RK Tractor reviews???

[RK Tractor Guy]

Unloading Hay with RK 55 Tractor - YouTube

I love this one, the RK55 moving a load of wet bales in the mud.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Just for reference...My recently traded WM 50 was rated at 3550 pounds at the pins and 2200 pounds at 800 mm to full height. That is 62% of the max at the pins. 2116 pounds at the pins multiplied by 62% equals a little over 1300 pounds. I don't see an issue with most round bales.

 

[Ford850]

Unloading Hay with RK 55 Tractor - YouTube

I love this one, the RK55 moving a load of wet bales in the mud.

I like the video, but that's a lot of abuse on the front axle since he isn't using a rear ballast.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

I like the video, but that's a lot of abuse on the front axle since he isn't using a rear ballast.

Good observation but that tractor has 1200 lbs of Rimguard (beet juice) liquid tire ballast in the rears, as does every RK 55HP tractor sold with a loader. We want the tractor and loader to be ready for work the day our customer takes it. Our RK37s have 900 lbs when sold with a loader. No extra charge, it is part of he loader to us.

 

[Ford850]

Good observation but that tractor has 1200 lbs of Rimguard (beet juice) liquid tire ballast in the rears, as does every RK 55HP tractor sold with a loader. We want the tractor and loader to be ready for work the day our customer takes it. Our RK37s have 900 lbs when sold with a loader. No extra charge, it is part of he loader to us.

I figured it had loaded tires, and while that definitely helps with stability and makes it much safer it doesn't help at all with the stress on the front axle. But kudos to RK for making the filled tires a standard feature.

 

[LouNY]

First, Mike Morgan proved that the lift capacity of this model is amazing.

Secondly, my farm has been in the family since 1947. We bale hay every year. Large square bales, one baler produces 3 x 4 x 8 ft the other 2 x 3 x 8. No one, yes NO one who considers himself a hay producer uses compact tractors in hay production. Not even for raking and tedding,

We produce quality grass hay and the small tractor in the operation is the deere 5125r. The 5075m does occasionally rake, supplanting the small tractor status.

We also produce a bit of hay for our use;
mow with a 7110 Magnum
ted and or rake with Ford 8000 or JD 4020 or my Branson 8050
bale with a CNH Puma 125
Haul round bales with the7130 Magnum
the grapple tractor for round bales is a NH T6050
for wrapping we use the 50hp Kubota ? model
chop haylage with a 7130 Magnum
We don't try to max out a loader or tractor with round bales.

 

[ThirdMan]

Good observation but that tractor has 1200 lbs of Rimguard (beet juice) liquid tire ballast in the rears, as does every RK 55HP tractor sold with a loader. We want the tractor and loader to be ready for work the day our customer takes it. Our RK37s have 900 lbs when sold with a loader. No extra charge, it is part of he loader to us.

How much extra weight does the Rimguard add to the RK19s?

 

[rngrrymd]

View attachment 568093

These bales weighed 1100 lbs. when we did the photo shoot. Specs are good for comparisons and apparently a lot of debate fodder. The real world is the decider. Our RK37 with L102 loader can do anything that a tractor in its class is expected to do.

A word of caution: In the real world a poster interested in your RK tractors just asked you how much weight a BUCKET MOUNTED BALE SPEAR could lift, not a SSQA Bale Spear, and then asked 1500lbs? and you responded with "Our RK37 with L102 loader can do anything that a tractor in its class is expected to do." Are you saying the RK37 can lift a 1500lb bale with a bucket-mounted bale spear? Is a tractor in the RK37 "class" expected to lift 1500 lb bales with a bucket mounted bale spear? Is there a better answer or solution?


Major....

I watched that video Mike made of the RK37 lifting the log. He said the log was roughly 1176 lbs and averaged 25" wide so the center with the grapple depth would be close to 500mm from the pins. I looked up the grapple weight (we'll round up to 300lbs more than the bucket which is high) and added to the log weight and that log was within the advertised RK37 loader specifications. I have doubts about a 1500lb bale with a center of gravity roughly 4.5' from the pins.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have doubts about a 1500lb bale with a center of gravity roughly 4.5' from the pins.

ME too!

SR

 

[4570Man]

It’s rated 2100 pounds full height lift at the pins which is about 300 pounds more than my old Kubota. Assuming that accurate um betting it would lift a 1100 pound bale.