# Buying a YM1500D



## Lovemachine35 (10 mo ago)

See my intro thread.









Hello from Md


Hi all. My current mower is a John Deere E100. Use it on my current suburbia 1/2 acre. I'm in the process of purchasing 60 acres out in SW Virginia. I made a deal with the seller to buy his current 1977 Yanmar M1500D with 450 hours. Comes with original manual, a box blade, a straight blade, and...




www.tractorforum.com


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

My neighbors has this YM1500. It's used to manage their nursery business.


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## Lovemachine35 (10 mo ago)

Picked it up this past weekend. Here's a shot.


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## winston (Aug 19, 2008)

Not a good idea to run those front wheels in that wide stance. Might consider swapping sides with them.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Lovemachine35 said:


> Picked it up this past weekend. Here's a shot.
> View attachment 79012


Are those FORD/Shibarura weights up front.  If you have a FORD guy in the area with John Deere or Yanmar weights, you can always swap.

The machine looks clean and very original. 

Are the front wheels at the same width stance as the rear tires? If yes, no issues. If no, then Winston's input is helpful. 

In the RESOURCE MANACGER > CUT TRACTORS are the YM1500 manuals.


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## Lovemachine35 (10 mo ago)

The front wheels sit a little wider than the back. Seems to me it would add stability. Please, explain why it's bad.


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## winston (Aug 19, 2008)

Lovemachine35 said:


> The front wheels sit a little wider than the back. Seems to me it would add stability. Please, explain why it's bad.


It can overload the axles. Simple leverage equation. Your front axle pivots a certain amount and really is not that effective for stability.


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## Lovemachine35 (10 mo ago)

I understand wheel size and gearing stressing axles. Where is the weak link in the YM? Axle, differential, transfer case, or tranny? Never heard of wheel offset snapping axles.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Lovemachine35 said:


> I understand wheel size and gearing stressing axles. Where is the weak link in the YM? Axle, differential, transfer case, or tranny? Never heard of wheel offset snapping axles.


4WD behaves a bit differently. The wider the front stance, the tracking of the lead vs. lag becomes multiplied in turns.

The snapping of axles is not the actual axle, it's the Kingpin and the gears inside.


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## Lovemachine35 (10 mo ago)

Got it. 

I come from a rock crawling background and crawl ratio was the game. Big tires, changing diff gears, changing the 4lo gear, chromoly axles, etc...meaning beefier drive shaft and joints. Something would eventually break 😁 Never had to deal with tracking except on pavement depending on what lockers I was using in the diffs.

Is the YM a true 4x4 as in all wheels spin all the time? Was wondering cause there is a left and right break pedal which I take the rear diff will slip. Sorry, I'm new to tractor drive trains.


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Lovemachine35 said:


> Got it.
> 
> I come from a rock crawling background and crawl ratio was the game. Big tires, changing diff gears, changing the 4lo gear, chromoly axles, etc...meaning beefier drive shaft and joints. Something would eventually break 😁 Never had to deal with tracking except on pavement depending on what lockers I was using in the diffs.



You probably will not find a tractor with an Atlas transfer case so you have a bit of a learning curve..................LOL

And I have never tried to use the "Old Gear Ratio * New Tire Size / Old Tire Size = New Gear Ratio" formula on a tractor either.....Not sure if it would work or not but it does work on Jeeps and trucks.......LOL


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## Cvans (Sep 7, 2008)

If it were me I would turn those wheels as suggested and if you want the stance wider put some 1 1/2" to 2" wheel spacers in. As it is your putting a lot of stress on the spindles now. Just imagine running into a stump or rock with them way out there.


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## Lovemachine35 (10 mo ago)

I moved the front wheels today as suggested. Tomorrow I buy all new fluids and filters. Greased all zerks. Need to replace one zerk on right steering tie rod. 

Considering replacing all rubber tubing (fuel, coolant, overflow, breather, etc.) They are all rock hard and look to be original. Thoughts?


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## Lovemachine35 (10 mo ago)

Bummer. The manuals that conveyed with purchase are not the correct ones. They're YM135/135D/155/155D operation manual and YM195 service manual.

Anyone want to trade for YM1500/1500D manuals?

Couldn't find them online here or at main groups.io Group


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## TractorRookie (Dec 6, 2021)

Sweet tractor !!! These dudes know what time it is when it comes to Yanmar's they have been extremely helpful to me . Glad to see you decided to swap the wheels back to the narrower stance. 
I come from a bit of an offroad background as well .. 5:29 gears dual cases blah blah blah. Now I have kids and its a hunting truck and soon to be my kids get to school and back rig.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Lovemachine35 said:


> Got it.
> 
> I come from a rock crawling background and crawl ratio was the game. Big tires, changing diff gears, changing the 4lo gear, chromoly axles, etc...meaning beefier drive shaft and joints. Something would eventually break 😁 Never had to deal with tracking except on pavement depending on what lockers I was using in the diffs.
> 
> Is the YM a true 4x4 as in all wheels spin all the time? Was wondering cause there is a left and right break pedal which I take the rear diff will slip. Sorry, I'm new to tractor drive trains.


Yanmar YM tractors were the first in the world to offer 4WD. The arrangement is the original method. Sure, today it's a big better, so yes, these YM machines need a bit more attention and care for the 4WD. Those who don't know end up with broken kingpins, beveled gears and out-of-luck finding parts. Then they are forced to cover the front wheels to 2WD.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Lovemachine35 said:


> Bummer. The manuals that conveyed with purchase are not the correct ones. They're YM135/135D/155/155D operation manual and YM195 service manual.
> 
> Anyone want to trade for YM1500/1500D manuals?
> 
> Couldn't find them online here or at main groups.io Group


The manuals are on the Yanmar Tractor Owners Group. Never in the Files section there because we never opted to BUY that 10Gb of storage yearly. So, it's hard linked off of the WIKI > RESOURCE PAGE > Manuals. 

And yes, on the site here, the manuals can be found in the RESOURCE MANAGER > CUT TRACTORS. Just scroll the zillion pages till you find them.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Lovemachine35 said:


> I moved the front wheels today as suggested. Tomorrow I buy all new fluids and filters. Greased all zerks. Need to replace one zerk on right steering tie rod.
> 
> Considering replacing all rubber tubing (fuel, coolant, overflow, breather, etc.) They are all rock hard and look to be original. Thoughts?



Oil is 10W30 diesel grade. Rotella T4 10W30 diesel grade is typical for most. JIS standards are used, never SAE for a Japanese tractor of that era. So never use 15W40, doing so would add more engine load, more heat, and more diesel soot. 

Hydraulic fluid is John Deere J20C, no substitutes. Yanmar and John Deere worked all the details and specs for this fluid. Yanmar calls it TF500A. Both are the same stuff. Universal 'meets J20C' is acceptable, never use 'compatible with J20C'. Reason being, there are so many class action lawsuits right now on this 'compatible with' that owners have broken tractors and the manufactures will not fix them under warranty claims either. 

Hoye and Fredricks have the CORRECT air intake filter. Too many off brand generics that are a tad too short and allows dirt to by-pass the filter, unless you use Dr. Scholes Poron 3/8-in thick foam pad to fill in the gap. 

Oil filters need to have a by-pass valve. Get the tallest filter possible that will not hit the loader nor the hood panels. 21 mircons to 34 micron range works fine. Too low and the engine will starve of oil. Wix's ProTech line and the Purolator lines are made for Ag machines.


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## Lovemachine35 (10 mo ago)

bmaverick, you're awesome. Thanks for the info. Very helpful. I will return the 15w40 and get what you recommend. How about gear oil for front diff/axle?


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

If you go to the Resource Manager Section, type in the tractor you are looking for in the bar "Search Community" at the top of the page (It's there on all pages), select "In this thread", and it will take you to the manuals for the brand of tractor you are searching for.
Alternatively, you can type in your search criteria in the "search Community" bar, select "Advanced" and scroll down to the "Resource Manager". Same search different road!
If you wish to search the entire site for an issue or information on any tractor that has been discussed here, just modify your search criteria.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Lovemachine35 said:


> bmaverick, you're awesome. Thanks for the info. Very helpful. I will return the 15w40 and get what you recommend. How about gear oil for front diff/axle?


Download the the YM276 Service Manual. It would mention the correct gear oil. And there is grease needed on the 30+ zerk fittings found just about anywhere above, below and all around. Typical Yanmar maintenance is listed every 100 hours to check and add grease to the zerk fittings should they need it. 

Now, about the front axel oil. 90WT oil typically is spec'ed for it from that era. Multi-grade oils were just beginning to come out. A good type in the multi-oil for the 4WD gears in the axle is 'synthetic' 75W90. There are so many good reports on the rear wheel drive truck forums using this in the rear differentials with beveled ring gears. IF your machine came with factory power steering, then the synthetic 75W90 would help it along way better. The Yanmar 4WD uses a kingpin and a few beveled gears for each wheel. Just look at the YM1500 Parts Manual to understand how the synthetic 75W90 would be the ideal choice.


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