Yanmar Hour Meters

[arnoldziffel]

My cousin from Ohio is offering me a older Yanmar tractor for sale.

He tells me it dates to the late 1980's and that he bought it used about 10 years ago. When I asked about the hour meter reading he said he always believed that the now 990 hours are accurate. However, in looking through some threads here I see mention that some of these tractors have their hour meters "reset" when the tractors are resold. Is this common practice?

It appears that some Yanmars are reconditioned from overseas and then sold here. How do you know what you're getting? How do you know if the Yanmar you want or have is a gray market or US machine? What do you look for?

Thanks.

 

[kenmac]

If it's a Vietnam ("refurbished" as they call it) it will usually have the hour meter rolled back. It's not common practice .. it's to deceive . A reputable dealer wouldn't do this unless he has to install a new hour meter for some reason as in my case. It can sometimes be hart to tell if your getting a vn refurb .Some examples of a grey are,,,, A grey market yanmar will have multi speed PTO. The fast /slow lever will be different. You will pull the lever on a grey for more fuel/engine speed and push it to de crease fuel/engine speed Most if not all grey's will have a 4 digit # 2210, 3110, 1700, etc,

 

[California]

Welcome!

Read these links and you will have a better idea of the used Yanmar market.

Here's Yanmar-USA's list of what they imported over the years. These are fully supported.
YANMAR | Gray Market Tractor Notice

They have tried to scare off independent importers of used Yanmars but they aren't winning, because a good used Yanmar wherever it was first sold is a very useful tractor.

And here's the biggest importer of legitimate used/refurbished and warranted gray market tractors.
Fredricks Importing

In contrast to Fredricks, which is a quality operation like Carmax, there were several refurbishing shops in Vietnam who opened dealerships here. Quality was a gamble on these, all had museum quality repaints but some were cobbled together out of junk tractor parts, not necessarily 100% Yanmar. 'Frankensteinmars' . Seems to me about 75% of the customers got the bargain they hoped for, some had to make some unexpected repairs, and a few found they had expensive unusable junk with no way to get a refund. I think those VN dealerships are all out of business now but some of their inventory is still around. The VN 'rebuilts' left a bad reputation for gray market imports which was unfortunate, Yanmar's quality is so good that most used Yanmars simply remain usable. My own elderly US-Yanmars look like heck but have needed very little maintenance.

What model do you have? Four digit hour meter? A late 80's tractor imported used from Japan may have had 600 hours when it arrived so 900 now is plausible. If its a 3 digit meter then the meter is simply a maintenance reminder and says nothing about the age of the tractor.

We love pictures here. Got any?

 

[deepNdirt]

Not sure how accurate my statement will be, But a yanmar purchased 10 years ago might well have been from an independent importer, Via: "Gray market" unmolested tractors, well with the exception of the buyers maybe going through them and repairing whatever is necessary to be re-sold, I believe it wasn't until a few years later when the cobbled up Vietnam refurbs hit the market, I'd have to do some research on what years they were imported, or perhaps someone else might Know?
but in any regards, if it doesn't have new looking paint and looks like it's set outside all of it's life, it's likely an original gray import

 

[arnoldziffel]

Thanks for the responses so far.

I don't have photos to share yet.

 

[kenmac]

Do you know the model ? ( 1700,etc) does it have a loader ??

 

[California]

wasn't until a few years later when the cobbled up Vietnam refurbs hit the market, I'd have to do some research on what years they were imported, or perhaps someone else might Know?

I bought my YM240 in 2003 and found the good ol boy prior owner had discarded the original fuel filter assembly, and substituted one off a B&S lawnmower or something. (photo). As part of my minor refurbishing I went to the local (Northern California) VN import wholesaler, who had been in business for a while. I don't know how long, maybe a couple of years.

And now the Frankensteinmar part of my story: I asked them for an authentic Yanmar fuel filter assembly and watched them remove it from a waranty-return Yanmar. But then I discovered that while its upper half was authentic, it used a bowl and element unlike anything Yanmar ever sold. (photo2). I had to buy those components from Hoye to have a complete authentic system. This illustrates how the VN 'rebuilt' shops lost their reputation by selling unidentifiable junk while claiming 'premium quality'.


How to identify a US-version Yanmar: Look at my first photo above. (photo). See that zig-zag throttle linkage? That's an adaptation to meet US safety standards. Pull the throttle to kill the engine.
Japan-version Yanmars use a straight rod there so you push the throttle handle to kill the engine.

 

[arnoldziffel]

I think the model is a 180, or 185???

I just emailed my cousin to find out.

 

[kenmac]

Cal, Is the fuel filter in the pic the 1 that you're using now ?? That looks like a generic filter from the auto parts. Did you keep the fuel shut off valve ?

 

[California]

Cal, Is the fuel filter in the pic the 1 that you're using now ?? That looks like a generic filter from the auto parts. Did you keep the fuel shut off valve ?

The project was completed when I installed the OEM Yanmar assembly in photo2 including its correct bowl and element.

Actually there was more confusion and chaos caused by the prior owner's mis-repair than what I described above: my first attempt to put on an authentic filter assembly was an ebay purchase from a 'reputable' dealer of parts for many brands of tractors. He advertised his filter as original for Yanmar, Iseki, Mitsubishi, etc which turned out to be bogus. One, it didn't match the original mounting, and two, more important, it had an extra fuel-return opening that I couldn't plug successfully. And also important, it didn't fit a Yanmar element. Here is the Ebay assembly installed temporarily (and dribbling) before I located that OEM assembly (photo2) from the VN shop and got everything back the way God and Yanmar intended.