YIKES. Now that is very scarry. Those tractors look more like zombies vs. the ones that are unload at Fredricks. The Fredricks units coming out of the sea-containers are more like complete tractors with the wheels stacked nicely in the rear.
Yes, if I was a person employed by Yanmar, I too would cringe over here in the USA if those VNs came over as grays.
The Fredricks group of dealers offer excellent restored tractors from good sound machines. Maybe that is why the "agreement" with Fredricks is very positive with Yanmar. It may sound a little harsh from the Yanmar side of them saying the do's and don'ts, but I understand that Yanmar is protecting their brand name and in their culture it more so of the reputation. Something Americans have lacked in the past 40_ years. Glad Fredricks has that knack of keeping with a good reputation.
Oddly, enough though, there is a provision that mentions that adding all the safety hardware and decal notices along with the ID plate as not converted by Yanmar, even the VN tractors would then be "legal" for offering on listing websites. But, why would somebody do that? The ROPS, seat-belts, PTO cover and such would actually be worth more than a VN tractor.
Cal, thanks for the thread link too. Looks like others had commented saying the place looked more like a salvage yard than a restore place. That pix of the man next to the YM2610 like mine really didn't look too bad, but the Kubuta in the other photo was in very bad shape of rust all around and foam rotting out of the seat. If that made it over here, I can understand Kubuta taking action too.