Ilikeurtractor
Veteran Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2011
- Messages
- 1,070
- Tractor
- Iseki TX1300F/TX1500/ TX2160F/TS2220F/ Satoh S370D/S373D
The whole gray-market tractor thing is really quite intriguing. I certainly can understand a person's apprehension to buying one as you really are "rolling-the-dice" so to speak on what you'll end up with.
I also believe though, there are a lot of opportunities to get good value in a gray-market tractor (or US equivalent). Most, but not all, of the problems I've seen on these older tractors (US included) are just neglect from whoever owned them. People's general disregard for basic maintenance like lubricating levers and linkages, changing oils and filters, leaving them in the elements for decades, and misunderstanding of design limitations will beat down whatever brand machine. A new machine subjected to a fire will look a lot like those in the video that were in a fire. Yes, you can get parts to rebuild the new/name-brand machine sometimes easier, but a lot of parts are still available for the older tractors, even gray-market. I was pleasantly surprised that a local Napa dealer carried the bearings and seals for the front end of an Iseki tractor I have. Not that they carry Iseki parts, but a lot of consumable parts like that are standard items and they just took the numbers off the old parts and crossed them over to their equivalent replacements. I later found out I could source the Napa parts much cheaper on ebay (i.e. Napa is a rip-off on bearings from my experiences).
Now if you start having broken things like gears and shafts, that is where you are obviously going to run into problems and where you "roll-the-dice" on a used tractor that is not "main-stream". Personally, I'm willing to take the risk on a tractor that appears to work well upon purchase (I have purchased a tractor that did not work well because of my own ignorance at the time but since have learned more on what to look for) because I believe if they are used within their design constraints and basic maintenance is done on them, that broken gears and shafts should not be a common problem. All the consumable parts (filters, bearings, tires) should not be terribly hard to find and, as a last resort, other tractors are out there that most likely will have good salvagable parts on them should the need arise. Now I might find out that I'm entirely off-base on this theory, but so far it has appeared to be ok.
In my opinion, I find older (70s, 80s) used sub-compact tractors to be an excellent value when compared to something like a four-wheeler of similar cost. I know it's not an "apples-to-apples" comparison, but the ability to have a loader, belly mower, snow blower, 3-pt attachments, the pulling capacity, fuel efficiency, and longevity/durability (yes, even gray-market) of a tractor vs. a four-wheeler is really pretty cut-and-dry for me. Don't get me wrong, four-wheelers have many advantages and you won't see me trail-riding with my tractor, I just admire more what a tractor can offer for what I want to do and the sub-compact grays/us equivalents meet this criteria at low cost.
I also believe though, there are a lot of opportunities to get good value in a gray-market tractor (or US equivalent). Most, but not all, of the problems I've seen on these older tractors (US included) are just neglect from whoever owned them. People's general disregard for basic maintenance like lubricating levers and linkages, changing oils and filters, leaving them in the elements for decades, and misunderstanding of design limitations will beat down whatever brand machine. A new machine subjected to a fire will look a lot like those in the video that were in a fire. Yes, you can get parts to rebuild the new/name-brand machine sometimes easier, but a lot of parts are still available for the older tractors, even gray-market. I was pleasantly surprised that a local Napa dealer carried the bearings and seals for the front end of an Iseki tractor I have. Not that they carry Iseki parts, but a lot of consumable parts like that are standard items and they just took the numbers off the old parts and crossed them over to their equivalent replacements. I later found out I could source the Napa parts much cheaper on ebay (i.e. Napa is a rip-off on bearings from my experiences).
Now if you start having broken things like gears and shafts, that is where you are obviously going to run into problems and where you "roll-the-dice" on a used tractor that is not "main-stream". Personally, I'm willing to take the risk on a tractor that appears to work well upon purchase (I have purchased a tractor that did not work well because of my own ignorance at the time but since have learned more on what to look for) because I believe if they are used within their design constraints and basic maintenance is done on them, that broken gears and shafts should not be a common problem. All the consumable parts (filters, bearings, tires) should not be terribly hard to find and, as a last resort, other tractors are out there that most likely will have good salvagable parts on them should the need arise. Now I might find out that I'm entirely off-base on this theory, but so far it has appeared to be ok.
In my opinion, I find older (70s, 80s) used sub-compact tractors to be an excellent value when compared to something like a four-wheeler of similar cost. I know it's not an "apples-to-apples" comparison, but the ability to have a loader, belly mower, snow blower, 3-pt attachments, the pulling capacity, fuel efficiency, and longevity/durability (yes, even gray-market) of a tractor vs. a four-wheeler is really pretty cut-and-dry for me. Don't get me wrong, four-wheelers have many advantages and you won't see me trail-riding with my tractor, I just admire more what a tractor can offer for what I want to do and the sub-compact grays/us equivalents meet this criteria at low cost.
