Jinma 304 Value

   / Jinma 304 Value #1  

Dseifert

New member
Joined
Feb 10, 2004
Messages
3
Location
Sacramento, CA
Hi everyone. I am new here and trying to educate myself about the Chinese made tractors. I was looking at a Jinma 304 4wd, with Koyker FEL and a Box Scraper being sold by a private party. He claims he is selling because of the larger tractor he bought (45 hp Jinma). Tractor (304) has approx 100 hrs. Could anyone provide some pricing information on it? Also, I would like to get some input on the things I should look for when checking out the tractor and things I should ask the seller. Any and all feedback is greatly appreaciated. Thanks
 
   / Jinma 304 Value #2  
There are several brands of Jinmas on the market. Jinma, Homier, and Nortrack come to mind. All are the same basic tractor. From what I hear, Nortracks are put together with a bit more care to the fit and finish than some of the others, but that is based on feedback and not really objective criteria.

Brand new from Northern Tool, that tractor has a price of $13,200 plus the cost of the box blade (which will vary by brand). I believe Northern equips their Jinma's with Great Bend front loaders.

Assuming it is a 2003 model, I would suggest you would be in the $10,000 to $11,000 for a fair price. If the guy put it together from a "crate" I'd be a little more leary and go toward the lower end of the price scale. If there is a local dealer who put it together and the fit and finish look good and the dealer backs the tractor then the upper end is reasonable. JMHO.
 
   / Jinma 304 Value #3  
Here is the web page for the 30 HP NorTrac with loader.
 
   / Jinma 304 Value
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Thanks Bob. The Seller claims that the tractor was assembled by a dealer in the WA state area (seller and I are in Northern CA area). He claims to have paperwork, but has yet to produce any. I don't know of any local dealers for Northern CA area for these tractors. Any idea where I can search for the nearest dealers of these tractors? The nearest ones I have found are in OR and WA.
 
   / Jinma 304 Value #5  
Jinma tractors are bare bones discount tractors sold by some reputuable dealers and some fly by night operators. The tractors appear to be solid, but workmanship and attention to detail is lacking. They are often sold to people looking for a bargain at any cost. Consequently many people have become dealers and many buyers are simply uniformed. This is not to say you shouldn't buy one, if you have a decent set of wrenches and don't mind busting your knuckles every now and again to make sure things stay tight, and if you don't need some of the features found on the more expensive brands, then these can be very good bargain tractors (from what I hear). Finding a dealer can be a problem because many simply import them or buy a bunch, put them together, and then sell them and move on. I would let your eyes be the judge and not rely on the dealer who, if he even exists, is 2 states away. Very closely inspect the tractor, look for leaks, damage, broken mounts where plastic parts were over tightened, cracks in the metal, etc. This is the same inspection I'd give a "name brand" tractor as well, but I'd be double sure with a Jinma.

What is the asking price?
 
   / Jinma 304 Value
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks for your input. I will definately consider all of the things you suggested. He is asking $7900 for the unit.
 
   / Jinma 304 Value #7  
The price seems very good. I guess I may be out of touch on resale values of the Chinese tractors. If it was a "big 3" machine and it was 1 year old, it would likely sell for something close to the original selling price because new ones cost more each year. Maybe that will also tell you something about the quality of the Jinma tractors?
 
   / Jinma 304 Value #8  
This was similar to a discussion a while back. People were speculating on the resale of the chineese tractors. Not many of us had seen -any- units sold used, so were guessing if their resale would follow that of the big three.. I.e. just a tad discount, that edged up each year of age ( plus/minus options and condition ).. or if it would have a heavy depreciation immediatly. Looks liek that is the trend.... though, funny enough.. I have seen some farm pro's in machinery trader going for more, 6 mos used than you can get htem from nortrac, new... funny how some people are..

Soundguy
 
   / Jinma 304 Value #9  
Soundguy . . . I think that with all the various versions of Jinma some people might pay more for one and less for another due to lack of familiarity. A dealer with a name brand might offer a Jinma as a second brand, and add a steep mark up to the price, knowing that even with a steep mark up, it will still be bargain priced? Consequently I think it is not unreasonable to find use at prices over new, depending on the area. Just look at some of the less than ethical things going on with grey market tractors and the claims that they are really just John Deeres or New Hollands but painted differently, those claims are all over ebay. . . and . . . you can even find those posts on TBN.
 
   / Jinma 304 Value #10  
I would say the price he gave you is a good price and he is not gouging you, he is getting or has gotten a NEW JINMA so he obvisoulsy like the 304 he is selling otherwise he would not get a replacement right!? anyhow you can buy a NEW one for about 9 grand with the items you listed. some charge more the nortracs are on the high end as they do a lot of extra fine adjustments and such and have a lot of advertizing to pay for. smaller dealers don't have the advertizing budget to add on which I would assume is quite high for them?

anyhow I paid for a loader & 284 just about 6800 auassembled and put it together myself and didn't regret it at all. mine has back hoe as well but that was a 2K + option. and a tiller which was a 1K more too. so all tallied a 304 with the US loader and blade the asking price is good...

Just my oppinion but hey at least I actually HAVE a jinma to know what I paid for it and what asking prices were, (2 years ago, prices HAVE gone up though)

anyhwo best of luck and PARTS are not hard to find at all. they are easy to work on and are easy to opperate.

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