Thinking Out Loud…….

[Niner]

This thought hit me earlier today, and I thought I’d see what y’all thought…..

I wonder if the reason there seems to be so many Vietcong Yanmars coming onto the market is because the “good” units are becoming scarce in Japan. The thing that triggered this thought, is that I am starting to see more of the F series tractors out there.

……….Or am I just full of beans?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I bet the supply of the older tractors is moving to newer years. They are trying to rehab the old junk (read broken drive-train) tractors and found someone to do it. Whether these people do a good job or not is yet to be seen. If they do a good job they can make a profit (if labor costs are that cheap and they canabilize some tractors), on the other hand, if they don't stand behind the tractors or do mediocre rebuilds they will get a bad reputation.

 

[blackd]

Thre magic number appears to be @ 20 years old, and the F series are well in to that life cycle.

 

[DavesTractor]

I import container loads of Yanmars directly from Japan. We aren't a big dealer, but will probably bring in about 100-120 tractors this year. Our typical buyer is the new tractor shopper that wants to save some money and still get a modern tractor.

I really like the larger YMxx20D and YMxx02D models, they have wet disc brakes etc. Nothing wrong with the other 3-cylinder YM's either. 2-cylinder models and 2-wheel drives just don't sell for me. I understand this is different in other parts of the US.

We have had great success in selling the F series. Most that we are bringing in are 86 to 93 models. We pay a bunch for them, but they are so very nice! Great condition and nice features, and they sell quickly.

The point I started out to make is that the supply of the nice bigger 4x4, 3-cylinder models in Japan is not adequate to bring in several thousand a year (for all gray market dealers), especially for a dealer that wants to buy them cheap. The alternative is to buy a huge quantity of rough older stuff dirt cheap and rebuild them. The problem is that you really can't rebuild them correctly and still make a profit, there has to be corners cut on both materials and labor. Better to buy a really nice well cared for original machine, do a full service and give it a wax job.

I'm rambling...better get back to work!