VN Tractor

[bruce60]

They are supposed to swap it out with a 2000D for the same price.

 

[clemsonfor]

Are you near the dealer or are they having to truck it to you? That may have to do with the delay, if they are waiting on a delivery in your area?

Sad thing is they will probably call all this time your warrenty period. Document all this so that if you need to you can take them to court over reduced period of coverage and delay in replacement or repair.

 

[bruce60]

I am seeking legal counsel now.

 

[bmaverick]

Bummer. Yanmar makes a great tractor. Sad that you got one that was probably over worked and only had a few more hours left in it.

From what I have deduced, the VN tractors are already used imports from Japan. The people in Vietnam use them up until it's nearly ready to fall apart. Then it gets shipped over here with a new paint job, decals and maybe some safety ROPS if you are lucky. Some of the VNs still are strong enough to function as a hand-me-down third owner tractor while others are not worth the funds to even send over here nor worthy of being parts machines.

I had found this thread dated 2005. Interesting read. Maybe it's the same outfit. The first two pages are a good read, the last two jump the tracks into a different related subject. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/yanmar/61246-grey-dealer-tx.html

 

[normde2001]

Bummer. Yanmar makes a great tractor. Sad that you got one that was probably over worked and only had a few more hours left in it.

From what I have deduced, the VN tractors are already used imports from Japan. The people in Vietnam use them up until it's nearly ready to fall apart. Then it gets shipped over here with a new paint job, decals and maybe some safety ROPS if you are lucky. Some of the VNs still are strong enough to function as a hand-me-down third owner tractor while others are not worth the funds to even send over here nor worthy of being parts machines.

I had found this thread dated 2005. Interesting read. Maybe it's the same outfit. The first two pages are a good read, the last two jump the tracks into a different related subject. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/yanmar/61246-grey-dealer-tx.html

Wrong, the Viet Nam rebuilders only buy tractors that are not saleable as is and mix and match parts to make a useable tractor, then paint them up to look nice.

 

[kenmac]

Wrong, the Viet Nam rebuilders only buy tractors that are not saleable as is and mix and match parts to make a useable tractor, then paint them up to look nice.

Correct norm,, These so called tractors, are /were in such bad condition, that someone like Fredricks, and all the past good dealers IE, lmtc, Ernie, & buck at EFC , Dave's @ Dave's tractors would cull..

 

[California]

A while back there was a thread with a comprehensive writeup describing the VN 'refurb' shops and the Yanmar-USA lawsuit.

How to identify a Vietnam refurb?

My cousin was traveling in the region at the time and I asked him for photos of tractor shops.

Parts.

Shop.

 

[bmaverick]

A while back there was a thread with a comprehensive writeup describing the VN 'refurb' shops and the Yanmar-USA lawsuit.

How to identify a Vietnam refurb?

My cousin was traveling in the region at the time and I asked him for photos of tractor shops.

Parts.

Shop.

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.

 

[California]

YIKES. Now that is very scarry. Those tractors look more like zombies...
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.

There used to be a couple of refurb sellers who both used the same photos of the refurb shop in VN that supplied them. Trust me, that refurb shop they were so proud of looked similar to my cousin's photo of the interior of this shop (behind the blue repaint). Except larger and with perhaps 30~50 employees. Same general atmosphere. The paint work on their finished tractors looked superb, while their shop pictures looked to me like a lot of random parts came together to create each tractor.

One of the legitimate importers here said Yanmar wont sell repair parts to the VN refurb shops .... and he said that on his purchasing trips to Japan, buyers from VN were there negotiating to buy salvage junk probably by weight instead of by brand/model etc. For restoration, and for their parts supply.

Note in that thread I cited, I found a business profile declared by one of the largest VN refurb shops. Averaging their numbers shows $2,000 gross revenue to the refurb company after two man-months of labor applied to each tractor. So their cost of input - for tractors to refurb and for parts, must be extremely low for that claimed revenue to include any profit. (Yep, MBA here. + 20 years experience in research and analysis like this). I don't think the numbers they assert are credible.

 

[clemsonfor]

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.

Kubota already has. they have a similar suite to that here as well. Have had it 15+ years i think. the tractors if they make it here are seized and or turned around at customs inspections.

NO new to the market grey Kubotas show up here. THe ones that are here are here and fair game but thier parts supply is not near as good as the yanmars and there is a lot of NLA parts on those grey kubotas.