Hey guys, I am looking for a tractor for use around the house. I own 6.25 acres, and will be doing a long driveway, some leveling for the shed ( 40 x 80 ), and other yard work. I need at least a 30hp PTO and loader equipt. I keep seeing these Yanmar tractors for a cheap price, compared to other prices. Now I work on heavy equipment, mostly Cat, Case, Deere, ect. Have any of you heard about, and what are your experiences with Yanmar tractors?

 

Have not used the Yanmar tractor itself, but their motor has been used in lots of different applications. We have a JD 4600 here at work with a Yanmar Engine in it. Never have had the first problem with it and every swingin person around here uses it. If it will stand up to these monkees, it must be ok.

A friend of mine has a small Kubota FWD with a bucket. It is no more than about 25 horse and it will do a fine job. He pulls a 5 ft mower and you can not tell its there. I have put stupid-big loads on the loader, and no problems.

Good luck.

Ed

 

If I'm not mistaken all 40hp and under JDs are made by Yanmar.
I'm talking the whole tractor, not just the engine.

 

Infidel I think you are correct. Was just not sure enough to make that statement.

Ed

 

I'm almost certain that the JD dealer told me the exact same thing.

The Yanmars are great tractors. Just be aware that you are purchasing a gray market tractor. Although you can get most parts from JD dealers, some parts can be a little difficult to find (depends on which model you choose).

 

I used to sell Kubota Tractors a couple years ago and I'm not sure if it's true today but they were telling us that they were the company sold the most 50hp and under diesel engines in the world, much Like I believe that Cummins leads that figure in 50 HP and up engines.

I personally would heavily recomend you look into a Kubota and try to actually drive both. You can actually feel the difference. Most of the time when Kubota would have Sales training classes they would bring comparable models and let us drive them and you could feel how much smoother the Kubota ran and how much the the body panels some on other tractors would rattle.

Either brand you go, make sure you get 4wd if you plan on getting a Front End Loader. With such small tractors as you are looking at, they become all but useless with a load in the front bucket if they only have 2wd.

And as for implements, if you are not gonna use your box scraper all that offten or be overly rough on it then the cheaper ones are fine, but don't skip out on the Rottary cutter (also know as Bush Hog). Manufactures like House(SP) and Dyral Harp tend to not hold up very well in comparison to brands like Woods (Which is by far the best IMO), Bush Hog, and a couple others. At the very minumum, I would recomend you go with an SE5 made by Rhino, I Believe. It used to for around $1000-1200 bucks new (about twice the price of a cheaper brand one) but one look at this cutter, or the even better Woods 50 (lightest duty 5 footer), and you will see where the cost goes. There is just no comparison.

 

I purchased a John Deere 790 a few years ago with front- end loader and back-hoe. Also have box blade, rotary cutter and several other atachments. It is 30 hp 4 wheel drive and made by Yanmar. After checking all the brands it came down to Kubota or John Deere. The Deere is just a better tractor all around. The Yanmars you see are grey market tractors and the only real difference between them and JD is the sheet metal.

 

Thanks guys, the tractor will be used for mowing and bush hogging more than anything else, but it still needs to do the 'anything elses'. I prefer Kubota or the 4-letter word tractors above all, in terms of farm tractors. I just am not interested in spending $20k for a tractor. I am looking more for a used one that is decent, for a decent price. I found a ford tractor for $4000 but it needs a clutch, 3000 series. Just lookin' but haven't decided yet.

 

Traderonline.com
Pick up a hard copy of Heavy Equipment Trader at most service stations/mini markets or at least visit this web site to compare prices and you might find something used that will work fine for your needs.
Like most things in Orlando, I imagine tractors are more expensive there than they are say in Tallahassee or Jacksonville... or not?
My father-in-law bought a MF Industrial 30 that used to belong to the state at a fair price. He and I used it for many years without having to repair anything other than a new radiator, a rebuilt power steering pump and starter, and a clutch.
Have about $8000 invested in it now counting a rebuilt engine about fours years ago. (I'd better be careful how much I brag on it, I don't want it to breakdown tomorrow.) Food for thought.
But don't scrimp on the implements. A powerful tractor can destroy lesser implements in quick fashion.
If you want to move packed dirt or gravel using a box blade with teeth, you'll want a 4x4. If all you're doing is mowing on a moderate grade, 2x4 works fine. Avoid PTO's that don't stop when you press in the clutch, the velocity of the spinning mower blades will continue to propel the tractor forward and into a disaster. Hope this helps.
Nat

 

Here's my understanding on the JD / Yanmar issue.

Yanmar makes the diesels for the 4000 series John Deeres. The tractors are built at a John Deere assembly plant in Georgia.

Yanmar makes the 790 and 990 John Deere tractors, maybe the 4100 as well.

I take care of 6 acres with my JD 4200, have a 5' Frontier (Woods painted JD green) finish mower, 420 front end loader, 6' rear blade for pushing snow. The tractor is great and handles anything I need to do. I looked at the big three (JD, New Holland & Kubota) and thought the JD was the best for the price.

A good used tractor, like a good used pickup, is almost as much as a new one.

JMHO,

Bud

 

I looked at a lot of tractors and went with the Kubota. I have had great service out of the M4800, 50 hp 4 cylinder and the Bush Hog M346 loaderw/ quick detach bucket. You need a tractor with some weight to move dirt. The others just didn't seem to be
heavy enough, or have enough lift capacity.
Another one to consider would be the Mahindra 3510 4x4, they too seem to be built well.
JMHO HTH

 

I would look at the New Hollands also. We have several at work in the 40-45hp range with quick attach loaders and other attachments. We have been very happy with them. Case, New Holland, Ford, Kubota, and JD are all about the same tractor in that horsepower range IMO.

 

Here is the best tip anyone can give you, FIND A GOOD DEALER, and buy from them.

Now, to back up this statement, I am a dealer. We handle AGCO, Massey-Ferguson, Gleaner Combines, all good high quality stuff. But the only reason we stay profitable every year is because of our service reputation. 100 miles is local anymore, and we can't beat the Kubota, Mahindra, Yanmar tractors on price, but we will be here in 5-10-15-20 years, where will they be? Also, if something happens to your tractor and it will be down for a few days, will they bring you something to keep you running? Notice I said BRING, not RENT.

I could say how good our products are, and how you should look for something like it in your area, but that doesn't help you at all. Find a good dealer, usually these are not TSC's or hardwares that sell everything you need, but find a real dealer that knows what he sells, and talk to their service department. I know our mechanics have a very different opinion on our products than our salesmen do, but with both opinions you can decide for yourself if you think they know their product.

Sorry for the long post, but it burns me up everytime we get beat on a deal by $4-500 by an off brand just because they were cheaper, then end up trading for it 3-4 years down the line when nobody wants the thing anymore.



Chris

 

Yeah, I agree with Sig600. A couple hundred bucks on a several thousand dollar purchase is not as important as the dealer you will have to deal with for the next 10-20 or more years.

BTW, we also bought a new Massey this year and love it so far.

 

Case IH MXM120

we just bought one of these. Our dealer brought 2 different tractors to our house to let us drive them for a few days to see if we like them. They are about 50 miles away. We ended up buying the second one he brought out.

Its our first cab tractor, and we are loving it!