General Confusion, Need knowledge

[jonrjen]

Warranty is your basic, 6 months parts only, Owner supplied labor. Not a big issue, I have owned Belaurs tractors for the last 13+ years, I can turn a wrench, trace a leak and have a good command of the proper English language used while working on equipment. If it is beyond my skill, I have some great help avalible for free. Also have a Farm Pro dealer near by for assistance.
Selling dealer is about 3 hours away, so unless I blew an engine chances are I would perform the labor anyway.
The 204 has the Jinma style China type 4' loader. Tractor runs like a top, I have pulled off the canopy from the ROP, but it is in the garage and can be bolted back on.

 

[billbill1]

I have the 284 LE and that price is better than what I paid. A friend has a 254 and he drove my tractor and wishes he had shuttle shift but as far as power, the tractors seem the same. To look at the LE, it may look sleeker but the paint is no better on one than the other. With a loader I truly think the shuttle shift is worth the extra but without maybe the 254 would serve a better purpose. I won't use a tiller with mine so no big deal but it might be if you plan on using a tiller. At full throttle, my 284 runs the same rpm as my friends 254 so our horsepower is probably the same. I think both of these tractors have all of the power that I would ever need but like in Greg's situation he was running low on power because of the hills. I'm sure a 20 or 22 hp would be all I wanted for the normal stuff I do but I figured bigger has to be better and I went for it.

Bill

 

[bluechip]

Most of the Jinmas I have run seem to rev up to PTO speed. Interestinly even the JM304 with the TY395 engine rated 30HP at 2000 rpm runs up to 2300rpm, so I wonder what the HP is at that RPM? HOw many revs will a JM354s run?
Anyway I'm pretty sure at PTO speed, you will not notice a difference.

 

[greg_g]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Warranty is your basic, 6 months parts only....unless I blew an engine chances are I would perform the labor anyway.

The 204 has the Jinma style China type 4' loader. )</font>
Then six grand for six months of parts ya gotta put on yourself ain't a deal I'd personally waste much time on. Since the seller will have nothing invested in warranty labor, I think you can strike a better deal.

With 120 hours, I sorta figured your 204 was off warranty anyway. There's a new 204(no FEL) on eBay right now, $4200 and not one single bid. No shipping, no warranty, no tax; pretty much like yours - except for the 120 hours. But you might have to prepare yourself to take a hit because of the Chinese loader.

If I was in the market, I don't think six grand would be out of line as a starting offer for a "broken in" 204 with an American loader. But with a Chinese loader, I'd simply keep walking. Maybe ask new price for the tractor, and sweeten the deal with a free FEL.

Opinion only, no offense.

//greg//