else works and the diesel engine purrs and sips fuel like the other yanmar engines I've had in equipment.

I went to eat at a Japanese steakhouse and took my UFO pictures in, but guess what? The owners are Chinese But they were able to decipher some of the symbols because of similarities. But like I said, I'm not going to explore anymore.

Now I just need to sort out the loader float function. The loader stays put when I detent it into float and if I leave it in float and raise the 3pt arms all the way up, as soon as the arms are all the way up and I keep holding the raise switch the loader starts raising. I imagine the loader was working properly when it was first installed by whomever, so maybe an o-ring busted internally or something is blocking a port??? I'm going to do another test this evening and disconnect the 'out' hyd hose then moved the joystick to float and see if the loader settles.

 

[azeller22]

That's a great looking little tractor.

If you don't mind me asking what did you pay..??

td

Less than $5k

 

[California]

if I leave it in float and raise the 3pt arms all the way up, as soon as the arms are all the way up and I keep holding the raise switch the loader starts raising.

This is normal.

The pump is positive-displacement so fluid passes through the lines continually. The loader control is in series ahead of the 3-point. The loader lift circuits are normally closed off, isolated, from that valve's pass-through line when you aren't touching the handle. But in 'float' there is a route for fluid to get to the lift cylinders.

Then back at the 3-point, that valve is normally pass-through also. But when you move that lever to 'lift' fluid can't drain to the tank, it is all routed to the 3-point lift cylinder. When the 3-point arms reach maximum is the first time the loader control sees back-pressure. So at that time, high pressure is routed to the loader's cylinders, and they raise.

 

[azeller22]

Thanks for explaining the relationship between the 3pt circuit and loader.

Do you know how I get the loader float function to work? The loader joystick detents in float but when I go to float with the loader a few feet off the ground, the loader does not freefall, it just stays there. (I do see one of the loader lines twitches like it sees a pressure spike when I pop it from neutral into float) If I set the bucket flat on the ground, then detent to float, then tilt the bucket down, the loader will raise up, but then the loader loses contact with the ground. The loader does not want it's weight on the ground when in float.

Is there a solution? I'm wondering if this was ever working or if the owner who installed the loader just decided he didn't care about the float working. A Koyker rep mentioned something about adding a power beyond sleeve for Yanmars to fix the loader/3pt association. I'm waiting for a rep to respond to my voicemail.

I did leave the bucket a few feet off the ground, turned the tractor off, disconnected the out hose then place the joystick in float and it free fell to the ground. Not sure if a bad o-ring in the valve control would cause the valve to work when the tractor is off and no hydraulic flow but mess up the float function when the tractor is on and fluid flowing.

Thanks for your assistance!

 

[winston1]

Guess I'll comment. I think the power beyond is probably what you need to take back pressure off your loader valve. Just a weak opinion, no fact.

 

[California]

I did leave the bucket a few feet off the ground, turned the tractor off, disconnected the out hose then place the joystick in float and it free fell to the ground.

I don't have a clear idea what's causing this but I see a possible clue in what you described above. In Float, the bucket should fall regardless of whether the engine is running or not. If it will fall only with the engine off, that suggests there is something downstream that blocks the fluid after it went past the loader control. (Backing up pressure that should have drained out of the loader lift circuit and onward toward the 3-point).

Could that UFO 'black box' control a blocking solenoid downstream from the loader valve? That, or some other cause for downstream blockage, might be the place to start looking for the problem.

The older ones have a big knob under the front of the seat that when closed, will keep the 3-point up forever. And also a small Drop Rate Valve under one side of the seat that meters how fast the the 3-point falls. If either of these valves is nearly closed it could cause the behavior you see. I have no idea if these same features are on a UFO-version hydraulic system. Possibly electronic circuits replace these manual controls.

Or just call for an exorcism.

 

[azeller22]

Mine has the knob under the seat you turn clockwise to slow/stop the lowering and counterclockwise to speed up the lowering. Messing with it doesnt do anything for my float issue. But, there is something in the UFO controls that also supposedly controls speed of something. I'll explore some more, and follow some of the UFO wiring, thx.

 

[clemsonfor]

That knob you describe is a service stop on the older YM tractors. Could be different on the new ones but the old that is to remain open unless you want to burn up or deadhead your pump. Unless your working on it then you can have it closed but the tractor is probably off of that's the case.

 

[azeller22]

Not much more to the tractor. There is a UFO solenoid that controls a directional control valve but it is basically plumbed in/next to the hyd valve that controls the lift arms. Every other wire goes into the UFO controller and comes from a rheostat sensor. The next thing to check is the orings and if nothing there, then replumb the system as Koyker directs with a 3rd line and power beyond sleeve.

 

[k0ua]

Keep in mind that a Japanese speaker you enlist to help you translate the controls will also have to have an understanding of the context of the words as it applies to the machinery. As an example ask any good English speaker what the words "Draft" and "Position control" mean. That you might find on 3pt controls on a tractor labeled in English. The English speaker might think "Draft" has something to do with beer and report it as such. He might think "Position Control" as practice from the Kama Sutra or something like that. Not to mention "1/4 inching".