1st time buyer for a compact tractor

[Anonymous Poster]

Hello,
A couple of years ago I shopped for a tractor to the exact type of work that you spoke of. I decided quickly that I could not justify buying a new tractor. I shopped around and I decided to buy a model 1610D Yanmar Grey market tractor. I found several facts when researching about Yanmars;
1. They are well designed tractors and are reliable.
2. They are available nationwide for about 1/2 the price of a comparable "American" tractor. (Made in Japan)
3. Parts are available through a good network of Yanmar and Grey market dealers. However, a few very old models are difficult to get parts for.
4. They are capable of attaching loaders, and implements. They have standard PTOs.
5. Dealers who sell "American" tractors (Made in Japan) dislike them because their presence undercuts their business.
Since buying the Yanmar 1610D I have been nothing but happy with the purchase. I generally regard it as one of the best purchases I have ever made. I have equipped it with a loader, box scraper, mower and rototiller for less than the price of a new "American" tractor (Made in Japan) would cost without any implements.
My advice would be, to look at Grey market Yanmar tractors. Look for a model with a three cylinder engine with a powershift transmission.
Good luck,
Cameron

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Cameron,
Thanks for the information. I am still in the process of trying to find a good reasonable priced tractor.
I will definitely look into the Yanmar tractors.

Mary

 

[Anonymous Poster]

If you want the highest quality for the money, buy a Yanmar you won't be disappointed. They also have pretty good resale value. I have a little over $4000 invested in a 15hp(PTO) tractor that had a 4ft hog, a 4ft tiller and a 4ft box blade included. What area of the country are you in?There are quite a few Yanmar dealers around. This was from a dealer.
Jeff

 

[stalman]

I am new to all of this so please bear with me. I have 10 acres about 7 of which is rolling pasture. I plan to mow approximately one acre as lawn, the rest I will treat as pasture. I am on a budget because of the impending costs of new home constuction and am looking for advice regarding the purchase of a good used compact for multi purpose use including: mowing, grading and possibly the addition of a frontloader later. I would like to stay in the 10K or less range for tractor (4WD w/live power and at leat 20 HP). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ERNIEB]

Stalman, Welcome to TBN. It probably would have been better if you started your own thread, but I think you will get some response here.
I would recommend sticking to one of the big three. If you do end up needing parts or repairs it will be alot easier. It sounds like you have a good idea of what you need. Just shop around and don't get in a hurry, sometimes a good used one is hard to find. A lot of times it depends on the location.
Best of luck

Ernie

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Let me say it again, CHINESE TRACTORS ARE THE BEST VALUE IN AMERICA TODAY!!! Checkout www.ctoa.net there are plenty of dealers in the states and you can buy a 25-28HP tractor, 4x4 with a loader (domestic or import) for less than $9K. And despite the uninformed BS, parts are not an issue.

 

[ScottieM]

It is true parts are not a problem for chinese tractors, before buying a KubotaB7500, I looked at all other options to save money. But make sure you find a shop that will/can work on your chinese tractor. I could not find one close enough to make it worth my time. Also you might want to make sure there are at least two seperate shops incase one goes out of business. If you can't aford one of the big guys tractors, you might also want to consider Yanmar tractors. The one thing I have learned on these tractor sites is that the Japanese technology is better than the Chinese technology. Just read all the past posts, and also check out Yahoo tractor sites, they offer alot more info on the non big three brands.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...Japanese technology is better than the Chinese technology...</font color=blue>

Not that the Chinese technology is worse... it's copied... but the workmanship had been very poor in the past. The castings are very crude and unfinished.

Everybody and their brother and mother seems to be importing these... it still is extremely difficult to find a dealer willing to service these units... even if money were no object... they still don't want to be bothered with an "unknown" or "pig-in-a-poke".

You may have a dozen people importing the same Chinese tractor and place twelve different marketing names on them... Heaven help ya if your importer goes belly up... or loses interest and decides not to import anymore... then try to call the "other guy" you didn't buy from... an order parts... now that part you need is astronomical... What do you do now?

Your four local tractor dealers/mechanics tell you to go away... and your part is coming via a "rice paddy" and you remortgaged the house to pay for the part...

If they ever get centralized and get their act together... maybe they will have a chance...

Remember a small unknown Japanese company brought tractors into the U.S. and nobody bought them for a long time...

Now look at Kubota... /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

 

[JohnS]

Hi John,

Have only 6 hrs on my Jinma 254 certainly doesn't make it a good case study, yet. I will say the castings on mine are better than a Nortrac and Iron Horse (both Jinma 254s) which were probably imported only a year ago. They are now using a gloss black paint on the castings, over the flat and unfinished. They are still a ways behind the level of any of the big 3, though.

You are correct that just about anyone can import these tractors. I do feel that this can be an advantage. Having the choice to go to multiple different people that are not tied to a major dealer who may set pricing levels, is good competition. An Iron Horse dealer, the closest Jinma dealer to me, said they would sell parts to people who didn't purchase from them. Pricing that was quoted to me was not unreasonable. While some will sell parts for only tractors they have sold, I do believe it is more of the minority.

Human nature being what it is though, once a part becomes hard to get, and they know it, price goes up and up. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

I don't doubt that service can be an issue. Even though they are a basic, straight forward tractors, and appear to have good access, some will not touch it without full manuals and service info. A full illustrated parts list and operators manual, which includes many adjustments, came with the tractor. Not the best I've seen, but gives enough that you can probably figure it out.

These tractors are certainly not for everyone. You really need to do the homework to make sure it would fit your needs.

JohnS

 

[JATO_RaT]

Richard, the Power-Trac is certainly an interesting tractor. I have sent for info about it. I am looking at the 45 HP and now I understand a 65 HP is available. Is the drive to the wheels hydraulic or geared? With all this talk about the Chinese tractors, it really nice to see a tractor like Power-Trac built here in the US. Even with all the opinions about the Chinese made tractors being a great value etc., I still find most everything made in China to be poorly made. Be it valves, tools, electronics etc. The tractors may be fine, but it will take a while for me to trust products made there. For now, I'll pay the extra cost, have the confidence its good, and know that the thrill of a bargain is quickly lost when the product breaks. An analogy might be the experience of owning Snap-On, MAC, etc. tools. You know your paying more, getting a tool that you know will last, and last but not least, recognizing that pride in ownership of a great product has some value as well. Go Power-Trac, Rat...