Is My Neighbor Correct?

[flusher]

I was talking to my neighbor about buying a tractor.
He stated that that buying foreign tractors may be cheaper, but the costs of parts will be greater. Therefore I should look out for that.

Your first concerns should be servicing and parts availability. Then worry about cost. If you don't plan to do major repairs (when necessary) on your tractor yourself, you'll need to find a local dealer or tractor service place. Sometimes this is a real problem, especially if you are fixated on a particular brand and there's no local dealer for service and parts.

My new tractor is a 2008 Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto 2WD, gear tranny) made in India. The local dealer is a super guy--always ready to help, fair prices for parts and service. No problems here.

I also restore old tractors and get the parts from suppliers via the Internet.

 

[gauthier]

Like said,there ain't no american made tractors[maybe those pt's but bet many of the parts on them are imported.]

 

[LBrown59]

I haven't found any parts yet yet I considered inexpensive. In some cases JD may cost less than Kubota, NH, MF, etc for a similar item but in most cases there is very little difference for the more commonly used items like filters, oils, etc..

Me neither!

 

[Pipestone Kid]

Your neighbor may have been talking about"gray market" tractors. Parts for them can be very expensive, if you can get them. It depends on what part of the country you are in and who is selling them (Gray, that is)

 

[clemsonfor]

Your neighbor may have been talking about"gray market" tractors. Parts for them can be very expensive, if you can get them. It depends on what part of the country you are in and who is selling them (Gray, that is)

And again what part for they grey tractor as well as the model of grey tractor and make. My yanmar has excellent service from Hoye tractor. Even though it is a japanneese tractor made for the overseas market i can still get anything from a wheel to tires to starter and glow plugs rebuild kits etc from hoye overnight if i want to. YOu can also get them from a us dealer if you want to pay the higher prices at yanmar usa (just dont tell them its the grey model) tell them its the american one. Also some of the JD compacts from the 80s are almost exact copies of the yanmar and share parts like keys filters, hydro pump, lines etc (meaning you could go to JD for some parts if you knew what interchangerd, but i bet my hydro pump from hoye tractor to be a hundred or so dollars less than JD's!). Some parts folks have found are the same on yanmars as 70's era Datsuns as the japs used what was already invented, meaning you can get like the cooling sensor and alt, and starter and voltage regulator from autozone if you know what your doing.

You just need to reasearch your particular brand your interested in and find which model has good parts support. You can even look at say a Jimina tractor you are interested in and a JD or something and just look up parts for the 2 of them. Look up a water pump on both see the prices, a radiator, the filters, seals etc see how easy they are to find and how the prices?

 

[rocknrod]

Well thank you all for your input and very good information.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

but wouldn't it be sweet if JD or IH for example would build a tractor factory here in the states, totally modern with robots and labor saving devices, and hired Americans to build these great named pieces of machinery?.

Kubota does. Its called KMA (Kubota Manufacturing of America). 1800 people work there.

 

[IslandTractor]

Kubota does. Its called KMA (Kubota Manufacturing of America). 1800 people work there.

Do they build engines and frames or just assemble components?

 

[Ford tractor]

Yes, your neighbor is correct. In the areas where his statement apply.

Since you would have to get a mid '80's or older tractor to have one made in the USA, you would have to find a made elsewhere tractor of the same vintage and compare prices. Parts for an old Ford 4000, Ford 860 or 8N are relatively cheap for things like clutch, brakes, etc. I would guess that parts for a Japanese tractor of the same vintage would be difficult to obtain and higher priced.


But, since about the mid '80's there have been more chicken teeth than American made CUT's, so you can't really make the comparison.

 

[TGF]

Grey market tractors are basically tractors imported from countries not made for the US standard tractor market, so their PTO might operate at 300 RPM, and their implements may require it spin a different direction, or a different type of hitch their hydro QC's maybe different, screws my be threaded the wrong direction etc... Buying one of these would be silly.