Thinking about building my own TS 354 but scared

[widmn]

ITs a big investment to screw up or find out that it doesn't work right. I am not so worried about my ability with a wrench and I think I may actually enjoy it, but I am worried that support and parts for the crated TS354 may be absent. Anybody with that experience? What did you do? Would you do it again?
Motivation for a crate tractor? Savings.

 

[billbill1]

I think I would have Chip build it for you, not near the cost savings it used to be-plus I think Chip is a good guy.

 

[F100Panel]

For me personally, I have done 2 crate Jinmas & if I had $ and a use I'd not hesitate to do a third one. Did I save any money? Not sure... But.. I have decent skills & some years of experience.. What I did get that I'm SURE of is that the tractor(s) are assembled to my likeing/tweak this, tighten that, LocTite this or that as I go & when done a REAL good knowledge of the tractor...& in all honesty it was FUN /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[bluechip]

Thank you Bill for the kind words.

At Artrac. we will supply parts for KAMA tractors imported outside our channel of distriubtion provided we have adequate stock on hand to meet our customers needs. We stock plenty of filters, and common parts, but parts we only have one (rarely needed) part, we may hold so we don't leave our customer stranded waiting for the "slow boat".


The TS354 is shipped in two types of crating. In one the tractor arrives tilted up on a 45 degree angle. It will take some equipment to uncrate, the other the tractor is shipped with the front axle in a cage above the tractor. We use a forklift.

They are not that hard to assemble The big issue is getting the tractor. IMH (non lawyer) Opinion, there is no legal way to import a crate tractor as an individual. The 1998 engine thing will not work on the TS354C it is a newer engine design (and EPA has pretty well put an end to using the 1998 exemption anyway, so that leaves TPEM, which requires the importer to be an OEM, which we are so to speak, we do the final assembly and distribute through our small but growing dealer network.

We do not sell crate tractors, the factory does not package these very well for individual shipping, perhaps a single tractor order would ba crated better to keep all the parts in place. (we pick up a lot of loose parts when we unpack a container that you may not get by the time you get a crate) Jinma does a better job of packing thier tractors. However the KAMAs are bigger and the factory uses a method to fit the most into the container to save freight.

 

[JohnS]

I think for discussion, we need to seperate importing from crate delivered tractors. If your are considering importing, there are many things to consider, including what Chip mentioned. While I have done this in the past, and turned out OK, with todays environment, I probably wouldn't do it again. I certainly would not recommend it to someone that hasn't imported before.

If you are going with a stateside dealer that delivers in a crate, that might be doable. All depends on your abilities, support from dealer, and what you able to do, and what you are willing to risk. This particular model might be more of a challenge to handle, but you need to consider it for any chinese brand crate tractor. For example, Jinma 200 series are manageable by most, and the 300 series is more difficult. Whichever, you need to understand exactly how it is being delivered to you, including what type of truck, etc, and plan accordingly.

Assembly is usually not that hard, but does get more interesting as the size and weight of the parts go up, on larger models. Make sure you understand what instuctions comes from the stateside dealer. Most chinese tractors, I believe are like Jinma, no instructions come from the factory. The manuals are very basic, and expect the latest changes not to be in them. Its not hard to figure out, but you need to know what to expect. Some dealers offer video and other info to help in the assembly.

Stateside support from your dealer will be critical with dealing with the issues from shipping/factory. There is usually something that is missing or fell off during shipping. Most times its minor, bolts, washers, etc. Easy to deal with. Damaged shipping parts, that are not a "normal" failure items, might be hard to come bye. Also, you will need good stateside support if there is in the off-chance something more major is wrong. Possible clutch/pto problems may mean you have split the tractor. Just make sure you are up to the task. These occurances of more "major" issues appears to be on the decline, but they still can happen.

Going with a crate purchase, with little or no stateside support can be very risky. If headed in this route, stay with brands/models that are popular. As you can see by many forums, Jinma probably leads in enduser knowledge and support. But you still want to stay with common 200 and 300 series tractors.

Not trying to scare you away from a crate purchase, just make sure you are aware and can handle it. Assembling your own tractor is a great experience. I have done it twice. If I had to do again, near term, that would be enough /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif