Chinese Tractor Maintenance

Chinese tractors are being imported in increasing numbers by dealers and individuals who find them useful on hobby farms, small farms, etc. due to their attractive pricing. A typical Chinese tractor owner is someone who has some mechanical ability and who is not averse to doing much of his own maintenance and repair. Typical manuals provided by the Chinese manufacturers are brief, unclear, poorly worded and incomplete. Due to the size of the market, third-party manuals are rare. One easy to read and understand example is the Operators manual prepared in the UK for Siromer tractors. Siromer tractors are built in the Jinma plant at Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. But many owners "learn by doing", often with the help of dealers and other tractor owners who participate in on-line forums or at the Chinese Tractor Owners Association which is a site dedicated to owners and dealers of these tractors. This site is located at www.ctoa.net . A collaborative book in which experienced and "newbie" tractor owners alike can contribute their experience and knowledge would be an immense help to those owners who need more information to aid them in maintaining their tractors.

Tractor Models

Generic

This section contains generic information that is applicable to most tractor models.

Operation

Starting

The starting procedure is as follows:

• Ensure that the fuel flow valve is turned on. This valve is either on the bottom of the fuel tank where the fuel exits the tank or it is on the sediment bowl.
• Sit on the operator's seat and depress the clutch.
• Put the transmission in neutral.
• Set throttle to a little bit above the idle setting.
• If the engine is cold (not warm to the touch) then do the following:
  • If the engine has glow plugs set the ignition switch to the Heater (glow plug) position for 3 to 20 seconds. Leave the ignition switch in this position for only a short period of time. The colder the air temperature is the longer you leave it in this position. If the air temperature is 60F you can try 3 seconds. For an air temperature of 20F you might try 20 seconds. You do not want to stay in this ignition switch position for an extended period since it will significantly shorten the life of the glow plugs.
  • NOTE: The first few times that you do this note the current draw on the amp/charging meter. If during a future engine start you see a lower current draw, one or more glow plugs may have burned out.
• Do the following if your tractor has a Compression Release knob and the engine is cold (or you can do it for every engine start):
  • The Compression Release steps can be done while waiting for glow plugs to warm up.
  • Locate the Compression Release knob.
  • Pull/turn the Compression Release knob to the release position and hold it in the release position. It can require a significantly strong pull/twist to move the knob. It has to push against all of the intake and exhaust valve springs to release the compression.
• Turn the ignition switch to engage the starter.Do not run starter motor more than 20 to 25 seconds or damage to the windings may result.
• If you are using the Compression Release knob:
  • Watch oil pressure to ensure oil pressure reaches normal operating pressure. Although this is not strictly required it does ensure that the engine is fully lubricated before encountering the stress of firing cylinders. This will prolong the life of the engine.
  • Release the Compression Release knob. The spinning mass of the engine parts ensures that the engine will turn over with compression fairly rapidly (faster than the starter alone under compression) to ease starting. Since the engine now has compression it should start.
• When the engine fires turn the ignition switch back to the run position.
• If the engine does not start wait 10 seconds and try again.

Jinma

Jinma tractors are manufactured by Jiangsu Yueda Yancheng Tractor Manufacture Co., Ltd. Jinma makes tractors that are also rebranded. The Jinmas can also be found under the following brands:

• international Rhino
• Ag Pro
• Farm Pro
• NorTrac
• AgKing
• Rural King
• Siromer
• Emery Built

Jinma Models JM204, JM254LE, JM284LE

These models have the same body, just different direction for.

Jinma Models JM304, JM354LE

These two models have the same body, just different engines.

Go to Chinese Tractor Maintenance/Jinma 304 354

KAMA

KAMA tractors is a brand name that has been applied to tractors manufactured by Shandong Worldbest Shatuo Company limited. In late 2006, the company was reorganized as a stock company but continues to operate as Shandong Tractor Works. The factory is located in Yanzhou City in the Shandong Province of China. The factory uses the KAMA name which it adopted when part of Woldbest KAMA at some time in the past. The common name for tractors produced by this factory is TaiShan, named for a famous mountain located nearby.

Shandong Tractor Works has approximately 5000 employees and is one of the oldest and largest tractor factories in China. The company have their own foundry, machine shops and assembly lines on site. They produce 2 and 4 cylinder diesel engines used in tractors and in other applications. None of these engines have EPA approval for sale in the USA so the company purchases engines from othe Chinese engine companies with EPA compliant engines.

KAMA 454, 554

The KAMA KM454 and KM554 were developed in conjunction with a European company and offer some enhanced design features not commonly found on Chinese tractors such as constant mesh transmission and wet disk brakes. Shandong Tractor factory was the first Chinese factory to offer a "Shuttle shift" device on the transmission to allow simple shifting from forward to reverse in the same gear ratio.

Go to Chinese Tractor Maintenance/KAMA 454 554

Task Master 438

The TM Task Master Tractor TM438 is no longer sold in the U.S. or Canada due to emission standards. It utilizes the TY395E1 engine and might also be branded as the 435A. Check out Chinese Tractor Maintenance/TY395 for some Task Master Parts.

Task Master Parts Supplier

Please add to this list if you are aware of any locations within US or Canada to acquire Task Master Parts. •Lakeview Equipment Sales

"Golden Dragon" Dozer

The Chinese "Golden Dragon" dozer is a 30 horsepower crawler with six way blade, Category 1 hitch and two speed PTO. Available options are steel or rubber tracks and a manual or hydraulic clutch. Early models may have a two cylinder engine and later models have a loader option.

Go to Dozer

Engines

Jiang Dong TY395(E)

TY395

General Maintanence

Go to Chinese Tractor Maintenance/General Maintenance

The General Maintenance section covers the following topics:

Fluids

• First Fluid Replacement
• General Replacement/Flushing Procedure
• Which Fluids To Use

Go to Chinese Tractor Maintenance/General Maintenance#Fluids

Cooling System

• Cleaning Radiator Fins

Go to Chinese Tractor Maintenance/General Maintenance#Cooling System

General Modifications

This section contains information on modification that Chinese tractor owners have made to improve their tractors. Many of these modifications are applicable for most tractors.

Cooling System

Modifications to the cooling system include:

• Radiator Screen
• Thermostat

Go to Chinese Tractor Maintenance/Modified Cooling System

Trouble Shooting

This page contains general trouble shooting information that is applicable to most tractors.

Chinese Tractor Maintenance/Trouble Shooting

Tractor Model Page(s) Sub-Sections For Manual Authors

Each tractor model or group of closely related models have their own page containing information specific to the model or group of models. To keep the size of pages from growing too large, page size will be kept < 30k bytes. This will main that some models will have many pages of information.

To have a consistent look throughout the manual the following hierarchy and order of information for a tractor model is highly recommended. If some subsection may not apply to a particular model (example: shuttle shift) then leave the section our of the page(s) for the tractor model.

• Specifications
• Operation (Starting, Break-in, Normal Operation, Operating Limits)
• Fluid Capacities (Engine oil, coolant, differential, power steering, hydraulic system
• Maintenance Schedule (pre-startup,50,100,...hour maintenance
• Engine (May want to link to a page specific to the engine model so that information is not repeated).
  • Description
  • Adjustments
  • Diagnostics
  • Cylinder Heads & Valves
    • Decompression system
    • Rocker Arms & Pushrods
    • Head Gasket
  • Intake System
  • Exhaust System
  • Injectors
  • Pre-Heaters
  • Block
    • Lubrication System
    • Pistons
    • Crankshaft
    • Connecting Rods
    • Camshaft
    • Timing Chain
• Drive Train
  • Transmission
  • Shuttle Shift
  • Creeper
  • Clutch
  • 4x4 Axle
  • Rear Axle
  • PTO
• Brake System
• Fuel System
  • Engine Speed Control
  • Fuel Cutoff
  • Fuel Tank
  • Injection Pump
  • Fuel Filter
• Cooling System
  • Coolant Pump
  • Radiator
  • Thermostat
  • Coolant Temperature Sensor
• Steering
  • Power Steering Pump
  • Power Steering Cylinder
  • Steering Gear
• Starting System
  • Starting Switch
  • Battery
  • Starter
  • Solenoid
  • Starter Engagement System
  • Safety Interlocks
• Charging System
  • Alternator
  • Voltage Regulator
• Lighting System
  • Headlamps
  • Tail lamps
  • Directional Indicators and Emergency Flashers
• Fuses
• Accessory Connector
• Electrical Gauges
• Panel
  • Panel Lighting
• Wiring Harness
  • Electrical Connectors
• Wiring Diagrams
• Hydraulics
  • Hydraulic Pump
  • 3 Point Hitch
  • Remotes
• Trouble Shooting
• Owner Modifications/Enhancements