Buying Advice Yanmar YM1700

[branman1971]

My co-worker has a YM1700 for sale for 1300 or so and I wanted to know if it was worth the price. It isnt beat up and everything works but it is ugly and he doesnt know what year it is. He has had it for 5 years and it was ugly when he got it. It comes with a 48" PTO mower deck. What do yall think? Thanks, Brandon

 

[Smoody]

definitely.

 

[Yandaddy1110]

You cant go wrong at $1300, even without the mower deck. Whats so ugly about it?

 

[California]

Just do it. I paid 3x that for my ugly duckling in 2003. (Basically the US version of the same thing except with a loader). Its still in service with minimal repairs since then. And I think still worth about what I paid for it.

At $1300 to start, you can't eat much depreciation cost over the time you own it!

 

[clemsonfor]

If it runs and has no tranny problems i would buy it before he can think about selling to another guy, you could sell it for 2K easy to the right person if you wanted to, even without the mower like california said.

 

[branman1971]

Well, I did it. I tested it out best I could, every gear and in high and low, PTO, brakes, etc. No issues with anything until I got it home. Once home I had to raise the mower deck all the way up to get the tractor off of the trailer and then it wouldnt go back down. I tapped on the solenoid under the seat and down it came. Aside from that, it doesnt need much I dont think. The temp light stays on from even cold start up so I will need to figure that out. It has always been like he said. I got the headlights to work, cool. The left brake is disconnected under the floorboard so I will need to connect it and see why it was disconnected. Back tires show some dry-rot but hold air. Tractor came with a new operators manual that says these were built between 1975 and 1977 and says that the manual is for a gray market tractor, so i guess mine is gray? Decompression lever was seized I thought at first but it moves now. The guy i bought it from knew nothing about the lever. 694 on the hour meter but havent noticed it working yet. Radiator has a neat-o bug screen on the front of it, full of bugs of course. This is my first tractor so im pretty excited.

 

[California]

You did good!

If you are starting from zero you might like to see the sales brochures referenced from my sig, below. They describe the US versions of the same tractors. These US versions are nearly identical to your YM1700 and the larger displacement (just different sleeves/pistons) YM2000.

YM1700 (Japan) = YM195 (US)

YM2000 (Japan) = YM240 (US)

You have a great model. I was using my YM240 today and I thought 'This thing is about as simple as a good hammer. Simple, well made, does the job, you don't think about it, you just use it.'

If your temp light is on continuous then its wire is grounded somewhere between the bulb and the sensor on the top-front of the head. The way it should work is the sensor grounds internally only if overheated.

These often have a stuck brake after 30+ years. It sticks where the shaft goes through the cover. Disassemble, clean, grease the shaft with only the slightest hint of grease. About an hour or so for a first timer. The project is simple and obvious.


Enjoy!

 

[winston1]

California is right about temp light, could be the sensor itself is grounded out internally. Remove the wire from sensor and see if light goes out, if not wire is grounded, if so, replace sensor. This ought to make you a good workhorse!

 

[normde2001]

I see what you mean about "ugly". it's a shame about that botched paint job. You might experiment with some paint thinners/ removers/acetone and see if you can remove that green paint and get back to the original Yanmar red, and just touch that up, if need be.

 

[clemsonfor]

Norm are we sure thats not an early one, wernt they green like that sometimes. Maybe thts the puke green and that guy in texas just sells the JD green painted ones. Is that ym 1700 photoshopped in or is that the sticker on it?

 

[normde2001]

Norm are we sure thats not an early one, wernt they green like that sometimes. Maybe thts the puke green and that guy in texas just sells the JD green painted ones. Is that ym 1700 photoshopped in or is that the sticker on it?

No, that's obviously a red Yanmar with a bad green paint job and an aftermarket or homemade sticker. A pressure cleaner might strip that green paint off.

 

[rmully]

Good deal .... I bet everyone on here would have liked to buy it, if it cost a few bucks to get it in top shape you are still far ahead of the game. You will enjoy working on it!! I can never find deals like that... "some people get the peanuts others just get the shells"

 

[California]

are we sure thats not an early one, wernt they green like that sometimes.

His JD green/yellow wheels are just a (bad) repaint over the factory red.

The earliest YM1700/YM2000, with the hood hinged at the rear, were the same (ugly) pale 'leisure suit green' as my US Yanmar.

Then on the Japan-market ones they switched to red when they went to the later hood. The US versions remained pale green after that change.

The difference between Yanmar green / Deere green is visible if you scroll up and compare the color in my avatar photo to his thumbnail.

 

[branman1971]

California is right about temp light, could be the sensor itself is grounded out internally. Remove the wire from sensor and see if light goes out, if not wire is grounded, if so, replace sensor. This ought to make you a good workhorse!

Took out temp sensor, cleaned it up and reinstalled, and temp light still on. Disconnected the wire and light went out, so I will need to get a sensor. Where can I get one of those?

 

[branman1971]

I see what you mean about "ugly". it's a shame about that botched paint job. You might experiment with some paint thinners/ removers/acetone and see if you can remove that green paint and get back to the original Yanmar red, and just touch that up, if need be.

Yeah, you can see the original red under the peeling green paint. Maybe I will try to get it off of the top of the red. I know some of it will come off with the pressure washer on medium blast. My folks say it is Camo...

 

[clemsonfor]

Search Californias posts, i think he has found one that will work from old 70's era datsuns that can be purchased at Stores like advance auto. Other than that Hoye tractor who has an add at the top of the page here (site sponsor) has almost any and everything you cold need. If you order from Hoye i suggest that you look at the brakes and everything else over good to figure out what you need and make on order from Hoye. They are not bad onpricing but their shipping(UPS) makes single small purchases expensive, unless you have to have it then it dont matter. But i would like i said look at the breaks make sure that you dont need new shoes or parts in there figure out what you may need i would change the fluid and look at the screen, you may need a new one if yours is torn or too nasty, and add that to the sensor and then place the order that will reduce shipping cost to just a couple dollars per item in most cases.

 

[branman1971]

I disconnected the mower deck, which has been attached for at least 5 years, and I cannot get the forward most coupler off. It is attached directly to the PTO, has an allen screw on one side that I removed, and a grease fitting on the other side, and you can spin it with your hand and it clicks like a ratchet. I have pushed in, pulled out, turned, tapped, pried, and cant figure it out. If I look through the hole that the allen screw came out of, there is a hole that goes all the way through it seems. I really appreciate the knowledge shared by all you guys.

 

[branman1971]

Search Californias posts, i think he has found one that will work from old 70's era datsuns that can be purchased at Stores like advance auto. Other than that Hoye tractor who has an add at the top of the page here (site sponsor) has almost any and everything you cold need. If you order from Hoye i suggest that you look at the brakes and everything else over good to figure out what you need and make on order from Hoye. They are not bad onpricing but their shipping(UPS) makes single small purchases expensive, unless you have to have it then it dont matter. But i would like i said look at the breaks make sure that you dont need new shoes or parts in there figure out what you may need i would change the fluid and look at the screen, you may need a new one if yours is torn or too nasty, and add that to the sensor and then place the order that will reduce shipping cost to just a couple dollars per item in most cases.

Thanks Clemsonfor for the advice. I plan to check the fluids and screen soon. How do I check the brakes? Do the wheels have to come off?

 

[California]

The oil pressure sender is shared with 70's Japanese cars. I don't know about the water temp sender. Like Clemsonfor said, just order one from Hoyetractor.com next time you place an order with them.

Brake service: The brake drums are on separate little stub axles in front of the drive axles. Follow the brake pedal linkage and note where it goes. Pull that cover to examine brakes, and if needed, to free up the shaft where it passes through that cover. Hoyetractor.com has excellent exploded diagrams online so you can see what is in there.

99% of the time these just need a brake adjustment, not shoes. The anchor at the far side of the shoes can be turned a quarter turn to put taller shoulders next to the shoes which forces the shoes outward. Also the front/rear shoes on each side can be swapped to even out wear.

When I looked at mine I didn't remove the wheels but I did have to loosen the fenders and rotate them back out of the way before I had enough room. I didn't have a safe way to support the tractor with its wheels off.

For replacing the hydraulic fluid, wait until you can afford a week of downtime to order the filter screen, just in case you find yours is damaged. The 'strainer' (filter screen) is behind a triangle plate on the lower front face of the transmission. About $60 as I recall.

That ratcheting pto attachment is an 'overrun clutch', needed so the mower inertia won't push you forward after you put in the clutch. I would leave that on the tractor and detach the driveshaft from it.

 

[deepNdirt]

Great Score:thumbsup: although never understood the need of folks painting any tractor JD colors heck if I owned a JD I'd proly change it to red as I hate that Green & Yellow color combo