Yanmar Models To Avoid

Updated January 2015

Parts availability really has nothing to do with grey market, USA market, or even how long a tractor has been out of production. The single key to buying a tractor that will have long lasting parts availability is finding a tractor that either:

1)- Was enormously popular

or

2)- Shares a lot of parts with a popular model or lot of other models.

Before we list the worst let's list the BEST. This is my list of the BEST 8 models to buy based on parts availability & durability (My personal opinion... in no order).

Best Models To Buy
YM1500 YM1500D
YM1700 YM1700D
YM195 YM195D
YM2000 YM2000D
YM2210 YM2210D ** If I had to be dropped on an island with just one tractor - this would be it. Simple, powershift, & built like a tank. If you break this tractor it is your own fault!
YM240 YM240D
YM3110 YM3110 - non-power steering
YM336 YM336D - non-power steering
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Now on to the MODELS TO AVOID
YM177 - no chance of getting parts - very rare model - no sharing
YM350 - Korean market model - no chance of getting parts
YM455 - Korean market model - no chance of getting parts
YM273 - no chance of getting parts - very rare model - very limited sharing
YM1110 - very limited chance of getting parts - very rare model - no sharing
YM5000 & other tractors over 45 horsepower- Very few ever imported because of the cost to ship them here- only a couple will fit into a container at a time compared with 12-20 smaller tractors. No sharing. Very rare in the USA.

YM2200 & YM2700 - Does not share parts with anything else. It is a popular tractor though so parts availability is getting better & it will probably be taken off this list once a few more key parts get reproduced. Key parts like a cylinder head, intake & exhaust valves, and connecting rods are very hard to find. They are no longer sold new and are very expensive as a used part... if you can find them.

2 digit "F" series tractors like the F22, F16, FX32, etc. Parts availability is getting better but still very limited. You can now at least get the engine rebuild parts (pistons, rings, bearings, etc) but some transmission parts and most "cosmetic" parts are still not available new. We do try to keep a good selection of used F series tractors to part out though so we should have many of the used parts you will need. We recommend that you avoid these models for right now if you depend on your tractor to make a living and can not afford downtime while we locate parts. The engines in these models are NOT sleeved like the YM series and are prone to becoming "egg shaped" if ever overheated... requiring a trip to the machine shop to fix.

Newer 3 digit "F" series tractors like F195, F395, as well as the newer single digit "F" series like the F5, F6, F7 etc. These are still very new to the US and there are no operation manuals or service manuals for them. Parts availability is VERY limited at this time. It will probably get better but it could still be many years before the parts supply starts to catch up. WARNING- These tractors are loaded with very complex electronics and are almost completely computer controlled. For example, the three point lever on most of these models is now even computer controlled! The lever attaches to a potentiometer which controls electric operated valves. With no English service manuals or wiring diagrams we have a hard time recommending these tractors to anyone but adventurous electronic engineers :). The great thing about the Yanmar tractors has always been that the average Joe with a test light, torque wrench, and a service manual could fix just about anything on the tractor. This is no longer true starting with the introduction of the F series models. They are very complex (compared to the YM series) machines.

So what about the brand new USA model Yanmars? CLICK HERE