Why hasn't Yanmar been more active in the USA?

[Hoss710]

John deere still uses the Yanmar engine in their current production compact tractors. there is a Yanmar forum that people seem to be able to find parts for the older tractors. Yanmar does make a solid tractor, and if I remember correctly they have a 10 year warranty on engine and power train.

 

[K5lwq]

Damn, after I bought one you tell me…but yeah sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

This thread reminded me of a friend I have that was given a car that was not running. It had been sitting for a few years and so he was trying to get it going again. He had determined it was not firing so he started replacing parts. He worked on that thing for weeks and I happened to stop by his place while he was working on it. I asked if he minded if I took a look. 10 minutes later it was running again. Lol Turns out he started by checking fire with a timing light and the light was not working. I walked to my truck and got some WD-40 and gave it a squirt and she fired right up.

 

[Sid Post]

Somewhat attributable to the dumbing down of our population. People often give up on things because someone said it cant be fixed, others say anything can be fixed and know how. People that actually fix things have disappeared by the thousands. The local grease monkey, gone with the arrival of the self serve gas station. Shoe repair guy, whats that? Machine shop, huh? Need a dealer tractor service on site, that guy is 2 hours away. Need something done to your truck, schedule an appt. (one friends tow truck has been sitting 7 months waiting on parts). Need a part for your truck or tractor, better hope its listed in the computer data base.

Yes, finding a shoe cobbler these days makes finding the needle in the haystack look easy.

Luckily, I have a good 'shade tree mechanic' that is not brand specific that takes good care of me with issues like this. Some things aren't easy to source like the New Holland clutch he needed for a customer's tractor which was one of the rebranded ~30Hp versions from a few years back.

When someone says Kubota or Yanmar without being specific, so far nearly 100% has been a parts tractor of unknown background from somewhere in Asia in my experience when I saw them in person.

Kubota USA tractors are usually pretty easy to identify. Yanmar tractors aren't that common in USA versions.

 

[Torvy]

I think part of the problem for Yanmar is that they have a premium tractor at a premium price. While they have a long history of quality, the market (average consumer) doesn't know them. Typically, foreign manufacturers come into the US with a low price point until they establish a network and sufficient name recognition. Yanmar seems to want to go head to head with JD and Kubota on price without their dealer networks and name recognition.

There is a dealer in East Texas now, but for me the price was too high with the risk they would bail and make things tougher. If I had that kind of money to spend, I think Yanmar makes a great tractor. Maybe their deal with TYM will help spread their brand better.

 

[Sid Post]

So, Yanmar has a dealership agreement with TYM in the USA now? That would be great news for people who own them or want to buy one.

 

[DK35vince]

Damn, after I bought one you tell me…but yeah sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Don't worry.
I've had a DK 35 for 22 years and parts for it have always been very easy to get.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Maybe because of parts availability?

If there is no owner support then why would anyone want to buy a Yanmar? All tractors need repair parts eventually. I have a 60 year old John Deere and yet if I need a part I can have it the next day.

Thing is, that's not true for EVERY model of john deere, they sometimes have parts no longer available/discontinued too. It happens with every brand.

SR

 

[2manyrocks]

Yanmar used to have a dealer network in the USA in the 1980s. The dealer that sold me my Yanmar 226d was one of them. He told me that Yanmar didn't like the products liability environment in the USA and that's why they pulled out back in those days.

In the meantime, Kubota has established itself as a pretty formidable competitor in the USA making it that much harder for any other manufacturer to establish themselves.

I don't know what Yanmar's current tractors are like, but my 226D has been very reliable.

Even though my 226d has been very reliable, I didn't even look at Yanmars when I decided to buy another tractor last year because of their limited dealer network in my area of Middle Tennessee compared to Kubota.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Damn, after I bought one you tell me…but yeah sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

If you Google his Kioti it's about as old a machine as Kioti gets in the U.S. market; your machine, with it's newer age and greater popularity in this market should make getting parts a lot easier, even as time passes.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Don't worry.
I've had a DK 35 for 22 years and parts for it have always been very easy to get.

I wasnt too worried. You’re one of the ones that helped me decide to go to the other orange.