Yanmar diesel garden tractor?

[Adam Herman]

Parts may be a bit harder to find, but seems like they are very well built. the same engine is used in some sailboat applications and should last 3k hrs.

any guidance on that?

looking at this guy... seems like a good price with all the attachments. I can always find new bearings and stuff, or adapt to someone elses on the deck when/if it needs them. I see some JD 300 series for sale around the same price, but with just a mower deck or mower deck and blade. new driveway will be a couple hundred feet long and most of it gravel.

https://denver.craigslist.org/grd/d/...502507624.html

[michael langman]

Looks like a very clean tractor. If it has a 2 cylinder diesel I hear they are not as good as the 3 cylinder diesels, but I would not hesitate to buy it if the engine gets good reviews.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Can't verify this, but was told Yanmar does not really sell in North America. An importer brings in used tractors from over seas and refurbs them down in Ga, or somewhere. There are probably a dozen or so small Yanmar utility tractors running around my area. My neighbor has a Satoh gas tractor, and has a devil of a time getting parts, because it's gas and not diesel. A fellow near here has a nice little Yanmar, perhaps a step above the one in your ad, and wants $3,400 for it. Yes Yanmar made the engines included in some name brand small tractors. I am just very leery of orphan makes. I had a Moto Guzzi motorcycle in College and I loved the motorcycle, but parts were always special order and a two month wait.

[Adam Herman]

the 4 digit models are gray market. the 3 digit models were made in japan for the US market.

[Jim Koepke]

A former neighbor had a Yanmar and was always having to have parts fabricated. There was a lot of down time on that tractor.

jtk

[Jim Becker]

In addition to the comments here, TractorByNet, a forum similar to this one but geared for all things tractor, is a great resource. My dad had a Yanmar for many years. It was "basic", it worked and did what he needed to do with it. Parts were sometimes a challenge. I personally wouldn't go that route unless you truly have a love of working on tractors in creative ways.

There are plenty of great options available from Kubota (my favorite) Deere, New Holland and others for sub-compact and compact tractors, both used and new that are worthy of consideration. My Kubota BX-22 has served me well since about 2003...it's paid for itself multiple times over. I affectionately call it the "Big Orange Power Tool".

[Ed Labadie]

Being in CO, I would guess you get a fair ammount of snow.

I've no idea on parts as my Yanmar engine is in a Deere.

The 2 things that would make me walk away are the single stage snowblower and no 4 wheel drive.

Ed

[Matt Meiser]

I wouldn't buy a tractor at any price that didn't have very solid local dealer support. One winter my Deere had to go in for an oil leak which turned out to be a leak from a plug on the back of the block requiring almost 2 weeks of downtime. Dealer said not to worry, worst came to worst he'd run out and plow my driveway. Same dealer preemptively replaced bearings on my zero turn to ward off downtime because 2 of his commercial customers had bearing failures at more hours than I'd possibly EVER have put on mine. He also met me at the dealership and exchanged an almost new snowblower that wouldn't stay running in the middle of a near blizzard. I honestly felt guilty buying my commercial walk-behind mower elsewhere even though he didn't carry something comparable..

[Izzy Camire]

I have a Yanmar tractor and I love it. When I shopped for a tractor in 2011 I found that Yanmar was the best machine in my opinion. I have had zero problems with mine. If I did I can always go back to the dealer for support. Yanmar does have a presence in the USA along with their headquarters in Georgia.

[michael langman]

I have a john deere 318 with a single stage snowthrower that is 2 wheel drive. It is a heavy duty garden tractor, and with weight in the rear and chains it handle my steep driveway just fine in these Vermont winters

[glenn bradley]

We rented Yanmars right next to Massey Ferguson, Ford and Caterpillar. If a weekend renter who knows nothing about the machines can’t break them I would say they’re pretty tough. We never had much trouble with them to speak of. No more than with any other small frame machine.

[Bill Dufour]

http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/002/7/2/2721-yanmar-ym146.html

Ask at the site below.

http://www.mytractorforum.com/69-yanmar/

Bil lD.

[Ed Aumiller]

I have a John Deere 700 4wd tractor like ones used on golf courses....
It has a yanmar engine, etc... never had a problem and if JD is willing to put
there reputation on the line... think they are ok...
mine is now about 20 years old and only repair was leaking cylinder on front end loader...

[Ole Anderson]

Wranglerstar (youtube channel) seems very satisfied with his 60 horsepower 4 wheel drive compact Yanmar, but it is new and in a whole different class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APjOBP1FhX8

[Ronald Blue]

The only concern I would have is the age. That might make parts difficult for any brand when it's 35 years old. Here is a dealer locator for Yanmar. Check and see how readily parts are available. https://www.yanmar.com/us/dealerlocator/