Broke a valve

11duster · May 2, 2009

Has always,,,,,LMTC thanks for your kind words of support.

Blackd congrats on your purchase, hope it work well for you!

LMTC · May 2, 2009

11duster said:
Has always,,,,,LMTC thanks for your kind words of support.

Blackd congrats on your purchase, hope it work well for you!

Facts are facts. Feel free to ignore my posts if they're not warm and fuzzy enough for you. We get the calls from disappointed, disgruntled, disillusioned tractor owners. As often as not they then vent their frustration to us for not being able to help....despite the fact that our website is very explicit about what we have parts for. Even if they are polite, the fact remains that in many cases they are still stuck with a tractor for which they cannot get a part, or for which they will have to pay an exorbitant price to get the part from Japan.

blackd · May 6, 2009

Update ?final? Went a little deeper into the engine along with the mechanic up the road. He asked just two questions: 1) is the block cracked? 2) After feeling the score mark, have a flashlight?

Answers: Yes and yes. !@&#%(^#^&%@^%$. Not that it mattered that much, but it does take away the option of fixing her at a reasonable cost. His recommendation: sell it as a parts tractor.

So the new MF GC2400 looks like it was a good decision.

Wayne, thanks for the advice. I know about the contract issues with the sub and compact tractors, but, that really isn't much different than having a Yannie, is it?

LMTC · May 6, 2009

Yes, it is dramatically different. Our nearly 200 page catalog of parts for Yanmars is from AFTERMARKET suppliers...their ONLY interest is profit from selling parts, so they will never quit supplying parts for the reasons contract manufacturers do...those reasons are primarily 1. their contract ends with the company marketing the tractor and/or 2. they have an interest in seeing the tractors become obsolete to push the owners into buying a new tractor.

The grey Yanmars probably have better parts support than any other tractor on the planet in the same age range.

Iseki doesn't sell parts for the tractors they make for MF (except to MF) and when MF no longer markets the tractor, they will likely have limited interest in stocking parts (inventory costs money), and that interest will get less with each year that goes by. This is the general historical trend of contract tractors. That's not a doomsday scenario, but it's not as bright as it could be either.

I'm sure someone will point out some obscure source from which they can get an Iseki part for the current made-for-MF tractors, but even so it would be the exception that proves the rule. There is no organized easily accessible supply chain for those parts other than MF. You'll be fine for a few years, but I wouldn't want to have to find a major engine part 10 years after MF quits selling that tractor.