Should both rear wheels brake on a Yanmar 1602? Or just one?

[normde2001]

The brakes on my YM2000b are just fine and have never been opened up. I suspect most of these problems are neglect by US users. As I understand it, they do not spend much time at all in rice paddies before replacement. Mine was right off the boat with 325 hours, and I have had it 18 years.

 

[California]

My YM240 had a stuck left brake when I bought it. Seller didn't tell me, let me demo the tractor in his back pasture. I nearly spun around in a loop when the left brake locked and I couldn't get that pedal back up. I'll never forget what he said. He literally told me 'you were supposed to drop the loader bucket if you wanted to stop'. Bah.

He got two other calls while I was there so there wasn't much room to argue price. Generally I would have suggested a price reduction to repair that along with the other obvious missing or broken stuff.

When I got it home and started fixing things, it was clear no one had ever been into the brakes. Intact paper gasket, maybe 1/3 worn shoes.

I was still under $4k after the renovation it needed to put it in service, so I guess it was priced reasonably for what it was.

 

[clemsonfor]

And if the drum is pitted you need to figure out how to get it smooth again, left as i's it will chew the shoes up in no time where they have to be adjusted again. Learned that after freeing mine up, adjust them and it would stay fine for one weekend of work and it would be out of adjustment again where the rough drum chewed the lining up.

 

[clemsonfor]

I do think the yanmar design on these is simplistic and works fine for what it is. There is a drain plug in the brake housing that one can pull to let it drain if you think water got in or to check for water intrusion or oil in my case as the shade seal went out when I was messing with the brakes. Thankfully it was then. I just replaced the seal while I was in there working on it.

 

[normde2001]

The only time my tractor has ever been wet during my ownership was once when it started to drizzle and me making a mad dash for the barn at 7-8 mph

 

[California]

The only time my tractor has ever been wet during my ownership was once when it started to drizzle and me making a mad dash for the barn at 7-8 mph

That's what they call a Barn Queen!

Actually my Yanmars have rarely spent a night outdoors and have never experienced rain, but I can't undo the obvious neglect inflicted by prior owners. I wish mine looked better. I was told the YM240 had been used rarely in the decade before I bought it and it seems obvious that it was outdoors the whole time. The little Yanmar was owned by a landscape contractor and apparently never saw covered storage either.

A guest from the city recently saw the YM240 in its stall and said "That doesn't run, does it?"

 

[normde2001]

Yep, mine came from a past gray mkt. dealer called J &J Eq. in Trenton, Ga. who got them 8 to the container straight from Japan. All models that did not have a latch for the clutch had a carved stick in the toolbox to hold the clutch down. They were all even shipped with the mirrors in the container.

 

[rScotty]

Yep, mine came from a past gray mkt. dealer called J &J Eq. in Trenton, Ga. who got them 8 to the container straight from Japan. All models that did not have a latch for the clutch had a carved stick in the toolbox to hold the clutch down. They were all even shipped with the mirrors in the container.

I've often wondered why that farmers in Japan would give up a perfectly good working tractor just to go out and buy a new one. But apparently they did....and maybe they still do. And not in small numbers either.

 

[California]

I've often wondered why that farmers in Japan would give up a perfectly good working tractor just to go out and buy a new one. But apparently they did....and maybe they still do. And not in small numbers either.

I've read that it's a cultural value in Japan that they stay self-sufficient in rice production despite inefficient small plots and cheaper imports. To that end there are subsidies and tax rebates to keep tiny farms profitable and healthy, in contrast to our system where the efficiency of a larger farm favors large scale production. Also a prohibition on importing rice. It may be more profitable for both farmers and equipment providers - after tax rebates, to have new equipment long before that is needed. There may also be a pride of ownership aspect when the equipment is operated in full view of the neighbors on the tiny plots adjacent to urban development; new equipment seen as producing better rice. It's a different culture.

Sacramento Valley rice farmers have been trying to break into the Japan market for decades. If their product could be sold in Japan they could price it at maybe 1/5 of native production and make great profits. No way. There was one experiment of growing a variety that is a premium favorite in Japan, and shipping it over in (completely unnecessary) refrigerated vessels, I don't know how that turned out. Also that Japanese investors have bought California rice land. And, that rice shipped to Japan under some negotiated tariff-exchange program never reaches the consumer, it sits in warehouses forever then gets quietly re-shipped as foreign aid from Japan to some poorer country.

Somebody probably has better information than this. I would like to hear more.

 

[clemsonfor]

To the tax rebate and subsidy for buying a new tractor has been echoed so much I believe it's true also read it credible places but have long since forgot where. The used stuff supposedly has huge taxes or surcharges or something on It so that buying used is so close to the price of new it makes no sense. I think they give subsidies on both sides, consumer and producer to keep the economy flowing. It must work for them??