The Marvelous Diesel Mini-Tractors!

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LIKE PEAS IN A POD

The specifications for small Japanese diesel tractors—within any given horsepower grouping—read like a checklist for purebred litter-mate pups. In the accompanying table I've compared four of the four-wheel drive, 15- and 16-horse-power models that are now available in this country. As you can see in that chart, the overall dimensions and weights of these vehicles differ by only a few inches and pounds.

In addition, all four of these Japanese models have vertical, water-cooled diesel engines (the Kubota with three cylinders, the others with two). Each of the tractors also offers differential wheel locks which (when combined with their four-wheel-drive capability) makes the machines just about mireproof . . . even in that sloppy swale out behind the barn. (In fact, such vehicles are actually used in Asia to plow rice paddies before those flooded areas are planted.) Even the forward and reverse travel speeds are nearly identical from one of the four imports to another, and the small machines can creep along at just over 1/2 mile per hour (slower than many full-sized machines, and an important safety feature when working steep grades) ... or race to the barn ahead of a cloudburst at 6 to 8 miles per hour.

Of course, although the mini-diesels cost far less than full-sized machines, you still have to pay for the performance they offer . . . and there aren't any runts in this "litter" in terms of price. The four small tractors range (on the East Coast) anywhere from $4,055 to $4,295. However, off-season discounts of up to 10% were offered by some dealers in January 1979 . . . and the increased competition in this new market should encourage promotional discounts throughout the rest of the year.

THE TEST OF TIME

If you're interested in one of the new crop of imported mini's—but just a little worried about buying from a "new" firm—take heart, because all four of the manufacturers that dominated the mini-tractor market last year (Kubota, Yanmar, Satoh, and Iseki/FMC Bolens) are established Japanese firms with excellent reputations and company histories that go back as far as 90 years! Therefore, it's a safe bet that the agricultural machinery manufactured by these corporations will be part of our rural scene for a long time to come.

SMALL TRACTORS, BIG PERFORMANCE?

Last spring, when I sold off part of my land and trimmed my farming interests down to three acres of pasture and a half-acre cultivated plot, I traded my 10-year-old Massey Ferguson 135 in for a new 15-horsepower, four-wheel-drive Yanmar 155D. As you can imagine, I had a few misgivings about the deal. After all, the big Massey had built farm roads, bush-hogged acre after acre of overgrown brush, subsoiled pasture, and dragged half-ton logs out of the woods. However, since most of the heavy work around my place was long since done—and seeing as the MF-135 was in need of close to $1,000 in repairs and maintenance parts—I figured that the little machine would be a practical choice. My only real worry was about the kind of performance I could expect from the newcomer.

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