300.00 Tractor is it worth it?

[stuckmotor]

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:

I'm glad you took it as a compliment, it was meant that way. The fact that so many members own Kubotas speaks well for their quality. Your list of tractors sounds like the few, I've owned. I just recently realized that, even though two were the same color, they were all different brands.

 

[fencepost]

Called the guy and checked on the tractor. He says it runs and only needs fuel and a battery. All I need now is a day clear from work to go get it.

 

[fencepost]

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.

I don't own a tractor. This will fit my needs perfectly for now, add a finishing mower later and I can mow my yard. Good for small gardening aswell.

Really could use somthing in the 3000 Ford size range but beggers cant be choosers

 

[Dr_Zinj]

If you have $300 in spare cash, and a spot to park it, get it. As others have said, it's grey market, but that's not a deal killer.
If it runs, you got a bargain.
If it takes a little work to get it to run, you have a cheap project and a good deal.
If you can't get it to run, you've got a part-able craigslist resale greater than $300.
And even if you can't resell the parts, you probably can get $300 in scrap metal alone.

 

[CliffordK]

The long drive will be a pain.
Hopefully you can convince your company to pay you to go back there.

 

[pmhowe]

There are over a hundred threads on this site relating to the L1500. Here is a link about parts: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/grey-market-tractors/84708-l1501-parts-dealers.html. I hope you get the tractor and tiller. Looks like a fun project. Tractordata says the L1500 is similar to the L175, so I'll bet most of the parts are interchangeable. Also check out the Orange Tractor Talk. There was one for sale there for $3250, with a few implements. It sold.

Good luck.

PMH

 

[hawkeye08]

I agree with folks saying to get it... $300 is a small price to pay for a project, letting you learn things without 1000s of dollars tied up. Often, these projects work fine for folks that know how to use baling wire and duct tape. If you need it to be pretty and perfect, it will probably cost you some $$. Enjoy the experience, take pictures as you work on it...

 

[crazyal]

I meant to chime in earlier but got side tracked on a different thread and forgot about this. I would buy it in a second. I think I would have gave him what ever I had in my wallet as a deposit. One think I don't know about, maybe someone else would is does the PTO turn the correct direction? I though some turned in reverse. Either way I'm sure you could fix it up or sell it off in parts and more than double your money. But to me I would fix it and have a great little tiller for my garden. I would even go as far as cleaning and repainting it. The closest I've come to finding something like that is a little Yanmar that had a real rough life (broke in half and was rewelded) for $1000.

 

[NHmitch]

This site is all about the Grey Market Kubotas. This site has eveything that you ever wanted to know. Great site:

10 Myths about Kubota Gray Market Tractors | OrangeTractorTalks

 

[kuboman]

Its $300. There is only one sane conclusion to this. Buy It.!