Big difference in turning radius: Kioti NX5510 vs Kubota MX5200 vs Mihindra 2555

[DieselBound]

I'm back to considering all three of these machines. I have a thread about big differences in hydraulic capabilities (primarily loader). Now I'm seeing another big discrepancy between these machines in regards to turning radius. All machines are 4wd and HST. Here's what I'm looking at on the spec sheets (specified with use of brake):

Kioti NX5510 - 13.1'
Kubota MX5200 - 8.9'
Mahindra 2555 - 11' (they don't say "w/brake," just "minimum," which I'm figuring means the same)

Kioti's turning radius is roughly 47% greater than the Kubota's? It's even 19% greater than the Mahindra's.

Wheelbase difference is only 1" difference between the Kioti and the Kubota (Mahindra doesn't list).

I don't use my brakes to turn tighter (my B7800 is pretty agile without doing so), in which case I'm wondering whether w/o the use of brakes the differences between these machines is far less.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Why are you focusing on this? I have very rarely ever needed to stand on a brake and walk a tractor around. I have really only found it effective on a 2wd machine. The 4wd will turn tighter with brakes but the front tires really limit the outcome.

 

[motownbrowne]

I agree that turning radius is important, but I don't really think that looking at the spec is the way to determine it. Especially not if you're using it as a basis for comparison as part of a purchase. If it is important to you, you should go test each model, and ideally do your own measurement, even if you just pace it off. You should note the turning radius in 2wd and in 4wd, and also try to get a sense for how much difference the brakes make in both configurations. Perhaps most important, you should test each model to find out how easy it is to drive and apply the brakes are the same time. It's fairly doable for me on my MX, though it's not intuitive. I do know that the new series of MXs has a different pedal layout, though.

Honestly, using the brakes to turn, either in 4wd or 2, just isn't something I do very often. In 2wd you can turn very sharply without the brakes and buy tear up the turf. Step on the brake pedal, and I can pretty much turn around whichever rear wheel is stopped, but it twists the grass right off. 4wd is even worse. Just turning sharply without the brakes makes a mess of things. I prefer to make my turns as gentle as possible 99% of the time. It is true, though that occasionally (mostly in the woods for me) it's darned handy to throw it in 4wd, stomp the brake, and really turn with authority, despite poor conditions.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I finish mow with my Workmaster 50 using a 6' rear finish mower. Previously I utilized a New Holland 1720. The Workmaster is a much larger tractor and has a much larger turning radius. If you go from a B7800 to any one of those units you will adjust to the machine and it's ability to turn. It will take you a little time but the additional capacity and the amount of work that you can accomplish will be worth it. Get the tractor you like best and go with it. All three are fine machines.

 

[DieselBound]

Why are you focusing on this? I have very rarely ever needed to stand on a brake and walk a tractor around. I have really only found it effective on a 2wd machine.

I have a lot of trees and other obstacles that I have to work around: maybe I should go measure them. The less time that I have to spend jockeying around the better, especially with an implement hanging off the back. I don't have the luxury of having bought pre-cleared property

I just got back from the Kioti/Mahindra dealer. I test drove an NX4510 (with cab), as they had no NX5510 there. The NX4510 seemed perfectly fine, but it specs out at 11.5' vs. the 13.1'+ on the NX5510. Also, no loader, so no testing that either, though I like the joy stick being mounted back (I run with my loader on my B7800 all the time, because I often take stabs at crap as I'm mowing all over the place, and I find that my shoulder is sore at the end of a day even though I'm not really doing a loader work).

And, yes, I don't use brakes to turn either. Without an actual machine to try out all I have is specs: and it's not my fault that manufacturers don't list turning radius w/o brakes.

Yes, I understand this totally. I quite often drop out of 4wd when I'm doing a lot of turning in areas that have stable ground: my truck's turning radius is just shy of a mile if I have it in 4wd! Front tires are listed the same: 10-16.5. Would the difference be with the rears? NX4510 is listed with 14.9-24 and the NX5510 lists 17.5-24. (I can't find any calculator to give me tire circumference. Again, between the NX4510 and the NX5510 we're talking about 14% larger turning radius with the NX5510. The salesman was even a bit perplexed.

When I see something that's significantly different I want to know the reason/logic behind it.

 

[kromc5]

I left my pallet forks on the back and worked in heavily wooded area around my fence and had no issues. I was removing dead wood and large rocks with my fel. I will try and get some videos up, several times the trees were so close I had to back up and angle the trees between my forks. I did not use the brake at all to turn.

 

[4570Man]

I rarely use brakes to turn on my larger tractors. With the loader attached the front is too heavy to skid and the brake steering doesn't work very well. On my little B7200 without a loader the brake steering gets used quite a bit. The front end gets pretty light and sometimes the brakes are my only method of steering. It is pretty satisfying to turn on a dime.

 

[DieselBound]

I left my pallet forks on the back and worked in heavily wooded area around my fence and had no issues. I was removing dead wood and large rocks with my fel. I will try and get some videos up, several times the trees were so close I had to back up and angle the trees between my forks. I did not use the brake at all to turn.

If there's any chance that you could measure your turning radius that would be appreciated. Shows the same for the NX5510 and NX6010. One thing to note, however, is that the non-HST machines show up with a tighter radius (same for both the NX5510 and NX6010). Neither Kubota or Mahindra make any distinction between HST and non-HST machines: I do see that Kubota shows their 2wd MX5100 with almost 1/2' sharper turning radius.

Not only do I not use the brake to turn, but I don't recall ever having used it!

 

[sd455dan]

I'm back to considering all three of these machines. I have a thread about big differences in hydraulic capabilities (primarily loader). Now I'm seeing another big discrepancy between these machines in regards to turning radius. All machines are 4wd and HST. Here's what I'm looking at on the spec sheets (specified with use of brake):

Kioti NX5510 - 13.1'
Kubota MX5200 - 8.9'
Mahindra 2555 - 11' (they don't say "w/brake," just "minimum," which I'm figuring means the same)

Kioti's turning radius is roughly 47% greater than the Kubota's? It's even 19% greater than the Mahindra's.

Wheelbase difference is only 1" difference between the Kioti and the Kubota (Mahindra doesn't list).

I don't use my brakes to turn tighter (my B7800 is pretty agile without doing so), in which case I'm wondering whether w/o the use of brakes the differences between these machines is far less.

Maybe it is because the Kiotis front axle knuckles are mounted in double shear and the kubota is a single shear design

jmo but double shear is generally considered stronger and used on utility tractors versus many CUTs that use the single shear design


http://www.kubota.com/assets/product/MX4800/images/bevealedgear_rev.jpg -Kubota
403 Forbidden Kioti

 

[DieselBound]

I rarely use brakes to turn on my larger tractors. With the loader attached the front is too heavy to skid and the brake steering doesn't work very well. On my little B7200 without a loader the brake steering gets used quite a bit. The front end gets pretty light and sometimes the brakes are my only method of steering. It is pretty satisfying to turn on a dime.

Yes, loader work and brake-assist turning really don't go together well.

As noted above, I don't think that I've ever used the brakes to shorten up steering on my B7800: it turns so sharp to start with.

I literally spin the B7800 around trees with a 5' field mower in tow. This does a pretty good job of keeping the inside skid of the mower from digging in.