Yanmar: Photos of the various Gray Market models

California · Dec 7, 2007

Here is a set of photos showing the Yanmar models that are often seen in the US as gray market imports. It's on the website of a Japanese dealer who exports container quantities, 8-12 units in a 20 foot container or 16-26 units in a 40 foot container.

http://www.ksenterprise.co.jp/yanmar.html

I don't know anything about the dealer. I just liked his photos of good condition, unrestored tractors.

He also has photo sections for Iseki, Shibaura, Mitsubishi & Satoh, Hinomoto, and Kubota. (Note you can't import Kubota grays into the US.)

Ductape · Dec 7, 2007

Pretty neat ! There is a business in the next town, a rigger who also does some site work / construction ....... who has a bunch of geys sitting in his yard. Mostly Yannys, but a Mitsu and maybe a Hinomoto thrown in for good measure. They have been sitting there in his yard for years, obviously many more years than i have known about them. I've always figured it was some sort of container-load-gone-wrong. One of these days i'm gonna stop in there and ask what the deal is, and if any of them are for sale.

Mark777 · Dec 7, 2007

Hey California,

Shame on Me!!! I thought this was going to be another typical gray market web site (ho-hum), but I was sure surprised. Some of these I've never even heard of before...Like that A10D - That's a one man show tiller rig if there ever were such a thing. And that AF400 (would sure look good in my yard!) what a beautiful tractor that thing is.

Never heard of these guy before...wonder if they're new kids on the block??

Thanks for sharing.

Mark

California · Dec 7, 2007

Mark, I found that Yanmar tractor export site just by luck.

I saw a $1200 Mitsubishi D1100D on Craigslist in an ad from sactotractors.com. (the place where I got my tiller). So I searched online to find its specs.

I discovered that this Mitsubishi is pretty small, only 11 pto hp. For $1200 it would make a cute mower but it's too small for the orchard.

bmaverick · Aug 17, 2014

I would love to have a YM4300 aka JD 1050 with turbo.

Here is another site for more YM grays.
http://www.fredricksimporting.com
http://fredricksequipment.com/yanmar (images)

LincTex · Aug 18, 2014

Mark777 said:
.Like that A10D - That's a one man show tiller rig if there ever were such a thing.

Yes, it looks like it would be a HANDY little rig! My wife would love that!

Kind of like an Allis-Chalmers "G" that evolved over the years!

bmaverick · Nov 29, 2014

California said:
Mark, I found that Yanmar tractor export site just by luck.

I saw a $1200 Mitsubishi D1100D on Craigslist in an ad from sactotractors.com. (the place where I got my tiller). So I searched online to find its specs.

I discovered that this Mitsubishi is pretty small, only 11 pto hp. For $1200 it would make a cute mower but it's too small for the orchard.

Bummer that the Sacto tractor place is gone on the web.

California · Nov 29, 2014

bmaverick said:
Bummer that the Sacto tractor place is gone on the web.

Oh man I miss that place. I got a lot of small parts there to renovate my YM240 after I bought it, for example a correct fuel filter assembly off a warranty-return tractor they had parked out back.

I think what did them in was a good honest warranty-exchange policy that buried them, when too many of the tractors they received from their parent refurb factory in VN had unsolvable problems.

They then tried a second business model bringing clean Yanmars straight from Japan to sell, but I think they only sold a few of those before shutting down.

Today Coldwater near Seattle is the only firm I know of in the West importing as-is decent Yanmars. And Fredricks in the South remains the only firm where I would buy a reconditioned Yanmar, if I wanted to spend that much. (I never will).

My tiller is in this photo.

bmaverick · Nov 30, 2014

Actually TYM in WA has been around too. They still offer good Gray Yanmars and sweet package deals.

http://www.tractorco.com/tractors/used.html

http://www.tractorco.com/tractors/packages.html

LincTex · Dec 1, 2014

California said:
I discovered that this Mitsubishi is pretty small, only 11 pto hp. For $1200 it would make a cute mower but it's too small for the orchard.

It would be a GREAT garden machine. Don't let the numbers fool you.

I used to work at a certified seed plant that ran a 8" x71' Westfield auger (with a swing hopper) with a 16 HP Kubota tractor!

Even more impressive - - I plugged that auger once when the bin got full, and the tractor NEVER lost RPM... it just made a LOT of black smoke!! I was thoroughly impressed!!!

bmaverick · Apr 3, 2024

Gray Market photos eh?

Here is one not frequently seen. It's rare enough. About 2,000 only made. This one slipped into Canada.
It sort of looks like an early Kubota. It predates the YM1100 and YM1300 machines with a similar look.

YM173

bmaverick · Apr 3, 2024

Another YM Gray,

YM260

This predates those Deere machines with the square lights in the rear fenders for the compacts.
This only had about 1,600 made officially. some say 2,000 unofficially. The nicer YM260 below is out on a farm in Nebraska.