[motovate]

Looking at a 1980 Kumiai 20 HP tractor online. I did figure out that it is a "Grey Market" tractor made by Mitsubishi. It has 1100 hours on it & comes with ah Gannon with no rippers. Owner claims it is a 4 cyl diesel and actually is saying it is a Mitsubishi with a Kumiai loader but all the photos show Kumiai on the Hood.

Anyone know about these??? And did Mitsubisi just paint them the Kumiai colors and badge them or are they "spec" built - meaning they might not have all good Mitsubisi parts but substitutions????? He has been showing it for $7900 for awhile until I saw 1 add for $7500 - he might take $7000???? Looking to go get it/look at it 20 or so miles away on Monday.

Any thing to look for - dicker for?????

Thanks

LBM:tango_face_smile:

 

[Caustic]

Lots of companies used the Mitsubishi engines. Both mitsubishi and Satoh built tractors for other companies as well.

That brand specifically, if it is a grey was likely not built by Mitsubishi.

 

[dave_r]

Base your offer with the idea that either parts will be difficult to find with lengthy times to ship them in, or you will have to fabricobble parts for it yourself.

 

[motovate]

Thanks to Caustic & Dave_r. I did a bunch of WWW searching on Kumiai and about all I could find was a site that said Kumiai was /is a Japan CO-OP that gets tractors made for the home market and it looks like Satoh and Mitsubisi made tractors for them. So Grey Market and hard to get parts for! Then I read the note from they guy with a Grey Market tractor with a stuck gear box. AND the guy telling me it is a 4 cyl Mitsubisi engine with a Kumiai loader when I could plainly see the Kumiai Badging on the Hood and him swearing he has lots of tractors and knows them well kind of made me real nervous. I backed out of the deal.

I've come to the realization that to get a name brand - Massey, Kubota, Yanmar, Ford, etc. I'm going to have to save some more coin, sell off a couple of motorcycles and a hot rod or two to end up with something that will work for me.

Sae La Vie the Old Folks Say - it Goes to show you - you never can Tell!!

LBM

 

[Caustic]

You can also go for an older, simpler tractor.

It is really a size issue, you can pick up a 30 - 50 hp old tractor for a few grand. It is typically more expensive for a compact utility.

 

[Oldtgeezer]

The advice by “Caustic” are words of wisdom. Unless you are into heavy farming, that 30 - 50hp range will turn up loads of tractors for you to choose from. Ford, Ferguson’s, John Deere and even 80’s thru 2000 Asian tractors. Your choice of Gas or Diesel. If you want to have one for eventual loader use, be POSITIVE your purchase has “Power Steering”, something most buyers forget or may not know why.

Your decision to walk away from the Kumasi (or whatever it actually was) was in all likelihood a very smart move.

 

[Ziptar]

Late to the thread but good call on leaving the Kumasi.

Back in the mid 90s my job was to go to Japan and travel around the country buying used fork lifts, tractors, and heavy equipment for import into the US and resell it. Japan's tax laws skewed allowances for depreciation to keep the economy going. It was advantageous for companies to replace equipment every 4 or 5 years and buy new.

We'd go around to all the scrappers and buy up the stuff before before it was cut up for scrap. Scrappers loved it because they got paid without the cost of breaking it up. Was a good deal for the owner, we'd pay as little as $6 or $8 grand for a Komatsu PC-60 for example there was big profit even after shipping and importation cost.

We only brought in stuff we knew could be serviced in the US. Komatsu, Kubota, Toyota and Nissan Forklifts, even Caterpillar could be had.

Couple of scrappers we dealt with literally had acres of those small tractors that could be had for a few hundred bucks a piece. Most were brands like that Kumasi but we didn't touch them.

The owner of the company tried to create a market for them and put some time and money into becoming the US parts supplier for several oddball brands but it never worked out.

If it was a Yanmar, Kubota, or Mistubishi that had an equivalent model in the US we'd buy them.

Getting parts for the oddball brands back then was impossible, couldn't imagine it now. I used to get several calls a week from guys looking for parts for them and could I help them out.


$7,000 will get you a decent tractor with loader from a brand that you'll be able to get parts for easily. Be patient, keep looking.