HOW TO SELECT A COMPACT TRACTOR

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What is a grey market tractor? 

If you shop around for anything larger than a garden tractor, sooner or later you will hear the term grey market tractor. A grey market tractor is simply a used tractor, usually a compact diesel, imported from another country, usually Japan. Demand for compact diesel tractors is quite high, and grey market tractors are becoming a popular option for an increasing number of buyers. However, there are advantages and disadvantages to purchasing a grey market tractor. The main attraction is these tractors are usually less expensive than nearly identical models made for the American market. For a variety of reasons—currency exchange rates, differences in the value of used equipment overseas, low import tariffs—used equipment dealers can profitably resell these tractors for less than domestic machines. By the same token, grey market tractors are worth less when they're traded in.

The main disadvantage to grey market tractors is manufacturers despise their resale in the United States and are actively trying to stop the practice. Yanmar's position on grey market tractors is spelled out quite clearly on its Web site. Kubota's site provides a list of grey models specifically made for use in Japan that the company's domestic dealers will not support.

Manufacturers claim these tractors are different from those manufactured to U.S. standards, particularly with respect to safety features. Also, although grey market tractors bear familiar trademarks, the manufacturers have not set up the dealer training and parts-service networks in the United States to support these particular models. So no support for this equipment is available from the manufacturers or from their licensed dealers.

Foreign models may not have part numbers that correspond to domestic models, which can make it difficult or impossible to obtain replacement parts. Manufacturers say safety drawbacks—such as foreign language warning labels, instrumentation and operator manuals, lack of roll bar protection, seat belts and PTO shields—make these tractors noncompliant with U.S. safety standards at best, and at worst, unsafe. In some cases dishonest or uninformed resellers misrepresent reworked grey market tractors as domestic models.

Manufacturers are fighting the inevitable customer confusion resulting from their inability to support some models of their own brands. On the other hand, independent dealers claim grey market tractors are mechanically identical to the higher-priced U.S. models, and a few safety labels, some inexpensive PTO shields, and add-on roll bar and seat belt can easily make them equally safe, as well. They claim to have cross references for nearly all parts and that manufacturers are unfairly restricting the market by refusing to support these tractor models.

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