johnmatryx

Here's some information that I posted awhile back and has ended up in the Thai Motors forum. I thought it might be more appropriate here. The prices are probably still mostly close to being right but maybe they've all gone up 10% or so...don't know:

There have been some interest in the cost of new 2 wheel tractors so I am reporting this purchase. The motor is Siam Kubota 9 horse peak power, 8 horse continuous...diesel (of course)...hand crank start. The chasis is Siam Kubota with 3 forward and 1 reverse gear....has the long gear shift lever (not the hand grip shifter). It came with a single bottom plow, two disc light disc, and a single bar hard tooth harrow.....all of these are fairly cheap but functional. Total cost was 57,000 baht including delivery, brief operating instructions on site, a video CD for the motor (in Thai), a video CD for the chasis (in Thai), 1 year warranty on the chasis, and 2 year warranty on the motor.

You can save about 3,500 baht if you get the 8 horse motor instead with the same chasis...8 horses is adequate...my uncle bought an 8 horse one. You can get the top of the line chassis with a hand shifter which has a squeeze grip clutch as well as the stick actuated clutch (I have only the stick clutch) with everything else seeming to be the same except for that sporty look all for about 1,900 baht more. You can save about 4,000 baht if you buy a chassis (not Siam Kubota but some less well known brand) without reverse gear and a more cumbersome method of changing speed and actuating brakes. You can get a meter that shows hours of operation for 900 baht extra.

So from cheapest (8 horse, no reverse, no hour gage, clunky controls) for about 48,500 baht or the best one (9 horse, 3 forward 1 rev, easy to operate controls with grip shifter and extra clutch, and hour gage) for about 57,900 baht (actually you can get bigger motors but no one seems to do that). And just for a reality check...I have been using a really old 2 wheel tractor with 9 horse motor but probably is actually making 8 or less, no reverse, you have to change the belt drive position by hand to change speeds (only two speeds forward and I've heard it is possible to twist the belt to get reverse but I've never seen anyone do it) and really clunky controls that take a bit of muscle to work them.....and.....it has been totally adequate for all plowing, discing, harrowing, and wagon pulling.....but....it does tire you out. So the main advantage of the new one will be that I won't be dog tired after 3 hours of plowing...I'll probably be able to go for 5 hours a day.

OOOOPS!!! I just noticed that this thread is for links...so...here is the link to the original thread where I posted this stuff:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...actor&st=15