Looking to buy a Yanmar

[normde2001]

"No one really has any idea how many hours are on these 30 year old tractors any way."

If your tractor has a "9999.9" meter on it, such as is on a YM2000B and some others, you can be pretty sure it is correct as long as it is working.

 

[greatrandini]

I think you can be "pretty shure" to a point with a 9999.9 meter but you don't know. Most of these rascals had a 999.9 meter.
By looking at the condition of the tractor and the meter you can offer a guess. Once one is "reconditioned" how could you tell? You just as well have a new meter. In the good old days cars had a 99999.99 odometer. You never really knew until better records were kept.

 

[EFC]

Piddling, sorry for the slow reply, spring is here and talking on the forum is borrowed time .

I average around 1000 hours on the meters but to be honest I don’t even look at the hour meters. I have seen 200 hours tractors that look worse than the photos I posted and I personally own a Yanmar that is close to 10000 hours and runs great.

How I decide which tractor comes home and what doesn’t is based on about a thousand different variables too many to explain here but over the years I have seen a couple tractors. The short answer is I buy tractors that I would and do own. Not perfect but workable and repairable. A solid package that I can support. I am not brand loyal. I am model loyal though.

I have posted this before but the reason tractors are traded in is usually one of four reasons.
1. Taxes, they increase as the equipment gets older, at some point the tax is higher than the value of the tractor.
2. Breakdown, repair is very expensive,
3. Fleet rotation, Co-Ops rotate tractors out of the fleet at a certain condition, age or use. Some Co-Ops change crops requiring different machines than they have.
4. Liquidation. Farms go out of business for whatever reason, bankrupt, dad dies kids don’t want to be farmers ect.
The low hours are a direct result of lack of ground and need. We need a tractor for everything they need a tractor for tilling. The high hour machines are typically from Dairies. The average size farm I see I would guess is less than half an acre. How many times do you need to till the same piece of ground? 1000 hours is no small achievement that is a lot of time on a tractor.

I never replace the hour meters even if they are broke and I won’t even sell one.

I used to order parts tractors that I used to repair tractors. They are almost impossible for me to get now. The Vietnam buyer I saw in the yards two weeks ago was buying 700 tractors that trip and he is there as much as I am. He was upset because the yards had too many running tractors and was only up to 580 tractors in a dozen yards.

I have said this many times on this forum. There is no way, NO @#$% WAY I would spend one week a month in total exhaustion, away from my family, dragging my but through airports, being physically violated by airport security, sitting on a plane 15 hours straight one way, sleeping on mattresses that equal hardwood for comfort, if I thought for a millisecond that I could buy an equal or better product from Vietnam.

 

[Inspector507]

Buck,
I had no idea what you go through to bring those tractors over here. I'm sure others do the same thing.

Ya know, I see over and over again recommendations to contact dealer A or dealer B or dealer C on this forum when buying a tractor. Why? Because they've been in business for numerous years and have sold hundreds if not thousands of quality tractors. They don't sell "pretty junk" and lie about it just to sell it. They actually stand behind a machine they would have no problem using themselves. How many times have the Hoye family been recommended? Wayne at LMTC? Buck at EFC? Len Sheafer at Town and Country? The Fredericks? I could name a bunch more. They all sell quality used tractors that they feel will do what you want it to do.

 

[piddling]

Thank you, EFC, for the detailed response to my questions. I've learned a lot on this particular thread.

Interesting routine you have to go through to acquire your tractors and I sympathize with you on the travel - especially the hassle at the airports. Maybe someday you can tell us more about the 10,000-hour Yanmar you have (if it hasn't been posted already).

 

[squeeky]

Vietnam buyer laughed when I asked about the burned tractor, he said “of course we will make it run”….. “USA love anything if you make it pretty”…… Exact quote.

Maybe, but the're the ones living in mud huts and trying to scrounge a living by scamming foreigners.