Century or Kubota

   / Century or Kubota #31  
Oh Woodbeef, you must get out more. California is the agriculture king in terms of dollars. Kubotas abound, not as much, not nearly as much as JD, Case/NH etc., but yes they are most definitely alive and well in the ag business. When you say "real farming" is this for those with 1000 acres or more, maybe 10,000 acres. If thats the case, you may be right. Kubotas can be seen at many vineyards, in fact, for some reason seems to dominate there, but thats not the limit of where you see them. If ever in California driving the long and sometimies boring I-5, you will see more farm land then perhaps one cares too. From cotton to citrus to almonds, corn, rice and tomatoes, there is such a variety and every different type of tractor to handle the various crops.

Anyway, I did like the Century, it looked great, the 2 speed PTO was interesting. When it comes to bang for the buck, it's not only measured by price, it's like buying a SnapOn ratchet, you can get a lot more bang for your buck elsewhere, but hey, that SnapOn feels good, won't break nearly as easy when I put that 3 foot cheater bar on it. So there is a certain amount of gratification just having something "you" feel is really nice. If buying a Jinma tractor gives you this feeling, all the power to you. After a whole bunch of trying, thinking, pricing, more thinking, analyzing the websites and brochures, I got exactly what I wanted. One thing for sure, it's nice to have so many options, lots of free opinions and often good advice from great folks all over the world, especially right here in the US and Canada. Rat...
 
   / Century or Kubota #32  
Wolbert, the Kioti's are looking great and certainly a tractor for folks to consider. I did, but hey, HST! I have become so confident with HST for my use it's become almost mandatory. I don't farm so ground engaging equipment, some PTO HP loss, exact ground speed are all entirely unncessary. I could still farm I suppose, as my crop would be citrus, but anyway, I'm not a farmer. It's funny to see these very issues being thrown about, but I often wonder what folks on this site actually do with their compacts, if it's farming, they are farmers with time on their hands, a rare luxury for farmers. For most of us, I gather tractors are more hobby oriented, that is, taking care of our places, (and often our tractorless neighbors). Your Kioti should do well, I have started seeing more of them in my area, or were they Kubotas? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Anyway, the Kioti tractor looks like a great tractor. Rat...
 
   / Century or Kubota #33  
Hey Rat,

Get out more...ya I hear ya!!

Size of the farm does not really matter it is more what you need the tractor to do. Could be as small as 50 acres or so,just depends what you are farming!!

How many of those Kubotas that you've seen are the ones they push as the actual field sized ag-tractors the M-100 through M120s? These are the ones I'm reffering to as what would be used in the fields if there were any around. Never seen a one on a plow,disc,seed drill,sprayer,forage harvestor,etc......... Yes I have seen the smaller ones in vineyards,truck farms,gardens,nurseries,etc.........
 
   / Century or Kubota #34  
Naw that's probably just all of that stuff repatriating back up this way seeing as how the exchange rates are swinging back our way. Guess you never noticed it all heading down your way the last 5 years or so.

I'll leave the politics and subsidies alone. Do not really see where they are of any value in the discussions on this board. Might want to do a little fact finding first though before you look for discussions on them.

One question though on Michigan roads....did they ever figure out how to make the railroad crossings any smoother yet,or do you still have to play Duke's of Hazzard if you -cross at any speed above a crawl ?
 
   / Century or Kubota #35  
RaT My admittedly limited experience was with much smaller machines, about 20 HP gross and under. The hydro was SO much easier to use. I admit I had a real hard time with the collar shift. I couldn't imagine myself owning a JD 790 or similar. In my shopping experience, I found that as the machine size went up, hydro's became less dominant. With one exception, one model of the B7500, EVERYTHING Kubota makes 30HP and under is a hydro. I think that is the way it should be. The New Holland dealer stated that in his class III Boomers 50% were hydro, 50% gear. All his Class IIs were hydros. JD was similar, but no one quoted me numbers. Class III ten series (45, 46, 47) were easy to find in sync shuttle. Not so class II. In fact a hydro isn't even available in the 4510. IMHO one of the greatest CUTs of all time, the 2120 Ford/NH was never available with a hydro. On to Century, I expected to feel really amaturish operating the 12 speed based on past experience. Well, it hasn't been that case at all. The learning curve for me took about an hour of FEL work. I guess I just don't understand how much more "responsive" things need to be. All I do is "blip" the throttle and it lurches ahead. If I'm in too low a gear, then the speed tops out less than I might want. If something stops the bucket, the engine doesn't bog, the wheels spin. I'm talking range 2 with 4WD engaged. (#5200 with FEL and R4 tires not loaded). Selecting the right gear was part of my learning curve. As for reverse, I guess you can hit the reverse treadle faster than I can flip the sync shift lever. If I was a landscaper or farmer and used a tractor eight hours a day, that might be a factor. For me, it's really a non issue. What I don't get done today, I'll do tomorrow. If I finish too soon, the other half might need some windows cleaned or something /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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   / Century or Kubota
  • Thread Starter
#36  
Thanks for the information and polotics.

I'm hoping we can get back to my question. Is Kubota worth $4,000 more than the Century?

I'm also concerned about Century being around in 5 years or more. What evidence is there to support this? Is Century selling enough tractors to indicate a growing market share? I've been told Kubota holds 40% of ALL compact tractor sales nation wide.

It seems Century is putting the money into their product, workmanship and establishing dealerships all over. The Kubota dealer said there was only 7 Century dealers in Texas. I checked and found about 25, not counting Branson.

Parts are the biggest issue. Will Century continue to expand their support infrastructure? The new facility in Houston is incouraging along with the Branson center in Louisiana.

These are deciding factors for me. I feel confident I can get Kubota parts and support ten years from now. For this reason alone I'd probably buy Kubota if the prices were more comparable.

Thanks for all the information and please stay with the facts. The Kubota page has turned into a huge dissapointment due the lack of any substatial support for their brand of tractor. Nobody can say why Kubota is better than Century, it's more like a sporting team debate.
 
   / Century or Kubota #37  
Eddie, I guess you got your answer in the first seven or eight posts. In most everyone's opinion it is NOT worth the difference. I think the biggest personal factor for you is to determine if you really need the hydro. If you feel you do, then Century is a non issue. Also know that Kubota makes one of, if not the best hydros. If you feel it is not necessary, as I did, then to me Century is a "no brainer". Since you're not getting a FEL, there's even less of a reason for the hydro. As for market share, there are so many other factors that determine market share other than the quality of a machine. Chevy has a huge market share. Anyone you know want a Citation or a Vega? You have two distributors to get Century parts from. Parts for Century are much more reasonable than Kubota. My hydraulic filter is $18 retail, only part I have bought for my 3045 so far. I saved more than $7000 over my #2 choice (JD 4710) and got the same engine. Time will tell if I made the right decision, but everything so far indicates to me I have.
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   / Century or Kubota #38  
I guess your real question Eddie is: Will Kukje still be around in 5 or 10 years? Who can really say what companies will or will not be around next year let alone down the road? They have as good as chance as anyone,maybe even better than some. Kukje builds tractors for JD,and engines for Cummins,along with their own lines of ag tractors and equipment. They are the largest in Korea. www.kukje21.co.kr
 
   / Century or Kubota #39  
W'beef:

I guess that you don't look at the photo section of this site. I suggest that you also look at the thread about used haying equipment to see what I actually do with my "wannabe farm tractor". Take a look at my posts and then decide. If you want to, come on down here, bring your tractor and I'll hook you up, so to speak. Hope you have a good air conditioner in your cab, 'cause you will need it.
 
   / Century or Kubota #40  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">( I guess we look at tractors two different ways. To me a tractor is a piece of equipment that must give me the biggest bang for the buck.)</font>

Your "buck" dosen't "bang" quite as loud as ours.
)</font>

5030 - Help me - Third request - Because????????

Outside of an air conditioned cab which is certainly not standard on a 5030 what can your 5030 do for - ballpark $15K more - that my 3045 can't. I'm sure there must be a very long list for that much difference. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I suspect a very short list and someone doesn't want to admit to the old addage "A fool and his money are soon parted."
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