Kioti vs Kubota Quality - No Empirical Evidence

jyoutz · Monday at 10:09 PM

Too many Kubotas said:
Ironically, just the other day I had to tighten several JIC fittings on a small Kubota as it had started to leak. Everything I've checked on my Kioiti has been fine.

For me the Kubota dealer is only 150 miles away, and has free delivery and there's no sales tax.

Still, after comparing prices I hooked up the trailer and drove some 500 miles north to buy a Kioiti. Glad I did as the Kioti has several things I like better than the comparable Kubota.

I bought my Kubota from your nearby dealer (SW Ag in Bayfield, CO). They were very good to deal with.

shooterdon · 2025-09-16T07:44:36-0400

My local Kubota dealer was an arrogant SOB and I did not get a warm fuzzy feeling about him caring about any issues down the road if he treated a new customer like that. I ended up getting an LS. Saved over $8k and got a more capable machine.

I have had a few minor repairs (less than $500) in the last six years, but no regrets from buying a "no name" machine. BTW the $8000 saved has grown to about $15k.

ncridgerunner1 · 2025-09-16T08:21:57-0400

anomad said:
You are going to enjoy the cab. The only time I don't love it is when I am doing something that requires me to get in and out a million times. Would be interesting to compare to my 3510 and see if you can feel the extra 5hp?

We live south of Marion. What area of WNC are you located?

scootr · 2025-09-16T09:10:11-0400

I bought a used Kubota (150 hrs) based upon my belief that it was the best machine for the money over the long haul with the best parts availability and highest resale value. It's not my 1st or 2nd tractor and I'm very happy with the MX5200. Your experience may vary

Plus I have 2 dealers within a 20 mile radius should I ever need a part.

anomad · 2025-09-16T12:19:15-0400

ncridgerunner1 said:
We live south of Marion. What area of WNC are you located?

I'm about an hour west of Asheville. More if I were to drive the tractor - LOL.

Too many Kubotas · 2025-09-16T12:40:38-0400

jyoutz said:
I bought my Kubota from your nearby dealer (SW Ag in Bayfield, CO). They were very good to deal with.

Yeah, it's a good dealership which has treated us right over the years.

The exception would be the service department. Took the L3800 there to get the leaky remote valves taken care of, which resulted in getting several restrictors installed in series on the remotes.

In their defense, those valves are (were?) known to be crap. Running the mower more than 50 feet made it dig in on the right side, which was getting old. Removed the hydraulic lift cylinder to "fix" that issue.

The top link still leaks down, but not as quickly, and I will not give that one up.

jyoutz · 2025-09-16T14:51:34-0400

Too many Kubotas said:
Yeah, it's a good dealership which has treated us right over the years.

The exception would be the service department. Took the L3800 there to get the leaky remote valves taken care of, which resulted in getting several restrictors installed in series on the remotes.

In their defense, those valves are (were?) known to be crap. Running the mower more than 50 feet made it dig in on the right side, which was getting old. Removed the hydraulic lift cylinder to "fix" that issue.

The top link still leaks down, but not as quickly, and I will not give that one up.

I have leak down on the new tilt cylinder that I had installed last year at my local dealer. The toplink cylinder doesn’t leak thankfully.

scootr · 2025-09-16T15:21:49-0400

jyoutz said:
I have leak down on the new tilt cylinder that I had installed last year at my local dealer. The toplink cylinder doesn’t leak thankfully.

A leaking tilt cyl is a PIA. Almost all of mine have had this issue over the years

Have to remember to bump the lever every 30 minutes....

jyoutz · 2025-09-16T16:41:40-0400

scootr said:
A leaking tilt cyl is a PIA. Almost all of mine have had this issue over the years Have to remember to bump the lever every 30 minutes....

That’s about the same time interval as mine.

DK35vince · 2025-09-16T17:43:42-0400

scootr said:
A leaking tilt cyl is a PIA. Almost all of mine have had this issue over the years Have to remember to bump the lever every 30 minutes....

My top and tilt cylinders leaked down years ago when I first put them on.
I replaced those cylinders with top/tilt cylinders that have the double piloted check valve.
Never leaked down again, been on there for over 2 decades, never leak down.