RK55HC ordered!

[Polkchop]

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a RK55 hydrostatic cab Friday 10/19. I had an update Friday saying the tractor was assembled and they were just awaiting the 3rd function remote for the grapple and it would be it's way! I had been looking at kubota prior, however one day I stopped by rural king and spotted the tractors. I was skeptical at first, however I then made about 3 45 minute trips back to eye them over again. Finally I decided to just go for it. After talking with the reps at the store, talking to other rk tractor owners, and seeing the support on this forum so far I have no sweat purchasing this tractor. I am confident that this will be a solid machine/investment. As of now I bought a 72" rotary cutter, 72" box blade, and a grapple for it. My ultimate goal is to use it to try and branch out into some light grading, and bush hog work however time will tell. This will be the first tractor I have ever owned and couldn't be anymore excited about getting it! Pics will follow once I pick it up.

 

[travlitt]

Enjoy your new tractor.

 

[void777]

Polkchop

:welcome: to TBN and congrats on new rk55 may it serve you well and please keep us updated.

 

[DonRybak]

That's cool........ You'll love it. Bet the excitement is building. What store did you get it from? I bought the RK37HC at Lake Wales the end of July or first of August and absolutely love it. Yesterday morning I was doing a little mowing and told my wife I wish I had gone with the 72" rotary cutter rather than the 60". I might sell the 60" at a great price and then pick up a 72". You'll find yourself spending a lot of time on this website too. Kind of addicting....

Don

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

That's cool........ You'll love it. Bet the excitement is building. What store did you get it from? I bought the RK37HC at Lake Wales the end of July or first of August and absolutely love it. Yesterday morning I was doing a little mowing and told my wife I wish I had gone with the 72" rotary cutter rather than the 60". I might sell the 60" at a great price and then pick up a 72". You'll find yourself spending a lot of time on this website too. Kind of addicting....

Don

Don, makes us proud to see your comments!

 

[Polkchop]

Thanks for the replies, I ordered mine through Lake Wales as well, glad to hear you are enjoying yours. I'm beyond excited, kind of reminds me of Christmas as a kid lol.

 

[RTBee]

Welcome to TBN! And congrats on your purchase!! I can speak from experience, you will love it!! I did the same thing over a year ago. First tractor ever purchased and have not regretted it once. We're very proud of our tractor, what it can do, how well it performs and how capable it is. We always recommend to others, who are looking, to consider RK tractors. We'll tell people to at least check out Rural King before you purchase, you'll be surprised. What you're going to find is that the tractor is not the most expensive part (actually it is!), it's all the attachments and 'toys' you want to add to it! We've got over 100 hours on our RK55 and it runs like it's brand new. We've not found anything that this tractor couldn't handle. We've cut in a new driveway, trenched electrical lines (and now working on a 500' waterline), brush cutting, spreading gravel, cutting into the side of a hill, all kinds of stuff. You find yourself looking for new ways to use it. It's just fun! That's all!

 

[Polkchop]

So on a side note, has anyone used the quick hitch rural king offers? Are there any drawbacks to using a quick hitch? I have ran tractors in the past, and know how frustrating it can be to try to line up implements by yourself, and was thinking about picking one up when I receive the tractor.

 

[RTBee]

I considered getting a quick hitch for the same reason... frustrating trying to line things up then back a little, forward a little... But I use the backhoe a lot atm and you'd have to take the quick hitch off each time, plus, a great thing about the RK55, it has telescoping lift arms! So now all I do is back up to within a 2-3 inches and a little lower than the pins. Slide the arms out and then they can be lifted by hand onto the pins. It's much easier than any I've used before. No hassle and I can get things hooked up in no time. So after using this tractor for over a year now, I really don't think I'll be getting a quick hitch. Just my 2 cents worth. :2cents:

 

[kkilli]

I bought the $89 quick hitch which was recommended to me by my store for my 37. Short version is that it really did t work for me. The tolerance to get hooked up to my 6 ft RK brush cutter was so small that it was almost more trouble than doing it without the quick hitch.

I now use a Pat's and it works great, and I don’t have to remove it to use the backhoe like I would with the quick hitch.

 

[DonRybak]

Polkchop, I belive that the RK55 uses the Cat II hitch so there shouldn't be any issue. I bought the $89 Cat I for my RK37 and as kkilli said, it just doesn't work. They sent someone from the store to try getting it to work and after a couple hours gave up and told me I could return it. The bushing on the rotary cutter is just too large in diameter to fit in the hook plus the frame of the cutter hits the bolts that attaches the hook to the quick hitch. I decided to keep the hitch and do some modifications to get it to work. I finally got a smaller bushing for the cutter and that worked but still a close tolerance between the frame and the mounting bolts. I finally found a new hook on Amazon that addresses the problem by the hook opening being larger so that the original cutter bushing will fit down in it and the mounting bolt area of the hook is beefier and drilled to give more space between the cutter frame and hook bolts.



Notice the built up area at the back of the hook. The mounting holes are drilled in that area pushing the hook out away from the frame about 3/8 inch. This is the only hook I found that has that.......Don

 

[RTBee]

Cat I hitch with telescoping hitch arms.

 

[Polkchop]

Thanks for the replies I am going to give the whole telescoping 3 point arms a try and see how it works out for me. I've never operated a tractor with them only fixed links so maybe it will be a piece of cake compared to an old 8n lol.

 

[Jchonline]

Congrats on the new purchase. I am sure you will love it!

 

[Jchonline]

So on a side note, has anyone used the quick hitch rural king offers? Are there any drawbacks to using a quick hitch? I have ran tractors in the past, and know how frustrating it can be to try to line up implements by yourself, and was thinking about picking one up when I receive the tractor.

If you ever want the top and tilt hydraulic links I recommend against a QH. You wont be able to easily use them together. The TnT allows you to easily adjust the links anyway, so a QH really isnt needed with it.

 

[747driver]

Congrats on your new tractor ! If you want to see the RK tractors in use go to You Tube and watch "Outdoors with the Morgans". RK gave him 3 tractors and attachments to use for 3 years. It will give you a good idea what you can do with the RK tractors.

 

[TractorGuy]

Congrats on your new tractor ! If you want to see the RK tractors in use go to You Tube and watch "Outdoors with the Morgans". RK gave him 3 tractors and attachments to use for 3 years. It will give you a good idea what you can do with the RK tractors.

I noticed they promoted his You Tube channel. So when you have a hot wife an do some YouTube reviews you get free tractors? Must be nice on both accounts!

 

[TractorGuy]

That's cool........ You'll love it. Bet the excitement is building. What store did you get it from? I bought the RK37HC at Lake Wales the end of July or first of August and absolutely love it. Yesterday morning I was doing a little mowing and told my wife I wish I had gone with the 72" rotary cutter rather than the 60". I might sell the 60" at a great price and then pick up a 72". You'll find yourself spending a lot of time on this website too. Kind of addicting....

Don

If you are referring to a brush mower I think one that best matces the width of the tractor would be the best choice if you plan to mow in a wooded environment.

On finish mowers wider might be better for open field mowing. I pull a 72 inch finish mower with 19 pto hp with no problems.

 

[Polkchop]

It's here!

 

[RTBee]

Ain't it purdy!!!