Mickey
10-18-2005, 10:00 PM
Several times in the past couple months I've been asked to comment/review my purchase of a gray market Yanmar tractor. Well, I've had it close to 2 months and have put about 10 hrs on the hr meter so maybe it's about time to make a report.
The tractor is an Fx24D which was made between mid-80's and early 90's. It's a 3 cyl diesel of 1.5L displacement. The engine is rate at 24 PTO HP. The tractor has power steering and power shift, "shift on the go". It's 4 wheel drive and I would consider it a compact tractor. It has what I would consider a complete instrument cluster. Tach, fuel gauge and temp gauge. Additionally it has a number of "idiot lights" for glow plugs, cooling water level, charge indicator, oil pressure and even battery electrolyte level. The tractor comes with a full set of lights, turn signals and a horn. One unique feature is what Yanmar calls the UFO and what it is is an automatic leveling system for the 3pt hitch. It is typ used with a mating tiller. Without the tiller components, the UFO functions as a hyd tilt control for the 3 pt hitch. Oh, it has a 4sp pto with the std 540 speed being the slowest.
I find the seating area a little compact with the seat nested back between the rear fenders. all the controls are either on the dash or either side of the driver's seat. A lot of these tractors don't have a draft control for the 3pt lift but this one does. There are 3 different controls for controlling the transmission. The primary control is part of the power shift and is located about knee position on the right fender and it looks and operates like a shifter one might find on an 80's model sports vehicle, "T" handle and all. It has 3 fwd and 1 rev and no clutch action is necessary. There is a 3 sp range shifter located to the left of the seat. And the last control is a small lever locate down low along your left leg. This is the "creep" gear and affects all other gears. Speed at full PTO speed is between .11 mph and 9.3 mph. In the lowest range it would take me over an hour to cover the length of my property, 600'.
The engine starts easy for a diesel and hardly ever needs the glow plugs. If the glow plugs are needed, 10 secs are max. There is also a compression release for those very cold days to help get the engine spinning.
I have a 4' loader, a 5' rotary mower and a 5' tiller. The loader has done everything I've asked of it and it has more lifting power and the tractor front end can actually handle. I've used the mower once to cut about 3 acres but was the second cutting on the field this yr so it wasn't as heavy as I would normally see in the spring. The tractor hardly knew the mower was back there and working. I purchased a tiller about 3 weeks ago and have posted several comments on it's performance. As for the tractor's performance with the tiller, it did more than what one might expect from it's size. I've put about an hr and a half on the tiller doing deep tilling and the tractor handled it without a hitch. Under heave load the engine would drop about 100-200 rpm but a touch of the throttle and the engine would speed up without any complaint. I was working the tractor hard enough I felt the proper gear was low range and either first or second gear. I noted the engine temp went up some from the load but within a couple mins after the load was removed, the temp dropped back. Neither the engine or trans complained about the load.
I don't know what more I could ask of a tractor of this size.
The only negative comments I can offer are related to the tractor's compact size and seating position. Getting on, I typ hit the turn signal lever and move it. Getting off requires a technique so one can get both feet on the same side before stepping down The rear tires are mounted somewhat narrow (they are adj for width) so mounting and dismounting the 3pt equipment is a little tight. One other thing, the parking brake lever is mounted next to the pto control and almost under my left leg and on more than one occasion I've grabbed the pto control when I was wanting the parking brake.
I guess this sums up my experience to date. Anyone looking for a gray market tractor I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Yanmar. And for those that don't know, Yanmar made compact tractors for JD for the last 20 yrs. That relationship has recently ended.
The tractor is an Fx24D which was made between mid-80's and early 90's. It's a 3 cyl diesel of 1.5L displacement. The engine is rate at 24 PTO HP. The tractor has power steering and power shift, "shift on the go". It's 4 wheel drive and I would consider it a compact tractor. It has what I would consider a complete instrument cluster. Tach, fuel gauge and temp gauge. Additionally it has a number of "idiot lights" for glow plugs, cooling water level, charge indicator, oil pressure and even battery electrolyte level. The tractor comes with a full set of lights, turn signals and a horn. One unique feature is what Yanmar calls the UFO and what it is is an automatic leveling system for the 3pt hitch. It is typ used with a mating tiller. Without the tiller components, the UFO functions as a hyd tilt control for the 3 pt hitch. Oh, it has a 4sp pto with the std 540 speed being the slowest.
I find the seating area a little compact with the seat nested back between the rear fenders. all the controls are either on the dash or either side of the driver's seat. A lot of these tractors don't have a draft control for the 3pt lift but this one does. There are 3 different controls for controlling the transmission. The primary control is part of the power shift and is located about knee position on the right fender and it looks and operates like a shifter one might find on an 80's model sports vehicle, "T" handle and all. It has 3 fwd and 1 rev and no clutch action is necessary. There is a 3 sp range shifter located to the left of the seat. And the last control is a small lever locate down low along your left leg. This is the "creep" gear and affects all other gears. Speed at full PTO speed is between .11 mph and 9.3 mph. In the lowest range it would take me over an hour to cover the length of my property, 600'.
The engine starts easy for a diesel and hardly ever needs the glow plugs. If the glow plugs are needed, 10 secs are max. There is also a compression release for those very cold days to help get the engine spinning.
I have a 4' loader, a 5' rotary mower and a 5' tiller. The loader has done everything I've asked of it and it has more lifting power and the tractor front end can actually handle. I've used the mower once to cut about 3 acres but was the second cutting on the field this yr so it wasn't as heavy as I would normally see in the spring. The tractor hardly knew the mower was back there and working. I purchased a tiller about 3 weeks ago and have posted several comments on it's performance. As for the tractor's performance with the tiller, it did more than what one might expect from it's size. I've put about an hr and a half on the tiller doing deep tilling and the tractor handled it without a hitch. Under heave load the engine would drop about 100-200 rpm but a touch of the throttle and the engine would speed up without any complaint. I was working the tractor hard enough I felt the proper gear was low range and either first or second gear. I noted the engine temp went up some from the load but within a couple mins after the load was removed, the temp dropped back. Neither the engine or trans complained about the load.
I don't know what more I could ask of a tractor of this size.
The only negative comments I can offer are related to the tractor's compact size and seating position. Getting on, I typ hit the turn signal lever and move it. Getting off requires a technique so one can get both feet on the same side before stepping down The rear tires are mounted somewhat narrow (they are adj for width) so mounting and dismounting the 3pt equipment is a little tight. One other thing, the parking brake lever is mounted next to the pto control and almost under my left leg and on more than one occasion I've grabbed the pto control when I was wanting the parking brake.
I guess this sums up my experience to date. Anyone looking for a gray market tractor I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Yanmar. And for those that don't know, Yanmar made compact tractors for JD for the last 20 yrs. That relationship has recently ended.