Kubotas

[Alan Moran]

Judging by the postings US prices for used Kubotas are lower than those in Australia and the numbering system is sometimes different. Am looking at my first tractor for a 25 acre property (2 acres of slashing and a great big hill at one end). Looking for something like 20+ hp FEL and slasher but prices all seem to be around $14k or $16 k for re-made versions. Yanmar seem a bit cheaper and occasional one comes up as priovate sale for $10k

Any views about thevalue of these and what vintage/hourage might give good reliability?

 

[don716]

Stick with the Kubota because you get what you pay for. Call around and find a slightly used one from a dealer
If you must go with something cheaper I think I would go with a Kioti. It's pretty much like a Kubota.I've heard some very expensive repair bills about Yenmar.

 

[don716]

You should be able to find a good used Kubota with about 300hrs on it for about 8,000. or possibly less since people are needing money right now.

 

[art]

Kubota's are the best for longeviety and Yanmar is right with them. I do believe the Kubotas designs are a bit ahead of Yanmars with features but the quality of the initial build is high. For the market shares of some companies and the amount of the problems posted of basic quality of build issues for many people I wish them luck. Everyone needs to start somewhere and being a dealer I don't like being caught with less then the best when that doesn't always work for some.
I to a degree wish we had a dealership in your country as they sure do have big areas compared to one every twenty five minutes in this area.

I think that many of the tractors you have there might be what we call gray market but I also know you don't have all the safety issues in your country that we have here to contend with and that would give different models although they may be the same basic tractors.

 

[jas67]

Yanmar at one time, and may even now, built all the of compact tractors for John Deere. JD also uses a lot of Yanmar engines. Yanmar makes very fine industrial and tractor diesel engines, as well as marine diesels ranging from 9 HP to hundreds of HP. They are very well regarded in the marine engine business. They (like Kubota) also supply engines for various industrial applications, such as generators, pumps, portable saw mills, etc.

Yanmar also makes cold-start engines that don't need glowplugs. The single cylinder L48/L70/L100 engines are all cold start. They use a compression release for recoil starting, or electric start w/o need for compression release or glowplugs.

I would guess that the Yanmar tractors bring a lower price, because of less name recognition than John Deere or Kubota.

Regarding grey-market Yanmars, they have the same caveats as grey-market Kubotas, parts availability may be a problem, and they often lack some of the safety equipment (ROPS, for example) required to sell in the US market (lawers).