Jinma 204 or 284?!?

[RonMar]

Shuttle shift is great if you are going to be using the tractor mainly as a loader and a mower. But on the 200 series Jinma, you give up your creeper gears for the shuttle and you really want the slow speeds the creeper provides if you are doing any ground engagement work such as running a rototiller.

 

[SPIKER]

HI all:

I have a 2001 284 and have the china FEL (ZL20) with the china back hoe (jw03) as well as china gear drive tiller and china 5' finish mower. I have 22.6 acres of woods lawn / pasture wich is planted in trees of some type it was logged 10+ yrs back. ( I don't handle any animal husbandry of any type right now but will rear a food animal eventually) SO I have a pretty good idea what you are facing. My 284 has handled pretty much every thing I've tossed at it including OLD over grown brush piles and logging debris & partal junk yard clean up duties. (I still hit stuff burried or half burried in the property.) now saying all that I MOW some 6 acres with the finish mower every few weeks and use a 46" 20 hp rider for close up duty to the house & over septic mowingf chores. I TILL about 1/4 acre of garden 3~5 times a year and the creeper is absolutly needed for close inloader work and roto-tilling work the shuttle shift is great for moving piles I'm told and for stall type clean up but it looses much of the needed low speed control needed for roto-tilling mostly.

it is near impossable to get really close to anything with the finish mower unless you are backing up. (one good thing for shuttle I suspose but not sure on thse speed ratio for mowing on the shuttle which I don't have..) Now a good friend has a tractor exactly like mine and moves 2 round bails with his one front & one rear 900~1500 bails according to him and has done so withihs since new as his came on the same truck as mine... now I've picked up & moved rocks over a cub yard & drove them around with mine and picked up front of cars or dang near hole cars so they do lift more than RATED but at a risk to the machine I'm sure... most of this was with the ZL20 FEL. though I also jacked the HYD pressure relife valve to over recogmended pressure to do so and told my friend how to do the same with his. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif for moving dirt I would suggest a box blade which I have a 6' one and just had to repair it some as I backed into an old rotted looking stump with a FEL load of gravel in high revers not paying close enough attension & nearly bent the box balde back aginst the rear tire /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I got loose turned around & dropped the blade over the top of the same stump figureing I'll pull it out or straighten the blade some, well stump didn't move but got the blade to almost back to normal must be an old hickory stump /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif dirt 4 foot around the stum moved a bit as the jinma was clawing at all 4 corners but I think I got maybe 6" out of the bend and with in 2" of straight. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

now all that said I may have been lucky and got a good unit and may eventually really break something but I ahve had the front wheels off the ground many a time pulling a stump or attempting to as well as draging over sized stuff. they DO turn about as tight as an F150 but you can do circles inside the turning radis of those chevies /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif all & all they are a work horse and I got mine when they were just getting to be popular and for a great price which is getting harder to get. if you do get one be sure to go over EVERY nut * bolt for torque! there are a few items which loosen up and maybe not the right tightness from factory. getting one from some of the bigger well named dealers they may have already done this but be safe & do it too. also after 50 or so hrs there is a bit more maintenance needed to pay close eye on.... easy enough to do but will take ave person a weekend of tinkering to make sure that every thing is right. worth wile by all means...


Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif