[AT] yanmar

[Chris Britton]

>From: "charlie hill" <chill8 at cox.net>
>Just for the sake of the conversation would someone describe the issues 
>with
>a grey market unit Vs. a made for USA sale unit.  Obviously there is a
>warranty issue but the unit in question isn't under warranty so what would
>be other problems?  I take it that some parts will NOT interchange with the
>"USA" versions.

As mentioned, (most) of the 3 digit yanmar tractors were made for the 
domestic US market.  That means they they have parts support thru yanmar 
dealers.. I.E. if your YM240 needs a part, you can go to say.. a yanamr 
marine dealer.. tell him your part# and SN of the tractor and he can order 
it for you.  For trade agreement, and mostly, liability issues, the 4 digit 
( and some 3 digit ) units will not be directly supported.  it is pretty 
commonnly known that yuo can find some dealers supporting the 4 digit units 
either by having a resale contact in japan ( or elsewhere).. or be crossing 
over part numbers to domestic models and in some cases JD branded yanmars, 
and then ordering the parts that way.

Specifically, the issues witht he grey probably boil down to safety 
issues... Such as.. the decals and manuals are in japaneese.. and there may 
be a lack of safety equipment such as pto shields and rops.. etc.

It is generally accepted that you buy the japenese parts manual for your 
grey, and just use it for the pictures / diagrams, while also purchasing the 
us owners manual for the closest matched US unit.  In my case.. i bought a 
jap 1700 parts manual, and a US owners manual that covered the 195-240    A 
yanmar 2000 owner would have bought the same US manual I did.  While there 
are many differences, the US owners manual gives you reference points, and 
that with the jap parts manual.. usually gets you what you need to know.

Many parts are becoming scarce.. like for the small grey unit 4wd parts.. 
like front axle parts for things like the 1300D.  Also.. the very old 
models.. like the 1777 which is a grey unit despite it being 3 digit.. it 
was a predecessor to the 1700.  There are also some odd/rare units like the 
1900 that tend to have more limited parts support.. etc.

Many of these tractors are from the late 70's and early to mid 80's  They 
have great metalurgy.. far superior to domestic 'antiques' and current 
production chinese, especially if you take into account process and 
fit/finish / qc issues.

If you need any more info, or have specific questions.. just let me know... 
I've dabbled with yanmars for a few years.

Soundguy