</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Yanmar should not be responsible for the lack of ROPS or other safety equiptment due to the fact that these USED tractors were not made for sale in the US market. We bought them without them much like we would buy a used ford 8N. )</font> Unfortunately, while reasonable, this argument will not prevent Yanmar from being sued. The Ford N tractors were built long before many of these safety features were even thought of so they aren't judged the same way as far as liability is concerned and I bet they still get at least 1 suit a year filled against them on these tractors. The manufacturers have to spend $ on these cases even if they are unfounded or ridiculous.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( think the best thing Yanmar could do for their Co. with the gray market situation would be to FULLY SUPPORT their products. They could even go so far as to take over the recondition themselves. No doubt they could do a much better job of it. If they offered a ROPS kit conversion for all of their gray market tractors that are already in this country without them, no one could convict them of any neglence, only good intent, and they would make some good money doing so. Their is a great deal of money for all of the Gray Market OEM's to be made from this aftermarket. ROPS, PTO shields, Throtle conversions, U.S. stickers, Tractor Manuals )</font> I don't know what your backround or experience is, but do you have any idea how much it would cost Yanmar to fully support these tractors? IIRC the majority of the "greys" are like a minimum of 10 yrs old and span several design iterations, most likely many of these tractors have limited OEM support back in Japan. They probably rely on the aftermarket companies, make parts as needed (ie big $), or simply don't support them. This is true for many manufactured products. Just setting up an official supply chain would be big $. The other issue here is that if they were to start re-conditioning and/or offering conversions, while you see it as good intentions, others (see US courts) see it as an admission of guilt. Again, this isn't necessarily right, just the way it is. Besides, how many of you guys are going to rush out and buy all these conversion kits when been using your tractors w/out them. I doubt that enough people would fork over enough $ just to offset their cost. Remember, you're probably talking about specific kits for many different models, not just a universal kit.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I don't think a gray market buyer is a potential new tractor buyer, if he was he would own a new John Deere. I think the truth is many of us out here can't afford to put $10,000 - $20,000 into new or high end used tractor just to put 40 hours on a year brushhoging )</font> Honestly, I would guess that for every guy who buys a "grey" b/c it's the most he can afford, there is guy who bought one b/c even though he could afford the green one he wanted to save the other $6k+. People with money often didn't get that way by spending top $ all the time. I also doubt that if the "greys" were fully supported that they would continue to be great values. You are in fact buying at a discount b/c they aren't mainstream, fully supported pieces of equipment. Full supoort means factory authorized dealerships, which means you'll see the same price structures. I would expect them to start bringing the same $ as comperable used tractors meant for the US market. (ie used US Kubotas)
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Their is a strong market here for used compact tractors up to 40 hp. My hat is off to the people who have seezed this market and supported it. I can't understand Yanmar and Kubota for that matter, not makeing money on this market, it's a little like leaving gold nuggets in the stream because they aren't big enough!!! )</font> You just hit the nail on the head. If the $ were there to make it worth their while, they would support it. The tell tale sign is that, so far, as I understand it the aftermarket hasn't made an attempt to take up the slack. If the $ were there, someone would be making aftermarket parts trying to capitalize on it.
