Buying Advice Yanmar YM1700

[branman1971]

My co-worker has a YM1700 for sale for 1300 or so and I wanted to know if it was worth the price. It isnt beat up and everything works but it is ugly and he doesnt know what year it is. He has had it for 5 years and it was ugly when he got it. It comes with a 48" PTO mower deck. What do yall think? Thanks, Brandon

 

[Smoody]

definitely.

 

[Yandaddy1110]

You cant go wrong at $1300, even without the mower deck. Whats so ugly about it?

 

[California]

Just do it. I paid 3x that for my ugly duckling in 2003. (Basically the US version of the same thing except with a loader). Its still in service with minimal repairs since then. And I think still worth about what I paid for it.

At $1300 to start, you can't eat much depreciation cost over the time you own it!

 

[clemsonfor]

If it runs and has no tranny problems i would buy it before he can think about selling to another guy, you could sell it for 2K easy to the right person if you wanted to, even without the mower like california said.

 

[branman1971]

Well, I did it. I tested it out best I could, every gear and in high and low, PTO, brakes, etc. No issues with anything until I got it home. Once home I had to raise the mower deck all the way up to get the tractor off of the trailer and then it wouldnt go back down. I tapped on the solenoid under the seat and down it came. Aside from that, it doesnt need much I dont think. The temp light stays on from even cold start up so I will need to figure that out. It has always been like he said. I got the headlights to work, cool. The left brake is disconnected under the floorboard so I will need to connect it and see why it was disconnected. Back tires show some dry-rot but hold air. Tractor came with a new operators manual that says these were built between 1975 and 1977 and says that the manual is for a gray market tractor, so i guess mine is gray? Decompression lever was seized I thought at first but it moves now. The guy i bought it from knew nothing about the lever. 694 on the hour meter but havent noticed it working yet. Radiator has a neat-o bug screen on the front of it, full of bugs of course. This is my first tractor so im pretty excited.

 

[California]

You did good!

If you are starting from zero you might like to see the sales brochures referenced from my sig, below. They describe the US versions of the same tractors. These US versions are nearly identical to your YM1700 and the larger displacement (just different sleeves/pistons) YM2000.

YM1700 (Japan) = YM195 (US)

YM2000 (Japan) = YM240 (US)

You have a great model. I was using my YM240 today and I thought 'This thing is about as simple as a good hammer. Simple, well made, does the job, you don't think about it, you just use it.'

If your temp light is on continuous then its wire is grounded somewhere between the bulb and the sensor on the top-front of the head. The way it should work is the sensor grounds internally only if overheated.

These often have a stuck brake after 30+ years. It sticks where the shaft goes through the cover. Disassemble, clean, grease the shaft with only the slightest hint of grease. About an hour or so for a first timer. The project is simple and obvious.


Enjoy!

 

[winston1]

California is right about temp light, could be the sensor itself is grounded out internally. Remove the wire from sensor and see if light goes out, if not wire is grounded, if so, replace sensor. This ought to make you a good workhorse!

 

[normde2001]

I see what you mean about "ugly". it's a shame about that botched paint job. You might experiment with some paint thinners/ removers/acetone and see if you can remove that green paint and get back to the original Yanmar red, and just touch that up, if need be.

 

[clemsonfor]

Norm are we sure thats not an early one, wernt they green like that sometimes. Maybe thts the puke green and that guy in texas just sells the JD green painted ones. Is that ym 1700 photoshopped in or is that the sticker on it?