Comparison Kubota vs. John Deere

[greenrider1]

I've put some seat time on my father-in-law's JD 4320 with BH, and chose to buy another Kubota when I upgraded. I think the quality has gone down hill on the latest compact JD's compared to Kubota. Things I've noticed on the Deere; tilt steering doesn't stay put, cheap steering wheel, jerky hydraulics on the BH, extremely loud engine and not nearly as smooth compared to Kubota, hydro isn't as smooth, cheap plastic fuel tank neck out of round so fuel cap leaks, loader isn't nearly as stout, lots of steel stamped "made in China". Maybe it's just the way the loader attaches on the Deere, but the arms seem really loose and wiggle around a lot. I moved a heavy boiler with it, and the loader arms shifted to one side a good 8" at the bucket, which is a little scary when you have 1800lbs in the air with the bucket 6' off the ground. I thought I bent something, so I set the load down, and it straightened itself out. I then went and got the Kubota to finish the job, after I added my snow blower to the rear for weight. Never had a Kubota loader do this. I thought something was wrong with it, but I've checked others, and they all seem loose. I've owned a couple older Deeres, and they were actually made/assembled in the US. Not so anymore with the compacts. Never had an issue with Kubota's quality/reliability, and I like the fact that one company manufactures the entire unit, and it is assembled in the US. I think JD used to build better quality in their compacts, but lately it seems they are making a living off their name. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but it's just my opinion.

 

[rockshaft]

I've put some seat time on my father-in-law's JD 4320 with BH, and chose to buy another Kubota when I upgraded. I think the quality has gone down hill on the latest compact JD's compared to Kubota. Things I've noticed on the Deere; tilt steering doesn't stay put, cheap steering wheel, jerky hydraulics on the BH, extremely loud engine and not nearly as smooth compared to Kubota, hydro isn't as smooth, cheap plastic fuel tank neck out of round so fuel cap leaks, loader isn't nearly as stout, lots of steel stamped "made in China". Maybe it's just the way the loader attaches on the Deere, but the arms seem really loose and wiggle around a lot. I moved a heavy boiler with it, and the loader arms shifted to one side a good 8" at the bucket, which is a little scary when you have 1800lbs in the air with the bucket 6' off the ground. I thought I bent something, so I set the load down, and it straightened itself out. I then went and got the Kubota to finish the job, after I added my snow blower to the rear for weight. Never had a Kubota loader do this. I thought something was wrong with it, but I've checked others, and they all seem loose. I've owned a couple older Deeres, and they were actually made/assembled in the US. Not so anymore with the compacts. Never had an issue with Kubota's quality/reliability, and I like the fact that one company manufactures the entire unit, and it is assembled in the US. I think JD used to build better quality in their compacts, but lately it seems they are making a living off their name. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but it's just my opinion.

Sounds to me like you have some very legitimate concerns over some of the design elements for the JD tractors that you've had experience with.

My understanding is that the JD 1-series SCUTs are assembled here in the US.

Should the US have a stronger manufacturing base? Absolutely.

Does the consumer need to be force fed only whats available "made in USA"?
I don't think that's good for anyone anymore- those days are a thing of the past IMO. Competition is a good thing, as long as its fair (yeah, that's loaded!)

 

[murphy1244]

Does the consumer need to be force fed only whats available "made in USA"?
What CUT is made in the USA????

 

[rockshaft]

Does the consumer need to be force fed only whats available "made in USA"?
What CUT is made in the USA????

Yes exactly. I only said that because I get the impression that people choose one brand or the other based on this criteria.

 

[murphy1244]

Yes exactly. I only said that because I get the impression that people choose one brand or the other based on this criteria.

Yea but none of them are made in the us.Name me a USA built CUT.

 

[rockshaft]

Yeah, that' why I think the "made in the USA" argument is weak.

 

[murphy1244]

Yeah, that' why I think the "made in the USA" argument is weak.

Who is saying that???

 

[MHarryE]

Why not Cat? Afraid Cat doesn't make small engines. They do make Shibaura engines under license and sell them as Cat. Their latest engines are "made by Kubota to Caterpillar specifications. Those are C2.4 and C3.8, the smaller engines in mini excavators and larger engines in the new large skid steers and compact wheel loaders. C4.4 and C6.6 are built primarily in the UK in the old Perkins factory but now are assembled in other places like Brazil, China, and possibly India. For US built Cat engines you have to go over 7 liters and you can get them in Challengers. JD is I believe similar. Waterloo only produces the big engines and engines like their popular Power-Tech 4.5 are built outside the USA. By the way built by Kubota to Caterpillar specifications may mean something on the order of your basic engine with our computer so the Caterpillar dealers can easily work on them, painted yellow, and labeled Caterpillar.

 

[Ron JD670]

You know what they say John, one day at a time; one day at a time. "I won't buy another tractor today." See you at the meeting next week.:laughing::laughing::thumbsup:

Love it .. Laugh
What's your favorite sports teams colors? In Oregon it has to be Green& Yellow (ducks) or Orange (beavers) so blue, red ... were all out and left me with JD and Kubota. But seriously I started looking at new kubotas but with all the attachments I needed I had to look at used. In the end I got a great deal on a used JD only 40 hours. Now everyone thinks I'm an Oregon Ducks fan. I did notice the used Kubotas I found were worked hard.
What ever you get be safe and enjoy.
RoN

PS I found the thread here first and posted this before I found out about the "Troll Police". I guess I will go back and check the forum policies. I am hoping they will color code these threads in the future.

 

[daugen]

Originally Posted by rockshaft View Post
Yeah, that' why I think the "made in the USA" argument is weak.

Sorry, I think the argument is still valid and a very good one and I'm not trying to pick word hairs here. Just not realistic or helpful anymore it appears because we no longer have those choices to be made. They've been made for us, and like it or not, we live in a global economy where all of us have to constantly read tags if we wonder where stuff comes from. The beautifully engineered and built Honda small engine on one of my machines was built in Thailand, not Japan. The fit and finish on that engine is remarkably good and I'm sure it wlll run a long time.

I bemoaned the fact that we can't get small tractors built here any more than we can get a stereo receiver or tv made here either. It sure isn't how it was when we grew up, when we had a lot fewer choices but you were pretty sure your tractor was built in the MidWest.

Just like GM and Ford make more money on big trucks than compacts, which is why their small trucks have been so uncompetitive, I'm sure it's hard for these companies to make money on a $15K tractor. Heck, JD is making garden tractors that cost almost that much.

This is one reason it is especially satisfying for me to restore older equipment. But that older tractor sure won't have HST PLUS or whatever other real world convenience may be offered on new equipment. I asked my Kubota dealer if all that sophisticated electronics on a L model would hold up and could he fix it if it didn't. Said he had almost no problems at all on Kubota's electronics. Good thing, I'm not sure smaller dealers would have any idea what to do with some modern black box sensing unit other than swap it out.

I'm headed in to my local dealer today possibly to buy a small Kubota RTV for my wife to get around in. I like the looks of the Gator but the RTV is I'm sure equally good. Many of us don't use this equipment to its max potential, or at least not intentionally, so all the specs in the world won't make up for a comfortable seat, a good sight line, and that kind of feel good feeling that you'd better have when you just dumped some serious money into a new tool.

And I guess we'd just better get used to the fact that finding a US flag on the equipment like I find on my Gravely is a thing of the past.
I'm never going to buy a 6 to 9 series JD, but I sure like looking at them and taking pride in what the US can make. But we've given up on this market, probably for good economic reasons, and there's no going back it appears.
The fact that Kubota sole sources their tractor and builds them in the South is very attractive to me, in this new world. Kubota has built a fine reputation on generally well designed equipment. Lighter weight, higher tech. Mahindra goes the other way, with more weight and more traditional "values". So we all have choices. I grew up pulling a two bottom with a John Deere B, and love the company and color. But I'll buy a Kubota today because that's likely the best solution for me due to good dealer service.