Rural King ???

   / Rural King ??? #1  

Vineyard Dave

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2009
Messages
40
Location
Currently Utah, moving back to Illinois soon.
Tractor
Still shopping. Seriously looking at a Branson 4720h.
I wa poking around on Rural King's website looking at impliments and 3 point accessories and came across this big fella...

Tractor With Cab 4 Wd 70/82 America's Farm & Home Store

Who makes these for Rural King?
Are they worth a darn?
Serviceability?

Just curious, looks like a good price for a 70 hp with a cab? But, does one get what one pays for?
 
   / Rural King ??? #2  
I am considering doing business with Rural King too. The tractor is a Foton 704 with a Perkins turbo diesel, well not really. The engine is made in china under liecense from Perkins; there have been disagreements between the two companies. Perkins does not recognize the engine as theirs and does not come with the Perkins warrantee; it is warranted by the chinas manufacture. However, it is a Perkins look alike with a good reputation.
I have not seen a Foton up close; i have determined that they are made better than the run of the mill tractors.
I am not relying on much support from Rural King other than parts and phone support, bringing the tractor in for service is not possible. The other problem I have with RK is there lack of response, getting answers is like pulling teeth, and that may all depend on which outlet you are dealing with. I am dealing with the Nile store. I have been asking about the make and model of the Front End Loader, and the backhoe. The compatible units are the Koyker 190 with 72 inch bucket and the Brush Hog BH850 backhoe. No answers, you snooze, you lose.
 
   / Rural King ??? #3  
Just to add to what "transit" said, they are pretty rough around the edges, so to speak. I suppose they are your typical Chinese tractor made to sell on price alone. However, having said that, there are many 'do it yourself' guys on here who love their Chinese tractors.

I'll admit that the exact tractor you're looking at was very tempting to me a few years ago at a Rural King about a mile from my house. They sell a LOT of those tractors. However, that larger tractor they had in stock had a nice loader on it and it just didn't sell. It was priced above the "cheap" price point most of their buyers were trying to hit. It sat outside on their lot for 2 whole years, rusting away in places. It even got a window knocked out of it and some sheet metal damage. It looked pretty bad to be honest. They must have used gasoline to thin their paint, it was almost gone.

Anyway, I happened to be there when the store manager was told to "SELL IT!". They dropped the price to something like $14k with the loader and all. Sure, it needed a lot of little things, but it was still considered a "new" tractor and had the same "new" warranty on it. I drove home to tell my wife that I may buy another tractor and she didn't seem to care. By the time I got back, it was gone. The manager lowered the price more to make $14k total, out the door, and someone was loading it up.

If you're handy and don't mind fixing a few things yourself and making a few immediate fluid changes, I understand they can be decent machines. They are light years ahead of those Belarus things that were once sold around here.
 
 
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