yanmar 187d 4wd with loader

[borisvonf]

i looked at a used yanmar 187d 4wd with loader and turf tires today. it looked decent with 775 hours (or 1775 or 2775?).
the reason i am looking is that my small dove field and deer plots are full of rocks and i have a bad back. by rocks i mean volleyball sized rocks. i have been looking for a loader for my large tractor, a jd 5500, but they are hard to come by used and expensive new.
the 187d has an asking price of $3500.
my thoughts are that it is never bad to have a second tractor for other implements, but will the loader be able to pick up rocks and move things around? would i be better off with a skid steer?
the yanmar would be able to lift 600lbs whereas the jd 5500 would get over 1200 lbs?
what suggestions do you guys have? what things am i not thinking of that may be relevant?
other uses would be clearing area for workshop, picnic area, maintain roads/woods trails.
the selling point on the 187d is that it is small enough i could bring it to town and spread mulch for my wife.
please help
trey

 

[BC Dave]

I bought a 180 D for 4,800 with a FEL & rear grader. I thought it was a good deal; not many small tractors around to choose from

Im impressed with it despite being well used and a little beat up. Engine just humms along and has lots of power; it says 680 hers; but could be 1680 or more ... It cam with a quality OEM Yanmar FEL (that said made in Canada(?) lol).

Its light enough to be easily trailered at about 2300 lbs +/- 200 lbs; I had it on a 2 wheeled trailer rated at 3500 lbs with trailer breaks; pulled well with a 3.3 l pathfinder; slowish on steep hills but it traveled over 1,000 kms no problems.

 

[sacsr]

I have a 187D.....more space in the floorboard than some of the other yanmars this size.....I can easily trailer/pull it with my expedition back and forth from my house to my land.
So far has done all I needed it to do...move dirt, scrape the roads, bush hog, etc. plus the ability to transport it made it the right machine for me.

There are times I could use a larger bucket....but for a starter tractor to get your feet wet...you can not go wrong.

I saw the ad on the one you are looking at. If it is in good shape with no leaks it is a bargain. You should be able to use it and sell it down the road for what you paid for it.

If it was closer to me, I would probably have considered buying it myself. You can never have to many yanmars under the shed. :thumbsup:

Good luck!

 

[borisvonf]

i guess it was a good deal. it went on craigslist monday, i looked at it monday afternoon, and when i called back at noon on tuesday to make an offer it was already sold. live and learn.
thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Smoody]

You can't drag your feet on a good deal like that, you should have purchased the day you looked at it hehe. new loader would cost you $3000. Happened to me plenty of times, I knew it was a steal and waited only to lose it and wish I had made the purchase. More will come along.

 

[California]

More will come along.

I wish. The only YM187D I've ever found was in Denver 1000 miles east of me.

I bought both my Yanmars in less than ideal condition because after months of looking they were the only ones I found. After the first it was a year before I saw another like it listed. The only other YM186D I've seen 'nearby' since I bought mine in 2009 was the same tractor that 284 bought, local to him but 500 miles south of me - and thrashed about the same as mine. I got mine from 200 miles north way up in the mountains (Susanville).

You guys in the South have much better availability than out here!

In summary - if you see one you like put down a deposit on the spot. For both my YM240 and my backhoe, the seller was literally getting calls while I negotiated the purchase.

 

[284 International]

As usual, I agree with California. There are good deals out there-I've been lucky enough to get them sometimes- but you have to be ready to jump on them. Some time perusing the classified ads, of whatever flavor you have, will get you a ballpark figure for what you need to budget. The brands with currently extant and broadly developed dealer networks (Kubota, John Deere, Case, New Holland etc.) seem to command higher prices and tend to have fewer bargains.

The non-Kubota Japanese brands (Yanmar, Mitsubishi, Shibaura etc.) and sometimes the Chinese, Korean, and Indian tractors are where it seems like the deals are. The non-Japanese brands are almost always fairly new-looking machines, which around here tends to drive the price up amongst horse people. The Japanese are almost all gray market imports.

The crustier looking ones that are mechanically decent are where I've found bargains. However, without exception I've had to put some labor and money into fixing them up to functioning condition. For me that's not a problem or drawback; indeed, that's the appeal, and how I can afford them. For someone not interested, or unwilling/unable to do some wrenching, these are not bargains at all, just overpriced yard decorations.

It has gotten more difficult to find fixer-upper machines as the price of scrap has climbed upward.

Don't beat yourself up over it. I missed a couple astonishing bargains due to ignorance and/or cold feet. I've made poor buys, too. Bargain hunting tends to go at the ends of the spectrum-either great or bad. Paying a fair price for a fair product is more likely to get you what you want for what you can afford.

The good news for the owners of these things is that they tend to last a really long time, and the overall usefulness of a 30 year old Yanmar is about the same as a 2011 model. The major difference is in styling and appearance, and that newer tractors tend to come with hydrostatic transmissions. Otherwise, you don't have much to gain from a new machine other than pride of ownership. If you look at the purchase of a $5000 machine that does everything as well as a $13,000 machine from this perspective, it's a lot more palatable than looking at a few anomalous purchases that were terrific bargains and going up from there.

 

[Car Doc]

I think that size Yanmar tractor with loader is the perfect home owner slash small property owner machine, once someone looks at one in person they cant walk away.

Especially seeing the tin cans they have for sale for small utility tractors now days. my 2c

 

[Smoody]

I wish. The only YM187D I've ever found was in Denver 1000 miles east of me.

I bought both my Yanmars in less than ideal condition because after months of looking they were the only ones I found. After the first it was a year before I saw another like it listed. The only other YM186D I've seen 'nearby' since I bought mine in 2009 was the same tractor that 284 bought, local to him but 500 miles south of me - and thrashed about the same as mine. I got mine from 200 miles north way up in the mountains (Susanville).

You guys in the South have much better availability than out here!

In summary - if you see one you like put down a deposit on the spot. For both my YM240 and my backhoe, the seller was literally getting calls while I negotiated the purchase.

California, "more will come along" as in more yanmars, not necessarily a 187d. Down my way there are a handful of deals listed weekly, especially in the Greenville SC area and majority of them were purchased from Southland Equipment when they were importing. meaning most in that area are not vn recons.

 

[California]

I wish that were the case here.

There was a VN wholesaler here for a while but they took back so many broken tractors that they went out of business. Their tractors that are still out there are not confidence-inspiring.

Aside from that firm's imports there are more old US-import Yanmars than gray market in the region (Northern California & Western Nevada), but not many of either.

There are some active importers up near Seattle. Going south from there I think the next active area is Texas.

Ernie and Buck I'm sure do well for their local customers but if you ask about an out-of-area sale they politely ignore you - so I doubt any of their tractors are down here, more than a day's drive from them. I just looked at the map and my YM186D was found 300 miles away. At least the YM240 was local, only 100 miles from here.