YM1500 - What have I found here?

bland · Aug 5, 2004

I just ran across a Yanmar YM1500 that seems to be in really good shape mechanically. It has a 48" kubota rear 3 point deck with it. I had been inquiring in the garden tractor forum about the possibility of using my JD 425 AWS to mow a 2+ acre hay field that I have that didn't get bailed this year and is a runnaway. When I ran across this Yanmar I wondered if it would actually be better for this sort of thing due to overall size and the fact that the mower could be raised quite high for the first pass or so. I would like to have a compact tractor of some kind to go along with my jd and really liked this little thing but didn't know how much work it would do and wondered if anyone here could pass a guess on its age and abilities. Thanks in advance.

California · Aug 5, 2004

I had decided to look for that model, then the first Yanmar I found locally was a little larger so I bought that instead. It's great.

Here's a description by Buck of EFC, an owner who was so impressed with his YM1500D (the 4x4 version) that he went into business importing Yanmars. He used to post here a lot. See [scroll down to his text]:
http://www.efcconstruction.com/AboutUs.htm

Your YM 1500 was made around 1975-80. See the dealer brochures in my sig photos for a general description of Yanmars of that era. YM1500 is 15 pto horsepower, my YM240 described in the brochures is 20 pto hp.

Since the YM1500's were imported used they are considered 'gray market' and ignored by Yanmar-USA. In spite of this they are a popular import model and there are always several on ebay. Parts are no problem by mail order. I've bought parts fom Hoye in Texas and there are several other good dealers who post in this group.

I think its ideal for the use you describe. If you don't want it someone here will!

One caution - see past threads here on the Vietnam rebuilds. A Yanmar in original condition should last forever while an extensively rebuilt tractor may be a sign of potential trouble.

bland · Aug 5, 2004

Thanks for the info. I guess the big question should be - what's it worth - The guy is asking 3000. That is the tractor and the kubota 48" deck. Is this too much?

Tractors4u · Aug 5, 2004

Is the Kubota 48" deck a bush hog type mower or what is it? $3000 for that tractor and a 4ft bush hog is a reasonable price assuming it is in good condition. Look for things like rubber fuel line, radiator hose, and wiring harness that has paint on it. That shows evidence of a half hearted refurbishment. Also these tractors have 3 digit hour meters. If it is showing a 600-800 hours that is probably the average for a 25+ year old Japanese tractor. If it is showing 100-400 there is a good chance that the hour meter has rolled past 1000 hours. Still at 1000 it is just broken in.

bland · Aug 5, 2004

Thanks for the feedback - The mower is a finish type mower. It has 3 blades. The unit is at a local dealer it was traded in by a local person on a new 2010 jd. Dealer said the guy had used it for several years. It shows 625 hours. It had an extra new filter tied to it that the previous owner had sent with it. I don't know if it was hydraulic or engine filter. It also has overrunning clutch on the pto, seems to be free of oil leaks, starts right up and all controls seem to work as they should.

Soundguy · Aug 6, 2004

( possibility of using my JD 425 AWS to mow a 2+ acre hay field that I have that didn't get bailed this year and is a runnaway )

Sure.. if you want to work the riding lawnmower into an early grave. Both neighbors on either side of me have replaced high dollar riders in the last 4 years mowing 2-3 acer yards weekly. One was a jd lawnmower.. the other a huskie... I simply laugh as I mow mine with 40 and 50 year old tractor s and mowers that are still going strong.. beacuse that was what they were built to do.. work hard.. etc

( ran across this Yanmar I wondered if it would actually be better for this sort of thing due to overall size and the fact that the mower could be raised quite high for the first pass or so )

Yes.. but I doubt you would need to raise the deck high for the first pass. These yannies have creeper gears in low range. It isn't uncommon to cut grass / weeds / brush taller than the tractor in low gear. Though not a yannie.. when I first cut my very neglected 10 ac back pasture I did it with a 5' rotary mower and Nh diesel tractor. I measured the brush i was cutting.. most of it was 7' tall ragweeds and dog fennel. easilly taller than the sun shade on my tractor... tractor had no problems.. cut at the correct speed, and height, and vary your cut width if the mower bogs..

Soundguy

Soundguy · Aug 6, 2004

Don't use a finish mower to cut tall grass.. you'll wear it out as well.

Get a tractor and a rotary cutter for heavy grass and stuff.

3k is a bit steep for the 1500..

my opinion.

Soundguy

jbitting · Aug 7, 2004

re: 3000 for the ym1500 and 4ft finish mower.
that sounds like a fair price to me, IF they're in good condition (which it sounds like)... but this varies by region/location. the tractor without the mower would probably go for around 2400-2700 around here.
let us know where you are, there's probably someone close to you that could let ya know what it would bring in your area.

re: mowing the tall stuff.
the tractor has the grunt required for the job, but I agree with soundguy wholeheartedly about a rotary cutter being better suited for that task than the finish deck. although you could probably get away with it if you were only going to put it through that one time (set it high and go slow) and keep it cut after that... but.. I'd recommend picking up a rotary cutter if you plan on cutting tall stuff as a routine.

and you've asked at the right place... there are a LOT of folks here with TONS of experience and knowledge (much more than me).

be safe and enjoy,
Jake

bland · Aug 8, 2004

Thanks much for the feedback. I got to thinking about the finish mower problem myself. I suppose a guy just needs both actually. Before I jumped on this one, I felt I had to check out one more thing and did and it got to my pocketbook. I went and looked at an old Ford 8n a guy was selling for a family that it's owner had died and decided to go with it instead. It seemed quite a bit heavier and huskier, more stable and didn't slide around as much. It has a late model 5' brush mower. Saved myself $1000 but might have something that will be more problems than the yanmar (you never know I guess) When I cut the field in question it seemed pretty obvious that the first cutting anyway would have been tough with the yanmar - It was really thick besides being high. I may be sorry down the line as I liked the yanmar and thought it was a good machine but it seemed really light and small compared to the ford. I also have a jd 425 aws 21hp, 54" deck and blade which might handle most of the mowing tasks the yanmar was going to be asked to do. I don't think the jd would do as much heavy work as the yanmar though. If the yanmar had of had a hog instead of finish mower, it might have been mine now. Anyhow thanks guys, now it's probably off to the vintage tractor forums or some other ford 8n forum to ask the million questions I have on how to maintain this thing and probably spend the $1000 I saved over the yanmar fixing up the ford. Thanks again. Feel free to flame my over my decision - I will check back to see how bad of a mistake you guys think I made.

BLUEBONNET2 · Aug 8, 2004

good morning,
don't think anyone will flame here..... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif, 8N's have been around for 50 or so years, plenty of sources for parts......there is one down the road from me and the guy mows every two weeks or so with it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

good luck and have fun,
bluebonnet2

normde2001 · Aug 8, 2004

If you got an 8N and rotary mower, in decent condition, for $2,000, I would say that's a heck of a deal. If anything fatal ever happens to my YM2000B I will probably replace it with an 8N.

bland · Aug 8, 2004

Thanks for the encouragement. Actually seems to be in pretty good shape. No smoke - no blow by. The only oil leak I can find after a couple hours hard use was slight seep at pto shaft, but not serious. It carries super good oil pressure, doesnt get hot, the only problem so far is that it tends to slobber and stutter a bit when rapped up and under a load, smooths right out at slower rpms down to idle when not loaded. So far I'm pretty impressed.

normde2001 · Aug 8, 2004

Probably just needs a plain old tuneup. You might "private message" Soundguy for particulars. He appears to be our resident "8N" expert. I believe those were originally 6v electrical systems. Do you know if it has been converted?

sirgknight · Aug 8, 2004

Having owned an 8N for many years I'd say that first you got a classic workhorse and second you got a great deal. Most 8N's in my area go for an average of 2,800 (tractor only). Low end is around 1,800 and high end around 3,500. Has it been converted to 12 volts? That would be a plus.

bland · Aug 8, 2004

You guys are too nice. From the photo forums I hang out around, if you change brands midstream your name is mud. Anyway, no unfortunately it has not been converted to 12V, yet anyway. A guy that was around this when the previous owner had it claimed that it always started even in winter. I don't know whether to believe that or not. I am old enough to remember my old 6 volt cars. Mowed 2+ acres for the second time today with it and it is still going, so far so good. I am attempting to attach a pic to this post. This is straight out of the field. I haven't made any attempt to even clean it up yet. It ain't perfect by a long shot, but seems to run really well. If it works the second image is part of the field I just hogged.[image]http://www.pbase.com/image/32341132/large[/image] [image]http://www.pbase.com/image/32341133/large[/image]

BillG_in_TX · Aug 8, 2004

Bland,

Nice looking rig you've got, and it looks like it did a fine job on that field.

Hint - your pictures are too big to fit in the post as "images", and the moderators request that they be posted as links or attachments, anyway. Attachments also have a 100kb limit, but there is no size limit on links. Use the "url" tag to include a link to your pictures. And you can label them in the post as "tractor and cutter" and "mowed field", for example. They'll show up as hot links in your post.

Like this - tractor and cutter
and this - mowed field

bland · Aug 8, 2004

Thanks again for the help here - I suppose all forums are different. I post links frequently on photo forums and tried to do it the way we do there, but this one operates completely different. I could have sized them down more, that might have helped I suppose. Anyway - thanks

BillG_in_TX · Aug 8, 2004

Bob (that is your name - right?),

Glad to be of help. I have to tell you I love that hummingbird picture! And I notice that you have the Nikon D70, what a lot of people consider to be the primo prosumer digital camera. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Now that I have totally hijacked your thread - Welcome to TBN! (and you might consider filling out your profile.)

Soundguy · Aug 9, 2004

( I went and looked at an old Ford 8n a guy was selling for a family that it's owner had died and decided to go with it instead. It seemed quite a bit heavier and huskier )

27 hp from the factory.. And it handles a 5' brush hog fine. just make sure you get an ORC for it.

I have a 46 ford 2n, a 52 ford 8n, and a 54 Ford NAA. I work the NAA for mowing with a 5' mower.. and my 8n is my box blade machine.

If you need any info on the 8n, head over to :

Ytmag Ford N series Forum

I hang out over there. Tons of info on the 1939 - 1954 Ford N's

And as for parts.. they are everywhere. the 8n alone.. made between 47-52.. had just over a half million units. 9n/2n had a few hundred thousand as well.. jubilee/NAA had 6 digit production number too.

TSC sells a wide variety of N parts.. like carbs, manifolds, starters, bendix, and many other small bolt on parts.. some sheet metal.. wheels / tires.. etc.

Your local NH dealer will have many parts as well. There are also a handfull of great online parts houses available.

If ya need more info.. email me.
c.britton@worldnet.att.net

These N's are great durable machines. Not the end all - be-all tractor.. but a great pasture mower.

They weigh about 2600-2800 pounds depending on options, tires, bumper.. etc, etc.

Soundguy

Soundguy · Aug 9, 2004

( The only oil leak I can find after a couple hours hard use was slight seep at pto shaft, but not serious. )

If the seepage at the pto is just that.. seepage.. run down to the auto store and grab a bottle of the lucas transmission addative. Add it to the tranny. The diffy, tranny, and hyd sump are all common. OEM spec was 90wt mineral oil.. comercially agailable as a GL-1 oil today at napa, texaco, TSc.. etc.

Also the NH 134d type oil will work.. but is way thinner.

Don't overfill the tranny.. the wheel seals can leak if oil is pooled on them.

Sump hold 5 gallons.. but most of us put in about 4.5. An easy way to check the level and safeguard that you are not too full to have leaky wheel seals ( and no brakes ).. pull the bottom bolt in one of the round side covers.. like the one the dipstick is in.. let oil fill to that point only.

That lucas tranny goop stopped a small daily drip on my 46 2n pto... no problems now.. months later.

Soundguy