decisions desisions

[zimbo]

Hi all.
I'm looking at buying a + - 20kw tractor for our stable yard in South Africa and don't want to spend a fortune. At the moment we have 5 acres, but will be going up to about 15 pretty soon. I need to do a fair bit of mowing bush grass, raking and levelling the sand arena and ground work on about a 1 acre veggie garden.
Later I'll need to plough and harrow the new areas to get pasture growing.

My main options at the moment are a Jinma 304 or a Hinomoto 2304. Or maybe a 135 Massey.

The Jinma is new in S.A so I'm not sure how good the dealer support will be and how easy it will be to get spares etc.

The Hinomoto guys have been around for 6 years. The tractors are obviously rebuilds,(because Hinomotos arent produced any more as far as I can tell) but very well done. They have a fairly good stock of spares, and have made moulds to produce others.

The hinomoto is about $12800
The Jinma is about $15500

The Massey 135 would be around $5800
My problem with the Massey's here is they claim to be rebuilt, but often that means a new coat of paint, and not much else.

Kubotas, Landinis etc of the same size are around double the prices of these machines

Please let me know which you think would be the best buy in the long term. This machine is going to have to last for a very long time!
Thanks

Ryan

 

[yooper1]

Hello and welcome to TBN

Did you mean + or - 20 HP instead of kw?

I do not know what brands are available in your area, but I would go with at least a 30 HP tractor.

Sounds like you will have plenty of work for it to do and a 30 HP or above may handle your implements better than a 20HP

Remember if the tractor is 20 HP, the PTO hp would be lower.

most implements are rated on PTO HP in order to operate

 

[yooper1]

Also if you visit Tractor Data DOT com you can see what most tractors have for figures

TractorData.com - Farm tractors

 

[zimbo]

Wow, its fantastic to get replies so quickly!
the hinomoto is a 28hp, and the Jinma is 30hp - in in SA and more used to working in KW.
the hinomoto website is HinoMoto, the local jinma website dosent seem to work.
Cheers
Ryan

 

[MarkV]

Zimbo welcome to the site. You might try posting in the Chinese Tractor forum here. Guys there will be more familiar with what you are looking at. In my area, which has nothing to do with yours, parts availability is the issue for reconditioned imports.

MarkV

 

[bp fick]

Ryan, your price point restricts your choices. This isn't unique to SA but to people on limited funds everywhere.

None of your choices excite me, because of your statement, "we need this tractor to last a long, long time.". I'd be concerned about any of them lasting a long, long time, if by that you mean relatively free of major defect and repair for 20 years, and 20 years would mean a long long time to me.

The old Massey is world class. The Hinomoto brand is a bit lower rung on the Japan name brands. I would certainly place 3 or 4 manufacturers in Japan ahead of them, ie Kubota, Iseki, Yanmar, etc. in quality.

But they all are older and used, I am to understand?
Buffed up a bit to re-sell? Best have a mechanic with you when you shop, someone qualified to keep you from making a dreadful mistake. Even if you have to pay him a few shillings to accompany you.:thumbsup:

The Jinma is a made in China machine and at least in North America, support is spotty at best to non-existent at worst. Do you have someone on the ranch who can turn wrenches and repair these units? You seemed destined to needed someone on a somewhat regular basis?

 

[RoyJackson]

Hello and welcome to TBN

Did you mean + or - 20 HP instead of kw?

We use HP in the US, but most of the world uses Kilowatts (kW) for power ratings.
1 kW equals 1.340 HP, so a 20 kW tractor would be about 27 HP.

 

[Kernopelli]

Personally, I would stay away from the Hinomoto. I have owned a number of the "gray market" tractors ( including an excellent Hinomoto) and the Hinomotos are probably the hardest to get parts for and getting worse all the time. There are plenty of Yanmar models that have much, much better parts support and I would place Mitsubishi right behind them in parts availability. If you are wanting something that is high quality, durable and will have support for years to come, I would stick with them. Although I am a die hard Mitsubishi owner/believer with 5 or 6 models under my belt, I think certain Yanmars are a better long term choice based solely on parts availability.

I have also owned a Jinma 284 ( in my avatar) and was surprised by a lot of things about it but the Chinese quality is far behind even these 25-30 year old Japanese tractors. Parts are plentiful and cheap...it's a good thing they are because most require a lot of hands on attention for the time being.

The Massey is a great tractor and I think there is still a lot of support behind it simply because they made so many of them. If you need 4 wheel drive though ( and in a compact tractor, that becomes more important many times) the Massey is out. One thing about the Massey is that I am certain it is much heavier than the other tractors mentioned and that will help with traction issues.

 

[flusher]

Hi all.
I'm looking at buying a + - 20kw tractor for our stable yard in South Africa and don't want to spend a fortune. At the moment we have 5 acres, but will be going up to about 15 pretty soon. I need to do a fair bit of mowing bush grass, raking and levelling the sand arena and ground work on about a 1 acre veggie garden.
Later I'll need to plough and harrow the new areas to get pasture growing.

My main options at the moment are a Jinma 304 or a Hinomoto 2304. Or maybe a 135 Massey.

The Jinma is new in S.A so I'm not sure how good the dealer support will be and how easy it will be to get spares etc.

The Hinomoto guys have been around for 6 years. The tractors are obviously rebuilds,(because Hinomotos arent produced any more as far as I can tell) but very well done. They have a fairly good stock of spares, and have made moulds to produce others.

The hinomoto is about $12800
The Jinma is about $15500

The Massey 135 would be around $5800
My problem with the Massey's here is they claim to be rebuilt, but often that means a new coat of paint, and not much else.

Kubotas, Landinis etc of the same size are around double the prices of these machines

Please let me know which you think would be the best buy in the long term. This machine is going to have to last for a very long time!
Thanks

Ryan

I assume those prices are in USD.
That 135--diesel or gas? If the rebuild is bogus, then $5800 is way too much. In July06 I paid $3600 for a good running 1964 MF135 diesel deluxe (full set of gauges) and Multipower. BTW: the 135 diesel has 45 hp (engine), 37 hp (pto).

 

[Kernopelli]

I assume those prices are in USD.
That 135--diesel or gas? If the rebuild is bogus, then $5800 is way too much. In July06 I paid $3600 for a good running 1964 MF135 diesel deluxe (full set of gauges) and Multipower. BTW: the 135 diesel has 45 hp (engine), 37 hp (pto).

I would suspect that the Massey is priced fairly for his area based upon the prices he quoted on the other tractors. $15.5K for a Jinma/ $12.8K for a Hino ( ouch) but hey, I assume this is the price of living is S. Africa. At those prices, the Massey is an absolute steal......

 

[bp fick]

Ryan, because local prices vary so greatly from country to county and because of currency differentials, it is hard for us North Americans to comment intelligently on whether this price or that price is good for this or that tractor.

What we can comment on is the quality of particular tractors, based on the collective experience of the guys here on the forum. Although we aren't familiar with South African dealer support networks for parts availability, the internet is a great tool, but again, SA may have import duties and such that changes how easy it is to have parts shipped in, and from where.

 

[bp fick]

Finally, beware Japanese tractors bought from the domestic market in Japan, where custom dictates they constantly buy new tractors. These used tractors are oft times shipped by the boat load to VietNam or other low-cost labor country and given little more than a paint job and decals. Then, these machines get re-sold at what appears to be great prices elsewhere in the world. caveat emptor.

 

[RoyJackson]

Gents,
When you respond, just remember that the OP (Ryan) is in South Africa. What we consider "grey market" might be normally imported tractors. Tractors and associated parts commonly available to us in the US may not be easily available to our South African friends.

For Ryan:
For the long term, I'd ante up and buy the Kubota (which is a familar and popular brand in the USA). Landini's aren't well known in the USA, so no comment. If a John Deere dealer is around, maybe worth a visit.
Granted, the Kubota, Landini and Deere would be more expensive initially, but may be the best choice for the long term.

 

[flusher]

I would suspect that the Massey is priced fairly for his area based upon the prices he quoted on the other tractors. $15.5K for a Jinma/ $12.8K for a Hino ( ouch) but hey, I assume this is the price of living is S. Africa. At those prices, the Massey is an absolute steal......

I don't think so--not when you figure that the Jinma and Hino are fairly recent models (10-15 years old tops) and the 135 is a 30-40 year old tractor.

 

[Weldon]

Do you have any Mahindra dealers there? They make very good tractors.

 

[zimbo]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I have a lot to think about.
I had a Yanmar 330D and eventually gave it away because I couldnt get spares!

If I go for something the size and weight of the massey I wont need 4wd, with good tyres the machine will have plently of traction.

I can also get Landini / McCormick which is a big brand here, New holland, John Deere, Massey. Kubota etc. I'll also have a look at farmtrac, which is an indian copy of the old ford models. Farmtrac Tractors in South Africa

Im beginning to think I'll save up a bit more, and get something really good, that I know will have spares in the years to come.

What ever I get I'll be putting some pics up here to show everyone!
Thanks
Ryan