Looked at MF-JD-Kioti cab compacts

[Oleozz]

We have, within six miles of our house, a MF dealer, A JD dealer, and a Case dealer. Every now and then I take a drive and stop and look at the compacts. My first stop was at the MF dealership, they had a cab 1547 sitting on the lot. The door was open so I took a look and I liked what I saw. Lots of front window space so you could view the loader, the controls seemed to be laid out in a practical way and the seat wasn't great but not bad. It did have two sets of rear remotes, I think probably dealer installed but that's a nice feature. All in all a well thought out tractor.
I then proceeded to the JD dealer, they had a 4720 cab, it was open so I crawled in. It was a luxury interior in my estimation, not as much front window space as the MF but everything seemed to fit perfectly and well constructed. I didn't see any rear view mirrors, that must be an option or rear wiper. The seat was great. On both the MF and JD it looked like the door opposite the drivers side would be tough to exit. The price for the JD was listed as being on sale at $31,000, that being with no loader. There was no price on the MF. Nobody came out at either shop and I didn't expect them to, they see me often enough to know that I was just looking.
I then drove out to the Case dealer but they didn't have any compacts on the lot.
When I got home I went out to my implement shed and compared the Kioti 45 to what I had just seen and was pleased with what Kioti has done. I'm not taking about performance because I didn't use the other two, I'm just talking about cosmetics. I would be tickled to own any of them. One thing I would like to see is some type of heating unit on the floor in the cab. The designers of these cab tractors must think that your feet don't get cold. All the heating units in all the tractos that I looked at yesterday seemed to have the vents up around your head. I was surprised at how much bigger the Kioti seemed than the JD or MF, I'm not saying that in a positive or negative way, because lots of weight is not always the answer for a compact.
Next week I am going past the Kubota dealer and I will stop and windowshop there also and wish I had one of every color sitting in my shed.

 

[Dargo]

Although JD insists their cab is "bigger" and "superior" in that class, I tend to agree with you. I was all set to buy a JD 4720 cab tractor until I saw one and tried one. It's like it's, well, kind of scrunched if you will. I've owned a Kubota L5030HSTC for over 2 years and am intimately acquainted with the cab by now. There is simply no way in the world that JD is going to convince me that the cab on the (more powerful) 4720 is larger. It just isn't flying with me.

I didn't get out a measuring tape, but I'd completely shocked if the cab in the JD tractor isn't shorter from front to back. There is no doubt in that area. There is no room behind the seat. And, with the taller cab (more head room, although I've never felt lacking in the Kubota 5030 cab and I'm a shade over 6' tall) being shorter, it magnifies it's shortness. The JD salesperson also swore to me that the JD 4720 cab was wider than the 5030 cab. Again, I didn't measure it, but for feel (which is all that matters to me), it isn't. In short, I became unsold on the 4720 after having the Kubota 5030 cab. Besides, the longer wheelbase in the 5030 made the Kubota ride just a bit better over rough terrain.

I've never been a MF cab, so I can't comment even a little on it. But, I've been a Kioti DK65 cab for a couple of hours. No doubt it's in a completely different category of cab size than the JD 4720. There was just a huge amount more room. Now in my opinion, I thought the Kubota and JD cabs were slightly better put together and used higher quality materials, but I think I'd have been more comfortable in the Kioti DK65 cab.

So, since I was still going to add a larger tractor to the L5030HSTC, I moved to the JD5X25 series tractor. Now, that's a cab! It seemed to be a good foot wider than the others as well as a foot and a half longer. I could enter or exit out either door even with the loader joystick in place. The open floor area is expansive and the cab is well laid out and well appointed. Then, after spending a month or so shopping and battling on prices, I was pleasantly surprised at the price differences. For this round of tractor buying I mainly compared the Kubota M series tractors, the Kioti DK65, and the JD5X25 series. When equipped as I wanted, which on the JD included a 2nd seat which allows me to take any of my 5 kids out with me, the JD was only slightly more money and was the heaviest and strongest (hp wise) tractor. Oh yeah, I did sort of try Mahindra, and was honestly impressed, but no dealer stocked their largest and most powerful cab tractor. So, for Mahindra, I had to compare their open station tractor to the other cab units. Not exactly a fair comparison I'll admit. But, I have nothing but respect for the Mahindra line. For the size and hp range, it was the only tractor that weighed more than what I bought. Which, could be a problem. I opted for loaded rears and now have decided that with only my HD 9' rear blade and FEL, weighing nearly 12,000 pounds seems a bit much. I may need to "unload" my rears now after some consideration.

I did try two other tractors that offered cabs in that same range. I won't mention them because I was extremely disappointed in those tractors. They simply were not up to be competitive in nearly every aspect other than price. And, for what I need, price is not my entire driving factor for a purchase. Also, for those "other" tractors, it wasn't hard at all to find numerous cases of where they have proven to be less than reliable and seem to constantly require some wrenching, which I'm opposed to doing on a new machine.

 

[RFB]

Dargo,

Would you expound on your JD; I am interested in the model and equippage that you purchased...and the price

 

[dirtworksequip]

oleozz, haven't you ever heard that "If you keep your head warm your feet will stay warm." Those cab tractor engineers are smarter than we think........sometimes.

 

[Steve_Miller]

oleozz, haven't you ever heard that "If you keep your head warm your feet will stay warm." Those cab tractor engineers are smarter than we think........sometimes.

I always thought statement was the other way around, maybe that's just me as my brains are in my feet.

Steve

 

[Dodgeram]

I always thought statement was the other way around, maybe that's just me as my brains are in my feet.

Steve

so...seat warmers were invented for people who have their head up their a..... I couldn't resist

 

[Steve_Miller]

so...seat warmers were invented for people who have their head up their a..... I couldn't resist

I set myself up for it!

Steve

 

[williekioti]

I set myself up for it!

Steve

:O

 

[Oleozz]

Willie--That's a good sized log you have sitting on the front of your tractor. I felt happy when mine lifted a 12 ft locust log that was about 24 inches across but I think yours has it beat.