Worst tractor ever

[joecoin]

Never saw one in person, but I have to think this thing was rather challenging:


Tractor, timber and agricultural machinery in the Soviet Union - Wikipedia

 

[BrokenTrack]

A John Deere 700H Bulldozer....without question.

It was tricked out with neat hydraulic controls, a 6 way blade, and was comfortable to operate, but it was just plain junk. Only 110 horsepower so it could not push a stump out of the ground, only 3-1/2 yard capacity so it could not move dirt, and it used a lot of fuel for what it accomplished in a given day. But the absolute worst part was, it had a lot of track and rear sprocket problems. That machine is where I got my user name from (Broken Track).

 

[goeduck]

Around here there were early Chinese tractor imports that had notorious problems with reliability. There was a place in SW Washington near Portland Oregon that I think went out of business.

 

[sd455dan]

Thinking the Ford 6000 might rate right up there.
So many problems Ford recalled them. - did some updates and then re sold them after several fixes. They went on to be described as a Credible tractor, but not as they were first sold.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Not anything I owned, but the (Soviet) Belarus. Cheapest tractor you could buy. A list of deficiencies a mile long from new. After that, they were actually quite bulletproof compared to other more refined tractors.

 

[California]

Around here there were early Chinese tractor imports that had notorious problems with reliability. There was a place in SW Washington near Portland Oregon that I think went out of business.

100 miles up the Columbia from Portland? The guy there started (?) with importing good used Yanmars that he hand-picked in Japan, polished them up a bit, and made good money selling them. Almost no warranty claims. Then when the yen/dollar exchange rate shifted this was no longer profitable so he started importing crate Jinmas. He soon discovered they took so many hours to debug (I think he said 60 hours average assembly and warranty work per tractor) and then they had so many come-backs that there was no comparison between these brand new Jinmas, and the 30 year old trouble-free Yanmars that had built his good reputation. After a couple of operator deaths on Jinmas (he never had a problem with the Yanmars) he dropped the Jinmas and I think transitioned to zero-turn mowers etc in place of ag tractors.

I dodged a bullet when I bought my first tractor in 2003. A crate Jinma was about $5k and I seriously considered it. Instead I bought a local US-version Yanmar that was 20+ years old at the time and looked shabby. It still looks shabby - but it has been dead reliable and has needed near nothing over the past 15 years. The $15 ThermoStart module (actually an OEM Perkins part) is the only thing that wore out. Repairing stupid-operator boo boo's has been another couple hundred $ which reflect on my abuse (such as ripping off loader hoses) but not on Yanmar's inherent quality.

I'm glad I didn't buy the crate Jinma.

 

[mguitas]

A better title would be: WORST TRACTOR OPERATORS EVER. It is rarely the mainline tractor brands at fault.

Agree.

 

[goeduck]

100 miles up the Columbia from Portland? The guy there started (?) with importing good used Yanmars that he hand-picked in Japan, polished them up a bit, and made good money selling them. Almost no warranty claims. Then when the yen/dollar exchange rate shifted this was no longer profitable so he started importing crate Jinmas. He soon discovered they took so many hours to debug (I think he said 60 hours average assembly and warranty work per tractor) and then they had so many come-backs that there was no comparison between these brand new Jinmas, and the 30 year old trouble-free Yanmars that had built his good reputation. After a couple of operator deaths on Jinmas (he never had a problem with the Yanmars) he dropped the Jinmas and I think transitioned to zero-turn mowers etc in place of ag tractors.

That sounds like the place. I stopped in there once and my 6th sense told me no way did I want one of those Jinmas (I had forgotten the brand name). Like you I’d rather buy older Japanese tractors, Kubota in my case.

 

[yomax4]

Lawn Tractors count? I'm sure not but I'd vote for my Ex Husqvarna 2554 or something like that. Every bolt hole broke and the steering shaft and gears stripped out. Would'd go backwards worth a crap and 3 shops told me to get rid of it so I gave it away. Great motor, The rest was junk.

 

[MHarryE]

Not super bad but Allis-Chalmers B dad took on trade. Couldn't sell it for what he had in it so we used it for raking hay on our farm. Every few days a spark plug would blow out. Start missing, check and find plug hanging from the wire. Reinstall, not too tightly, and it was good for a few more days. Also front axle broke off. Those things never happened on pour Farmall Super A's we normally used for raking and are still doing odd jobs at 66 years old.