Travis, this is a very common problem on the vietcon rebuilds. It is usually the first thing on the service order. Why? Lots of reasons but a common one I have seen in Vietnam was since the tractors are stacked directly on top of each other (on the trip to Vietnam) in the containers no second floor, the radiators are subject to destruction. Literally being smashed by the tractor sitting on top of them. Also remember these tractors didn’t go to Vietnam because they were in good condition they went there because they were deemed “not repairable” and would normally have been sold for scrap.
If the radiator has a leaky rib they pull the top and bottom off the radiator and solder the rib closed. We have seen radiators that look beautiful with only maybe two or three ribs still open. Also, they dip the radiators in paint and the thick layer of paint impedes cooling significantly. Next are the head gaskets. We routinely see homemade head gaskets that block water passages to the head. We have also seen over boring of the liners. It was a few years ago but we pulled the pistons out of an overheating motor and found they had used pistons from a different size engine. Since the rods didn’t fit they were cut and welded on to the original rods. Anything is fair game to get it running. If your radiator doesn’t solve the problem go to the head gasket next.
I have never had a YM2000 overheat with a 5 foot mower. In fact it is my favorite combination. I have more than a few of them at my ranch. Remember horsepower is just the rate at which you do something torque is the actual power or work performed. We have ran the YM2000 on our shop dyno and the torque curve is significantly higher than the larger 3 cylinder yanmar. The big reason we don’t sell 5 foot mowers below 20hp is PTO gear size. If the PTO gearing is a lighter duty than the mower guess what breaks when the mower gets bound up. The YM2000 does not have that problem. I told you that if you had to buy a Vietcon tractor that the YM2000 was my pick and that is why.
In another thread arthr31 asked me to list the good and bad dealers as we see it based on our service records. In a million years I would never do that. For two reasons. One, it is unethical as a fellow dealer and it is my opinion not fact (and as everyone knows I like facts not hearsay), and second is that it is saying the product is legitimate just the dealer is good or bad and that is defiantly not true. I have seen fabulous dealers sell crap. Doesn’t make the product good just might make it more bearable? I fell for the Chinese market when it was first coming out. I was one of the first. And I think of myself as a good dealer but honestly 5 years down the road it was a complete failure. The product just was not good. None of customers will ever suffer, they got a super price but I can assure you supporting them long term will cost me more than I ever made.
I have no real qualms with RCO and haven’t viewed any, I don’t compete with them in any way (since I don’t sell outside of the northwest). I disagree with the product. Not because I compete with it but because I know the con behind it. I am not calling RCO cons I am sure they believe their product is legit just like I persuaded myself to believe Chinese tractors were legit. RCO is a fairly new company and they will change as they grow or they will go away. To me it doesn’t matter. Would I like to see them stop selling vietcons, for sure, would I like to see them out of business, no way! It would be nice if they stop advertising “no sales tax is owed on out of state sales”. In Washington State you still owe the tax no matter where you bought it and they do catch people all the time. I hear the horror stories.
I just got back from my monthly purchasing trip to Japan. I was able to meet the president of Yanmar. Vietcon rebuilds are at the top of their list as far as threats to their brand name. They realize when the tractor brakes down the first person blamed is Yanmar for building such a crappy tractor (if you don’t believe me go back and read through posts). In the past the tractors have been coming in to the US and Yanmar defiantly doesn’t like it but their good name has gotten better not worse. In the last year that tide has started to turn and not just for Yanmar, all Brands are affected. The amount of people complaining directly to Yanmar has gone up. Yanmar actually gets emails saying that their reconditioning process is crap from both customers and believe it or not dealers, even though Yanmar has nothing to do with it. This has put importation bans back at the top of Yanmar’s to do list.
Travis if you were close I would fix your tractor for free just to see this thread go away
I guarantee when I was done it would run your 5 foot mower and 6 foot finish mower with no problem, of course an ounce of speed restraint would be helpful. I sure hope you get your tractor fixed and in the long term you are happy. I know I am. Call anytime if you need anything.
Kings are runnin and I’m going fishing
Buck
