Grant;
Having gone through a 2 year search for a large GT or small compact, I agree with Del. Some larger tractors can do more, but cost a lot more. As for comparison to GT's, there is no comparison. Only thing the BX has in common with the JD 425 is price and size. The BX wins by a mile in all other categories. If you factor in the price of Cat-0 attachments for the 425, it becomes way more expensive than the BX with Cat-1's, and it does a lot less.
What I sense, though, is a hesitation about Kubota, the unknown. Let's face it, JD has been around for eons. We all grew up with them. Legends were built. Some conclusions that I found through my searches before buying a Kubota:
The typical Kubota is at least as reliable as (and maybe more) as JD. As Del said, same for NH and others. Unlike the GT market, these manufacturers are building machines for a market which demands high-hours under adverse conditions. That is why there is a higher cost with compacts, it shows in the design. Also, my research has convinced me that all compacts retain there value, exceptionally.
Parts availability question. No concern. After all, Kubota is a US built tractor. BX is built in Georgia. Now, they use some parts shipped from overseas, but so does JD. (The JD 4100 though is an exception, built entirely overseas by Yanmar ).
Kubota is going to be around for a long, long time in the US. The tractors are made and built by a US entity (KUBOTA TRACTOR CORPORATION USA. Headquarters: Torrance, California, USA). After all, it is Kubota that sells more compacts (under 40 HP) in North America than any other (article below). Don't think the market leader is going to walk away!
I believe that there is an analogy to cars. Our parents and even many of us grew up with GM, Chrysler and Ford. Then the Japanese came in. First people laughed and were skeptical. Before long, those Japanese manufacturers were showing Detroit that there was a better way to build, a better quality. Next thing you know, Honda and others are building cars in the US, and Detroit is no longer the innovator (manufacturing methods, quality control, customer responsiveness), just the imitator to stay alive.
For that reference I mentioned:
Kubota quietly finds success in both machinery and engine markets in North
America.
Abstracted from Diesel Progress North American Edition 02/01/99
"Kubota Corp of Japan has slowly built a strong base in the North American machinery and diesel engine markets. As one of the premier manufacturers of both diesel engines and machinery in the world, Kubota consistently turns in impressive sales figures annually. The company is the leading supplier of small farm and utility tractors under 40 hp in North America and is ranked second in the market for small backhoe loaders. It is also second to Melroe in miniexcavators, accounting for about 30% of the market. Kubota's major competitors in the North American market are Caterpillar, Deere, Waldon and Singer."
My sons.
