anything new?

[Soundguy]

I've been following this sub for quite a while now, and even hit a few homier shows a year ago to test drive a machine or two. I think I'm getting closer to buying one of the small economy units.. eg: 2wd/20hp to use as the 'small diesel' on my farm. I already have the 'large' diesel covered with my NH 7610s. And frankly.. I don't want to run my antiques around doing 100% of the light duty. Right now my 52 and 54 fords are doing the small mowing, box blading, and anything else that doesn't require 90 hp.... Antiques require periodic tinkering to keep them going.. the nice thing about the diesels is they are pretty much hop on, hit the glow, and go.

Has anything changed on these units since the last year when i have test driven one?

A semi-local dealer a couple cities over ( 90 minute drive) is now carrying them, That dealer also has yanmar, and the occasional antique tractor or antique implement. They are nice people, and do their own mechanic/warranty work on their yanmars.. so I feel that their warranty work on the china units will be just as good... so.. now that I have a local dealer, and am not just relying on mial order support like from homier or nortrac.. I may actually get serious about getting some more hands on experience.. etc.

Comments?

Anyone got a realistic checklist of the 'must do' thing that you deffinately have to service/check/replace as soon as you buy one of these units?

Soundguy

 

[DavidBradley]

SoundGuy,

Are you going with the turf tire Power Steering model or the AG tire manual steering. I have the AG model, and really dont seem to need the power steering, and its just something else to keep fixed. I used it mainly around the house,(mowing and light landscaping) and was worried about tracks in the lawn, but the tractor is so light, that unless it has been really wet for a good while, it doesnt leave any. I have had mine since about July ~75 hrs, and have had a few problems, nothing major, most were due to operator inexperince. If you get one, change all the fluids, change all the grease fittings and grease it up good. (Im still finding new fittings in places people never mentioned on this or johns board, the "water pump" as an example) I had the typical problem with the ampmeter, and fear the ignition switch is about to bite the dust but still nothing really major. Sometimes I wish I had sprung for the 4WD 25hp, but havent really missed it, plus not having all that extra machinery to worry about breaking. This is my fist tractor and I was trying the KISS method. I bought mine from a Homier show, because there were no real dealers in my area, used car dealers etc., and since the one they had at the show, was loaded and unloaded several times, it had quite a few scratches and a few other cosmetic blemishes, and I was able to talk them down SEVERAL hundred dollars off their asking price, I think I paid about 3700 tax and all for the tractor and the 6' finish mower(so what if there is a big scratch on the hood, you can buy paint). Really, right now if there was a great dealer local, I dont know if I would spring the extra bucks for the difference. On breakdowns, Im not that pressed for time, and can wait for a part to be shipped to me. Im not a great mechanic, but given some time I can generally figure most things out. Besides when my Caddy breaks down, I sure dont take it to the GM dealer to pay their repair rates. But on the other hand, if you have a good dealer like Bluechip or some of the others, and you have a major problem like SevenCorners had, and were pressed for time, a dealer might be the way to go. Your choice. As to really answer your question about what to do, there are several things that need imediate attention, and others that can wait a little while, others will be posting this information Im sure. I do wish that a panel of some of the experts on these tractors would do just that, post the things that a new buyer needs to do, and all the replacement filters and other parts, that can be bought from NAPA or others, and that this post would be left at the top of the discussion, it would eliminate a lot of the same questions being asked over again, or having to search through a bunch of posts to find the info you have read, but forgot.

Best of Luck
Dave

 

[billbill1]

Soundguy, I saw one of these 20hp 2wd units at a Homier show in Lawrence, Kansas about a year and a half ago. At that time you could buy that tractor for $2995. I wasn't interested then but remember thinking that it would be one heck of a lawn tractor for the same money as a much less powerful gas tractor. It was a cute little thing. My friend bought a 254 the same day and he loves his tractor. He has extended all of the overflow tubes so that he doesn't lose fluid on slopes, turned all of the wheels around for better stability, and added a footstep for more floor space. He went over the tractor and tightened everything or at least checked all bolts for tightness. Otherwise he hasn't had any problems mechanically in over 250 hours. I went with the 284 LE because of the reliability that he has had with his unit. I only have 32 hours on mine but really enjoy spending time running it, in fact I don't seem to want to do much else right now. This same friend had one of the sweetest 8n Fords that I have ever seen, good paint, he added powersteering, and rear hydrualics. He mows some real steep yard and still uses the 8N on the steepest areas.

I have read some bad press about the Homier tractor but in the case of the only one I have seen, it isn't true. It does seem that you can get the best tractor deal on the shows tractor but you might be better off spending a few hundred more with a local dealer if they have been in business awhile.

You can take the filters on the 25hp models to the local auto parts store and they can find Wix crosses so I would think that the 20 horse model would be the same.

Bill

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks Bill and David.

I think If I get one.. it would be the ag tire model.. and manual steering is fine... all my antiques are MAN-power steering anyway. This won't ever have a loader either, and I don't worry about printing the pasture... though the 4000+ pound JD-B trike does a good job of it on its tall skinny ag tires.

Soundguy