Comparison $20K comparison - Kioti DS4510HS vs Mahindra 4110 vs John Deere 2520

[MinnesotaEric]

I went to my three closest dealers (JD, Mahindra, Kioti) and told them I could pay max $20K cash for a machine and that I wanted the most tractor / loader I could get for that price. The three tractors I was shown were as follows:

Kioti DS4510HS - a 45 hp gear tractor with hyraulic shuttle and 2700 pound full lift at pin ($19.5K with rear remote)
Mahindra 4110 - a 41 hp gear tractor with 2000 pound full lift at pin ($20.5K don't remember if it had rear remote)
John Deere 2520 - a 26 hp hydro tractor with 900 pound full lift at pin ($19.5K with rear remote)

The Mahindra and Kioti are not too different in terms of capability. Obviously the Kioti is a little more for the money. However, I don't consider the Deere to be even half the tractor that the Kioti is! I realize it is hydrostatic but really how can the JD's cost so much!

I know some will say i need to compare the Kioti DS4510HS to a JD 4000 series. Well, that 4000 series was twice the price of the Kioti so not a consideration at all.

In the end I bought the Kioti. It wasn't much of a decission. I've had a Kioti LB1914 for 8 years and have been extremely please. One broken part that was shipped to me in 2 days. I was just blown away by the price of the John Deere tractors. Shame because the dealer is walking distance from my house. The 5000 series seem to be a good value and I priced at 5055E with power reverser at $32K. Nice tractor, but more than I wanted to spend and couldn't justify the additional funds over the Kioti. Are JD's this expensive everywhere or is this just my dealer?

Price a Kioti HST machine it makes loader work child's play.

 

[k0ua]

Congratulations, on your nice new machine.. Now I am not being critical or anything, but did you check the air pressure in those tires?.. They seem like they might be a bit "high"?

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I bought the DS4510HS.

Whoops, I missed this part in my first reply.

Welcome to the club!

 

[gladehound]

Congratulations, on your nice new machine.. Now I am not being critical or anything, but did you check the air pressure in those tires?.. They seem like they might be a bit "high"?

Rears were 17 psi from the dealer and I lowered them to 13 psi. The tread still doesn't touch the ground all the way across the tire until the ground gets soft.

 

[gladehound]

Price a Kioti HST machine it makes loader work child's play.

I did actually price a DK40SE HST at the same dealer that I purchased the DS4510HS at. I actually got to the point of having them write up a bill of sale for both to see the final difference in price with options how I wanted them and tax. In the end, The DK40SE would have been $3500 more.

I've done plenty of loader work with both HST and gear to know the difference and how easy HST is. To someone not used to gear, the difference is huge. For someone like me with 40 years of becoming efficient with gear tractors and tons of loader work with manual column style shuttle reversers, HST simplifies the operation but only saves a little time. The kicker for me was that the DK40SE feels really underpowered compared to the DS4510HS. I've never liked the sluggish feel of the old style HST transmissions. I've never driven the new electronic load maching HSTs. I'm sure they are the cat's meow. But those tractors are not in the price range that we are talking about here. In the end, the 4 extra HP for $3500 less with a direct gear tranny seemed to better suit my specific needs which include pulling heavy loads up long grades.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I've heard a number of people refer to hydraulic shuttles and power shuttles as if they are different things. If they are, I'd really like to undrstand this difference.... Anyone?

They are the same thing. I just different marketing terms used by different manufacturers to describe the same type of tranny.

 

[IH3444]

Friend of mine bought a DK45S SS12/12 I believe with loader back in 2004. He has never had one problem. It is a bit of a compact stout beast of a machine. His cost $19.5K. he also has good low creeper gears in 1st and 2nd low range.

 

[gladehound]

I've drove a DK45S years back an loved it. It's fully sychnronized 12x12 tranny main box and shuttle (everything except range to rage changes is synchronized) is very smooth. When i went looking for a tractor the DK45S was high on my list. However, they have been discontinued and i could not fine a new one. Used ones were few and far between and not much less in price than the 19.5K I just paid new for the DS4510HS. The big advantage with the DK45S are the low gears, synchronized main gear box and it seems to be built a bit heavier. The advantage with the DS4510HS is of course the hydraulic shuttle and it seems a little longer and more stable. Consistent with this, I believe the DK45S manual recommends a larger weight on the 3pt for loader work. The DK45S has the self leveling loader and the DS4510HS does not (a case can be made for either).

 

[gladehound]

Speaking of funny numbers... The DK45 hydrostatic is reported by Kioti to have more PTO hp than a strait gear DS4510. I find this to be highly unlikely unless their using 150 weight oil in the mechanical gear box of the DS4510! To me, this smells like marketing not wanting to report that their premium tractor has less PTO hp than their economy tractor. I think the DS4510 is underrated for PTO hp. Is there any other reason a company would do this? Would love to get both on a dyno!

I just found in my shop manual that the DS4510HS is listed at 38 PTO HP (compared to 35 PTO hp in the brochure). 38 PTO hp makes more sense since it is the same as the old DK45S manual transmission with nearly identical engine. 35 PTO HP must be a misprint / error.