Buying a refurbed tractor

[Scotty Dive]

Folks,

I am looking for a used Yanmar with 4wd. Also looking to put a bucket on it. A few come up from time to time in the Northeast but it痴 difficult to find an original owner that can verify hours etc. I do not mind a high hour machine (I figure I may put on 50 hours per year) if I can talk to the owner who can walk me through the history and maintenance done. However, a lot of the tractors I see are low hour refurb'd with owners that have had it a year or so - I am guessing they are VN. That to me is risky - I don't mind wrenching on something that needs work I just don't want to spend good money after bad getting a machine with a questionable history.


So as I continue to search for one here locally, I am thinking about Fredericks or other reputable refurbishers. Can anyone tell me how those folks handle warranty issues when the machine is 1500 miles away from their actual experience? Also, if it痴 not too much to ask (you can PM me with this info) what is the % discount I can expect to negotiate off of their retail prices if any?

 

[kenmac]

I bought from Fredricks becasuse they are only about 1.5 hr away from me. Instead of taking my tractor to them for repair. I had them send parts & I repaired. Nothing major. just a couple seals & a tach.I wasn't able to get any $ off when I bought. Who knows , the way things are now they may take some off

 

[normde2001]

I doubt that you can expect any discount from a dealer. Find out his price, make an offer, and see how badly he wants a sale. Other than newer, or "B" machines with 9999.9 odometers, there is no way to verify hours on a gray market tractor. Most "made for US" tractors have been worked to death and will have high hours.

 

[Scotty Dive]

I would have thought there would be some room for negotitation plus I have to incur shipping charges to have it sent to Ct. Besides Fredericks, who are the other reputable refurbishers I should talk to?

 

[kenmac]

fredricks has or use to have dealers in several areas . You can call them & see if they have a dealer for his tractors closer to you

 

[stormpetrel]

I would have thought there would be some room for negotitation plus I have to incur shipping charges to have it sent to Ct. Besides Fredericks, who are the other reputable refurbishers I should talk to?

LMTC in Ohio, or R.C.O. in Austin Texas. R.C.O. occasionally sends tractors by the truckload to the N.E., prices to ship are very reasonable. Both places have tractors that are redone in the U.S., excellent! But not cheap.
Good luck!!

 

[Travis_R]

LMTC in Ohio, or R.C.O. in Austin Texas. R.C.O. occasionally sends tractors by the truckload to the N.E., prices to ship are very reasonable. Both places have tractors that are redone in the U.S., excellent! But not cheap.
Good luck!!

Yes, give RCO a call. You won't regret it. RCO Tractor - Used Yanmar Tractors in Austin Texas - The World's Finest Compact Tractor On Sale Now!

 

[careyo63]

http://www.spaldingtractors.com
He's as Honest as they Get. Hard to beat this man's Tractor's and Packages. I believe someone else just recomended Him also. Bought and shipprd sight unseen. The Referbished 2500 is just now due for service oil and filters. Only issues was from operator error and easily corrected And my 2000 is a keeper that would be hard to replace for the money A little closer than Texico And hard to beat his broinlaw deals .

Carey

 

[clemsonfor]

Folks,

I am looking for a used Yanmar with 4wd. Also looking to put a bucket on it. A few come up from time to time in the Northeast but itç—´ difficult to find an original owner that can verify hours etc. I do not mind a high hour machine (I figure I may put on 50 hours per year) if I can talk to the owner who can walk me through the history and maintenance done. However, a lot of the tractors I see are low hour refurb'd with owners that have had it a year or so - I am guessing they are VN. That to me is risky - I don't mind wrenching on something that needs work I just don't want to spend good money after bad getting a machine with a questionable history.


So as I continue to search for one here locally, I am thinking about Fredericks or other reputable refurbishers. Can anyone tell me how those folks handle warranty issues when the machine is 1500 miles away from their actual experience? Also, if itç—´ not too much to ask (you can PM me with this info) what is the % discount I can expect to negotiate off of their retail prices if any?

They will ship the part to you in the mail is my guess.

Heres a guestion for you to ponder. If i have a VN tractor and i am honest to you that i put 250 hours on it in 3 years of so (i know dont beleive all that a seller tells you) and you test drive and plow with it and it sounds and acts normal, i would beleive that you are out of the initial period where you should worry. Im just bringing this up. Any tractor regardless of where it was refurbed can break gears have a bearing go out, leaky seals or even suffer catistrauphic failure at anytime.

I do understand about buying a vn machine and having to get volt regulator and putting new wiring in and having to deal with a leaky water pump or leaky radiator that was never done. But if you look that over and there is no problem then what is the difference.


I am just posing a decent question i think, and not trying to start an argument or justify one or the other.

Also unless you are really good and know exactly what to look for i could buy a VN machine and run it for a few years and tell you that i bought it from Steve at spalding (3 hours from me) with 750 hours and ran it for 3 years at my hunt club and farm putting in foodplots and it now has 200 hours on it, how would you know the difference? This brings up Norms point.

 

[clemsonfor]

LMTC in Ohio, or R.C.O. in Austin Texas. R.C.O. occasionally sends tractors by the truckload to the N.E., prices to ship are very reasonable. Both places have tractors that are redone in the U.S., excellent! But not cheap.
Good luck!!

Isnt this the same reputable dealer who your machine came from that now has a blown head gasket? Reason i point this out is that anything can happen regardless of where it originates.

 

[kenmac]

I would buy a used ( nothing done to it ) yanmar B-4 I would buy a scabbed together pile of junk that was rebuilt in VN

 

[Scotty Dive]

This is great feedback and I appreciate it. I have run across two tractors with the V1 loader and both owners has had them a year or two max. Both had under 50 hours on the meter. The really odd thing is when I start asking questions on where it came from and who did the refurbing they tend to avoid answering the question. The others I see are higher number hours domestic models with lots of owners.

Honestly, whether its recently refurbed or not I expect to have to work/modify etc on any tractor....just would like to keep the fixin type to a minimum.

 

[silvertramp]

When I was tractor shopping 4 years ago there were 2 US Yanmars on Craigslist: an 850 hour 276D/ loader & a 336D/ loader, 1100+ hours. I went with the 276D. It's been great.. I replaced all fluids, muffler, & a rim rotted out within a year. Maintainence stuff. Last summer there was a 336D/ loader for sale beside the road, so they do exist. I'm in Western MA.

 

[normde2001]

I would not get too hung up on refurbed tractors from anywhere. That just means they have been looked over, fluids changed, obvious problems repaired, probably repainted, and a decent waranty, all for which you are charged dearly. No dealer can afford to replace working parts with new parts.

 

[stormpetrel]

Isnt this the same reputable dealer who your machine came from that now has a blown head gasket? Reason i point this out is that anything can happen regardless of where it originates.

Nope, bought it from a private party. A much better feeling to have the full one year warranty from the U.S. reconditioned dealers.......wish I'd a had the $$$$$:thumbsup:

 

[yanmars]

On ebay occasionally they have US made Yanmars come up for sale. Mine is 30 years old now (336d) and some parts are harder to come by.

 

[clemsonfor]

Nope, bought it from a private party. A much better feeling to have the full one year warranty from the U.S. reconditioned dealers.......wish I'd a had the $$$$$:thumbsup:

No , i was right. I just went back and looked at you old post "Sheesh... Head Gasket". I know you did not buy it from LMTC but i thought that you made it a point to say that you went out of you way to find a tractor that was sold by a good place to start with so that you would not have problems, so you bought this one cause Wayne sold it and he sells good stuff.

If i am wrong about that i must have you confused with someone else, and sorry for that.

I realize that if yours did come from LMTC that you did not purchase it there yourself, but my point is that regardless of where it originally came from you can have problems with anything.

My uncle bought a JD 4400 new 10+ years ago, it now jumps out of C range 2 and 4th gears. This problem has nothing to do with where and who built it but just supports my point that mechanical things can break regardless of where there built and who does it.

 

[normde2001]

Yep, he said LMTC, fer sure, and "has the reciept".
OIC, it came from a private party who got it from LMTC.

 

[kenmac]

Isnt this the same reputable dealer who your machine came from that now has a blown head gasket? .

I hope you aren't insinuating that Wayne isn't a reputable dealer. Just saying . It could be taken that way. Anything can happen to any thing new or used. Are your chances greater with a tractor (or anything else) that has been scabbed together in VM with home made parts ? I'll take my chances with with one of the Reputable Dealers

 

[clemsonfor]

I hope you aren't insinuating that Wayne isn't a reputable dealer. Just saying . It could be taken that way. Anything can happen to any thing new or used. Are your chances greater with a tractor (or anything else) that has been scabbed together in VM with home made parts ? I'll take my chances with with one of the Reputable Dealers

No that was not my point. I am not saying wayne or Steve or Fredrics is not a reputable dealer or anything about the machines they sell. MY point, which i though i restated in the last post, is that these things are mecanical and anyone can break. I agree there may be more of a chance that a VN tractor will break or have some shotty build but a person who has a VN tractor and haas put several hundred hours on it in the last 5 years should not be ruled out as a decent machine, its well past some petty thing like a leaky axle seal or bad transmission from VN, at that point.