Come on Guys....

[njrqs]

Hey come on guys & gals

We'd better keep posting something here or Oh Great One will get rid of us /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I have a grey and am proud of it. Well sort of anyway.

They are all over the place here and are frowned upon by the dealers, but hey, they still sell me parts and do work on it, so who cares if they never sold it in the first place.

There is an industry in its self for the import and support of these tractors, so any possible job losses by the dealers is offset by the guys that do the imports.

Anyway, thats my 2 bob worth. Just thought I'd keep this forum in a job !

Cheers

 

[RichZ]

My Ferguson is grey. Does that count?/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

Hey Neil, I'm just trying to help! A post is a post!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Rich
"What a long strange trip it's been."

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>I have a grey and am proud of it. Well sort of anyway.</font color=blue>

Does "well sort of anyway" apply to the grey or the fact that you're proud of it /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif? And since when does a Kubota qualify as a grey /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif? I didn't see any other tractor listed in your bio, so you must be referring to it, right?

 

[njrqs]

Rich

That's it - keep the number up !!

Gary

Yes my kubota is a grey import. People often treat you like a leper when you admit to that, hence the fact that I am only "sort of" proud of it being a grey.

Grey market tractors are imported from Japan (or I suppose other countries also) but were never actually made in the country to which it is imported.

Most are so close to a real model it is not funny. Hence my bio shows my L1501 is a L185 for those in the real world.

Dealers don't like them as they never got a chance to make big $ on them when they were sold new. Some parts are harder to source than the real world models.

Line is 20+ years old with less than 500 hours on it. They use (my model) in Japan to till rice paddies and only use them for a few hours each year.

Cheers

 

[Golfgar4]

Holy Cow /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif. Like they say, you learn something everyday /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif. I was just having a little fun - but I guess you figured that out - huh/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif? Thanks for the education, and I'm glad I'm helping to keep this part of the forum healthy /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif!

 

[Youare]

I considered buying a grey Yanmar a year ago but I could not find anyone in my part of New Hampshire that could help me on the purchase.

At one point there were a few grey Kubota's showing up around here. According to one dealer I talked to he said Kubota was not pleased with the situation and started legal action. I don't know if he was telling me the truth or trying to get me to purchase an American version of the same tractor.

As far as I could see a tractor is a tractor whether it's imported as a grey or one that is imported with english decals and gauges on it. Parts can't be all that different between the two and some manuals are available.

Who cares if your tractor is grey or not, it doesn't influence the work it will do. I guess the only down side is the re-sale value, but if you paid less to begin with it seems like it all averages out.

Sit proud it that seat /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif.

Randy

 

[njrqs]

I can't see why the manufacturer's get concerned. After all they made and sold the [censored] things in the first place, and a second hand tractor is a second hand tractor, regardless of where it ends up.

Do they think that all tractors in one country, when finished with should be scrapped?

Abyway, I am sure there will be an educated answer posted here to tell us why Greys are bad, but until then, hey who cares ??

Cheers all

 

[EFC]

Kubota had a semi valid reason for being upset. Grey Dealers were bringing in Grey Kubota’s, grinding off serial #'s putting on US Kubota stickers and selling them as a US model.... It would be really hard for a US Kubota dealer to compete with a dealer who looks like he is selling the same tractor but for half the price. A grey Kubota is so close to a US model minus 2 digits on the serial # that Kubota realized that they could be killed by there own company. That is why we are currently operating under an injunction against all Grey Kubota’s under 50hp.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

EFC is right. Kubota did sue and got an injunction. The case was Gamut Trading Co. v. United States International Trade Commission. Here's a link to the court ruling, which came on 22 December 1999:

http://www.law.emory.edu/fedcircuit/dec99/97-1414.wp.htm

Note that Kubota successfully argued that importing tractors of its own manufacture with its own name constituted trademark infringement. Because of the differences between the greys and the US-spec tractors and the parts situation, I understand Kubota's concern, but this ruling established a disturbing precedent.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

With some 9 years of importing grey orange tractors to Australia, we have many proud owners , who get very good results with their tractors.There is no shame in saving a dollar or two buying a secondhand import. Most tractors only work part time(maybe 100-150 hour P.A.) and many customers can not justify the price of new tractors for a machine that gets occasional use.

Bill from Diesel Traders