grey market kubota kh-033

[47sawdust]

I have an interest in a grey market Kubota mini with under 3000 hours.Is there any support available for this?I believe it is about a 1992 model.Thanks for your input.

[coxy]

parts will be all most imposable to get  my buddy has a ( kobelco :-\) ;D and has been waiting over 2 months for a gear in the drive pump    he had a guy make the last one but it was not 100% and it ripped things apart 

[Southside]

Pretty sure that is a completely different machine there Coxy.  I have a Kobelco excavator, never have problems with parts.  As far as the gray market Kubota, outside of a couple of guards, which can be put on and such they are the identical machine that you buy here in the US, it was just sold in Japan at first, everything is interchangeable. 

[Grizzly]

Every time I've tried to buy a grey market tractor the salesman or owner has warned me that I will need implements particular to them. The pto apparently spins opposite to what we have here and that is the difference between grey market and most of the used stuff we can get. I never did buy one so I don't have proof but this is what owners were telling me. I do own a Chinese wheel loader and its been quite a journey getting a reliable parts source for it.

[BargeMonkey]

I would call around looking for parts and see what they say.  :D  I know some of the larger "grey" market excavators are problems for parts, cabs and glass arent same specs. I know of a contractor who had alot of problems with a Yanmar B-50 machine, pumps where odd for parts. we have a 121-3 and its been flawless, not a high frills and fancy like a deere or cat but they make a good machine.

[Holmes]

I have a grey market mini 12,000 lbs  Fortunately I have not broken any major parts yet. Had it fo 12 years going toward 3200 hours   kubota will not help at all for parts.  It would be nice to know if they are actually Kobelco's or Komatsu's   Mine is a RX 501 .

[shinnlinger]

can you get it for scrap price?   Is it a good enough deal you could part it out and do ok?  If it's a strong runner and the price is right,  probably worth a chance, but if the owner thinks it's something special I would probably pass.

[Oliver05262]

  Working on a Kobelco LK300A wheel loader locally. Grey market machine; has a Mitsubishi engine in it. Machine apparently was sold in Aus/NZ area with this engine. The machine "may" have been sold in the US with a Yanmar engine.
  Needed service information for the injection system and I could not find anything out. The only repair manual I could find was a Kobelco manual that seemed to cover all serial numbers, but it only showed the Yanmar engine. Got what information I needed from D&W and a tech in a fuel injection shop in BC Canada. The owner had to find what parts he has needed on the 'net because dealers apparently have no listing for this loader.
  What I'm sayin' is you may be on your own for parts and service.

[Straightgrain]

I don't know about that model, but this topic strikes a chord with some maintenance-minded people like myself; maintenance was literally hazed into me in the service and now, maintenance is kind of a hobby; being that I get a lot of enjoyment out of taking good-care of my own equipment.

The fore-knowledge that a "Grey Market" exists is a luxury (or blessing for some) in itself. Picking a manufacturer or brand that pushes parts and other end-items as far forward as possible (toward the customers) is a good choice in this era of "NIMBY" global market(s).

Adding a reasonable amount of money to the purchase price to so the manufacturer or dealerships will have the necessary parts pre-positioned is well worth the money to me.

Some owners do the same thing when they buy what they can in bulk; service items like o rings, filters etc.

The auto parts stores stock parts by VINs; they somehow gained access to registered vehicles in each area/region.

So, if you buy a Grey Market piece of equipment, you may have to do what some manufacturers do for us; buy a second one to part-out and stock up heavily on service items.

Once again, great topic, thanks!

[BargeMonkey]

 Some other forums on the internet have quite a bit of info on the grey market stuff, and a dealer in Alaska has a good page on it also. It makes quite a bit of sense with some of it because of the financial incentive in Japan for them to keep buying new equipment, and the low hr stuff go's on a Ro-Ro and turns up in port Elizabeth NJ.  :D  i guess 80% of the grey market stuff is ok, its actually the dealers here in the states who wont support the parts because YOU didnt buy a USA market machine. Google it, actually worth the read.

[Dave Shepard]

I would call around looking for parts and see what they say.  :D  I know some of the larger "grey" market excavators are problems for parts, cabs and glass arent same specs. I know of a contractor who had alot of problems with a Yanmar B-50 machine, pumps where odd for parts. we have a 121-3 and its been flawless, not a high frills and fancy like a deere or cat but they make a good machine.

I'd take a Kubota over a JD or CAT in it's weight class any day. The new JD 50D we got at work a couple of years ago as not as nice a machine as the -3 Kubotas. The small, less than 6 ton, CATs I have run are not very well finished, and did not impress at all. The 307C was really nice, one of the smoothest I've run, but had no digging power, and the dealer confirmed that it was working correctly. :

[luvmexfood]

I would do a lot of research on the availablity of parts before taking the plunge. Waiting to get a part that someone thinks is the right part to only find out it isn't and having to pay return shipping can soon negate any savings you might have encountered.

Personally. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft. pole.

[jmouton]

          i thought grey market machines were illegal  in the u.s.   ,,,,  just wondering ,,i heard that somewhere along the way



                                                                                   jim

[trapper]

jmouton happy birthday

[BargeMonkey]

I would call around looking for parts and see what they say.  :D  I know some of the larger "grey" market excavators are problems for parts, cabs and glass arent same specs. I know of a contractor who had alot of problems with a Yanmar B-50 machine, pumps where odd for parts. we have a 121-3 and its been flawless, not a high frills and fancy like a deere or cat but they make a good machine.

I'd take a Kubota over a JD or CAT in it's weight class any day. The new JD 50D we got at work a couple of years ago as not as nice a machine as the -3 Kubotas. The small, less than 6 ton, CATs I have run are not very well finished, and did not impress at all. The 307C was really nice, one of the smoothest I've run, but had no digging power, and the dealer confirmed that it was working correctly. :

That machine has basically idled our backhoe. A CL-170 track machine and a 121-3 will do alot of clean work in a day. We should have waited a few more weeks when we bought this one new, the 6 way blades where just coming out. Still a nice machine and they sip fuel.

[scsmith42]

I bought a grey market Kubota tractor 15 years ago. Never again! Parts were all but impossible to obtain and sometimes you had to wait 4-6 months for them to arrive. There are no serial number cross over charts so you could not obtain parts from a local dealer either.

My tractor was prematurely retired due to a broken front axle component.

[47sawdust]

Thanks for your input.I have decided to save my money and avoid trouble.No parts on this continent,swing drive is sketchy could be an inoperable money pit.I have a soft spot for old iron but not the wallet to support it.