300.00 Tractor is it worth it?

[Grandad4]

Nobody has really addressed parts avalibility or common problems this tractor might have that were possibly common for that size and model.

As someone mentioned, it is a "grey market" model... Kubota never sold it in the USA. You can check because it probably has Japanese on the serial number tag, etc. Also, it doesn't have the seatbelts, ROPS, etc. required here. It was imported privately by someone selling used foreign tractors. Officially, Kubota doesn't support those tractors in any way... here's what their website says:

"Neither Kubota Tractor Corporation nor its affiliated company Kubota Corporation of Osaka, Japan, provides parts, service or any warranty support for Kubota "gray market" units in the United States. There is no responsibility whatsoever either by Kubota or its authorized dealers for these "gray market" units."

If you go to a Kubota dealer and ask for a part for that model tractor, they probably will not have the parts reference.

That's the bad news, and another reason why it's not worth very much. For comparison, a legitimate 30+ year old US model Kubota of about the same size and HP, the B6000, could go for up to $ 5,000.

The good news would be that it was once a good, reliable little tractor (who knows what it's like today) and there are probably a lot of common parts shared between models, and if you didn't mind spending some time chasing around for parts, you might find most of what you'd need. So it would pretty much depend on what you want to do. If you wanted something to tinker around with and could get along if you had to let it sit until you find a part, it could be a cool project. But if you plan to use it all the time for work that must be done on time, well you get what you pay for.

By the way, the tiller is probably worth the $300 all by itself.

 

[aczlan]

As someone mentioned, it is a "grey market" model... Kubota never sold it in the USA. You can check because it probably has Japanese on the serial number tag, etc. Also, it doesn't have the seatbelts, ROPS, etc. required here. It was imported privately by someone selling used foreign tractors. Officially, Kubota doesn't support those tractors in any way... here's what their website says:

"Neither Kubota Tractor Corporation nor its affiliated company Kubota Corporation of Osaka, Japan, provides parts, service or any warranty support for Kubota "gray market" units in the United States. There is no responsibility whatsoever either by Kubota or its authorized dealers for these "gray market" units."
If you go to a Kubota dealer and ask for a part for that model tractor, they probably will not have the parts reference.
That's the bad news, and another reason why it's not worth very much. For comparison, a legitimate 30+ year old US model Kubota of about the same size and HP, the B6000, could go for up to $ 5,000.

The other good news is that if it is the same as a non-grey market model (somewhere there is a cross reference as to which models were), you could tell a dealer that you have that model and get parts that way for most things...

Aaron Z

 

[Rmart30]

I wouldn't hesitate. Buy it. You can get most of your money back selling the tiller. Fun project.

X2 plus the scrap value of tractor if its junk.... for $300 Id have rolled the dice when I first laid eyes on it.

 

[stuckmotor]

It's strange that the guy would ask so little for the tractor and so much for the car. Are you sure he's the legal owner?
I'm still counting on the Kubota guys to answer your questions. If they don't, I'd recommend a web search for parts and for information of gray market Kubotas. It seems that Kubota won a lawsuit to outlaw their distribution. I don't know if that applies to those already here or to parts.

See the bottom of the box labeled, Kubota Tractor History.
TractorData.com - Kubota tractors sorted by model

 

[stuckmotor]

I see that two Kubota guys chimed in while I was typing my last message. I knew they'd come through.

 

[Grandad4]

I see that two Kubota guys chimed in...

I'll take this as a compliment, although it's always been "tractor guy" first, "Farmall guy" second and "Kubota guy" last in my mind. If I had the time and the space, I'd love to add "Deere guy", "Oliver guy", "Allis guy", "Ferguson guy" and a couple others in there someplace as well :thumbsup:

 

[TXCYCLE]

Fencepost: I bought a grey Kubota l2402 a few years back for 500.00. Owner said the hydraulic lift didn't function but everything else worked. I bought it, changed all the filters/fluids/belts/hoses. The hydraulic filter & old filter was the problem. Once changed it worked fine. I use it to pull a 5' rotary cutter. Most of the responses here are correct, it's grey, no US safety equipment, no manuals, parts hard to get. All true. Go to the Grey Market area on this forum & do some reading. A guy by the name of Leonard Schaeffer (Lens 12) does supply a lot of grey market parts. And there are others. But you have to do some looking. I have a larger JD now but I would buy my 2402 again in a heartbeat. Good luck!

 

[TXCYCLE]

Sorry, I always catch typos AFTER I post. I meant hydraulic FLUID & filter.................

 

[fencepost]

Well it may be gone before I get there woork has picked up in another area opposite of the tractor. And I have short family vacation plans for the next 2 weekends. But I think I'm going to call him when I get a free day sometime during the week.

Another reason it may be so cheap, other than the grey part, is it is located in a high farming area where anything less than 40hp is rare, LOTS of farming, LOTS of hughe tractors.

Thanks for the replies they have been very helpful. I'll keep yall posted and let yall know if I get it and what it needs or needed.

 

[CliffordK]

You don't list having any tractors on your profile.
What type of tractor do you already have?
What are you intending to do with it?
Why do you really need it?
BTW: how wide is the tiller? It may have a really small tiller which may or may not be desirable.

A couple of hours drive away is a pain, but I guess not too bad if you can get your company to pay for the gas. You could call the guy and ask him if he'll take a check in the mail. Perhaps send him a check for $350 to hold onto it for you.

I've never dealt with a "grey market" tractor.
However, I do have a grey market car. I tried to buy some tires from Japan, with absolutely no luck. But, otherwise, I've had very good luck with dealing with buying parts from all around Europe. And, a few miscellaneous things from China (not car or tractor related). Shipping is always a pain. And, of course, the delay to get parts.

I'm trying to think of all the parts I've put into my Ford. Perhaps 3 glow plugs, and a tire valve stem. The little coil thing for the glow plug indicator went bad so I just cut it shorter. Anyway, if it runs now, perhaps you can find the few things you need locally, and hope for the best. You probably won't be buying any thousand dollar parts to put into a $300 tractor.