Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S

   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #1  

xxxsandman

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Feb 24, 2005
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132
I have a 60 acre mini ranch and raise cattle and goats. I move and feed round bales, do field work (discing, mowing, manure spreading), barn cleaning, occasional dirt work, drive grading, etc.

I took a day off and went to every dealer I could find in a 60 mile radius yesterday. Out of everything I looked at and test drove, the ones listed below are kind of what I narrowed it down to.

* Mahindra 7520 4wd - BIG and HEAVY. Love the turbo, lots of power! FEL seems really slow, but very strong. Controls and layout wasn't layed out as good or nice as the others. Best quote on a new one so far $27,895 which includes rebates and no financing.

* Koiti DK65S w/Bush Hog 5045 loader - Smooth and well laid out. Again, loved the turbo engine, lots of power and torque rise. Didn't have the loader on the tractor I was testing. They quoted it with a Bush Hog 5045 loader, which seems VERY big for this tractor. 4k lift capacity! I'm worried it's too big for it and will be slow with the 11gpm pump. Quoted $28,100 after rebates and no financing.

* Kubota M7040 w/LA1153 loader - Again Smooth running and nice power. Hydraulic Shuttle seems nice, but I couldn't get used to using it in the lot, kept going for the clutch. I guess it's a plus whether you use it without clutching or not, since it comes with wet clutch's, I guess it should last longer? Well laid out. Descent loader performance although lowest weight capacity spec of the three, with reasonable cycle times. Quoted $28,900. Not sure if there are any rebates on this machine or not.

So all three machines are within $1k of each other, so let's call the money equal and talk about everything else. I would love to hear what everyone has to say about these machines. Is the quotes good or can I do better? I'm in OK.

Thanks
James
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #2  
James,

Quite the pickle you're in. Those are three dandy machines. The Kubota will have the longest history of quality, but the others certainly have been gaining ground. You can and will get used to the shuttle shift - but it's a switch and will take time. Do you want to take the time? I doubt that you will find much negative about any of the machines. I'll toss it back at you.

Which one FITS you the best?
Which one matches the jobs you need done?
Which one do you want to jump on and run again?

Answer those questions and you've got your winner.

jb

My choice would be the M7040, then the 7520 then DK65S. Due to the dealers choice of loader - not a good match to the machine.
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #3  
I'd second John's recommendation. You are also going to do better on the resale value of the Kubota over the other two.

That being said the Mahindra is a good looking tractor! I think it looks better than any other tractor on the market.

However, if I was concerned that I might want to sell the tractor in a few years then the Kubota is the way to go.
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #4  
I think what you need is advice from people who actually own and run these machines. I see very few Kioti 65 owners post on this site, a few but not many. The Kioti does have the dependable Perkins engine. If you go down to the Mahindra forum there are some current discussions on the 7520.
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #5  
xxxsandman said:
I have a 60 acre mini ranch and raise cattle and goats. I move and feed round bales, do field work (discing, mowing, manure spreading), barn cleaning, occasional dirt work, drive grading, etc.

I took a day off and went to every dealer I could find in a 60 mile radius yesterday. Out of everything I looked at and test drove, the ones listed below are kind of what I narrowed it down to.

* Mahindra 7520 4wd - BIG and HEAVY. Love the turbo, lots of power! FEL seems really slow, but very strong. Controls and layout wasn't layed out as good or nice as the others. Best quote on a new one so far $27,895 which includes rebates and no financing.

* Koiti DK65S w/Bush Hog 5045 loader - Smooth and well laid out. Again, loved the turbo engine, lots of power and torque rise. Didn't have the loader on the tractor I was testing. They quoted it with a Bush Hog 5045 loader, which seems VERY big for this tractor. 4k lift capacity! I'm worried it's too big for it and will be slow with the 11gpm pump. Quoted $28,100 after rebates and no financing.

* Kubota M7040 w/LA1153 loader - Again Smooth running and nice power. Hydraulic Shuttle seems nice, but I couldn't get used to using it in the lot, kept going for the clutch. I guess it's a plus whether you use it without clutching or not, since it comes with wet clutch's, I guess it should last longer? Well laid out. Descent loader performance although lowest weight capacity spec of the three, with reasonable cycle times. Quoted $28,900. Not sure if there are any rebates on this machine or not.

So all three machines are within $1k of each other, so let's call the money equal and talk about everything else. I would love to hear what everyone has to say about these machines. Is the quotes good or can I do better? I'm in OK.

Thanks
James

Do you need the weight? The 7520 outweighs the 7040 by over 2500 lbs! (tractor only). The 70HP Kubota weighs just a little more than the 41HP Mahindra, and weighs considerably less than the 45HP Mahindra. With a loader, but no weights, the 7520 4x4/ML275 weighs 9450#. The loader lifts 3900# in the bucket. The Kubota lifts less then 3000#. The cycle times on the Kubota loader are fast, about 10-15% quicker than the Mahindra. The Mahindra has a 17 gallon pump, but the cylinders are big and take a lot of volume to fill.

In some cases the extra weight is a good thing, in some cases it is not. The Kubota would make an excellent machine for running a large mower. It is nice and light, yet has the HP to do a lot of PTO work. Also, it will not compact the soil as much. For ground engaging work, the 7520 is a brute.
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S
  • Thread Starter
#6  
DavesTractor said:
Do you need the weight? The 7520 outweighs the 7040 by over 2500 lbs! (tractor only). QUOTE]

The heavy weight of the 7520 is a double edged sword the way I see it. There's work conditions that the extra weight would be a clear advatage and then there's times it would be undesireable. I can see myself in both scenerios.

I went to another Kioti/FarmTrac/Zetor dealer today. I drove a few more DK65S and DK55. This dealer specs the Bush Hog M546 loader, which I believe is the same as the Bush Hog 5045 speced by the other dealers, just new part numbers. Although the newer 5045 seems to have slightly better lift specs on the flyers I picked up. The dealer offered the Kioti self leveling loader if I wanted, but warned he thought it was not as good of a loader. He claims you can see it flex when really pushing on something with the powerful DK65S and the Bush Hog does not. I got to demo the M546 on a DK65S and the cycle times was as expected, not fast, but not terribly slow either. They seemed almost like the Mahindra 5720's cycle times. The Kubota I believe is the winner on loader speed of these 3. But it also has the least lift capacity.

This dealer offered a slightly better price for a NEW DK65S with Bush Hog M546 loader for $27,500 after rebates and no financing.
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #7  
The heavy weight of the 7520 is a double edged sword the way I see it. There's work conditions that the extra weight would be a clear advatage and then there's times it would be undesireable. I can see myself in both scenerios.

Maybe you need 2 tractors, it seems like there are quite a few TBNers that have gone that way. I know that I wish that I had another one, sure would make things easier.
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #8  
DavesTractor said:
Do you need the weight? The 7520 outweighs the 7040 by over 2500 lbs! (tractor only). The 70HP Kubota weighs just a little more than the 41HP Mahindra, and weighs considerably less than the 45HP Mahindra. With a loader, but no weights, the 7520 4x4/ML275 weighs 9450#. The loader lifts 3900# in the bucket. The Kubota lifts less then 3000#. The cycle times on the Kubota loader are fast, about 10-15% quicker than the Mahindra. The Mahindra has a 17 gallon pump, but the cylinders are big and take a lot of volume to fill.

In some cases the extra weight is a good thing, in some cases it is not. The Kubota would make an excellent machine for running a large mower. It is nice and light, yet has the HP to do a lot of PTO work. Also, it will not compact the soil as much. For ground engaging work, the 7520 is a brute.

The only complaint I've heard about a Kubota AG tractor is it's too light. Don't know, just what I've personally heard.
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #9  
I would say that it would really depend on your land. Based on what you list as what you want to do, I really don't know if too much weight would hurt you or not. If too much weight wouldn't hurt you, I'd go with the Mahindra. However, I just spent quite a bit of money to lose almost 2000 pounds from my tractor weight because I was too heavy. You can read about it in where I changed wheels and tires. My tractor is pretty heavy itself, but it also had filled R1's when I bought it. That made it right at 12,000 pounds (think about it, six tons) field ready. It was leaving nasty ruts and washboard like cleat marks everywhere I went.

I bought a 2nd set of wheels and R4 tires that are not filled. Besides being lighter weight, (because they are not filled - the tires themselves actually weighed more than the same size R1 tires) the R4's have a bigger footprint. Still, at five tons field ready, I cannot go over an area that I backfilled early last year without making a huge mess. :( So, if your ground isn't like concrete, I'd put the Kubota over the Mahindra. Also, since I've driven the tractors you speak of, the Kubota does have a distinctive feel of being easier to control and handle since it has a far greater power to weight ratio. Although the Mahindra weighs more than the Kioti (If I recall correctly), the Kioti seemed to feel the most sluggish in the power area due to it's weight.

So, if your ground is really hard or ruts won't matter, I'd definitely grab the Mahindra. If your ground isn't really hard and ruts will cause a problem, I'd go with the Kubota. If you get the Kubota and later need more weight, it will add about 1600 pounds to it just by filling the rears on it. Either way, good luck and be sure to buy what you personally like the best; not what any of us here tell you.
 
   / Comparing Mahindra 7520, Kubot M7040, Kioti DK65S #10  
Great advise here as always. I only have a few comments.

1. Don't be scared of the Bush Hog loader. I know from personal experience that they make great loaders. They are very strong and well engineered.

2..I would personally go with the Kubota but that's just a personal choice. When loading round bales in the winter you sometimes find yourself in wet mushy conditions. A lighter weight tractor would be better.

3. The Mahindra and Kioti are both fine tractors. You're got great choices. Go with the dealers that can give you the best support. That is important too.

Good luck and keep us informed.
 
 
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