</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Thank s for the reply,yes I am pretty machanically inclined,but I its probably a whole different world with tractors,and my main concern is parts. The tractor was built in 1998,so Iwould think one could buy parts for it.The guy that has it is real slow on return e-mails,Idid ask him to give the engine tag info,do you think that would help...Thanks Scott )</font>Most of those tractors were branded with anyones mark who could afford to buy enough of them to justify marking them. Kodiak, if I remember correctly, is a Jinma-made tractor and sold for only a several thousand new. In general, in 1998, they came with a 6 months parts only warranty, and one had to rely on the seller to get them for you. Most did not stock the parts, but oredered them from China taking not less than two weeks to cross the sea, and often, longer. Many of the people who distributed the tractors went of business and the parts were difficult to come by as in one model there may have been different parts numbers for the same basic part. Changes in a model could occur but the model number stayed the same but the parts wouldn't all match up.
I would be worried about parts support for that tractor. It would be better to buy a new Chinese tractor now as they seem to offer better warranty, like 6 months parts/labor, but you generally will be reimbursed the repair costs, not necessarily take it to the dealer and have warranty work done. Some are offering longer warranties as well.
It's an emerging market for the Chinese models and there is still much to be worked out. One will generally end up doing all the mechanical changes necessary to bring it up to standard, i.e. replace some guages, repair electrical problems etc before the tractor will be up to par.
Don't take my word for it, check out the chinese forums where many people are pretty happy with their tractors only after they have done the changes. John
