A kubota owners impression of the ct235

[TBDonnelly]

Dfkrug offers good advice. Don't 'assume' the tractor will perform the way you would expect. If you're not happy/satisfied with the performance of the new tractor the euphoric feeling of the 'big discount' will quickly fade.

Don

 

[captin_insano]

I made out well enough that if it isnt what I want I can get rid of it without losing anything. From the position I was in I would of been a fool to not take advantage of this option.

 

[captin_insano]

Still have the bobcat and I put about 5 hours on it now. I used it to fix up my mud bog...I mean driveway. Moved about 10 ton of 2b stone and used it to haul and set walls on my home addition. I'm probably going to miss it when its gone but I'm excited to get on the 3400 to see how it compares.

 

[captin_insano]

They took the bobcat back today and I got a little seat time on my 3400. So this is what i noticed so far. The 2 tractors are different in many ways, I wish you could take the best of both and make one. First thing you notice when you sit on them is the ct has nicer floor boards, dash, seat and a better loader control valve location. You can get on and off either side of the ct but the loader valve is in your way on the 3400. You can still get on and off the right side but the lever makes it harder. The cat's loader boom is faster and has more lifting power. The kubota loader appears beefier, the bucket cylinders seem faster and the control valve IMO operates better. With the kubota valve is seems you can control multiple functions with better precision. The ct's balanced full hydro steering takes a win over the conventional tie rod type power steering on the 3400. it feels lighter steering. The 3400 hst seems more efficient, it makes the tractor seem like it has a good bit more power than the ct. Some if not all of that may be attributed to the lighter weight of the kubota. The kubotas quieter. Both seem like fine machines.

 

[DK35vince]

That was a well done comparison.

 

[captin_insano]

I'm sure theres more I could add but the 2 biggest things that seem to stick out between the 2 are the loaders and HST's. The bobcat seems to have a good bit more lift capacity over the kubota and the kubota's HST seems to make a good bit better use of its power. I can say I'm impressed with the bobcat. Its not the perfect machine (as far as I know none are) but in my limited experience with it I think it really seems to be a good tractor, especially for the money.

 

[Dusty1]

Thanks for the comparison, I really think it was helpful. I'm not sure the price difference between the machines, you know what the CT costs? Do you know the weight difference? If you had to purchase one new, which one would it be?

On a side note it sucks the loader on the ct only does one thing at a time, I'm sure that would get old quick, but the added power is a big bonus. Looks like they put in beefy hydrolic lines to the loader and sacrificed on the hydrostat. Seems like it would be a great work-horse, but lack some with mowing/maintaining.

 

[captin_insano]

The loader will do 2 functions at once but its not as easily/accuratly done as on the kubota. The kubota loader is more user friendly but the bobcat isnt bad by any means. I've seen posts where people got quotes or bought the 235 with FEL for around 14,000. Maybe less now with the free FEL deal they got going? If I was buying new over again without the kubota credit I got for my problem machine and the ct235 was able to be bought at the prices I've been seeing I would probably buy the bobcat. I'd want to look at things like replacement parts cost and availability, fluid costs, etc before I decided but assuming all that stuff was reasonable I would buy the white one.

A few other likes/dislikes

I prefer the kubota hard chrome cylinder rod plating to what I guess is black nitride on the bobcat. The black nitride is supposed to be better in some ways but I'm skeptical of its superiority as a cylinder rod coating in real world conditions. The bobcat had places showing wear with only 250 hours and there were a few cylinders that were pretty wet. It may not be the norm but hard chrome has proven to work and I'm afraid of change.

Bobcat has a mid PTO. I like that, even though I'd probably never use it. The idea that I could if I wanted to is nice. The B series and grand L kubotas have it but not the standard L series.

Bobcat loader pins. I wont say kubotas are any better but the bobcat has a higher lift capacity and the pins are small when you consider the extra capacity. I'd like to see bigger pins so they didnt wear as quick.

 

[dfkrug]

The kubota loader appears beefier, the bucket cylinders seem faster and the control valve IMO operates better. With the kubota valve is seems you can control multiple functions with better precision. The ct's balanced full hydro steering takes a win over the conventional tie rod type power steering on the 3400. it feels lighter steering. The 3400 hst seems more efficient, it makes the tractor seem like it has a good bit more power than the ct. Some if not all of that may be attributed to the lighter weight of the kubota.

Interesting impressions, CAPT. I found all the hydraulics to be slower on
the 3400, vs the CK/CTs, and that makes sense as they have 30% higher
flow. In the bkt curl operation, did you make sure you went to REGEN
when dumping the CT? Doesn't the Kubota's FEL joystick still use the old
tierod control, vs the cable setup on the CT?

Anyway, a good comparision would be to see if the Kubota engineers have
gone with a higher pressure HST. DaeDong's is set at only 5000psi, which
can reach its limit in low range without spinning the wheels. In a high
traction situation, will the 3400 always spin wheels in L when pushing an
immovable object?

 

[captin_insano]

Even when you'd push the valve the whole way to to fastest position (regen I guess it is) the kubota bucket is faster. Strange I know because the bobcats boom is quite a bit faster. Advertised time on the 3400 is 1.7 seconds to dump and 2.1 to roll back. I dont know the ct's numbers but operating it, this kubota is noticably faster to dump and roll back than the bobcat I had here. Might be the leverage on them, maybe the kubota doesnt move the cylinder as far to dump or roll the bucket.

as far as spinning in low range, I was doing dirt work today, digging packed clay and dirt from a pile for fill and the L3400 was spinning in mid range. I had a 6 foot york rake on the back for weight but the ground is still a little wet. It might be awhile until I get to try it in an actual high traction situation. It would be hard to really compare the HST's other than how they feel using them. The bobcat is heavier and the gearing could even be different making an actual power comparision difficult. The kubota feels like it has more power at the tires though for what ever reason.