Tripp Tractor Imports

The Japanese people live on an area about the size of Texas. They also have half the population of the US. This crowded area is for the most part, self sufficient in its food supply. The Government heavily subsidizes the farm industry in order to keep this self sufficiency going. The Japanese farmers usually keep their tractors until something breaks. This could be anything, major or minor. At this time they sell their tractor and buy another.

This is for many reasons. There are no yards to mow and landscape or fields to bush hog. There is literally no one to buy a used tractor. Everyone who uses a tractor is a farmer, and can purchase a new tractor at a very reasonable price. Since there is no thriving used tractor business, there is also no one to repair the used tractors. Therefore once the tractor has mechanical problems, it is time to buy a new one.

These tractors are 5 to 20 years old. The reason they have low hours, and are usually in decent shape, is they do nothing but till gardens. The Japanese do very little row crop farming since land is in such short supply. Most farmers have small vegetable gardens or rice paddies. Tractors in Japan come standard with a tiller. These tractors are used to till the garden or rice paddy in the spring, and again to till under the soil in the fall. The rest of the year these tractors sit in the field (small lot).

Most farmers do not have a shed (every spare inch is farmed) and the tractors sit in the weather. Since Japan is a string of islands, the weather can be very harsh to the paint. Japanese used tractors are just like American used tractors. Some of them are maintained and cared for, and some of them are abused. I travel to Japan to buy tractors, and there are tractors in excellent shape, and junk tractors.

I like the Japanese tractors, but there are pluses and minuses to them. They are not cast off nearly new tractors, so some rich Japanese can keep up with the Jones's. The Japanese export almost everything that is used, out of the country. They have no land to use as a land fill. You can buy used clothes, furniture, pianos, TV's, stereos, motorcycles, cars, bicycles or anything else.

Most of this is shipped to areas other than the United States due to the economies. I know this was long and rambling, but many people are misinformed about these tractors. I try to get people to buy from a dealer who will tell them the true age of the tractor, and will give a warranty. Buy from a dealer who is in the business now, and will be in the business in 10 years when you need help.

The Japanese Grey market tractors are sold by many people without the resources to service the tractors or even get parts for them. I also notice that there are many dealers of these tractors that are an email address only. Many do not even give their real name, address or phone number. I get emails and phone calls every day from people who have bought a tractor from someone, and now needs help. If I have time, I try to help. But I also have a business to run, and a family that needs my time.

The quality of the advice given on this forum (and others) varies from excellent to suspect. No one is always correct, but some are more competent than others. There are several good dealers on this forum, and some that I would be wary of.