30HP or 35HP?

[acy]

I am looking at buying a new tractor in the next week or so. Contenders are a Kubota L3240 w/FEL, for $16,600, a Kioti CK35 w/FEL for $14,220, and a Kioti CK30 w/FEL for $12,900. All with loaded Ag tires. On the Kioti, the loader is "free" til end of Feb. Kubota dealer is 8 miles from home, Kioti is 85 miles. Both dealers have good rep.

My use for the tractor will be moving a bit of dirt/sand/gravel/snow, creating and expanding food plots by removing tag alder clumps, 3" to 4" trees, etc..
I have a 6 foot cultivator for breaking up the ground, will also use a 6.5' disc, 6' back blade and a 5' brush hog to keep plots mowed. Ground is quite level and pretty light(no clay).

Is 30HP enough, or should I spring for the 35HP? Not very familiar with the Kioti, but haven't found anything negative. What do you think?

Thanks, Al

 

[ScottK]

I wouldn't want my nearest dealer to be 85 miles away, but if price as opposed to resale value and convenient dealer are more important, then Kioti is fine.

 

[greenmule]

Depends on how much you think 1300 is worth I guess[price between ck30 and ck35],with 35hp you'd be able to use 6 ft hog. But if you already got a 5 ft hog and other stuff that a 25-30 hp will work with, I heard a ck30 and ck35 are same sized tractor,just different motor. I got a ck30,nice tractor,if it had 5 more hp,it wouldn't be used in my case.

80 miles is a good piece though,but if dealer is willing to deliver and pick up cheap[if needed],than that don't really matter.Talk to him about your concern,he may commit to helping in this regard if he really wants to sell you a tractor. Plus,filters and such can be mailed to you from him,or another dealer.

One or more of those kabotas people on here have said three point is real jerky,might want to read about that on kabota section if you havn't already.Kabotas a good tractor too,but evidently they have their problems as well sometimes. Be a real shame if after spending 3 grand or so more,it would have issues.

 

[Gittyup]

The CK30 will do what you want. But, if you have the bucks, I'd spring for the CK35. The Kubota listed is also a very nice tractor, and does not suffer from the 3PH jerkiness. That would be the L3400 and L4400 models with that problem. Not sure it's better than the Kiotis, and certainly not $3000+ better. But, I do think you would get most of that back in resale, if you were to ever sale.

The mileage difference wouldn't be an issue for me. I bought mine (CK25) from a dealer over 200 miles away. Unless you are one of the very few unlucky owners, you'll probably never have to take your tractor in for service. Of course, others think a close by dealer is a must.

For what you are doing, and the implements you currently have you could even go with a CK25 or CK27. The best deals are on the CK25's and CK30's as they are being replaced by their more powerful brethren.

 

[john_bud]

I am looking at buying a new tractor in the next week or so. Contenders are a Kubota L3240 w/FEL, for $16,600, a Kioti CK35 w/FEL for $14,220, and a Kioti CK30 w/FEL for $12,900. All with loaded Ag tires. On the Kioti, the loader is "free" til end of Feb. Kubota dealer is 8 miles from home, Kioti is 85 miles. Both dealers have good rep.

My use for the tractor will be moving a bit of dirt/sand/gravel/snow, creating and expanding food plots by removing tag alder clumps, 3" to 4" trees, etc..
I have a 6 foot cultivator for breaking up the ground, will also use a 6.5' disc, 6' back blade and a 5' brush hog to keep plots mowed. Ground is quite level and pretty light(no clay).

Is 30HP enough, or should I spring for the 35HP? Not very familiar with the Kioti, but haven't found anything negative. What do you think?

Thanks, Al

30 should be enough for the attachments you list. Don't get caught up in the specs. Each company writes them to make thier own product shine. Best thing is to sit in each and operate it for as long as possible and see which one you LIKE the best.

Now on to politics.....

The Kubota folks will tell you to buy Kubota. It is the current top of CUT tractor quality --according to many here, myself included. Deere being a very very close second. A supporting bit of information is that Kubota diesels are widely used in small mobile equipment. They are very good.

The Kioti folks will tell you that they are nearly as good or just as good as the kubotas. There is not the long term large user base with kioti here to support that like Kubota has (yet), but they are never the less good machines. They may be (IMHO) lower on the ladder than Kubota, but they are far from being a Yugo! Bobcat has chosen to sell them with the BC label on them, so they can't be bad.

The low end kubota do suffer with a 1/4 inching 3pt valve. I wonder if that was done to lure people into the Grand L versions (like the L3130)?

Sit in both and see which feel more intuitive to operate. Then check out the Deere's, the NH and the Mahindra's. After that bit of fun, you will know more about each and will have a much better feel for what you like about each.

jb

 

[flusher]

Depends on how much you think 1300 is worth I guess[price between ck30 and ck35],with 35hp you'd be able to use 6 ft hog. But if you already got a 5 ft hog and other stuff that a 25-30 hp will work with, I heard a ck30 and ck35 are same sized tractor,just different motor. I got a ck30,nice tractor,if it had 5 more hp,it wouldn't be used in my case.

80 miles is a good piece though,but if dealer is willing to deliver and pick up cheap[if needed],than that don't really matter.Talk to him about your concern,he may commit to helping in this regard if he really wants to sell you a tractor. Plus,filters and such can be mailed to you from him,or another dealer.

One or more of those kabotas people on here have said three point is real jerky,might want to read about that on kabota section if you havn't already.Kabotas a good tractor too,but evidently they have their problems as well sometimes. Be a real shame if after spending 3 grand or so more,it would have issues.

You're right about the 3 point. Check it out before you buy. The specs on the L3240 say that the 3-point is "standard", but doesn't say what "standard" means. I had a new 2005 Kubota B7510HST, admittedly a smaller tractor from a different Kubota product line, that had the "quarter inching" feature on the 3-point. Did not like this "improvement" at all. Be sure that L3240 has conventional 3pt position control, not "quarter inching".

 

[teg]

I'm pretty sure ONLY the L3400 and the L2800 are the only tractors that you have to worry about... regardless, you should try it out before you buy!!!

How tight is money? The L3240 is a sweet tractor. Have you test driven any of them or are you just going by our words? All those tractors will get the job done.

 

[GreenWannabe]

The specification sheet available online (http://www.kubota.com/f/products/GL40/pdf/gl40_spec.pdf) indicates that position control is standard on the Grand L series. Note the lift control type in the hydraulis section.

 

[kthompson]

Acy, I own Kubota and have been very pleased with mine. Even with $1500 in transmission repair to my M series. I bought from a dealership about 80 miles away with no concerns, but have two dealerships closer if needed. Yes I pick up filters and such from the one I almost drive by but they were way higher on selling price. Acted as if they were doing me a favor to even talk with me. My concern on the Kioti dealership being 85 miles away is this, if they were to close and that does happen with no notice, where is the next one. In my case it was the dealership I bought from. They got ticked with Kubota due to how close they were putting dealerships and change product line.

Being as fair as I can, there is a Kioti dealership I have been on their lot a lot and it seems the Kioti may offer additional features to me that were nice such as extra remotes compared to the Kubota. There also has been at least one post here about shody welding on a Kubota fel. Again, I have been very pleased with my Kubota's and would have no problem buying them again. I have a 27 hp with Hydro stat trans and run a 52 inch rough cut mower on it, that is all I want for that HP with rough cut but run a 6 foot RFM with no problems.

 

[AndyMA]

Now on to politics.....

The Kubota folks will tell you to buy Kubota. It is the current top of CUT tractor quality --according to many here, myself included. Deere being a very very close second. A supporting bit of information is that Kubota diesels are widely used in small mobile equipment. They are very good.

I realize this forum started out as a Kubota forum, bit I just don't see any evidence to support the fact that either Kubota or John Deere make better tractors than New Holland. Are there reliable satistics to prove this or is this just an opinion? If I go to my dealer who sells both Kubota and New Holland, I see equal numbers iif not more Kubota tractors split.

Andy