Engine overhaul periods for different brands?

[freedomlives]

1200h seems way too soon...

On a side note, Older Belarus's weren't killable... people buy them here for the woods and mountains... a welder, hammer, screwdriver, pliers and tape is what you need to fix anything on it.

1200 hrs is for the sleeves. It has both that at 1200 hrs they should be inspected and that they should be replaced/renewed. It is quite possible that something was lost in translation from Italian to English. Maybe just inspect every 1200 hours and after inspection you might find replacement warranted.

I think this 320/321 series is similar. My friend told me he once slipped on the clutch while shifting and something got off, so his neighbor just came over, removed the cover around the shift lever, and after a few minutes of manipulating in there with a screwdriver had it back to working fine.

 

[freedomlives]

Also nice when doing dusty jobs like cutting hay. It looks like your seasonal temps are fairly moderate but If you will be relying on it for daily farm chores and feeding livestock, you may give a cab some consideration.

I've been giving it some consideration-- my wife most of all likes the idea. The importer of Japanese tractors has some Yanmar AF series with the "Advanced Silent" cab, which also has A/C. These will be at least 15 years old, a bit lighter, though with much nicer transmissions and certainly more comfort. But it comes at a cost.

The plan with livestock is intensive rotational grazing. Another friend here, not far from me, has 17 Angus cattle that he has been moving every day since the end of last summer, and he's gotten through this winter without feeding hay or putting them inside. The goats and sheep I currently have, especially the goats, certainly need shelter; but if I had had some more fields prepared for them they would not have needed hay this winter. Some winters here there is serious snow, other winters not so much. This is particularly why I need the FEL, to efficiently stockpile round bales of hay in the barn for feeding mostly every 3rd winter.

Water is a different matter. I'm installing pipe in the fields behind our house, but that is only 12 acres. Then more fields we own and rent are 300m and 1000m from these fields, so when livestock are out there, water will have to be brought to them-- e.g. IBC containers on a trailer.

 

[Kernopelli]

I think Yanmar is a fine choice. My buddy has somewhere around 14000 hrs on a Yanmar 3TNE72 engine in his Deere f935 mower. His biggest issue with it was that he had to re-ring it at 12000+ hrs.

I looked at the specs on the AF 300 series and I am impressed! Yanmar's power shift trans is very reliable and really nice in itself but couple it with 16x16 gears and power shuttle and it's as good as it gets on a compact tractor! The specs show they have nice size tires and decent weight for 30-40 hp class tractors. The cab models look VERY nice....I'm jealous! They are not very old but I would investigate parts availability before buying, just to make sure it won't be an issue. The AF and FX models are not well supported in the U.S. but that doesn't mean you will have the same experience.

I am curious how big your round bales are and what AF model you are looking at?

 

[freedomlives]

The guy who would be bringing them in to Slovakia called me to ask if I'm still looking for a tractor (he buys from the Poles who import them from Japan). But he said the AF-35 and AF-33 have already been bought even before the ship has gotten in. I see enough of them in the used market in other parts of the EU to suppose that getting parts wouldn't be a problem-- someone will have them.

But, most important, he told me that the Poles can fabricate a custom version of their FEL with higher lift, so I can stack the bales 3 high.

Probably 300kg. I'm honestly not sure. We paid someone to come bale for us, and that's what he thinks they weigh. I was able to roll them up a ramp on to my Goldoni's bed, and also turn them up on end as long as they hadn't gotten damp on the bottom from sitting in the field.

 

[Kernopelli]

Probably 300kg. I'm honestly not sure. We paid someone to come bale for us, and that's what he thinks they weigh. I was able to roll them up a ramp on to my Goldoni's bed, and also turn them up on end as long as they hadn't gotten damp on the bottom from sitting in the field.

The reason I asked is that in my area, 5x5 or 5x6 bales are the norm and weight anywhere from 1000-1500 lbs. and could be a handful for that class tractor. I assumed you would be handling smaller bales and it sounds like they wouldn't be an issue. I wish you the best of luck on this endeavor, it sounds like you are making some good, calculated choices.

 

[freedomlives]

I have a thread on another part of the forum asking advice on the size bales. The conclusion I came to is that I want something at least 30HP with about 1500kg of weight, and then I might still have to have some ballast on the rear (I think particularly when putting up the third row of bales).

What I like about these tractors is the small turning radius, so that I can use it around the house and garden as well, especially as we are still reconstructing a lot of things, so being able to scoop gravel and not have to wheelbarrow it around would be a big help.

 

[Texasmark]

Forget the recommendation. Use it till it tells you it needs attention. One thing to consider on sleeved, high hour usage engines is sleeve pitting from bubbles in the coolant formed on the surface of the sleeve and causing pitting. OTR trucks use a particulate filter in the cooling system to control the problem and JD has a liquid that you add to the coolant....per instructions on the bottle. I use it in my tractors, sleeved or not and none of them are JDs.