Here's where they come from....

[ponytug]

Only saw one and it was full of water. Must have been standing in the rain for a while.

Or overnight. Iwami, where KHS is located gets 86" of rain a year...

 

[rScotty]

Not only are there no loaders, the tractors themselves are small and from what I see there, are mostly used with rotary tiller/cultivators. Why so much emphasis on rotary tillage?

Farmers also have to seed, fertilize, tend the crop, harvest the crop... put in fence and irrigation, make hay, feed livestock, move manure and dirt - Where are all those implements?
And without a loader, how would Japanese farmers move all those implements & heavy items around?

So my question is, what machines do they keep on the farm rather than sell?
There must be machinery to help with all the other work on their farms.

 

[California]

it was Buck from EFC that did the expose on the Vietcong tractors back in the day...
Remember those? Boy were they ever ugly, more like smoke and mirrors for the unsuspecting.

In 2010 my cousin was in SE Asia. I asked him to take photos if he saw a tractor overhaul shop in VN, with Yanmars. Scroll down in this thread. The other posts in the thread are interesting too.

Buying Advice - How to identify a vietnam refurb?

Is there a way to recognize a Vietnam refurb tractor if from a private party? I am considering a YM1610D for sale by an individual. The seller didn't recall where he bought the tractor from, but it was a dealer in Texas that shipped it to him in Kansas about 3 years ago. The seller seems honest...

www.tractorbynet.com

And here are a couple of photos from a shop overhauling Yanmars (and others) specifically for the US market.

 

[ponytug]

Not only are there no loaders, the tractors themselves are small and from what I see there, are mostly used with rotary tiller/cultivators. Why so much emphasis on rotary tillage?

Farmers also have to seed, fertilize, tend the crop, harvest the crop... put in fence and irrigation, make hay, feed livestock, move manure and dirt - Where are all those implements?
And without a loader, how would Japanese farmers move all those implements & heavy items around?

So my question is, what machines do they keep on the farm rather than sell?
There must be machinery to help with all the other work on their farms.

I will admit up front that I have always been fascinated at how farming techniques vary around the world, both for the same crops and for different crops. I have also been fascinated by dedicated farmers that work out different ways to do things on their farm.

I think that the Japanese emphasis with small tractors and tillers rather than plows has a lot to do with small rice holdings. Plows do not work well in waterlogged clay soil. Tillers do just fine with the right tines, especially as rice straw is pretty tough. As you can see from @bmaverick's posting on the names of functions on Yanmar tractors, there is a big emphasis on getting depth exactly right, so you can keep your field absolutely flat, critical to flood irrigation of rice.

The other bit is that in Japan. it is much more common to have small versions of other machines to suit the field and holding sizes. I have seen rice combines that might have been four feet wide that looked like overgrown floor sweeping machines.

There is an old study out of Austria that showed rotary tillage used less horse power than plowing. IIRC, they were comparing a down cutting tiller with a sub-surface "chisel" bar across the width of the tillage to moldboard plows.

I think that the choice of tools seems to come down to your crop, your soil, four field size/layout, your rotations and your seasonal weather, and what is available locally, or can be farm made. In other countries, I have seen very different ways of doing what we do in the US. I tend to believe locals when it comes to farming practices. I remember an Australian farmer saying that they had to give up on their organic wheat production because they had a weed with a 4m (13') root that would invade and couldn't be plowed/disked/harrowed into submission.

All the best,

Peter

 

[clemsonfor]

Cal, it was Buck from EFC that did the expose on the Vietcong tractors back in the day...
Remember those? Boy were they ever ugly, more like smoke and mirrors for the unsuspecting.

We had a friend over there that hand picked our units for us, that's why they were so gorgeous.
And then Koyker Mfg loaders were the icing on the cake!

I met the some of the nicest people and members here because of those machines.
When we moved I filled a 20' dumpster of rototiller parts, wheels, tires, hoods, cabs, old seats, and tiller bkts ( I almost cried)
I cant dwell on Yanmars to much or I get depressed because it all ended so fast and ugly, thanks to the liars, I mean lawyers...

 

[clemsonfor]

Only saw one and it was full of water. Must have been standing in the rain for a while.

Maybe since just yesterday morning It rains all the time is SE Asia!