Buying Advice YM240D. Good deal?

[rScotty]

Ah, yes.... the famous Yanmar clank and knock.... BTW, congrats on your purchase. You've just inherited a mechanical icon.

Those old two cylinder Yanmars were a sleeve-block engine with a steel cylinder shrunk into an iron block. That's a pretty good way to build a bell, and part of the reason for the nickname, "YammerHammers".
The noise doesn't seem to affect their reliability. Yanmar also made a series of single cylinder marine diesels & "long tails" that were even louder. They sounded like someone driving a fence post into the ground with a sledgehammer.

Oddly enough, they also made three cylinder & 4 cylinder engines at that time that were remarkably quiet and balanced. Especially the three, some of which featured an indirect injection head geometry which further quieted them down.

Many of the two cylinder tractors were thermosiphon cooling rather than having a water pump. Is yours? If you look at the front of the engine, what looks like a water pump is actually the generator - well, technically it's a magneto type alternator... but the point is that the cooling is dependent on physics rather than a pump. It works well enough, but is just different enough to be worth knowing about.
rScotty

 

[Jtullis13]

Yes Congrats on your new to you tractor purchase, it will serve you well. It will be easy to maintain as well. As rScotty stated "YammerHammers" they are noisy and a lot of people here will suggest that you wear hearing protection if operating for a period of time, not a bad idea honestly. There are a lot of members here with a ton of knowledge about these machines and are willing to help if you need anything. Anyways, enjoy!!

 

[careyo63]

I had a good chuckle again this morning with your Green Acres Comment!!:laughing: It's true...At least it's not a hand crank and with a Elec. Starter it's kind of Fancy.... The loud banging is normal and your get use to it. I had and rode motorcycles that the Yanmar isn't even close to the sound of hitting a lick and banging out the power. Also mentioned before was Turning radius. I can make a clean turn in 10'. 2 passes with the FM at the end of my pass with not even having to slow down. And if I'm under the 10' I use 2nd. gear PTO and my shifting is not that bad to keep from grinding gears. I been grinding them for Yrs. to be honest I just don't force it in gear. So even if you can't cut the Spray off when starting another pass that your loss and over spray will be minimal IMO..
I used a Kubota when clearing the land my house sits on. It was okay and the Back Hoe was nice with a Fel. But it just came from the dealer from Serv. and started leaking Hyd. fluid through the Steering Colum so I passed on it. I put a ghetto rig to it and kept it from squirting Hyd. fluid in your lap everytime you turn the wheel and it was told to us a Split to fix it. That was the deal beaker. It had a Ton of Hrs. on it the owner used it for installing Cable Tv. lines. It did what I wanted it to do rather easily but then after shopping and checking my choices the Yanmar I still own now was my final decision and a good one. Simple basic and well built and is in the place to be on it. Farm living not so much though...........

 

[dchad]

Afternoon rScotty,

So far so good on the tractor purchase, but I still sing the green acres song every time I start her up. Just don't want to take any unnecessary chances.

I haven't taken the time to look at the "water pump" in detail. I glanced at it after reading your post, and it looks like a typical water pump housing. Has a belt driven pulley on the front, but if and when I need to get into it, I'll need some schooling on thermosiphon cooling. I've never heard of it, but thanks again for the tip.

 

[dchad]

careyo63,

I've ridden a few motorcycles over the years too, so it's likely I'm already a bit deaf. The noise from the Yanmar doesn't bother me at all. I kind of like it.

I think I'll get the turning radius we're looking for, likely we'll skip every other row, then circle back and pick the rest up. Running a switch back to the sprayer so I can turn it off while I'm making the turns ( some might call that learning to drive). Hoping I can just put it in gear, alternate rows, and not run anything over.

It's been raining here almost every day, with more in the forecast, but I think it'll get to try it out soon.

I'm hooking it up to a tow bar because my Yanmar didn't come with a draw bar. I'd prefer a draw bar and the Hoye company on this site sells one, but they are out of the pins to hold it. Any idea what the pin is? Is it something I can fabricate, or is this another place I can look for a draw bar?

Sorry for all the questions, but did I mention it's raining here.

Thanks again for your help and comments.

 

[dchad]

One more thought,

I did mention the rain, How do I go about adding a photo of my new-to-me Yanmar in my profile? Or can you tell me where the directions are?

Thanks again,

 

[California]

YM240 has a conventional cooling system with a water pump like any automobile, not thermosyphon. And this model uses an ordinary belt-driven automotive alternator. The smaller Yanmars have a 'dynamo' (alternator) hidden inside the fan pulley.

Take a look at the YM2000 parts diagrams on Hoyetractor.com. YM240 is 99.9% identical. It has an additional overrun clutch inside its PTO, the PTO choices are 540 and 1000, and the throttle is push to go fast, to comply to US standard. I can't think of any other differences.

You're going to like it.

 

[dchad]

Good morning California,

Thanks for the tips. Your comments probably hold true anyway, but I ended up purchasing a YM1700.

BTW, did you see this comment: I'm hooking it up to a tow bar because my Yanmar didn't come with a draw bar. I'd prefer a draw bar and the Hoye company on this site sells one, but they are out of the pins to hold it. Any idea what the pin is? Is it something I can fabricate, or is there another place I can look for a draw bar?

I would like to add a draw bar if you have any suggestions.

Thanks again, and yes, it's STILL raining here.

 

[dchad]

How about my new "avitar"? My Kubota is so jealous.

 

[California]

Your comments probably hold true anyway, but I ended up purchasing a YM1700.

Oops. I haven't been checking this thread often. Just now looked at the most recent page and didn't realize the topic had changed to YM1700.

At any rate ... You'll love it. That's a near twin to the YM240 I've owned for a while. I never run at full hp output so it would be identical in my use. Resist the temptation to start modifying things immediately. Everybody wants to put on a temperature gauge as their first 'improvement'. Spend the money on cooling system maintenance instead. Yanmar got the design right. There's no need to improve anything if its up to spec.

This should be great pulling a sprayer. So long as it has automotive-size tires, it should pull easily. My watering trailer - IBC tote on a HF 40x48" trailer, 2600 lbs loaded, was hard to pull over plowed ground with the original 8" tires. After I put on 12" tires it pulls much better. I'm pulling it with a smaller Yanmar (15 PTO hp). That works ok but it has to be half-empty before I can pull it up the steepest slopes in the orchard, due to limited traction when the trailer weighs more than the tractor.

Post some photos when you get it in use!