Members in Dallas Texas area do you know of this outfit

Tackit,

Iseki, on it's own, builds a fine machine.

The real problem is parts support AND the definition of "Remanufactured". The central hub for imported gray market tractors is right here, in TX. What the wholesaler doesn't publicly tout is that these machines are processed in Vietnam and not, good used tractors from Japan.

The truth is that these wholesale importers that entice new dealers (some unsuspecting and others "In the Know") promote the tractors as factory reconditioned, refurbished or remanufactured...to fool the average Joe into buying it, and the promise of after sales support. What they actually do is no more than replace the tires, batteries and seats, do some crafty body work and paint to make them attractive to the walk in customers and little or nothing else.

I really don't have any exact figures to show the percentage of these tractors, and their new owners, who experience mechanical failures within the first 90 days...but I would guess 75% or more. And this is how it's reported to work:

John Doe walks in and looks over the inventory. He finds the tractor that would meet his needs, negotiates the price and either buys the tractor and loads it up or has it delivered. A few days later, and at his residence, he discovers there's a 'clicking' sound in his FWD axle and the starter drags. He calls his seller and the seller says "Not to worry" I'll contact my wholesaler and get you the parts you need. A week or 10 days later, the starter arrives and it's used...OK, used will work. He replaces the bad starter (and ships it back as a core), but the new starter is sloppy, badly warn and it doesn't fit! So the cycle starts over, contact the seller who contacts the wholesaler and another starter is on it's way about two weeks later. Eventually, John Doe gets the right USED starter, it fits and works OK. Now, his tractor is ready to work after a month or so of frustrating phone tag and waiting for the part (starter). He goes to use his reconditioned tractor and notices the FWD axle is increasingly noisy, calls his seller and the seller tells him he need's to do a tear down to find out what parts is bad.

Yep, you guessed it! The whole cycle starts over again. This is done to stall the owner right out of his limited 90 day warranty. In a nut shell, Who actually states that the reconditioning process is so extensive....but only offers a limited 90 day warranty??

I noticed in your link to Josef Tractor that they list "Southern Global" as their parts support. This just can't be true as I've dealt with Southern Global while trying to purchase parts for two Iseki's (on separate occasions) that were here, in my shop for repairs. They are a big parts warehouse that sells to the general public. They offer little support for 'hard' parts on any of the Iseki models. We had to match up a clutch disk by counting the splines and disk measurements and came up with an early Toyota model number...which worked. I have seen a few of these tractors right here, in my shop. The front differential fluid is often years old, contaminated with water and looks like mustard in color. Fuel shut-off valves not OEM and from another brand of tractor entirely...mix-matched nuts, bolts and fasteners, taped radiator hoses and by passed fuse panels to make the instruments work. They are a nightmare when ordering parts. One in particular, was supposed to be a four cylinder but was replaced with a much earlier model (Mitsubishi) three cylinder.

If you're interested in a good, used Japanese gray market tractor, and buying one from a genuine legitimate dealer, I have contacts that I've known and trust for several years. They sell only the best supported tractors and offer at least a 1 year warranty.

Sorry for such a long winded reply...

Mark

Tackit,

I should add that I have 4 various sizes of gray market Yanmar tractors and love 'em all. I use to split container loads with a friend and we sold them separately (business not related). Every nut, bolt piston, crankshaft, injection pump...etc. is available here in the states.

The models I have are very well supported, were considerably less expensive then what was available and had thousands of hours less on each of them by comparison. And they all came from Japan as used tractors (not refurbished).

Here's a picture of my YM1610D 4X4 Yanmar....I did a little refurbishing and paint work on my own

tackit said:

Thanks Mark for the explanation of what can and does go wrong on them. I think Ill pass on gray market tractors. I want a tractor for next spring so I have time to do the local craig list thing...

The outfit's prices and pictures are so nice they caught my eye...sounds like another buyer beware situation. Fancy advertising can be so misleading, sure glad I asked. Thanks a ton.

Click to expand...

Tacit one other thing is for you to investigate getting a new tractor from any of the major tractor companies. Right now almost all of them are offering from 42-72 month interest free loans.

When I was in the market 2 years ago for a newer tractor, (I had a Kubota gray market) I looked at craiglist and then did some shopping but I finally said screw it. I went shopping at 4 different places and I found the tractor for me.

A John Deere 2305 fit me and my budget perfect at time it was zero interest, $2,000 down and 36 months for mine. I also went whole hog with it and got everything on it that I wanted, Front end Loader, Back hoe, 62 inch mid mount finish mower and a sun shade. All of it was financed. I had the money to pay cash but what I did is set up a separate savings account at my credit union and then have direct payment from it to John Deere Credit.

Just some thoughts for you.

Just so you know the dirty tires and bucket means I have been using the tractor in the background to the left of the tractor I had just finished a water drainage trench.