Buying Advice Choosing between Kioti and John Deere in 40-to-50 HP models

[brycedanville]

I've been doing lots of reading, internet searches, reading posts on this forum, some looking at dealers, and still don't have a solid feel for how likely a 45 HP Kioti will be to give good, reliable service, and how likely the company (subsidiary of Daedong) will be around for the next 50 years. My first choice would probably be a John Deere, so the main appeal of the Kioti for me is somewhat lower price, and a dealership right in town. I have a neighbor with a Deere 4044M, which he got as a lease return, and has used for years mainly to mow and for chaparral and tree clearing on his 40-acre parcel. This is basicly what I'd use my tractor for, but also for some gravel road grading and ditch clearing. He's had no major mechanical problems, says parts are quick and easy to get, and says he'd definitely get another Deere. His only complaint is that it is a bit underpowered for mowing uphill; just means having to drop to a lower speed range, so not really a fault of the tractor - if one wants to charge briskly uphill with a mower, then buy more HP. I'll do some internet study of the Daedong parent company to try to get a sense of how stable they are, but a corporation's website will, of course, paint a glowing picture of their business model and products. What I'd like from this forum is feedback from someone who actually has owned and operated a Kioti tractor in the 40-to50+ HP category for SEVERAL YEARS. "I've never owned one, but, gee, they seem nice" is useless.

 

[GManBart]

First off, welcome to TBN!

You can read many reviews of Kioti tractors in the Kioti sub-forum here. Lots of owners with many years on them, and some folks are putting serious hours, and heavy use on them. This thread is essentially an ongoing torture test of a new NX6010:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kioti-buying-pricing/315694-my-nx6010.html

You can also find plenty of reviews for Kioti tractors in the review section....many with multiple hundreds of hours of use, and at least several years.

Kioti Reviews - TractorByNet.com

On a side note, the price difference between a Deere and Kioti of the same size/horsepower is going to be more than what most folks consider "somewhat lower price"....like $10K in many cases. I've shopped Kioti twice, but decided to hold off and buy a backhoe for my bigger tasks. When I'm done with those, I'll probably sell the hoe and buy a Kioti, but may step up to a Utility machine like the RX series.

Also, Kioti isn't a subsidiary of Daedong. Kioti is the trade name for Daedong in the United States. They've been making tractors since 1968 and selling them here in the U.S. since 1993....after 24 years here they're not exactly an upstart. There are very few serious problems reported here, and unhappy people are often the most vocal, so I think we'd see evidence of it if there were any major problems.

 

[phiferpharm]

I have had my DK45se HST for several years now, and just turned over 700 hours. I have had to replace two switches (PTO and Auto/Manual) and my key switch (covered by warranty). It has been reliable and given me no unpleasant surprises at this point. I would purchase Kioti again if I had to replace my present tractor.

With that said, dealer support, personal preferences, and finances are all important factors. It may be that green is a better fit for you, and the difference in cost is not a big deal for you.

 

[kevin37b]

Most of these tractors are good . The dealer and shop crew are the pivot point .

 

[DK35vince]

I don't own a 45-50 HP Kioti. And I'm not really familiar when the new models of Kioti tractors.
But I do own a Kioti DK 35 for the past 14 years and nearing 2000 hours.
My DK 35 never gives me any problems. Its been a very good and reliable for me so far.

 

[coobie]

I have owned 2 kioti tractors.First one a 2008 DK40 se open station gear tractor sold it with around 300 hours due to having knee surgery an wanted a cab tractor with HST.Bought a 2012 cab model Kioti Dk40 se with HST tranny that now has 170 hours.Both have been trouble free.IMHO the most important factor in buying a tractor kioti or john deere is a great dealer that has great sales,parts and service.Good luck on your choice.

 

[airrj]

As GManBart mentioned, Daedong has been building tractors for quite some time. Not as long as long as John Deere, but they are not a here today, gone tomorrow company. My wife and I have owned a DK45se HST for about 3 years now and we have been very pleased with it. The tractor has 400 hours on it and the backhoe probably has almost 200 hours on it as well. We live in a rocky decomposed granite area, and we did all of our own site work for our house including a basement dig, and full septic system.

Three things that I noticed or were pointed out to me when we were shopping were:
1. Look at the physical size of the castings on the Kioti vs. other tractors. The axle housing on the Kioti are some of the heaviest you will see. They may be similar in size to the JD, but if you compare them to housings in the same price range as the Kioti you will notice the difference.
2. Daedong is the manufacture of the tractor and it's components. The engine manufacture doesn't change every 5 years like in some of the less expensive tractors on the market. Long term parts availability should not be a problem. Actually as I write this I just looked up the JD 4044R and the engine is a Yanmar. I don't have a problem with Yanmar engines at all, my only point is about long term parts availability when you have different manufactures of major components. In my opinion Kubota and Kioti have the advantage with this.
3. At the time that we were looking at tractors the Kubota and Kioti both offered similar sized 45hp tractors that were naturally aspirated. At that time the JD 4000 series 45hp model had essentially the same tq and hp but it was a turbocharged motor. I never got a good answer for why JD needed the added complexity of a turbo to make the same power. But as I mentioned in my point above, they now have a Yanmar NA 45hp motor. I am assuming that they went to the Yanmar engine when they met the Tier IV emissions requirements.

The biggest disadvantage of Kioti compared to JD can be the dealer network. This is not the case in all areas of the country (I have a good friend that is a Kioti mechanic at a large Kioti dealer in NY) but there are many more John Deere tractor dealers in the US than Kioti. If you have a good Kioti dealer near you that is a true tractor dealer then you are in good shape. The dealer that we bought our tractor from was an RV dealer that was trying to expand and took on Kioti tractors. Nice people, but they had no idea what they were doing with tractors. They no longer sell tractors. So now our next closest dealer is just a little farther away, and is a small shop that carries multiple tractor lines. We have not needed them for anything yet.

Good luck on your decision and purchase. I would easily recommend the Kioti tractor line.

R.J.

 

[gladehound]

I've owned Kiotis for 10 years. My first was a 2004 Kioti LB1914 (~20hp). bought in 2005 sold in 2014 with 600+ hours on it. No problems. Did break a steering arm. It was my fault, got a small tree between the axle and the steering arm, and when I turned, the hydraulic cylinder used the tree as a fulcrum and snapped the steering arm. I don't have a Kioti dealer near by so I called up a dealer 80 miles away. They shipped the part and I got it in 36 hours and installed it myself. Cost $50.

I was so impressed with my first Kioti that they were high on my list when I went to buy a 45hp tractor. However, I also have a JD dealer less than a mile from my house and really liked the 5000 series. After becoming uncomfortable with reliability of the JD 5000 series and finding a screaming deal on a left over 2013 DS4510HS, I pulled the trigger on my second Kioti and have gone a year with no problems. My DS4510HS has a 2.2 liter naturally aspirated engine and I absolutely love it because even though the torque peak is listed at 1700 RPM, it seems to hold that peak (or darn close to it) all the way down to the 1000 RPM idle. The hydraulics also work very well at idle. I love that I don't have to rev much to do real work.

 

[engine29]

Why pay the extra for the green paint and believe me you will be paying extra. And you will be dealing w/ a Deere dealer which in many parts of the country don't give you the time of day unless you are a large farmer. Kioti is a great tractor, Daedong IS a long term company. They aren't going anywhere. The quality of a Kioti is up there w/ the other orange, green and blue
and you get more tractor for less price. More weight, more lift capacity and depending on which series, more features.
The lesser known brands, Kioti, Mahindra and LS are all good tractors and the Korean brands (Kioti and LS) are very good tractors. Don't worry about the paint color. There are alternatives to JD.

 

[brycedanville]

Greetings to respondents. I'm new to these kinds of websites that provide the opportunity for quick and informal exchanges of info and advice. Perhaps I've been a bit remiss by failing to respond to each individual post that was in response to my initial query. If so, my apologies; I do appreciate the posts that I've read thus far - they've all been helpful in giving me an increasing sense of the pros (mostly) and cons (few) of buying a Kioti vs JD. So, thank you all for your input.
BTW, I'm not sure this post will appear in a way that all the respondents will see it automatically when they look at this "thread." See, I'm learning the computer-savvy lingo! Also, I did reply to GMan Bart's initial post, but don't see my reply anywhere. I'll go back to the home page, and try putting in a query about these two issues to see if they can explain the finer details of how these threads work.
Regards,
Brycedanville