New tractor

[johncinquo]

Hmmm, not forestry and logging, not sawmilling, no forum for "I'm a goof and wanted a new toy" .  Its just a general discussion!

I have been looking for a tractor for awhile and finally picked this up.  A Jinma 354.  It is a chinese tractor.  They are imported in crates and the deal is you take delivery off a truck at a central facility near you, and put them together yourself.  I looked at everything on the market and they were either way over priced or beat to heck.  I was 20 minutes late missing a great deal on a kubota!  Well this is 35 horse power, 4 wheel drive, has a front end loader, pto with 2 speeds, 3 point.  Just right for my occasional dirt moving, log hauling, or hay ride pulling.  I have only put a coulpe hours on it so far, but everything seems to work as it should. 

The seller was in West Wisconcin and had it together alrerady, it was his demo tractor.   I got it at a great deal, and didnt have to put it together!   Burlcraft (Steve) just happened to be coming to MI to go bear hunting with Da Boss and we worked out a deal for him to pick it up and bring it to me, and then head up to chase bears.   He arrived with it here Thursday. 

I did some research on CTOA, Chinese tractors owners association website and found they were pretty well recommended and lost of good info.  For my needs this should work out just fine.  I'll let you know how it all turns out after a few more projects.

[Burlkraft]

John,

I hope that's an old picture....It ain't even dirty yet

Have fun with the new tool

[Murf]

Congrats there!!!

I hope it's got a BIG fan on the heater, cause that cab looks awful drafty...... 

[thecfarm]

It does look like a new one.Good for you.Now you'll have to saw out a garage to keep it in.

[beenthere]

John
Nice lookin rig there.
Havin fun yet?
I suspect Steve already mentioned how handy these are with a set of forks on the loader arms. 

[sprucebunny]

Congratulations , John  Great color

[CHARLIE]

Enjoy your new tractor!   Are parts available for them? 

[Corley5]

I'm looking forward to more reports on your tractor John.  I've been interested in them too and the price is right.     

[johncinquo]

I could not find a dealer in MI, that was one of the biggest issues I had with buyijng something site unseen.  I wanted to go look one over and touch it, ya know.  I found the best deal on the crate tractor from a place in WA state.  It would arrive in Grand Rapids at a shipping depot and they would load it for me and away I would go....  I was just a lil leery of that but I hear plenty of folks do it that way and only a few have ahd problems. 

This dealer is out of WI.  A real nice fella doing it part time.  We talked on the phone several times and I got the feeling he was just another regular guy with a cool part time/hobby job.  Kinda like a lot of folks around here! 

The price on one like this was about $11,795.  I go this one for slightly less because he had more inventory inbound and needed it to sell quick. 

Parts are a small issue, but getting better all the time with all the new ones arriving and being put into service all the time.  He sent a toolbox with it with the mauals, an assortment of spare parts like gaskets and fittings, and all new filters for the 1st fluid changes.  A nice little package deal.  I am eyeing up some implements already.  Theres a nice brush grinder I'd like to put to work.

[Tom]

The tool kit and spare parts are a good touch.  You are dealing with a fellow who knows how to market.  That's the best way in the world to quash the feelings a customer may have over support.  He's proving to you that, at least, he has the parts.

I like to see a person go the extra mile.  Selling is as much trust as it is a good product.

Still, I think it would behoove you to build an inventory of spares.   Grey Market tractors have entered the country for years.  There are some real horror stories of unsuspecting people, especially those who have purchased their first tractor and don't know what to suspect.   I have a friend who bought one and found that his power take-off turned the wrong way.  No U.S. made tools would work on it.   He had a gasket go in his fuel pump and couldn't get it fixed for lack of available parts.  Nothing else would fit .  There were no aftermarket options.  He couldn't even buy a replacement pump.   I don't know if the reason was that the company no longer existed or if it was cost of the item.  As far as I know, the tractor has been sitting in the edge of his field with trees growing up through it for about 8 years now.  Grey market tractors are notorious for their expensive or non-replaceable parts.

Having said that,  Other countries see the USA as a veritable, bottomless market place and there have been many in-roads in the quality and support offered.  I went to Moultrie's Sunbelt Ag Show one year and saw tractors from countries that I didn't even know were countries.  It seems that most have been renamed by bigger USA distributers so that you don't know exactly where they originated.  But, the world is still full of them.  Copies of Fords and Fergusons seem to be the most prevelant from the Iron Curtain countries.

[Corley5]

I've looked at Montana tractors a few times and they look like pretty nice machines.  The smaller ones are made in Korea and have Mitsubishi engines.  The larger ones are made in Romania and are I think renamed Longs.  These don't appear as refined as the compact models.  The castings aren't as smooth, the hoods are fiberglass and you can see waves in it etc.  The Jinma's seem to be a real good value.  Can the filters be purchased from NAPA or Carquest?  What are the PTO speeds?

[Onthesauk]

I bought a gray market tractor ten years ago and have easily gotten my money out of it.  Back then there were few dealers and virtually no info on them.  Kind of learned as I went and have had no major problems with it.

Now there is a massive amount of info available on the net, manuals and parts.  Dealers are still a regional thing so you pretty much have to do your own work but think I can get pretty much anything for mine, and it's close to 30 years old.  But if you feel you need the dealer support, gray market may not be for you.

One of the best resources is TractorByNet.com   Much like this site.  Good group of people, very knowledgeable and willing to help.  As I've mentioned before, they sent me here!

[ScottAR]

We've found some wix filters for the china tractors...  We just had to dig the book out and go on the thread sizes and gasket sizes...  Takes a few minutes but it's not hard
with some calipers and a good book.   A parts man that can read is also handy.

[Corley5]

A parts man that can read is also handy.

Just having one that knows anything is handy   I went into a local Ace Hardware a couple weeks back because I didn't want to drive back through traffic to one of the big places.  I was met at the door by a cheery, eager young fella who seemed like he might know something.  He asked me if he could help me find what I was looking for.  I was encouraged.  I told him I needed a 4" long 1/2" pipe nipple.  Simple enough right   He got this glazed look in his eyes and started looking around for someone to help him   I could see where it was heading and just asked him to point me towards plumbing.  I knew what I was looking for

[johncinquo]

PTO speeds of 540 or 720.   There are several cross references you can download for filters for each tractor, and either Wix or another brand will work.  I asked at my local parts, fluids, hoses, we'll order anything you need place, the one with the cat sleeping on the counter, and they said no problem, they'll be able to get just abtou anthing for it.     The "grey market" are tractors that are not made for sale in the US.  They are imported as used goods.  They are supposed to have xxxx number of hours on them before being shipped into the US.  You can still buy them here, but your more likely to get something that you NEVER heard of or be able to fix.  The Jinma, Nortrac, Landtrac, etc are all imported in new, and go through a dealer.  Its no John Deere for sure, but I can still walk after the bite it took out of my wallet.  I've played with it some more and found some things I like like the mounts for the loader are already attached to it, for when you want to take it off the tractor.  The extra connection for power PTO out the back for implements is nice.  You can get at every filter and connection with ease, no 7th finger or kid arm needed.  There is no power down on the 3pt, but I never even though to ask about that.   A few bolts have worked loose, so I am going over everything with loctite and making sure it all stays attached.  There are zerk fittings on every moving part!  I have a peeve about rust, and just love my grease gun!   Several body panels are fiberglass or heavy plastic, I dunno what to think, its lighter, and wont rust, but it does feel kinda odd on a piece of equipment.  I originally wanted the 454, or 45 HP model.  This is a 4 cylinder instead of 3, so it feel pretty strong with the 35. 
I did find some hyd fluid leaking, but it is coming out of what I believe is a breather on the top of the power case.  It may have just been splashing around when I took it for a "so just how fast is high 4" trip.   Its faster than I want to go on ag tires!  I picked up the back end of my ford f150 with the loader.  Didnt seem to balk at all.  I need to go find something worthwhile to pull on to see just how she pulls in 4wd.  Maybe I can get a chain hooked up for some stump removals this weekend. 
This is foot controlled speed or RPMs, I am used to setting engine with a hand control, picking your gear, and working the clutch to get er going.  This is more like a car and I have come close to stalling it, but I just have to give er the gas and away we go.

When I stop playing and actuallu get to "work" I'll let you know how she does.  Now, who has name?   I'm thinking Virjinia! 

[beenthere]

Power down on 3pts is very rare on any tractor. Not a usable feature, as it raises the rear wheels and you lose traction.

[Tom]

35 is a lot of horses, even if you wanted   45.    4wd adds another 1/3 of the total in horspower, so you should be able to pull down the side of the barn.  It's a ballpark figure, but that was what I was told.  That gives you the equivelant of 46 horsepower-drawbar.

How about Boo-Chinee-kracker   

[Murf]

Nah, it looks like the mighty warrior type, you can't give it a sissy girl's name.

My vote is for "Jeptha", being 4wd it could even make a river crossing easy....

      

[den]

Here is some more sites.

http://www.homestead.com/ctoa/
http://jplan.com/tractor/home.sht
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/kb13/TF_home.htm
http://tractorpoint.com/cgi-bin/tractor/homepage.pl?source=tractorpoint
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greymarkettractorclub/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mitsubishitractors/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yanmartractorownersgroup/

[mike_van]

John, there's no reason I can think of where you want power down on a 3 ph. They are supposed to float to whatever depth you have the handle at.  My 574 [and many others] have draft control, it  controls the depth of plows, chisels, whatever.