Jinma Observations

Wayne_Freeman · Jul 16, 2008

After owning 2 Jinmas I purchased a Kubota 3400 hydro last year. Trust me I got every dollar out of my Jinmas and have nothing but praise for this machine. For the money it is still one heck of a value! I just want to pass along some observations made between these machines. The power of a 284 Jinma and Kubota L3400 are pretty close with the tie going to Jinma. Both my Jinmas had Koyker 160 loaders/w 4wd. I have a habit of using my machines to their limits whether its pushing, pulling or lifting. The Kubota has built in limit protection in all these areas where the machine just says that is too much. I cannot do as much with my Kubota in pushing, pulling or lifting. The jinma has no such built in protection protection. It will out push,pull and lift my Kubota. The koyker loader is a horse! My hydro transmission will just stop but the Jimna will push until it stalls. As a result it will also break a lot and I broke a lot of stuff on my Jinmas! I spent way too much time and money doing repairs because I frankly abused my machines and they really don't say no very often. The botttom line and the purpose of this post is this. You have to stop and consider the results of trying to do too much with a tractor of this size whether it is pushing, pulling or lifting. Gears, bearings, drives trains, cliutches, hydraulics and gear boxes are not all made from Kryptonite. I am spending a lot more time on my tractor nowadays rather then working on my tractor primarily because of the reasons stated above. So the next time you size up that job consider slowing down a little and just enjoy you seat time.

greg_g · Jul 16, 2008

Excellent summary - and should be required reading for all first time Chinese tractor owners.

//greg//

Diamondpilot · Jul 16, 2008

What you have said seems to be true with my neighbors JD. My Jinma 254/284 will out work his JD (35 or 38 HP, cant remember) but its 4x4 with a loader. There has been 4 or 5 occasions he has called me over to do the work his can not. Yes, his tractor is much nicer, more user friendly, better fit and finish, ect. But at the end of the day my little Jinma will out work it with the exception of the pto work which I have no problem with only running a post hole digger, 5' bush hog, and a 6' finish mower.

Chris

johnk · Jul 16, 2008

Wayne_Freeman said:
After owning 2 Jinmas I purchased a Kubota 3400 hydro last year. Trust me I got every dollar out of my Jinmas and have nothing but praise for this machine. For the money it is still one heck of a value! I just want to pass along some observations made between these machines. The power of a 284 Jinma and Kubota L3400 are pretty close with the tie going to Jinma. Both my Jinmas had Koyker 160 loaders/w 4wd. I have a habit of using my machines to their limits whether its pushing, pulling or lifting. The Kubota has built in limit protection in all these areas where the machine just says that is too much. I cannot do as much with my Kubota in pushing, pulling or lifting. The jinma has no such built in protection protection. It will out push,pull and lift my Kubota. The koyker loader is a horse! My hydro transmission will just stop but the Jimna will push until it stalls. As a result it will also break a lot and I broke a lot of stuff on my Jinmas! I spent way too much time and money doing repairs because I frankly abused my machines and they really don't say no very often. The botttom line and the purpose of this post is this. You have to stop and consider the results of trying to do too much with a tractor of this size whether it is pushing, pulling or lifting. Gears, bearings, drives trains, cliutches, hydraulics and gear boxes are not all made from Kryptonite. I am spending a lot more time on my tractor nowadays rather then working on my tractor primarily because of the reasons stated above. So the next time you size up that job consider slowing down a little and just enjoy you seat time.

I also owned Chinese tractor. A Jinma 224.... Torquey little 2 Cylinder rascal. It had a 5Ft 160 Koyker loader and was a workhorse. I had to do a lot of repairs on it also but it was a beast. Never had a problem with the loader though. It was definitely very strong. I have a Kubota now and it gets the job done but it has one advantage. I don't have any repairs or worrying it's going to start. Not saying it won't fail but it is much more dependable but of course i paid the price for the conviences. So goes it in the tractor or implement world. If you don't mind puttering with your equipment and can save money more power to you. If you need dependability you will have to pay the price. Not being derogatory to the Chinese tractors just saying you get what you pay for...And even that isn't all the time. There is no guarantee on anything except taxes and death. From what I've seen the Chinese are getting better in their quality control and may be a force in the future...Good luck with all machines....Nothing lasts forever.

Enjoy your Machines..........

Soundguy · Jul 17, 2008

This same stuff gets re-hashed int he hydro vs gear wars all the time... Hydro's have a pre-set relief value.. gears generally go till the engine stalls or the clutch slips..

soundguy

Wayne_Freeman · Jul 17, 2008

Some years ago as a new tractor owner I thought my Jinma like a sherman tank. If you can see it then you can lift, move, push or pull! The gear drive and the Koyker loader in low gear/4wd is a bulldozer on rubber tires. The purpose of my post was just to inform newbies coming along that just because you are able to push your machine beyond what it is capable of that it won't inevitably break. I spent way too much time turning wrenches and buying parts!

DwayneB · Jul 17, 2008

Wayne_Freeman said:
The purpose of my post was just to inform newbies coming along that just because you are able to push your machine beyond what it is capable of that it won't inevitably break. I spent way too much time turning wrenches and buying parts!

I'm into my 3rd year on my kama and I recently broke a few teeth off the front ring gear. Using it like a dozer. expensive lesson for sure.

hbaird · Jul 17, 2008

I have less than 100 hrs on my 200LE but have started using it much more. I now have a Koyker 140 FEL and an Italian made 3pt Backhoe. I am going to hard mount the backhoe soon. The current total weight, counting the tractor with wheel weights as 2600#, is 4200#. It rides a lot smoother but nothing seems worked too hard. I have 2wd and R4 rears so dozer work is out of the question. On dry dirt I do have enough traction to fill the loader bucket from a pile of loose dirt. The clutch releases higher on the pedal than I like but works. I have a swivel and am waiting for a 1'X2'X3/16" plate to make a swing seat. My primary interest this summer and fall is dirt work to support some construction. If I had not gotten it so cheap I would have bought an old Yanmar, a lot less tractor all things considered.
hbaird