First Time Tractor Buyer - Yanmar?

[kenmac]

I bought my tractor to keep. Not to resell on the ''open market"

 

[HGM]

Steve,
I'll just through in my couple cents too....
When I was looking for a tractor, I looked at new and used. I looked at 8n's-TC-30's. Basicly, I found that if I wanted a reliable tractor Yanmar was by far the best bang for the buck.

The old Ford's were great, but they were 50+yrs old. Most of them in need of work. If not, they were 50+yrs old, something was bound to let go soon...For $2500 for just a tractor, it didnt seem the best idea for me.

The new stuff was nice but, I couldnt justify the payment for what I needed. $12-15000 for just the tractor, not me either...

The newer used stuff, well........... Might as well buy new. A JD4100 4x4 new was $11,000, used with a bush hog was $9500.. To finance it would be silly, new would win out here..

I found my YM2000(funny you mentioned that size /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) w/ a new box blade, brush hog, 16'trailer w/brakes, and a used tiller for $7000. If I added a loader and 4x4 to it, the price would be slightly higher than the used 4100 w/hog. I would still end up with a larger tractor,trailer,tiller,box blade and loader, though not Green,same brand engine/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif... If I decided that I didnt like the tractor, or wanted to upgrade, I could sell the tractor (for more than a 50yr old gas 8N)and keep the rest for less than I could buy it for. Not sure how I could have gone wrong... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Wayne has a point, there is always a buyer out there, this is an open market, just not with the official blessing /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif....

I try to stay with American made stuff in most cases. In this instance, I would still be without a tractor if I followed those instincts... I didnt need one bad enough to spend $15-20k for the same thing I got for $7k.. It all goes back to what you need and for what you'll be using it....I would like to have a NH or MF, but cant justify it now, this Yanmar is more than I could ask for....I think I know where you're coming from, just cant say that I really agree with it for my situation.

 

[HGM]

BTW guys,
I'm not talking bad about the 8N's or anything else, just speaking for the values I found..... I do realize they are great tractors and would lstill like to have one at some point..

 

[PAB_OH]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Steve,
I try to stay with American made stuff in most cases. In this instance, I would still be without a tractor if I followed those instincts... I didnt need one bad enough to spend $15-20k for the same thing I got for $7k.. )</font>

Exact same quandry I found myslef in. At first I was okay w/ buying a grey then I found myself questioning myself (sounds stupid). Then I started questioning why I would pay almost new prices for a very used tractor or worse yet more than I paid for my last car. (Please note I question why "I" would do such a thing, not you /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

So here I am back at the greys and unless someone wants to sell me a JD w/ loader for ~$7k or right around there I see no reason for me to feel bad. So I don't make $100k/year or use a tractor to earn a living, I'm not ashamed of that. Might as well buy the best value out there and enjoy what little money I do have.

That's my 2 cents.... since everyone is chipping in.

And just to let those interested know, I contacted Wayne and I hope to go visit him at the end of January probably. Just to stop buy (sic) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[kenmac]

Did you mean TO-30 instead of TC-30 ? I had a TO-20 that I sold & I didn't want to put $13000.00 in a new tractor. Are any new tractors made here anyway ? I only bush hog with my tractor at this time so, the x-tra money for new wasn't worth it to me.I saved about $7000.00 buying a yanmar & it has worked out great for me. I would do it all over again.

 

[HGM]

Ken,
Actually I meant the new TC-30 New Holland(pretty sure that was the model).. But I did look at the TO-20 & 30 because my buddy had one, still does by the way and its for sale because he got a good deal on a larger diesel Ford. But I looked at allot of options, Yanmar fit my needs the best, probably because I had more of a want than a need for a tractor. But after buying it, I would do the same thing all over, though maybe a little larger w/4x4...

 

[kenmac]

I know what you mean about larger tractor. I love my 3110 D /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[SteveM]

I shouldnt have used the term 'open market' - what we have here is a community of people 'in the know' or wanting to be 'in the know', perhaps. If you advertise a grey market tractor here or other places on the web, there is a small community of folks who place value on the machine. You throw an ad in your local paper or swap sheet for a Yanmar, the phone doesnt ring much. (I am not picking on Yanmar; could be Iseki or Jinma etc). However, the main line machines will get more calls. I had a good friend who put alot of money out to start a Kioti franchise, and he lost his shirt despite the fact that they are great tractors...just not enough broad awareness to compete, and he couldnt afford to advertise enough to build the awareness locally. I digress; I have a great affinity for these old Japanese tractors, I simply become concerned when I visit the dealer websites and see tractor packages that start to rival main line prices, because I think it will be difficult (if needed) to recoup a reasonable percentage of the purchase price. if you never need to resell, it is of no consequence.

To the comment from the original poster about the $7,000 deere with loader; I would suggest that most of the grey dealers I have looked at charge more than that for a 20hp+ unit and loader; supporting my assertion that I would rather own a used Deere 755 or similar for that sub-$10,000 tractor/loader combo. I just hate to see someone looking to get started working some land with a tractor make an uninformed first move, and deeply regret it later on.

All opinions; mine respectfully submitted. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Mickey_Fx]

I think most if not all of us here believe a gray market tractor and especially the Yanmars was a good choice for our needs and buget. You don't hear everyone crying about not being able to get parts. A good % of those complaining about parts issues seem to be the owner of a VN rebuild and caught with a bastardized tractor with parts from several models.

As has been said many times, do your home work and find a reputable dealer as they will be there when you have the need.

I know that has been true for me when I bought my tractor from Ernie.

 

[EFC]

Please don’t take this wrong but I don’t believe for a minute that a lack of consumer product knowledge kills a business it is the business that kills itself. Your friend couldn’t make Kioti work at the same time other dealers did and it wasn’t because they had smarter or more knowledgeable customers.

I sold TYM when no one had even heard of them (most still haven’t) I outsold the JD dealer 8 to 1, hp for hp and there was no difference in price. I spent 20 dollars a week advertising them, defiantly not an awareness campaign. I am a sucky salesman, customers have no knowledge of the tractor, poor advertisement, I am miles off the main highway and I have a gravel parking lot....The exact opposite of my JD competition…...I should be out of business...

There are Century dealers on this board that sell hundreds of tractors a year, the century dealer in my town can probably remember off the top of his head the serial #’s of each model he has sold. The difference??? I would bet the farm it is 90% related to ambition.

I am always looking for tractors to buy and resell, I go through a dozen papers and publications and spend a couple hours each Friday and Sunday calling. Once in a great while I find a JD with less than 3000 hours for a reasonable price (reasonable meaning not twice as much as a grey model). Most are non loader machines so I put a loader on them and resell. They sell no faster than a grey, I don’t get higher call volume on print ads either. In fact to sell a John Deere I have to overcome the perception that it is to expensive.

If you buy a tractor to resell the mechanical condition is far more important than the brand. A JD with 3000 hours looses all day long to a Suzue with 500 hours.

Buck

 

[HGM]

At the risk of sounding like I'm putting words in Steve's mouth, I'd like to add something for all of us to think about.

With the internet making endless ammounts of information available to us, sometimes its difficult to separate hard facts from what we are told. I have found myself in this prediciment and try to be careful of what info I pass on if it could be hearsay.

I see this everyday in the automotive industry, customers telling someone with close ties to the product how something works because they read about it on the internet. In fact they could be completely wrong because their source may have been no more than a publisist printing from notes.

The main reason I bring this up is because before I bought the Yanmar I read those same articles Steve posted as reference. I realized by talking to folks directly involved with the product that this was a distorted veiw of the product. Those articles are from a corprate Yanmar stance. They are trying to protect the company by denying the responsibility over these tractors. They dont have the newer mandated saftey devices, they dont have lables for the sensibly challenged to read so they dont hurt themselves, they have some slightly different controls,etc.... None of these things make the gray market tractors less of a tractor, just legaly not supported.

Now, fact of the matter, from the guys that deal with them on a daily basis, these things are not an issue. Arguably the most posular tractor in this country (8N Ford) doesnt have these items either. The responsible dealers like Wayne, Buck, Ernie,etc.. are doing everything they can to provide these saftey features and educate the customer about them before they buy. Tractors in general are simple creatures, a 20-30yr old diesel tractor of any brand should be able to serve you well if it was constructed well in the begining. It seems from what I have read(on the internet /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) that the Chinese tractors and VN recons are not among the long term reliable tractors. Most of our "American" tractors have proven the reliability of the Japaneese versions over the years.

As I said, we have to be carefull what we read... Kind of like watching the local news, you only get one perception, you need to know "the rest of the story" before deciding or preaching it as fact.

Again Steve, I dont mean to put words into your mouth, this is just my opinion on allot of the info we see on these boards.

 

[Egal720]

This my first posting so please forgive any incorrect use of this forum. Im looking to purchase a compact tractor for dirt driveway maintainance , field mowing /landscaping and material moving on a new piece of property in the NE. I have an opportunity to buy an 1981 YM226D ( 1000hr ) with plow/dozer setup, rear 48" rotary mower , moldboard plow and cicle bar for around $4500. The owner bought new and the tractor looks like it was really taken care of it . I was looking primarily for something with a FEH and this machine poped up just down the road but does not have ROP or the FEL . The question(s) 1) does any one know if ROPS are available for this non - gray model? From looking at the forum, I can see a lot of Gray ROP support but not much for the domestic Yanmars. And after reading some of the rop threads , I think this should be my first addon to the tractor 2) FEL - I have seen posts refering to the Brush Hog (1846QT or the 2246QT) FEL as a possible fit for this machine. Does any one know of any other ? Is there a Gray model that is similar enough that I could fit a Koyker? It has a two lever control box mounted already for the plow. Can this be used for the Brush Hog loader as well?

 

[HGM]

Egal720 ,

I would recomend that you present your question in a new post. Go to the Yanmar board and create a new post, you'll get more action on you question. I cant comment an that model but some of the other guys should be able to help..

 

[Egal720]

Thanks. Done.