Preface: Went to this same same show last year and posted a brief report. What follows is similar.
Went to the West Kentucky Farm Show at Paducah over the weekend. Had about 10 or 12 equipment dealers (or maybe a couple of more). Saw some things that were pretty neat:
Went to the Kioti booth first (of course). Checked out the DK 55 and 65 (hopefully the 65 is my next tractor). Also sat on and checked out the CK 20/30 and 3054xs - all very nice machines. The Kioti dealer is also a New Holland dealer now (there was no New Holland presence last year), and looked at some of the blue machines.
Got a good look at some of the LG Montana series of tractors, including one with a cab. If these tractors can build a dealer network, they can easily be on the same level as Kiot/Mahindra. This dealer also carries Valtra (my first look at those units) and Antonio Carrero (sp?). The AC tractor was a vineyard/orchard unit that they are trying to introduce for use in local chicken houses. You actually sit really low in the unit (if you haven't seen one, they are squat, relatively long tractors with almost gullwing doors on the rounded cab. Front and rear tire sizes are almost the same. The unit at the show was a whopping 83 hp in a teeny-tiny package.
The Mahindra booth at a load of tractors. They had a 7510 (I think) cab tractor - that dude was plush - it could definately give a DK65 a run for the money. Also had some of the India-made tractors - they look really good too - heavy and strong.
Kubota had about 5 tractors - nice spread from a BX 23 up to a M9000. The BX had a loader and backhoe on it - a lot of a equipment in a compact package.
Caterpillar had everything from their compact line up to their enormous Challengers. Any tractor that I have to climb 12 steps to get into is a heckuva machine. Really liked the training seat next to the operator seat. There were also some AGCO tractors at the Cat booth.
John Deere had only two tractors on display - a utility and a large dually - no compacts.
Case was well represented from compacts up to huge duallies, everything in between.
Zetor and Century had a couple of tractors in attendance as well - the Zetors look sharp with a much improved fit and finish from what I had seen many years ago.
Absent - No Massey Fergusons, Cub Cadets or any Chinese tractors (unless I missed them).
Salesmen ran the gamut from extremely friendly and knowledgable to those who were pretty much just trying to run out the clock and knew that they were just talkin' to tire kickers, not buyers.
As I stated last year, the difference between the traditional Big 3 and the also rans is definately diminishing, or in some cases gone. I would put Kioti/Mahindra/LG/Cat-AGCO/Valtra in the same class with Big 3 for fit and finish and overall quality of build. I certainly wouldn't turn down any of these tractors if anybody wanted to drop one on me. I think so much of what makes a tractor great once again falls to the support network - that is what sets Kubota/JD/NH above the rest. That is the deciding factor of my tractor purchases - Little Tractor of Metropolis has provided me with outstanding service for almost three years now with no sign of slowing down. That is likely who will have my tractor business for the forseeable future. Of course, in my area, a NH and Kubota dealership have both gone under in previous years while the Kioti and Mahindra dealers have both expanded. I imagine that the dealership strength of each brand will tend to be a regional thing.
One thing for certain, though - if you are looking for a machine to tackle your farming/homeowner/landscaping job, there is bound to be a tractor out there that will fill the bill. I can only wonder how long we will have such a grand selection of tractors before some fall by the wayside. I also feel, however, that in the Internet age, owning an orphan will not quite be the baggage/burden that it has been in the past.
Concluding remarks - good show, great machines, I took 10 canned goods and got in free, plus got my Kioti cups and license plates for my trip (and there are still some ATV and tractor steering wheels that have my kids handprints on them where I had to remove them from the seat with the jaws of life).
Went to the West Kentucky Farm Show at Paducah over the weekend. Had about 10 or 12 equipment dealers (or maybe a couple of more). Saw some things that were pretty neat:
Went to the Kioti booth first (of course). Checked out the DK 55 and 65 (hopefully the 65 is my next tractor). Also sat on and checked out the CK 20/30 and 3054xs - all very nice machines. The Kioti dealer is also a New Holland dealer now (there was no New Holland presence last year), and looked at some of the blue machines.
Got a good look at some of the LG Montana series of tractors, including one with a cab. If these tractors can build a dealer network, they can easily be on the same level as Kiot/Mahindra. This dealer also carries Valtra (my first look at those units) and Antonio Carrero (sp?). The AC tractor was a vineyard/orchard unit that they are trying to introduce for use in local chicken houses. You actually sit really low in the unit (if you haven't seen one, they are squat, relatively long tractors with almost gullwing doors on the rounded cab. Front and rear tire sizes are almost the same. The unit at the show was a whopping 83 hp in a teeny-tiny package.
The Mahindra booth at a load of tractors. They had a 7510 (I think) cab tractor - that dude was plush - it could definately give a DK65 a run for the money. Also had some of the India-made tractors - they look really good too - heavy and strong.
Kubota had about 5 tractors - nice spread from a BX 23 up to a M9000. The BX had a loader and backhoe on it - a lot of a equipment in a compact package.
Caterpillar had everything from their compact line up to their enormous Challengers. Any tractor that I have to climb 12 steps to get into is a heckuva machine. Really liked the training seat next to the operator seat. There were also some AGCO tractors at the Cat booth.
John Deere had only two tractors on display - a utility and a large dually - no compacts.
Case was well represented from compacts up to huge duallies, everything in between.
Zetor and Century had a couple of tractors in attendance as well - the Zetors look sharp with a much improved fit and finish from what I had seen many years ago.
Absent - No Massey Fergusons, Cub Cadets or any Chinese tractors (unless I missed them).
Salesmen ran the gamut from extremely friendly and knowledgable to those who were pretty much just trying to run out the clock and knew that they were just talkin' to tire kickers, not buyers.
As I stated last year, the difference between the traditional Big 3 and the also rans is definately diminishing, or in some cases gone. I would put Kioti/Mahindra/LG/Cat-AGCO/Valtra in the same class with Big 3 for fit and finish and overall quality of build. I certainly wouldn't turn down any of these tractors if anybody wanted to drop one on me. I think so much of what makes a tractor great once again falls to the support network - that is what sets Kubota/JD/NH above the rest. That is the deciding factor of my tractor purchases - Little Tractor of Metropolis has provided me with outstanding service for almost three years now with no sign of slowing down. That is likely who will have my tractor business for the forseeable future. Of course, in my area, a NH and Kubota dealership have both gone under in previous years while the Kioti and Mahindra dealers have both expanded. I imagine that the dealership strength of each brand will tend to be a regional thing.
One thing for certain, though - if you are looking for a machine to tackle your farming/homeowner/landscaping job, there is bound to be a tractor out there that will fill the bill. I can only wonder how long we will have such a grand selection of tractors before some fall by the wayside. I also feel, however, that in the Internet age, owning an orphan will not quite be the baggage/burden that it has been in the past.
Concluding remarks - good show, great machines, I took 10 canned goods and got in free, plus got my Kioti cups and license plates for my trip (and there are still some ATV and tractor steering wheels that have my kids handprints on them where I had to remove them from the seat with the jaws of life).
