Factory rebuilt tractors

[DavesTractor]

I was dissapointed that Handlers is contracting with the Vietnamese to do some of their recons. The guys at Handlers are decent people to work with, but I don't think this is a good call. I looked at some of them and found it almost humorous that they put a big thick coat of green enamel all over the tractor, including the coolant recovery bottle, fuel filter bowl, belts, hoses, filters, etc. Just a big green hose job. Like Wayne at LMTC, we almost never repaint a tractor, the original paint is just too nice. People expect a scratch here and there and appreciate seeing the tractor as it truly is. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a repaint, but if all of your tractors need bondo and paint, your aren't buying wisely.

 

[kayssupply]

I must confess. I sell a few repainted tractors. The importer I use has an auto paint shop do them. They do the very best job I have ever seen. I usually pick the tractor and they repaint them. Sometimes it is just the frame. But like the others have said, I know and trust my importer. He has never sold me anything but excellent tractors. I would tell you ho he is ,but I don't want everyone to rush over and but him out. Then I wouldn't get such a good lot of tractors to pick from.

 

[gbirky]

cfoxmd,
To at least partially answer your question as to how much it costs to rebuild and engine or trasmission - I recently rebuilt the engine on my YM1110D. This is a 2 cylinder about 13 hp engine. I replaced all bearings and seals, gaskets, piston rings (each piston had a set of 3 rings - other engine models take 4), and piston pin bushings. I did NOT put new cylinder sleeves or pistons in as they were both in excellent condition. I also lapped the valves and replaced the valve guide seals. I replaced the oil pressure and coolant temperature sensors.

This cost me about $600 in parts alone without replacing pistons or sleeves. The cylinder sleeves were $83 each - but as I said, I didn't need them. I didn't price pistons either. The ring sets were $30 each, and the head gasket was $45.

Rebuilding a transmission may be even more expensive, especially if gears need to be replaced. Yanmar engine parts are relatively easy to get since the engines were used for marine and stationary applications as well as tractors. Tractor specific parts are much more difficult to get. For example, I am also rebuilding the front axle on this same tractor. This is costing another $600 in parts and machine work. Some of the parts I would like to have replaced I could not obtain new even from Japan. So a bit of machine work was necessary to use the original parts.

I hope this answers your questions.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

So I guess that if it costs $1200 in parts alone, or $2000 if you include the cost of labor. So now we get back to the question of import tractors. They are low in cost in Japan due to subsidy for new tractors. No subsidy exists here in the US so the value of a used tractor is more. The import trade tries to capitalize on the difference in value less the cost of transportation and some minor rehab.

Once again, if there is no value left in the drive train, there is no value to be capitalized on by importing the tractor. What the "vietnamese" are trying to capitalize on is cheap labor to do a rebuild to the engine and drive train and then call it a yanmar again. Imagine a dead beater Mercedes being rebuilt by Yugo. What you end up with is a Yugo dressed up and called a Mercedes--it performs and breaks like a Yugo.

If the vietnamese were really good at rebuilding the engines you would see vietnamese cars on our roads or diesel engines shipped to vietnam for a rebuild and shipped back. Or the vietnamese would be building new engines to fit and just using those. This is an attempt to capitalize on the Yanmar name.

If it were indeed profitable to totally rebuild the tractors, the good dealers would import the worst tractors and rebuild them to make the most money. This is the opposite of the case--the profit does not come from value added, it comes from value remaining that comes back to light when the tractor is transferred to the US and brought back to certain standards. What you see in the Vietnamese rebuilds is people beyond the reach of American consumer law "rebuilding" these tractors and the gullible American consumer buying them believing the story.

The dealers who sell the vietnames rebuilds will, if they flood the market, really tarnish the yanmar small tractor image. If it is a small number, they will make a minor dent.

 

[tractorlet]

The market place, whether tractors or trucks, is where good ideas, quality and price will prevail. The more unique a seller
makes his product, whether good or bad, the more easily it is
identified. If a seller has a unique color for a tractor which is not factory and has a -0- or near -0- hour meter the more the
product stands out. There is big gain for a good product and big loss for a bad one.

I am happy to compete. If someone has a better product than I, then I have to get better. If they have poor quality then I have to educate. In any business there will be those who will fall for the Nigerian type bank account scam no matter how many times they have been told it is a scam. A few clients will be lost. That's the way it goes.

Flooding the market and ruining the Yanmar name; won't happen.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

To impress your customers have a file folder on each tractor. What year, when purchased, condition on arrival, what work has been done. Pics before painting if it has been painted. warranty on the new parts (i.e. the battery). Knowlege is the best weapon. Tell the people to get that from the vietnamese rebuild sellers. They either won't know or will give a generic answer such as "they have a factory where they rebuild them". What I am saying is that a known person who has done limited work is better than an asumption that some unknown person has done alot of work. I will bet you a nickel that all the tractors taken to vietnam have known major mechanical defects before they go and therefore the usual buyers/sellers won't touch them.