My new old YM240

[robsym240]

So I have been looking for a good tractor on and off for years, we have 10 acres of ground with about 6 acres of grass to cut, all open fields. Every time I cut it with my rider it was a 2 day project not to mention all the breakdowns and my beat up body afterwards! Again, this spring after my rider broke down on the 1st cut of the season, I went to St. Louis Craigslist (the closest big city) in search of a tractor and I see a Yanmar YM240 listed under tractors and thought ''what's a Yanmar?'' I clicked on the listing and found myself looking at a pic of a nice clean John Deere 850! The seller turned out to live only 5 miles down the same country road I live on here in rural Southern Illinois so I figured I'd go take a look. The tractor was in the driveway idling when I got there, it looked real sharp and clean but as I got closer to it I heard this ''clank, clank, clank'' coming from it. The seller came out and showed me all over the tractor, the original owner painted it to look like a J.D. 850, the seller had it for 4 trouble free years and it's always been garaged, it came with a J.D. 60'' finish mower and a nice swivel blade. It was a sweet machine but for the sound it made while idling (once the rpm's were up it sounded great) and I left with a ''thanks, I'll get back to you'' knowing I wouldn't, I didn't need another machine that may break down and that ''clank, clank'' noise couldn't be a good sign. I couldn't stop thinking about this tractor so I Googled it, found this group and started reading everything you folks have posted here about Yanmars and realized what I had the chance to buy was a fantastic tractor! I called the seller and he still had it so I drove right over, gave him a deposit, and picked it up 3 weeks ago. I've done 2 full cuts with it and it's a world of difference, my entire cut time is under 2 hours and it's a blast to drive, it's one mighty little tractor! Thanks to all of you I am now a proud Yanmar tractor owner and a new member of this group.

 

[Scotty Dive]

Welcome Aboard..... they are awesome!

 

[California]

That's not a rod about to come through the block, its the sound of raw power!

I learned to use earplugs or muffs to eliminate hearing fatigue. That clank goes right through you.

The good news is I have now put 9 troublefree years on a YM240 that looked abandoned when I bought it. After an initial cleanup I've only had to fix problems that I caused myself, such as pressure washing the old mechanical voltage regulator. I've had far fewer issues than many new tractor owners have.

Welcome!

 

[Car Doc]

Welcome to the group! Some of us swear by power service gray bottle to quiet our engines down some. We use it @ double strength and it helps but most of that noise is the way they sound normally. He sure did make it look like an 850 wow!

 

[robsym240]

Thanks for the welcomes, I needed this forum, my wife, my kids, my friends, and even strangers are getting fed up with me talking about my Yanmar tractor, I needed this group! I've seen many of you post prices and that was very helpful to reference so I will share what I paid; I got the tractor, it reads 433 hours on it, a john deere 60'' finish mower in great shape, a nice swivel 60'' blade, front bumper weights, and a IT shop manual for $2500. ...I found the operation manual for it on Ebay and just received it today. Did I say I love this tractor! ; )

 

[winston1]

Wow, what a deal! I sort of wish I had one of the two cylinder yammer hammers but I'll just have to stick it out with my quiet 3 cylinder 2002d.

 

[kenmac]

Welcome to the site. :welcome: Happy tractoring with your Mighty Yanmar

 

[California]

Thanks for the welcomes, I needed this forum, my wife, my kids, my friends, and even strangers are getting fed up with me talking about my Yanmar tractor ... Did I say I love this tractor! ; )

You and all your friends will love this:

I must buy a Yanmar Tractor

Re that JD850 appearance - this is an 'early' series YM240 with the hood hinged at the rear and headlights alongside the grill, not within it. About 1977. Its shape is closer to a Deere. Not much difference from the 'late' series YM240 aside from the sheet metal. There were four 'revision levels' and that is the first.

wish I had one of the two cylinder yammer hammers but I'll just have to stick it out with my quiet 3 cylinder 2002d.

Eh? Winston? I can't hear you.


CarDoc's advice on PowerService is a good idea. But Friday I gave the YM240 a third dose of PS, now 50% over the 'premium' proportion, when the racket was getting to me during monotonous hours running the backhoe in one location. I'm not sure it helped. What does help is the HF Yellow $10 earmuffs that give real silence. Their two red versions aren't as effective.

 

[robsym240]

Thanks for all the good tips and advice and thanks California for helping me confirm it's age, I figured it was a '77 as well, the rear wheels aren't stock, they look maybe to be Kabota. As for the ''clank, clank'' noise, once I learned it wasn't a problem, and is just how these 2 bangers sound, I kinda like the noise, i'm kinda proud of it. I've really enjoyed going through all the posts here, reading about how ya'll found your Yanmars, in many cases resurrected them from becoming scrap, and It's been a real eye opener to see how many implements and the workload your tractors handle. It's also great to see how so many of you offer advice and help troubleshooting when someone has a problem with their machine. I've spent hours surfing this site and I've learned a lot about the proper way to use and maintain my machine, like I said, I would not of bought this tractor had I not found this site. It's also good to see that there are companies like Hoye that have a dependable supply of replacement parts. There is something cool about using a 30 yrs+ old machine that still runs the way it was designed to run, it's the same reason I drive a 1975 ford f100 pick up, they both have great, simplistic design that withstands the test of time and are easy to work on and they're also a small piece of history from when things were built better and meant to last! peace.

 

[robsym240]

...I stand corrected, after getting my operation manual I think the wheels are original to it.

 

[Car Doc]

You will love the fuel efficiency of that Yanmar diesel engine! It will spoil you from ever buying a gas engine tractor again.

I went from a 1951 MH 22k row crop 4cyl gasser to my current YM3810 and I feel like I have joined the 21st century literally day and nite difference. :laughing:

 

[clemsonfor]

View attachment 317635

So I have been looking for a good tractor on and off for years, we have 10 acres of ground with about 6 acres of grass to cut, all open fields. Every time I cut it with my rider it was a 2 day project not to mention all the breakdowns and my beat up body afterwards! Again, this spring after my rider broke down on the 1st cut of the season, I went to St. Louis Craigslist (the closest big city) in search of a tractor and I see a Yanmar YM240 listed under tractors and thought ''what's a Yanmar?'' I clicked on the listing and found myself looking at a pic of a nice clean John Deere 850! The seller turned out to live only 5 miles down the same country road I live on here in rural Southern Illinois so I figured I'd go take a look. The tractor was in the driveway idling when I got there, it looked real sharp and clean but as I got closer to it I heard this ''clank, clank, clank'' coming from it. The seller came out and showed me all over the tractor, the original owner painted it to look like a J.D. 850, the seller had it for 4 trouble free years and it's always been garaged, it came with a J.D. 60'' finish mower and a nice swivel blade. It was a sweet machine but for the sound it made while idling (once the rpm's were up it sounded great) and I left with a ''thanks, I'll get back to you'' knowing I wouldn't, I didn't need another machine that may break down and that ''clank, clank'' noise couldn't be a good sign. I couldn't stop thinking about this tractor so I Googled it, found this group and started reading everything you folks have posted here about Yanmars and realized what I had the chance to buy was a fantastic tractor! I called the seller and he still had it so I drove right over, gave him a deposit, and picked it up 3 weeks ago. I've done 2 full cuts with it and it's a world of difference, my entire cut time is under 2 hours and it's a blast to drive, it's one mighty little tractor! Thanks to all of you I am now a proud Yanmar tractor owner and a new member of this group.

Your cutting 3 acres an hour with a ym240 and a 5ft cuttter!!!! WOW i can only get about 1 acre an hour with my 4fter.

 

[robsym240]

I was pretty much guessing at how many acres and how long it took so I probably exaggerated both. I'm sure I wouldn't have beat your time, I'm still learning how to use it, but I do know it was a heck of a lot less time than it takes on my rider and it's way more comfortable and fun....and cool! : )

 

[Car Doc]

My front yard here at the shop is about 2-2 1/2 acres and I can mow it w/a 5fter in probably about an hour? Its been so long since I did it last I dont remember.

I will know here this week since I need to mow for the first time in 3 years yea rain finally. She can do it a little faster with her 50" rider tractor than I can w/the Yanmar I cant turn as sharp I guess fwtw.

 

[clemsonfor]

Is this grass that field like or cut with a finish mower, im asking the OP here? If its grass and not like tall grass in a pasture i can see your time or faster, keep in mind your cutting 25% more than i am with my 4fter.

I use a 6ft finish mower in the yard around the farm house. and if its not to tall i can make pretty good time with that thing. BUt we usually only get up there a few times a sumer to cut it, and its overgrown and in that situation the 6fter is really oversized for the ym2000 so i have to go slower than i normally would. That and the bushhog finish mower is side discharge which takes more power to throw all that stuff out the one side vs the rear discharge finish mower they make.

CD You have a lot bigger tractor than we do so you can go faster with your larger cutter and not bog up. I have to drop a gear is the grass is to tall and therefore loose productivity. This is just due really to HP, and i dont have quite enough of it for optimum performance. But i get by it works and what i have and i like my setup.

 

[Car Doc]

Yeah I wasn't meaning to compare machine speed I was more comparing my tractor with 5' mower to a 50" rider mower with my speed demon wife driving it since most of us have a rider also.

 

[robsym240]

The 1st pic shows the back field looking west (our house on right for reference) Our land is on a hill top so it's hard to see but it goes all the way to the woods in the distance. The 2nd pic shows it from the other end looking east (house on left). The 3rd pic shows the front area, it runs to the woods in the distance, there is another cove about this size on the other side. (Note: the grass in the 3rd pic is at the height I normally cut at, my grass is a mix of fescue and weeds). For years I've cut all this with a 42'' cut rider and felt every bump and rut, I was sore for a few days afterwards (we still use the rider for close to the house and trimming etc.). The 5ft. finish mower on my Yanmar cuts shorter without bogging down or clogging up like the rider, the Yanmar powers right through it and mulches the clippings better. Because the ride is so much smoother I can go faster and because of the power I don't have to overlap cuts as much and it's cutting deck is 18'' wider than the rider. I'm not sure exactly how many acres I cut but the Yanmar has at the very least cut my mowing time in half. Did I say I love my Yanmar? ; )

 

[clemsonfor]

oh ok I can see you cutting that fast, that grass is no where near what I cut at the farm. That looks pretty good, and also I am using a 6fter so I can ony really use 5ft of the deck most of the time due to not having cut the grass for say 6 weeks. ANd my tractor, which is the exact same thing as yours will bog up with the 6ft side discharge cutter. So I have to most of the time drop a gear and use less then the whole deck area. If I had the rear discharge finish mower I think I could go faster as it would be able to get the 8-10"s of grass that I cut out from under the deck better/faster taking less of the tractors HP to just clear the clippings.

 

[clemsonfor]

I cut the hills of the yard and the bumpy parts and my wife cuts the rest with the 42" rider, as she likes to cut it, but does not like the hills as they slow her or the bumpy parts.

 

[robsym240]

My wife cuts the yard around the house on the rider too, she likes doing it, she works on her tan and she knows where all her stuff is planted. I've butchered a few of her plants when I've done it...