Buying Advice New 2011 CK30

[dustinfox]

Yes there is a small loss of HP, but mostly it behaves differently than a gear. Hydro's like rpm's, so guy's used to gear have to learn to throttle up. When a gear tractor comes up against an immovable object(like driving the bucket into a pile of dirt/gravel) it will spin all 4 tires. A hydro might spin some, but not aggressively and may just stop. This is normal, but it will teach you to go in easy, lifting and curling at the same time. I don't see that spinning the tires is a benefit, since once that happens all you are doing is digging 4 divots at the same time.
On steep terrain(and I have a ton of it) I can climb a steep hill in Med range with a load. I recently used a shuttle tractor 15 horses bigger than mine on the same hill(my driveway) with a load and I might have been able to go a mile or two faster than my DK. The shuttle & gear tractors seem to have much better ground speed for running down a mostly level road.

It's a personal choice, so if you can drive all 3...gear, shuttle & hydro, then make up your mind. For me, the hydro benefits out weigh the small negatives by a wide margin.

Yes, Hydro's are usually about a thousand bucks more when buying new.

Thanks... I will probably be doing mostly digging, leveling, grading, etc. "poor man's backhoe" really. Not much of just scooping and loading. I've been told that gear shift might be better for that type of work but I don't know cuz I'm a newbie...

I don't even know what a shuttle is :confused2:

 

[RunninOnEmpty]

Are there any options/accessories I'm gonna wish I had asked for if I do buy it?

Thanks!

IMO a few options you'll want to add: Loaded rear tires, tooth bar & hooks welded on the bucket.

 

[hypotenoose]

I'm trying to decide on a new tractor (my first tractor). Got a price from the local dealer on a new CK30 (manual shift) with FEL for $16,300. Fair price? Are there any options/accessories I'm gonna wish I had asked for if I do buy it?

Thanks!

I was quoted $16,600 for a 2011 CK30 HST with FEL just last week by my local dealer. Comparing the two, I would consider $16 even for a geared CK30 with FEL a fair price. Like MotorSeven stated, give the hydro a test drive. What you may lose in HP you will gain in mobility and time and, that my friend, is priceless. :thumbsup:

 

[MotorSeven]

A shuttle has a lever on the steering column, it changes your direction: push it forward and you go forward, pull it back you go into reverse. I don't know if Kioti's shuttle requires clutching, JD's does not, Mahindra's does. To be honest I don't see much advantage of a shuttle over gear. They still require a hand to do something, and they are not smooth like the hydro. With my hydro I can make my tractor go from forward to reverse at work rpm with zero herk & no jerk. You will find lots of things require a feather touch and a hydro does that better than anything.

 

[dustinfox]

A shuttle has a lever on the steering column, it changes your direction: push it forward and you go forward, pull it back you go into reverse. I don't know if Kioti's shuttle requires clutching, JD's does not, Mahindra's does. To be honest I don't see much advantage of a shuttle over gear. They still require a hand to do something, and they are not smooth like the hydro. With my hydro I can make my tractor go from forward to reverse at work rpm with zero herk & no jerk. You will find lots of things require a feather touch and a hydro does that better than anything.

Thanks! I'm learning! It seems like any power loss from a hydro becomes less of an issue as you move up in HP. Maybe instead of a CK30 gear, I should think about a CK35HST.

 

[DK35vince]

To be honest I don't see much advantage of a shuttle over gear. They still require a hand to do something,

I think there is a huge between straight gear and a shuttle.
I have both and the syncrinized shuttle is SO much nicer/faster/smoother.

 

[MotorSeven]

Vince does synchronized mean no clutch and is that how Kioti's work? My neighbor had a JD, no clutching to go from forward to reverse, but it is nowhere near as smooth as my Hydro.

 

[Gittyup]

HST is "better" in most cases. But, don't discount gear if you are doing mostly straight-line stuff, without a lot of back and forth. The gear allows you to also step down a couple of HP if you want to save money without giving up any net power that is lost in the HST.

The CK27/30/35's gear model is shuttle. You do have to clutch. Synchro means you don't have to stop to shift. One advantage of the shuttle is that you have 8 reverse speeds instead of just 2 with a regular 2-range gear tranny. I like this feature. I tried out the CK20 gear for a few hours, which isn't shuttle, and reverse was very slow in both ranges.

The hardest part for me was getting use to having the shifter/shuttle on the left. But, now it's second nature. I prefer HST, but I'm not really missing it all that much on my CK25 gear. I've spent as much as 12 hours at a time on it, only getting off to refuel and pee, and I found the action of operating the shuttle lever more tiring than the clutching. It's gotten easier as the shuttle mechanisms have broken in.

Do be careful in shoes with no heel or lugs. A wet muddy foot can easily slip off the clutch when you aren't expecting it. HST is safer and if money isn't so tight, I'd go CK35HST.

 

[DK35vince]

Vince does synchronized mean no clutch and is that how Kioti's work? My neighbor had a JD, no clutching to go from forward to reverse, but it is nowhere near as smooth as my Hydro.

With the shuttle on my DK I do need to use the clutch. With syncronized shuttle you do not need to be at a complete stop to forward/reverse.
The transmision gears are also sycronized. Meaning you don't need to stop to shift gears.
Shift on the go, forward or reverse.
I have older model DK 35 so I have 8 forward and 8 reverse gears. The newer SE model 35's have 12/12.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Very interesting.
I notice at least a $2000 cash difference in quotes between the east coast, and the midwest on both Kioti and Bobcat tractors.
Almost cost effective to buy one out there and trailer it back.

Except NH doesn't have any sales tax.