Dr Orangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Kioti

k0ua · Mar 26, 2012

logdog said:
The difference for me was somewhere around a grand I believe. I will have to look and see what the exact amount was when I get home. Im sort of curious. My wife has been very impressed so far. We keep starting to beat ourselves up over buying the L but then we remind ourselves we made the best decision at the time.
You are really gonna love how quiet the drive is. I know it rides alot better too. I imagine most of that is the weight of the tractor.

Have you put anything on the 3pt yet and tried to raise it slowly?

I am hoping that the DK will be some better than ole "jerky"

James K0UA

IslandTractor · Mar 26, 2012

k0ua said:
Have you put anything on the 3pt yet and tried to raise it slowly?
I am hoping that the DK will be some better than ole "jerky"

James K0UA

The DK 3pt is very smooth IMO. It is also very nice to be able to make very small adjustments from the back lever while standing off the tractor and attaching something to the hitch. The lever in the back is pretty long which makes fine adjustments easier.

logdog · Mar 26, 2012

k0ua said:
Have you put anything on the 3pt yet and tried to raise it slowly?
I am hoping that the DK will be some better than ole "jerky"

James K0UA

Sure have. Been using a wood chipper and it is smooth as silk pie!

k0ua · Mar 26, 2012

IslandTractor said:
The DK 3pt is very smooth IMO. It is also very nice to be able to make very small adjustments from the back lever while standing off the tractor and attaching something to the hitch. The lever in the back is pretty long which makes fine adjustments easier.

logdog said:
Sure have. Been using a wood chipper and it is smooth as silk pie!

cool!

logdog · Mar 26, 2012

The extra weight sure came in handy tonight when we where using the ratchet rake to rip out some shrubs. However I did get to see the weakness of R4 tires instead of Ags. Although the lawn sure is happier!

IslandTractor · Mar 26, 2012

logdog said:
The extra weight sure came in handy tonight when we where using the ratchet rake to rip out some shrubs. However I did get to see the weakness of R4 tires instead of Ags. Although the lawn sure is happier!

Are you using 4 wheel assist? You almost have to use that with R4s if you are doing any ground engaging work. Ballast also matters and I forget if you have loaded tires or not. I always have a 3PT implement on just for weight.

logdog · Mar 27, 2012

IslandTractor said:
Are you using 4 wheel assist? You almost have to use that with R4s if you are doing any ground engaging work. Ballast also matters and I forget if you have loaded tires or not. I always have a 3PT implement on just for weight.

I was using 4 wheel. I have loaded tires but I didnt have anything on the rear. The R4 s did a good job but this is the first tractor I have ever operated that had them. So I just have to learn their limitations. Sometimes I hard to take two runs at a shrub to rip it loose.

logdog · Mar 27, 2012

k0ua said:
The really disgusting part is I paid within 300 bucks of the DK35se for the L3400HST and this is 19 months later.

James K0UA

I forgot about my homework for last night! The base price (no taxes implements or loaded tires) of the L3700su in October of 2010 was 18075. Base of the Dk40 was 19747. So a diff of 1672 bucks. Factor in 2 or 3 price increases of a couple hundred bucks over the last 17 months or so and I bet the difference is less if we were able to truly compare apples. I really need to get working on that time machine!

MotorSeven · Mar 27, 2012

k0ua said:
so is the best thing to do just break it off and throw it away upon delivery?:laughing:
Or carefully remove it (if the the delivery ride did not already do that) and save it for trade in time and put it back on?
James K0UA

No...just back it onto the trailer

IslandTractor · Mar 27, 2012

logdog said:
I was using 4 wheel. I have loaded tires but I didnt have anything on the rear. The R4 s did a good job but this is the first tractor I have ever operated that had them. So I just have to learn their limitations. Sometimes I hard to take two runs at a shrub to rip it loose.

With shrubs and the DK40 it is usually better to use the loader to pop them out rather than push them over. I typically push just enough to expose a riot then stick either the grapple or a toothbar under the bush and curl/lift the bush out. Saves the turf from spinning wheel damage. The KL401 is powerful enough that you don't need to push much at all.