Buying Advice Chinese Tractors

[nedkelly120]

I am thinking of buying a new Chinese Tractor as they seem to be better value for dollar than the established Western makes.
Are there owners here that would / would not recommend them on personal experience? What are the better brands I should be looking at, or alternatively, avoiding.
Thanks, Ned

 

[Gem99ultra]

I can't speak for their tractors, but I sure hope you get a better value for you money than those buying Chinese motorcycles! ... 3 weeks, 30 miles, breakdown with no service and no parts.

ah, but the sour taste of poor quality lingers long after the sweet taste of saving a buck has gone.

 

[mjncad]

Welcome Ned. Do a search for member 3RRL as he and his wife has a couple of Chinese tractors. Reading Rob's posts should give you some insight into what you may be getting into with a Chinese rig.

 

[niemeyjt]

breakdown with no service and no parts.

ah, but the sour taste of poor quality lingers long after the sweet taste of saving a buck has gone.

I know of someone who had to wait months for replacement clutch parts on a Chinese Shire.

My experience of chinese goods - Buy cheap, buy twice.

J

 

[OKnewguy]

I suggest you jump over to the china tractors section, and get a feel for yourself. These tractors can offer great value to the right person. You might need to wrench on them from time to time, they do not have many (if any) bells and whistles, but they are super simple. They are pretty old school. I have one and would gladly do it again (around 150 hours so far), but since dealers are few and far between, you usually have to wrench on them yourself.
So far, I have had nothing but some annoying electrical issues. My clutch switch went out, ordered a new one (less then $10 bucks) and some grounding issues. The grounding issues were fixed when I ground the paint off the block and reattached the ground cable to the block.
The biggest factor for success with these tractors are:
1.Get a common brand. Jinma or Rebadged Jinma, and Kama.
2.Initial setup, which can be done by you but is usually done by the dealer. There are some great dealers that frequent the china forum, and they perform great initial setup. If you were to by from someone other then these dealers, you MUST do all the initial prep yourself
Spend some time researching these and see if the fit is right for you.
Good luck, Dave

 

[psj12]

I also have a chinese tractor and have had good service from it. If you buy a more popular brand like Jinma or Foton (often rebadged under many names) parts are very available. A good dealership goes a long way in assisting you with repairs if needed. Go over to the chinese tractor section for a more informed point of view.

 

[20 20]

I am thinking of buying a new Chinese Tractor as they seem to be better value for dollar than the established Western makes.
Are there owners here that would / would not recommend them on personal experience? What are the better brands I should be looking at, or alternatively, avoiding.
Thanks, Ned

I own a jinma bought at a local place{hudson}. I also own the nortrac dozer{same as jinma}. I have had great luck with my machines, would buy again in a heart beat. Parts for jinma are easy to find, we even have a couple of folks that visit here that deal with these machines. I have beat, pounded, and misstreated, my tractor and it has never let me down. I also believe in proper maintenance, and fixing things when they break, no matter how small. If you do go with one then I suggest going through and changing ALL FLUIDS as soon as possible. Plus you should check all nuts and bolts to make sure they are tight. I would do this with any machine, I even seen screwups with name brands.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have a 2003 Jinma 254/284. It has 750 plus hours on it and has been great. I replaced the starter, thermostat, a hydro hose (I busted it by not securing it up properly and being in the woods where it got caught), and just last week a seal in the front end. Parts are very easy to get via this web site. I also own a Ford 861 built in the 1960's and would say parts are cheaper and easier to get for the Jinma.

I would do it all over again. The one thing I would suggest is buy from a big dealer and stay away from a crate deal. The big dealers know these tractors inside and out, fix the little issues before delivery, and change all the fluids out with quality US stuff.

Most issues with Chinese tractors is guys buying from a street corner vendor or a crate deal then having a major break down in the first two hours. There is a guy on the net right now that this happened to. His clutch went instantly because it was out of spec and never adjusted from the get go.

Tell us where you live and we can point you to a good dealer who will be a few $$$$ more but save you money in the long run.

Chris

 

[Johno Geo]

A good Dealer is definately the key...., but as our Taiwanesse rep once told me..."Cheap, NO GOOD...., GOOD no CHEAP".....

 

[Soundguy]

perhaps it might help if you identified what size you were looking for or what tasks you plan on doing.. land size, type and treraine features, plus your intended price range, and features you need and want.

Depending on your answers, you might find that you had a couple different pools to choose a tractor from.. like a used modern model, new chineese, or used classic model ( working antique ).

soundguy

I am thinking of buying a new Chinese Tractor as they seem to be better value for dollar than the established Western makes.
Are there owners here that would / would not recommend them on personal experience? What are the better brands I should be looking at, or alternatively, avoiding.
Thanks, Ned