Hello Sbalak How do you like the Kioti so far? I just looked at them as well I did have an L3560 cab tractor before, I am in the market now. At a glance they look great! I am on the fence looking at the DK, NX and the Yanmar 359. Love to hear your thoughts. Does it have enough power, how is the lift capacity and any issues at all with yours?
I still like it.
I think there are some things that I'm still getting used to, but I don't know if that's Kioti vs. Kubota or just smaller tractor vs. bigger tractor.
1. The Kubota weighed 60% less, but had only 30% less HP. I could have the kubota in any gear (hydro) and go forward or backward at low idle. The Kioti definitely wants more than idle RPM for high gear and loader operation. It's possible to stall the tractor, which not something that would happen on the B3030 unless it was the PTO driven (ie post hole digger stuck).
2. The hydro gear range is a little different. I think the range is a little larger for all gears in the Kioti. I found that low in the kutoba was a creeper gear I mostly used for aggressive loader work. I rarely used it, so I tended to not use it in the Kioti but I'm learning that's not really valid. Low is Kioti has enough range to keep in low and still move fast "enough" for small moves. I find that I use all gears on the Kioti more, because I can shift without looking down. It's very natural to lower your arm and shift.
3. The Kubota's throttle was mechanically linked, but the Kioti is software controlled. I've noticed that I can raise the throttle on the Kioti and the engine doesn't necessarily increase RPM if it think it doesn't need it. Sounds good, but I've found that I can fool the engine. I've been in M going down hill and increase the throttle without the engine increasing RPM all the way to the point where the throttle is maxed but RPM doesn't change. I can then stop, reduce the throttle back to idle and then raise RPM with increased throttle. I think it's kind of throttle bug. This tractor has E-540 PTO so throttle, PTO speed, axle speed, and engine RPM are not all 1:1 at times. Again....maybe this is user error, but so far I just never really do any work with the tractor at low idle, while I did a lot of work on the B3030 at low idle.
4. The Kubota 4WD was pretty much engaged all the time. I find that with the Kioti I only engage the 4WD when I'm on dirt. It has too much traction to use 4WD on asphalt, which results in jumping during a turn. I find that the Kioti is a little harder to engage into 4WD sometimes. I think the transmission is a little beefier and doesn't want to disengage sometimes. In those cases I just slow and sometimes reverse and then it shifts to 2WD. This might be because the tractor is still very new.
5. The hydro on the Kioti whines more than the Kubota. I don't know if that's a new tractor thing or if its always there. Its not enough to be annoying, but enough to be noticeable.
6. I'm still getting used to the hydro peddles being side by side rather than the treble peddle. This is mostly a muscle memory issue for me. The problem with the treble peddle is mud and muck. I never thought it was hard to use, but without fail I get mud/snow under the reverse and have to clear it.
Things I really like:
1. The loader is much stronger than my smaller tractor. I have a titan QA pallet\hay fork for it. The kioti easily lifted 1200lbs of quikcrete out of the pick-up with ease and no
ballast. I picked up some large tree sections and have decided I need to make a ballast box for the back. I was able to lift up the rear, but I don't know how much those sections weighed. I'm guessing >1800lbs.
2. The extra weight and tractor is night and day compared to the lighter Kubota when traveling in mud and doing loader work. I liked my B3030, but I needed a bigger machine. I've taken the Kioti through mud and muck that have repeatedly got the B3030 stuck.
3. The cab is nice and the HVAC works very, very well. Even when its really cold, the engine still gets to middle temp quickly. You can easily make it too hot/too cold regardless of the outside temp.
4. I really like the extra 3pt lift level. This works so well and makes putting on attachments easy. The kubota had fancy adjustable link arms and the Kioti does not, but I'm still faster putting on attachments because I don't have to keep raising and lower the arms from the side of the tractor.
5. I didn't have QA on the Kubota front loader and I really like that on the Kioti. I had bolt on forks and I hated them. So much easier to have dedicated forks that come on and off in less than a minute. I still haven't welded on some hooks onto the bucket, but I miss that I had that on the Kubota bucket.
6. The steering is effortless and it has a great turn radius.
Problems I've run into:
1. I had the load valve freeze up on me. I think others have complained on this as well. The loader control was stuck so I could lower and curl, but couldn't raise. I think moisture froze inside some of the level linkages. I took apart the cover, but after a quick TBN search figured out the problem. I turned the heater on high and it fixed itself in 20 minutes. It was a very cold night, but for comparison the Kubota never had this problem and it lived the majority of its life in MN where the temps were much, much colder.
2. I had the 3pt lock up on me when taking of the post hold digger. I lowered it onto a pallet with the tractor off. I kind of got it stuck so I fired up the tractor to raise it, but 3pt was not responsive. I read elsewhere on TBN that if that happens just hit the rear hydros and it will clear the 3 point. Sure enough. Worked immediately. Again....never ran into this with the Kubota.
Things that could be improved:
1. I had LED lights and the Kubota (after market) and the Kioti does not. I plan on switching the lights over to LED. They're just not bright enough.
2. The tilt steering on the Kubota was nicer than the Kioti. My Kubota had a foot peddle to unlock the tilt so it was very easy to adjust to tilt every time you get into and out of the tractor. Kioti uses a lever which requires your left arm, but that's always on the transmission because the DK has to be started in N. I new this going in so not too big of deal.
. Nice looking set up you have there. Good luck with Sunday's storm!
