Been watching the horror story on the 955L Japanese Grey market unit. Which of the lines Cat, Deere, any of the others also had grey market lines or ended up grey market toward the end of conventional track loader manufacturing? What were the models and years to see those to try to avoid those for my next replacement unit?
Hello Mr Miller,,, saw ur post ,,, well im the lucky field tech. that took the job of rebuilding the Grey market serial number 955,,,, to be honest with ya if ur not very familiar with equip. you d never know till it needed attention one day an you went to get parts an ya give em ur serial number an they look at ya an say okkkkk, most of the time someone that really wants to help ya can sit there an look threw several differ other models an find a serial number thas tt's easyer to deal with an use it for ur serial number to get parts for ur machine,,,, ive done that for yrs,,,, but this is the first time ive ever been told ya cant get ur parts ,,,, but my cat parts guy dug an dug an he called me today an thinks he may of found a loop hole after looking threw 20 differ serial numbers,,,,he spent like 3 hrs but he thinks he s found something that may work . he ordered a piston in to the store an were gonna compare it with mine outta my grey market motor, an another thing I know a few guys that like going around an buying up older equipment an resaleing to others (preferably elderly people or people that know the differ in grey market an regular serial numbers) they know there serial numbers by heart basicly the first 3 didgits tell you the life of the tractor ( were it was built ) an if its a grey market he ll get it cheaper than a reg. but yet turn around an sell it to OLE MR JOHNNY that don't know any better for tha same price as he would a regular serial number, but over all most of the time ya can get parts for grey market equipment ya just have to do a little more homework to find a serial number that works for you. but I think the only Grey Market dealors ive only were CAT,HITACHI EXCAVATORS, them were my only dealings with Grey Markets. but next time you wanta purchase a tractor get the serial number an call ur local dealor an they can look it up an tell you everything you wanta know bout the tractor when it was sold new ( I know cat can anyways ) I use to work for a dealor for 8 yrs,,, use to look up serial numbers all the time to see what was one the tractor when it was sold new. hope I hadn't wasted any of ur time or babbled to much but just though I would whisper in ur ear for the next time someone trys to sell you a tractor get the information get serial an arrangement both if dealing with cat, an call ur dealor an do ur home work mite save ya time an issues down the road. ya also can buy a tractor serial number guide for everything too if ya want one for future .. they have list of all serial an were they were made an from.
Reference your 955. Try using 61H as a prefix, it's a US-built machine and the parts will fit your 31J machine. In my experience grey market machines are not a problem if you work out what is their equivalent in a US or European-manufactured machine. Regarding the Serial Number Guide that you recommend to buy, check out Iron Record ( www.ironrecord.com/ ) for Cat machines. It lists all S/N prefixes, where they were built, what years, etc, etc, etc. Even lists if there are any reported stolen.
Thanks guys, is enough information to work from.