Buying Advice Two Mitsubushi models of compact tractors

[treefarmer1]

Hello..... First time posting on your site. I'm looking at two Mitsubishi tractors to possibly buy one.

One is a D1550, and the other a MT372D. I willl be using it to mow between Christmas tree rows pulling a 4' finish mower behind.

Both are in really good condition... and either could be had for around $3500-$3800.

I don't see as much info.on the D1550,as i do the MT372D ... though i was leaning towards the 1550.

I would appreciate anyone's opinon on these two models.

Thank you.

 

[ptsg]

The D1550 has a 3 cylinder 19 hp engine while the MT372D has 2 cylinder 15 hp engine. This looks like to be the main difference between the two.

The D1550 with more hp and torque might be the better option.

 

[Maxify55]

I can't say enough good things about my MT372.
It's not a 4X4, without the "D", but it will do anything, or at least try, that I tell it to do.
Bush Hog (48" from ETA)6 ft high weeds and woody brush. Just hang on.
It's heading in. Just get it some front ballast and off you go.
It's my back up for my mower around the house.
I drag a 48" Sitex around and it never ever whimpers. Even in our Florida heat.
Of course, I had to rebuild the water pump and radiator when i first aquired it.

It's never said no when i've turned the key and it's an '85 model, at that.
If I had my "druthers", though, I think I'd opt for the higher torque model.
All things being equal. Torque is what gets the work done.

 

[treefarmer1]

I can't say enough good things about my MT372.
It's not a 4X4, without the "D", but it will do anything, or at least try, that I tell it to do.
Bush Hog (48" from ETA)6 ft high weeds and woody brush. Just hang on.
It's heading in. Just get it some front ballast and off you go.
It's my back up for my mower around the house.
I drag a 48" Sitex around and it never ever whimpers. Even in our Florida heat.
Of course, I had to rebuild the water pump and radiator when i first aquired it.

It's never said no when i've turned the key and it's an '85 model, at that.
If I had my "druthers", though, I think I'd opt for the higher torque model.
All things being equal. Torque is what gets the work done.

Thanks I appreciate the feedback.

 

[treefarmer1]

The D1550 has a 3 cylinder 19 hp engine while the MT372D has 2 cylinder 15 hp engine. This looks like to be the main difference between the two.

The D1550 with more hp and torque might be the better option.

These wouldn't be considered " gray market" tractors, would they ? ( which I've been advised against ) ..
What would constitute a "gray market" tractor anyway ? oh,, the D1550 does not have an hour meter (which I found strange )

thanks again.

 

[ptsg]

I think it might be considered a Grey Market tractor. Although I don't see any problem with it. I've owned a Kubota B7000 for about 20 years, that was definitely a grey market tractor and I've never had any problem with.

It did everything I could asked for. I even built a loader for it and it just preformed amazingly. The only reason I traded it, was to get a bigger tractor.

The only problems I really had was just a new clutch disk and a universal joint for the 4WD that was actually pretty easy to find.

Some people say that parts are hard to find, but to be honest, nowadays Internet makes it really easy and you can get parts shipped pretty much all over the world. I doubt that anyone will use this as a professional tool that need parts right away (as in the same day or so), so you are willing to wait, that should be no problem.

As far as the hour meter, its really common on these small grey market tractor. Mostly don't come with hour meter, ROPS, lights and etc. I think this is the main reason on why they are called Grey market tractors.

Also some won't come with 3 point hitch, instead they use some sort of proprietary hitch that is mainly used with the proprietary rototillers.

 

[treefarmer1]

that's great info ptsg ….. I'm going to go look at it tonight. I'll let you know what I find tomorrow.

 

[ptsg]

I'm glad I could help. Keep up posted and in case you get it, share a picture if you don't mind.

Listen to it running, check for any weird noises. If you can, try to drive it a bit to get a feel for the clutch and gears. Try all the functions so you don't get any unpleasant surprises when you get it home. Check the oils and coolant condition.

 

[daugen]

TractorData.com Mitsubishi D155� tractor photos information
treefarmer, always start with tractordata.com, very cool site, bookmark it and then you can compare specs at least on tractors.
Unfortunately not much posted about the 3 cylinder model. From my own past experience owning a Case IH/Mitsubishi 23hp 3 cylinder diesel, that was the smoothest running diesel I have ever owned.

"really good condition" can mean many things but if those engines are under 2000 hours, I wouldn't hesitate.
In your heat, first thing I'd do is change the coolant in whatever you buy. Like my current MF/Iseki tractor, that Mitsubishi just loved
its glow plugs and wasn't happy unless you used them, even on a hot summer day. Mine had about 1100 hours on it and burned zero oil and had very little smoke.
I gave it to my church when I moved to NC. Poor thing sits under a shed not getting used enough.
Make sure the shifting mechanism works easily, my shifting fork wore out and that entailed cracking the block and putting in a new
clutch while it was open. If you have problems getting them into gear, without fiddling too much, perhaps not so heavyweight shifting forks might be a family issue.

 

[treefarmer1]

OK,,, saw it last night. It looked clean, started it up... but in gear, it wanted to slightly creep ahead. Put it in neutral , then it wouldn't go into gear without grinding,, so i'm guessing the clutch was bad. ( which he said " this just happened " ) .. Also,,,, it was only a 2 cylinder..... not three ! Which I found odd..... ( I thought all 1550's were 3 cyl?) … I didn't need another project , so I turned it down. he texted me this am & said he found a clutch set for
$135 ( which seemed pretty cheap ) - but I don't know what that would involve... changing the clutch & all .

Also.... when you pushed the clutch in .. the PTO sometimes would still spin & other times not. And it had a " reverse " ?? position on the PTO lever
too. but it would still spin the same direction in the R position. ( in addition to the 3 regular speeds of … who knows ? ) It had a short splined shaft coming out of it, which he had a stub shaft of a regular 540rpm onto it .. otherwise … nothing I ever saw would connect to that short splined shaft.