New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts

   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts #1  

wagnon89

New member
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
17
Location
Hartselle, AL
Tractor
2017 Kioti NX4510 HST, 1972 Ford 2000
Called and ordered a Kioti NX 4510 HST on Tuesday of this week. The dealer delivered it Friday afternoon and I spent most of today testing it out. I ordered it with 2 rear remotes, a 3rd function valve and hoses, a 6 foot cutter, a 6 foot land planer/grader, and Rim Guard filled tires. I'm going to be looking for a grapple soon and I've got plans to turn an old bush hog into a custom 3 point ballast/tool carrier. Seen some good ideas on this forum.

Initial thoughts on the tractor:
Good
- The Linked Pedal feature is awesome. Flat out awesome. The only disadvantage for me with a hydrostatic transmission was that the RPM's need to be up to move around and do any work. With this feature I can drive into a dirt pile with the power I need to get a full bucket and then once I've got the loader lifted and let off the forward pedal I immediately go back to idle and I can back out at whatever speed I choose. This is probably my favorite feature on the whole tractor.
- Either some improvements have been made or I got a good one, but I haven't noticed any of the forward to reverse lag in the transmission at all. I noticed several people had this complaint with their NX series tractors. It seems to about as smooth and seamless as it could possibly be on my machine.
- Good power to weight ratio. I tried several different scenarios to test the traction to power ratio and it performed very well. In low I was able to push over about a 12" diameter scrub pine on my property that I was tired of looking at. I was able to work it from a couple of angles and get the whole root ball up without making much of a stump hole. The power was there to do the job pretty quickly but the tires would spin on me if I got into to big a hurry. Once I finish my ballast box I think it will help a lot with any traction/weight issues I might come across.

Not So Good
- No armrests on the seat. Minor, but it would help to be able to rest my right arm on something while doing loader work.
- The HST range shifter is a little bit annoying at times, just like I have seen many others say.
- The handles on nearly all the levers will pop off in your hand if you're not careful. Gonna have to super glue them in place or something.
- The fact that you have to not only be in neutral but also have the parking brake engaged to get off the tractor without killing it is a little bit annoying, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
- Like I've seen others complain about on here, my hydraulic lines going to the loader are rubbing right against a metal edge. I'm not sure why this simple fix has not been addressed, but I'll cut some rubber to protect the lines.
- These were all pretty nitpicky issues but I do have one a little bit more serious. When we unloaded off the trailer Friday afternoon I spent about an hour tooling around before parking it in my shop. This morning I wake up to find a small puddle of oil underneath the engine and another small puddle of hydraulic fluid near the rear of the tractor. The rear leak turned out to be a loose bolt on the remotes that were added. The oil leak unfortunately appears the be coming from the front seal. I'm going to do some more investigating tomorrow to see if I can confirm. Hopefully I am wrong because I really want to continue playing with this new machine.

I'll get some pics posted up of it also in the next few days.
 
   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts
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#2  
 

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   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts
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#3  
I forgot to add that the transmission fluid and the front axle oil were barely touching the stick after sitting overnight. Anybody else had any problems with fluid levels/leaks?
 
   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts #4  
I forgot to add that the transmission fluid and the front axle oil were barely touching the stick after sitting overnight. Anybody else had any problems with fluid levels/leaks?

That's pretty normal with any tractor. The L3940 here was the same after using it the first day, both were a bit low on fluid.
 
   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts #5  
Mine has right arm rest.
None of the 'handles' have ever come off. And are in fact hard to remove.
On the forum by Eric the Oracle I have detailed, with pics, the safety seat mod.
My dealer spent an entire day with two guys going over everything...all fluid levels we topped off..I had zero complaints..
 
   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts #6  
The arm rest was one of the first things I noticed on mine too, I removed the factory right side one and installed a new adjustable set, so I have both sides now. I too had a few instances were the seat switch shut down the tractor while trying to hook up to the forks and buckets so I replaced the two bolts in the front of the seat cushion instead of messing with the wiring.
 
   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I guess only the cab version comes with an arm rest. I might look into changing the seat out or adding a makeshift one. Either way it is a very minor annoyance and although it would be more comfortable probably, I really haven't noticed it much.

Really my only concern is the leaking front main seal.
 
   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts
  • Thread Starter
#8  
I guess only the cab version comes with an arm rest. I might look into changing the seat out or adding a makeshift one. Either way it is a very minor annoyance and although it would be more comfortable probably, I really haven't noticed it much.

Really my only concern is the leaking front main seal.
 
   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts #9  
Tighten or check every single bolt and nut you see!! Open the hood and the bolts that hold the relays take apart and put Blue Loctite on them. Fabricate and install skid plates ASAP before you rip the fuel line and or wires that are exposed. After that you should be all good. Except maybe a expanded metal insert for the Grill guard.
 
   / New NX4510 HST Initial Thoughts
  • Thread Starter
#10  
I have about 10 hours on the tractor so far. I have been very pleased with the performance with the limited time I have spent operating it. I still have a very slight oil leak. I called up my dealer last week to inform him and he was very helpful and reassuring. I am very optimistic about the service I will receive from them while getting the bugs worked out. With the leak being so small I was not in a rush to have it hauled back to the shop or anything so we decided I'd put a few more hours on it and evaluate it in a week or two.

This past weekend I had an electrical gremlin show up that I was wondering if any of you may have experienced. Saturday morning I noticed what seemed to be like a slight miss in the engine a few times and at one point the instrument panel went blank briefly before immediately returning. The engine never stalled completely out, just acted like a slight miss. On Sunday evening, I went to hook up to my bush hog and as I pulled away the instrument panel went blank, the tractor came to a stop, and the engine died. I was able to start it right back up and it ran with occasional misses for about 15 minutes while I was mowing. Then it died out completely again and I was unable to restart. I wiggled all the electrical connections I could find and then I was able to restart. It died several more times before I was able to get back to my shop, each time with me wiggling several different connections to get it going again.

Turning the key to the on position is supposed to light up the instrument panel and dash but now I cannot make that happen even by wiggling all the wiring harnesses, connections, etc. It is like it has completely lost all power or maybe a ground. I called my dealer back and they are going to schedule a time to come pick it up and carry it back to the shop for troubleshooting. I thought if I have the time this weekend I would disconnect any ground wires I can find and make sure there are good connections in all those locations. I already checked all of the hot wires that were obvious to me like the battery cables and starter connections and wiring harness under the dash. Does anybody have any other ideas?

Fortunately I feel very reassured that I bought from a very reputable dealer that has expressed their commitment to stand behind their product so I'm really not worried about the whole situation. I'm sure it is something relatively simple. I am still happy with my purchase and I would definitely recommend my dealer (Larry Stovesand Equipment) to anyone in the southeast looking to buy a Kioti.
 
 
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