CT235 V Kioti CK35

[vtfx4]

the 235 was delivered friday. I have worked it for about 5 hours so far. My wife is cracking the whip with our siding issue, so I will have limited time on it for a month or so. I did move some good sized boulders to a retaining wall I am building around my parking area. I was impressed with what I could do, but found the bucket forks to be pretty useless. I tied to get them under rocks but they would slide apart. I ended up pushing the rocks that were too big to fit into the bucket.

I will post pics in a new thread later tonight.

 

[IslandTractor]

I was impressed with what I could do, but found the bucket forks to be pretty useless.

You are not the first to report on the limitations of bucket forks. I think they are fine for light duty work with brush or unloading a moderate load on a pallet but they cannot be forced to do hard work like pin or QA mounted forks.

 

[vtfx4]

Still loving the 235 but I have noticed several spots of rust and I have only had it two days. I am sure it has sat out on the lot, but still. There are two small spots on the loader arm that have paint chipping off and a little rust. I can also see the color of rust in a few of the cracks on the the tractor itself.

I would have thought they would have been painted better, or perhaps I have a bad paint job and need to go back to see the dealer.

 

[Kioti4me]

Yes, RimGuard is the way to go. See my posting " First Damage Report" on issues regarding HST Filters. You will want to have some sort of guard built for it.

If you are in the woods it would be easier to have filled rear tires than to try to manuver with an implement on the back for ballast. With weight far forward on the forks, I would imagine you'll need some ballast especially if there are any hills to negotiate. It is not fun having a light rear.

I would personally have the dealer load the tires with rimguard if I had the choice. If not then consider loading yourself with windshield washer fluid. You might save a buck but it will take you a while to fill them yourself.

 

[Lockport]

... I was impressed with what I could do, but found the bucket forks to be pretty useless. I tied to get them under rocks but they would slide apart. I ended up pushing the rocks that were too big to fit into the bucket...

What you really want here is a grapple, not forks.:thumbsup:

 

[Lockport]

The only strategic alliance is that Bobcat, through their parent Doosan in Korea, contracted with Kioti's parent company, Daedong, also in Korea, for a large number of tractors. This was announced about the same time Doosan bought Bobcat. Because Bobcat was on the hook for a large order of tractors, and tractor sales dropped about 30% from last year, Bobcat has a lot more tractors than they need. Doosan is a huge conglomerate, so I guess they can afford to dump the inventory and move on. The sad thing about this is a lot of KIOTI dealers could be put out of business, or forced to change lines because of this. I am told the Bobcat tractors have nothing to do with KIOTI USA, their parts and service come from Bobcat, via KOREA, not Wendel NC. Some KIOTI dealers may choose to support the Bobcat orphans, (assuming that is what is going to happen IMHO) some may not. It is sort of like gray market equipment in the construction industry. NO doubt the tractors are a great buy, but they are being sold below cost and that will not continue, even huge conglomerates don't like to loose money. Bobcat just got into the business at the wrong time. Daedong got greedy and wanted another distribution channel in the US, it doesn't seem to be working, and now that greed could severely damage the distribution channel that they already had. Just another day in world corporate affairs.

I was always under the impression that when Doosan bought Bobcat from IR, they went to Kubota, their primary engine manufacturer, and said they wanted to sell a compact tractor, to which Kubota refused. Doosan then suggested they might consider no longer using Kubota engines in their skid steer whereupon Kubota suggested they might build a skid steer. Which they did.

Bobcat's aggressive pricing could be motivated by any number of factors, but it is no secret that when Kioti was still more primitive in design style, say the L1914, they were immensely a lot of tractor for pennies. There used to be a guy in Arkansas that would sell a L1914, loader, tiller, finish mower and tandem axle trailer package for slightly more than a comparative Chinese Jinma package. However it's also no secret that this arrangement with Daedong has been fantastic for the parts availability network of supply and demand and is good for all including Kioti which was just what they needed. Now McCormick is branding the same CUTs and moving away from LS. IMHO I don't think this relationship or any of them is going to end anytime soon. The more Daedong can mass produce, the cheaper they will go and that was always Kioti's original appeal when they were the only kid on that block.
:drink: