DEFINITION:
In some parts of the world the word gray with an “a”,
is spelled grey with an “e”. Whether your question is
about gray market tractors or grey market tractors, the tractors
are the same. Tractors built for use in the country of manufacture,
but imported to a second country for use there, are considered gray
(grey) market tractors. Although one might conclude from the word
“gray” that there is something shady about used imported
tractors, they are entirely ethical and legal to import (except
Kubota).
WORLDWIDE
MAKES: Tractors made for foreign countries all over the
world manage to make their way to the United States. If those tractors
were made for use in the country of origin, and the version brought
here was not intended for use here, that tractor is a gray market
tractor. You can find gray market Fords from England here, as well
as other makes in versions made for foreign markets all over the
world.
JAPAN:
The largest number of grey market tractors coming into this country
are from Japan. That is why when most people in the US refer to
gray market tractors, they are talking about used compact Japanese
diesel tractors. Therefore, the best known makes of grey market
tractors are Yanmar, Mitsubishi, Iseki, Shibaura, Hinomoto, Satoh,
Suzue, Zen-noh, and Kubota. Used Kubota tractors are no longer imported
to the USA.
PRICE
COMPARISON: So many used Japanese compact tractors have
come into this country in container after container that they often
have very reasonable prices. As long as people buy easy parts access
models of gray market tractors in sound condition, those gray market
tractors are often a better buy than used domestic tractors. That
is why so many grey market tractors for sale can be found from coast
to coast in the US.
DOMESTIC
COUNTERPART MODELS: The Japanese build compact tractors
for the big name tractor companies in this country. Yanmar has built
John Deere tractors; Mitsubishi has made Cub Cadet and other small
Case-IH tractors; Iseki manufactures for Massey Fergusson; Shibaura
makes Ford/New Holland compacts; Hinomoto built for Massey Fergusson
and Allis Chalmers, etc. The Japanese make the best compact tractors
in the world, and the big US tractor companies discovered that decades
ago and took advantage of that knowledge. Imported Japanese tractors
can be found all over this country with domestic names and also
with the names of their Japanese manufacturers.
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