Premise: I'm pushing 68, was a design engineer for GM for many years before going to law school and becoming a patent attorney, and have been a mechanic all of my life. Until recently, I did ALL of my own maintenance, aside from warranty work. I grew up on a small farm and still live on one. I've owned many tractors over the years, both new and used.
Currently, among others, I own a 1994 Kubota B1750HST, a 2015 Kubota
L6060 and a 2015 Kubota M9960.
My local dealer sells both CNH and Kubota. They have treated me well but their prices are not competitive. I have known this for years so when shopping for a small mowing tractor about 10 years ago, I shopped MF, my next closest dealer. There is much more to this story, but I'll be brief.
Eventually, I bought two new Massey Ferguson tractors, one in 2007 and another in 2013. Again, making a very long story short, I had trouble with both MF tractors and struggled to have these issues corrected within the warranty period. Briefly, MF and two different dealers all treated me, a cash buyer badly, rendering my MF experiment a disaster. FWIW, both dealers have since closed their doors.
About two years ago, I threw in the towel on MF and decided to bite the bullet and replace both tractors. When I did so, I considered nothing but Kubota (yes, I did shop JD, but my nearest dealer was both arrogant and unknowledgeable), knowing that my local dealer was not competitive price wise.
Here's why: My B1750HST Kubota has been absolutely trouble free since I bought it in 1994. Trouble free. Nothing. Not so much as a fuse, light bulb or fan belt. Nothing. It was never back to the dealer for anything, warranty or otherwise. Yes, I keep it inside, do not abuse it and maintain it well. Nevertheless, absolutely no issues in 23 years is remarkable.
When I gave up on the disastrous Massey Ferguson experiment, I seriously considered nothing but Kubota, knowing that I would not get competitive pricing from my local dealer. Note: there are valid reasons why I did not buy from other Kubota dealers.
If my experience with my new Kubota tractors is even similar to that with my 1994
B1750, I will be pleased.
SDT