Gray Market Compacts?

lfnle · Jan 24, 2003

I'm thinking of buying one of the gray market used compact import tractors from SE Asia, but how can I solve the use limitations? Where are belly mowers available? It seems the wheel base of most is too short for a belly mower and there's no mid-pto. Additionally, the rice lug tires would really tear up lawn turf. If I try to replace them, turf tires would require new rims - if rims to fit could be found. Wouldn't I loose my original cost advantage in buying tires and rims? Where are loaders available? As these tractors were designed for rice paddy use, is the structure of the tractor strong enough to handle a loader? Many come with a roto-tiller attached, but will this tiller work in our US soils? What about tractor parts availability? Who carries parts? Do these imports with all sorts of far eastern names have close cousins that were marketed in the US under names we recognize? Of course there's Deere-Yanmar, Ford-Shibaura and a Kubota is a Kubota but what about the others? Any insight or experience would be appreciated. Thanks.

diggerjim · Jan 24, 2003

lfnle
I have a Yanmar. My tiller performs fine in our hard clays and soft loams. Have even chewed a little blacktop. The rice tires will tear the heck out of sod and most everything else. Loaders, parts, rims and just about everything else is available for most of these tractors. If you look around on this site you will find what is available, where, and fits what. The structure of my tractor is not a concern in normal use to me. However, some have had trouble adding backhoes and breaking major components. My full-size case hoe has had major breaks too. It all depends on the use, and abuse factor. You get what you pay for, look around, listen and read, and as you are doing here, ask questions. It all comes down to how much you want to spend, have available to spend, what you require of the machine, and what you are satisfied with. You can do so much with a compact, so much more with a ag tractor, so much more with a dozer, etc., etc,. Its your choice.

Jim

kayssupply · Jan 24, 2003

To start with, the tractors on this board are from Japan not SE Asia. If they have been routed through there they are usually junkers that have been painted and passed off as " refurbished". If you hear that or factory reconditioned , RUN.

EFC · Jan 25, 2003

Please fill in your bio a little more. If you live in Turkey our answers are much different than if you live in the USA.

TOMLESCOEQUIP · Jan 25, 2003

Attached is a photo of my " grey" Kubota L1500DT. I trashed the rice tires and retrofitted turfs on 6 lug implement rims (rear) and had 14" rims custom built for the front (used rims with proper offset from a dodge mini van and had centers cut out on a lathe and new centers machined and welded in at a local machine shop.) I use a 5' 3 point hitch belly mower ( they have adjustable center beams to fit different wheelbase tractors and drive off the rear pto).........Used it the past 7 years this way with no problems..........Some filters are a little hard to locate and expensive but otherwise my "grey" tractor has performed well........Tom

njrqs · Jan 25, 2003

Yeah those rice tyres are "aggressive" to say the least hey !!!

TOMLESCOEQUIP · Jan 25, 2003

Neil......I used 13.6 X 16 tires on the rear and an automotive 205 70 14 on the front..........the big turfs made an unbelieveable difference in the ride.........Tom

stnickstoys · Jan 26, 2003

I mow my 3 acre lawn with my TU220 and a 6' First Choice 3pt hitch finish mower. I love mowing with it and have fun doing it. I mounted an AM/FM cassette radio on the fender, added a wheel spinner knob, and left my "rice" tires on. I don't tear up my lawn. You just need to mow like you were driving a tractor not a small 12hp MTD. You make larger sweeping turns, catch the backside of trimming around trees on the next pass and mow in a different pattern. With a full width rear discharge mower it doesn't matter which way I go. My wife thinks I'm nuts when I'm out there mowing a cross hatch pattern so my front lawn looks like a big league ballfield in the pros. My 3 boys think its really cool to play ball in the yard and pretend they are in the big leagues! I haven't yet wished I had turfs. Here on my little patch of the world, I play hard in the dirt, move snow, pull my neighbors out of the snowbanks, etc. and I don't know that I would be happy with the traction provided by turfs. Just depends on what you plan on doing with your tractor. Have fun, happy tractoring!
Here's a pic of my 220 with mower, check out the radio!
Nick

mah · Jan 26, 2003

Try looking around on the Yanmar forum you will find the answers to all of your questions.
Mike

JimMc · Jan 26, 2003

I thought I was the only one to do this.

stnickstoys · Jan 26, 2003

Woah, nice mowing job Jim, I'm envious. I can't get to mine now because it's frozen solid with a dusting of snow. -2 degrees here this morning got up to 8 today. Will be a while before I get my lawn to look like that again!
Love that tractor and mower,
Nick

gbirky · Jan 27, 2003

lfnle,
I have a YM1301D - a Yanmar gray market tractor. It is similar in size and HP to a made for US Yanmar YM169D. I have mounted a Yanmar YMM-45 belly mower on it that is run by an electric clutch on the front of the engine. You can see pictures of my tractor on <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.geocities.com/gregbirkymustang> my web page</A>.

This mower was original equipment on made for US Yanmars YM135, YM155, and YM155D. The front pto does interfer with the loader which came on the tractor, but I'm in the process of relocating the electric clutch under the battery inside the hood. This kind of stuff takes some ingenuity, but I live for that kind of stuff.

I did have trouble this fall with the rice tires tearing up my lawn after the fall rains started. But I have a set of Michelin 265/75R16 tires that will go right on the rims I have, and should minimize this problem. The fronts don't tend to tear up the ground as much as the rears. I wouldn't want anything but the rice tires for moving snow - which I do with a cheap garden tractor snow plow which I mounted to my 1301D.

If you aren't a tinkerer, and willing to do stuff yourself, and you don't have a full service dealer nearby who will take care of problems for you, then maybe a gray market tractor is not for you.

I attached a photo here of my tractor with the belly mower on it.

Tractors4u · Jan 27, 2003

You have asked for an encyclopedias worth of answers there. I would suggest looking in the grey market forum and use the search feature for certain things. Also check the Yanmar forum for many answers. Greys are not for everyone. Here are a few of my opinions. The tractors are not made any lighter for use in the rice patties. They are heavy enough for loaders, but what you do with the loader is another issue. Koyker, Kelly, Great Bend and Allied make brackets to adapt their loaders to many grey market models. You can break an American brand compact tractor with a loader if you don't know what you are doing. Tillers; the tillers work great in most American soils, but as with any tiller your mileage will vary. Rocky soil and soil with a lot of roots will impact performance. Mowers; Most people who buy these tractor use a rear mount finish mower. I have yet to see a mid PTO on a grey. There is one guy who frequents the Yanmar forum that put a front PTO on his Yanmar and runs a Yanmar belly mower on his little Yanmar. If my tractor were used only for mowing I would want a belly mower, but it is used for other task so I don't want the hassle of removing a belly mower or risk damaging the mower when using the tractor for other tasks. Turf tires; There are turfs that will fit the narrow wheels. As for tearing up your lawn. I used a Hinomoto 2304 4X4 that I believe was around the 2500 lb range for 2 years without damaging my lawn. I would suggest researching until you are sick of researching and you will discover that all the points have been touched on before. You will see solutions people have come up with. Like I said a before, a grey market tractor is not for everybody. In fact a tractor is not for everybody.

JimMc · Jan 27, 2003

I have to admit, it doesn't work as well with snow. So, as you can imagine my yard doesn't look quite the same this time of year. But, in a few weeks, it's time to fertilize, aerate, and reseed.

htiek126 · Jan 28, 2003

How much did the implement rims cost and where did you purchase them? It looks like you replaced 9.5-22 rice tires from the dimensions online for the 13.6-16 turf tires. Do you remember the size of your front rice tires, and did you maintain the circumference ratio for the 4wd? I am in the process of replacing the tires on my Hinomoto, and it looks like you approach is a much better alternative then to replace the rice tires with 9.5-22 turf tires.

TOMLESCOEQUIP · Jan 28, 2003

The front tires were on 14" rims but not sure of the tire size........As for the implement rims I bought mine at a auction when spencer tire went out of business........i think the same rims are available from gemplers at about $69.50 each.......As I recall the implement rims were an almost fit on the metric bolt pattern (Rear)...Some (very) minor die grinder work on the lug holes and they were a basic bolt on switch. I'll look at home later in the barn and see if I can find the original tire size for the fronts for you.........TOM

Anonymous Poster · May 14, 2003

<font color="blue"> </font> <font color="blue"> </font> /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gifAn orange mower for blue Iseki???? First choice offers an Iseki blue option. I bought an Iseki blue mower for my Iseki TU1700F.

stnickstoys · May 15, 2003

I'm not one of those color conscious people, like those who live their life for "green" or "red" equip. If it works well, I don't care what color it is. Most of my customers don't seem to care either! They are looking for quality and economy.
Nick