Do non do it yourselfers own Yanmars?

[canoetrpr]

Hi all:

After doing some research I have come to the conclusion that a grey market tractor might be the best bang for the buck for me. I am moving from suburbia to the country. I have 16 acres of pasture to cut and thats about it that I plan to do with the tractor.

Most of the folks here seem to be real do it yourselfers. I can accept that parts can be gotten online from the many dealers for Yanmars but given that I have next to no mechanical skills I'm not in a position to do much more than very routine maintenance - if that - but certainly not repairs.

Just wondering how hard it has been to others to find people to fix/maintain your Yanmars.

Any Canadians out there that own Yanmars? Any non do it yourselfer Canadian's particularly? How has it gone with your Yanmars for maintenance and repairs?

 

[EFC]

We have customers that wouldn’t even know how to open the hood if you walked them through it. Buy from a dealer that repairs as many tractors as he sells. Then take it in when it needs fixed and pay the bill when you pick it up or it is dropped off.

Buck

 

[arthr31]

hi there canoetrpr, welcome to TBN!

I'll be the first to open the can of worms on this subject!! The dealer really matters on how much you want to be "involved" in repairing /maintaining your tractor. As EFC has stated, if you can find a dealer who services the tractors that he/she sells, you'll be in good standing.

However... remember you are buying a 20+ yr old tractor which will most likely need work at some point in time.

When I considered buying my first yanmar I thought first that it was a reputable name with a solid history, that I would get some reasonable amount of work from the tractor before having to do maintenance or repair work to it- so far, so good. However... I need to service them soon (I own two), I schedule a day for myself to do all of the service (cleaning, greasing, adjusting, filters, oils, touch up paint, etc... ). When I do this maintenance, I know that I'll find things that need additional fixing (hope not). At that point in time I try and source help. Either here, or from a real mechanic!

So, OK, in short, I think to be happy with one of these older tractors, you'll have to be open to the fact that you will get your hands dirty with grease, become accostumed to tightening bolts, changing fluids, etc. With that said, it is more of a DIY type of tractor... But, aren't all 20 year old tractors? Also, with that said, I think you'll be pretty happy with Yanmar on the whole... I am very happy with my tractors.. -arthr

P.S. I should add, that I have owned one of my yanmars for 1 yr, and the other for 8 months. I have probably spent some where around 4-6 hrs working on them total. I have put about 40 hrs on on tractor and 10 on the other. All in all, not too bad for me...