Dongfeng Purchace- Which One?

[Bryan_Gardiner]

Dave, I hope you have not made your decision yet. I was a dealer for dongfeng tractors and my dist went out of buisness and left me high and dry for parts and support. It is possible to get parts for the tractors but you should make sure that the dealer that is selling you the tractor is able to get the parts for you for years to come. Now with that said, I also do small excavating and for the money that you will spend on a 354 with loader and backhoe you should look at a used John Deere 110 TLB. I bought mine for $21000 with 1800 hours on it and it is a 2003. The r-4 tires will do everything you need it to do and the hydro transmission is worlds above the shuttle and the manual transmission. You also get a quick connect bucket and front hydraulics. The bucket controls are much more comfortable than a chinese tractor ever will be and you get a truly commercial grade hoe that will dig 11 feet. Just my 2 cents worth, but I have owned and worked chinese, grey market, and john deere tractors and the 110 has been the best investment ever. Bryan.

 

[bluechip]

Bryan, we have found DongFeng to be very easy to deal with since the exclusive arragement with the prior distributor ended. We have used this factory exclusively as a source for our new AgTrac brand tractors and the performance, both in terms of tractor reliability and parts support from the factory have been very good. We stock a huge assortment of parts for the current generation of DF tractor. We have found many of the current parts do not fit older models due to improved design,but we can often upgrade the assembly to current spec or special order the parts from the factory for the older style tractors. If you have customers who bought DF tractors from you in the past and need parts, I'd be happy to try to help. I do agree that if a commercial grade backhoe is what you need, then that is what you should buy. Yanmar also makes a nice unit, very similar (Is the 110 a yanmar product?). The versatility for the cost is what makes these tractors attractive. Someone that needs the 110 should not consider a smaller tractor with an "accessory" backhoe. but someone that needs an economical tractor that occasionally needs a 7' backhoe might be better served with a brand new tractor at a lower investment level.

 

[TTTTTT]

Hi Bryan and thanks Chip for the response.

I did get the DF354 with loader and 6' 3pt BH which should be more than enough for my now and future needs. I appreciate the comments, but my DF354 with FEL & BH came in at $9900 including all taxes assembled (not the BH) with 34 hrs. on it .I would have loved to get a newer name brand but for this price the only thing I could have come close to is a 30 yr. old 2WD totally manual with 2000+ hours and I wasn't about or could spend the the $21,000 for your JD. I so far love the tractor and and everything works great. The FEL controls are very smooth and I could do very fine feathering when lifting my boat up without a scratch. Maybe the quality is finally getting into the finished products compared with earlier Chineese models. The way I will be using it it should fill my needs. I do understand that maybe in 10 yrs time or sooner, I may be on my own for certain parts, but hopefully with the help of people like Chip and many others on the forums I will get by any issues.

Thanks Dave

Here Are a few pics

 

[Diamondpilot]

Thats a **** of a buy. I would love to see a pic of the BH you got with the deal.

Chris

 

[TTTTTT]

Hi Chris,

Its one that I couldn't pass up!! That BH is still in a crate and will probably not get to it until the spring. It is a Townsunny BH which has a good reputation compared to some of the other Chinees BH's

Townsunny
???? 1

Changchai Engine
ChangChai Co., Ltd.

Dave

 

[bluechip]

Dave,
It looks like your dealer just plugged the loader hoses into the remotes. We did this on our first tractor and had trouble using the 3 point and loader at the same time. You have a quick connect under the right floor board that can be used for loader attachment. You may want to take the hoses to a hyd shop and have them shortened. If you do this, you will free up the rear remotes and can use the loader or 3 point without having to change the valve position. The townsunney backhoe is much nicer than the LW series made in other chinese factories. it is a completely different design. The valve supplier seems to make a good valve, teh joystick on the loader is comparable to those we have seen on US built loaders, complete with float position.

 

[TTTTTT]

Hi Chip,
Yes you are right, you operate them separately. Thanks for the tip about the other connection. I will check that. Yes it does have float and power beyond and is very smooth. The tranny, and hydraulics are one combined reservoir. It was reccomended that using a common fluid/oil like TDH or AW32 hydraulic for all and usual 80W90 gear in the front drive would be fine. Would you agree with this?

Dave

 

[bluechip]

Use a "trans/hydraulic" fluid, don't use AW32 or straight hyd. oil, it is too thin and won't lube the gears properly.Something that meets the old John Deere 303 spec is probably all you need. there are newer specs. We use "HY TRANS" I don't know who makes it.

 

[TTTTTT]

Thanks Chip,

I figured that as these DF's are not like the older or even newer JM's etc.I'll use a good TDH. It makes it easier this way only one fill to worry about. As for the quick connect for FEL, the pic shows the connection.

So disconnect the hose from the pump side of the quick connect and connect to the supply in for the FEL. The return line from the FEL then goes straight to the coupling secured in the bracket? As I have 2 male ends at the moment, I may have to change the one to female after shortening the hoses. Just putting the FEL control valve plumbed in line from the pump to the reservoir? Is this correct as I am not an expert on hydraulics.

Thanks again

 

[Diamondpilot]

Just to jump in here. I would just get rid of the QC's all together and put in swivel fittings. That way you would not be concerned with them coming uncoupled and trashing a pump.

Chris