Bobcat not selling compact tractors anymore. What about buying one?

[cobra grover]

I saw an ad for a Bobcat CT-225. They have one for $14,000 with FEL. Not sure if it is a 2012 or 2013 but it is new. Checked the reviews out and everything seemed very good. They have a little more weight than most tractors in it's horsepower range (3056 lbs), which I like. What I found out, and a lot of you may already know, is they will not be making anymore compact tractors after this year.

My question is, should this effect my decision to buy one? One guy I talked to said they will be there for parts support for 15-20 years. I think he just pulled that number out of his, um, head.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't think you can expect tractor parts on discontinued tractors to be available for 60 year like 8N Ford parts but since it is a rebadged Kioti they may be available for some time to come. Anyone guess it for how long. Some CUT tractor parts were not available in less than 5 years. I don't think the foreign companies are obligated to keep them in stock like USA companies are and since the distributors seem to change manufacturer's frequently or yearly in some cases, the OEM isn't obligated to make parts at all. For instance LS made the boomer NH tractors for a year or two and now I hear NH is going to switch back to Shibaura as manufacturer. So will LS still make parts for NH. I doubt it, but parts may be available thru LS dealers if they are savvy enough to know how to cross reference the models similar to what you would have to do with Kioti.

 

[IXLR8]

The tractor is a repainted/rebadged Kioti... but the loader is made by somebody else. I don't remember who, but I bet if you go to the Bobcat tractor forum they can tell you.

 

[cobra grover]

I called the local Kioti dealer. A similar sized Kioti sells for $16k.

 

[TomSeller]

A lot of these parts for the recent "musical chairs" brands are not going to available neatly as long as the Traditional Deere or Kubota. Not that Deere doesn't source out but their dedication to parts is impressive.

 

[MESSMAKER]

The tractor is a repainted/rebadged Kioti... but the loader is made by somebody else. I don't remember who, but I bet if you go to the Bobcat tractor forum they can tell you.

I think it was a Rhino loader at first and then changed to an in-house one.

 

[Gittyup]

A lot of these parts for the recent "musical chairs" brands are not going to available neatly as long as the Traditional Deere or Kubota. Not that Deere doesn't source out but their dedication to parts is impressive.

The tractors that Bobcat sells have been in production under the Kioti label since well before 2006. Only changes since then have been improvements to piece parts to fix reliability/design issues. There are thousands of these tractors out there now. So, the CKs and DKs are hardly "musical chair" tractors. And parts for the earlier Kiotis are still available too. BC has been in it for about 3 years now. McCormick sells the same tractor too. The are sold around the world under the Daedong label also. I don't think you can go wrong with the BCs. You should be able to get parts for many years to come. Loaders on the BCs are U.S made as I understand it. And any loader part is most likely just a common hardware/commodity item that can purchased from many sources. I think you might even be able to get a better deal than the original quote. Work the dealer a bit and see where it leads.

 

[94BULLITT]

I had a Ct235 with the sticking hydro pedal so I am not that crazy about them after that whole ordeal.

The tractor is a repainted/rebadged Kioti... but the loader is made by somebody else. I don't remember who, but I bet if you go to the Bobcat tractor forum they can tell you.

The early loaders were Rhino and the late loaders were Bobcat.

 

[IndyIan]

I guess I see it like this, if you are fine with buying a kioti/ls/yanmar or other smaller manufacturers tractor, then a bobcat is fine. I wouldn't worry about the loader either, pins and cylinders and other hardware isn't made by rhino or kioti or bobcat anyways. If there's a defect, you'll find it under warranty, and if you bend it later, you'll get someone local to fix it.