Being a newbie to tractors, I need a fair evaluation of NorTrac 20 hp or 25 hp front endloader tractor. What if any problems and are they a good buy? I'm part of a non profit organization that maintains a childrens campsite. We need to use it for hauling and ground maintenance and we need something reliable. Need all the help you guys can give me. No BS, if its crap than say so. We don't have money to throw away. Thanks guys for any honest info.
NorTrac Tractor - How good are they?
- Thread starter lexxar
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RonMar
Elite Member
The Tractor being sold by Northern is a Jinma. The 25 Horsepower in 4 wheel drive is a 254 and fairly common. The same machine is sold under several different names by different suppliers.
Where are you located? You can probably beat the Northern cost from a dealer that sells Jinma's closer to your area. They make up for the free shipping with a higher pricetag. Last winter when I was shopping, I thought the Northern price was not to bad untill I found dealers in the local area that could beat it by quite a bit.
I have a Jinma 284(same as a 254 with a different RPM limit for 3 additional HP) and I love it(am pushing 90 hours now). Paid $5400 for the tractor(another $1500 for the dealers custom built loader) last june. It is a real workhorse and will run a 5' brushhog and shred most anything I can drag it over
. You need to have a little bit of mechanical ability and do some prep work to them when new to help insure good operation(change fluids, clean and tighten connections) and some machinery operation experience to use them properly(maybe not the best if you plan on having a lot of different people use it). Having a dealer close would be a definite plus as Northern isn't right down the road. The dealer I chose wasn't either, but I had the 2 warranty parts I needed within 24 hours of my phone calls.
I don't have any personal experience with the chinese loader that comes with the Jinma's.
If you read down this entire chinese forum, you will find a wealth of info on the Jinmas, peoples problems with them, their resolutions and some excellent care and feeding info. Another excellent reference is John's Jinma site.
http://johnstractor.homestead.com/
He has compiled an excellent database of user modifications that make operation and maintenance easier as well as technical documentation/parts manuals and some good pics of peoples machines. You will see some good pics of the Nortrac units there as well as other versions of the same Jinma machines.
Where are you located? You can probably beat the Northern cost from a dealer that sells Jinma's closer to your area. They make up for the free shipping with a higher pricetag. Last winter when I was shopping, I thought the Northern price was not to bad untill I found dealers in the local area that could beat it by quite a bit.
I have a Jinma 284(same as a 254 with a different RPM limit for 3 additional HP) and I love it(am pushing 90 hours now). Paid $5400 for the tractor(another $1500 for the dealers custom built loader) last june. It is a real workhorse and will run a 5' brushhog and shred most anything I can drag it over
. You need to have a little bit of mechanical ability and do some prep work to them when new to help insure good operation(change fluids, clean and tighten connections) and some machinery operation experience to use them properly(maybe not the best if you plan on having a lot of different people use it). Having a dealer close would be a definite plus as Northern isn't right down the road. The dealer I chose wasn't either, but I had the 2 warranty parts I needed within 24 hours of my phone calls.I don't have any personal experience with the chinese loader that comes with the Jinma's.
If you read down this entire chinese forum, you will find a wealth of info on the Jinmas, peoples problems with them, their resolutions and some excellent care and feeding info. Another excellent reference is John's Jinma site.
http://johnstractor.homestead.com/
He has compiled an excellent database of user modifications that make operation and maintenance easier as well as technical documentation/parts manuals and some good pics of peoples machines. You will see some good pics of the Nortrac units there as well as other versions of the same Jinma machines.
Ronbo
Silver Member
I bought a Nortrac 245 with FEL. The support I have recieved is excellent. You do need to be able to wrench for yourself though. I had the front end break on mine. It was very simple to repair and Northern Tools supplied all the parts. I did the work in leu of the deductable. I don't like anyone wrenching on my toys but me. Teh repair is documented on John's site. I would buy from Norther Tools again. That should say enough.
Ron
Ron
Affordable
Advertiser, Platinum Member
Ronbo, once your tractor is out of warranty and you need some parts or service help ,look us up we are about a 1-1/2 from you in Bellville on Hwy 36
Tommy
Affordable Tractor Sales
Tommy
Affordable Tractor Sales