Are Kubota and Kioti from the same line?

[shoppintractors]

<font color="blue"> Like the Kioti the Kubota L type do not have hydros either. </font>

Kioti has the new 21hp hydro unit known as the CK20H.

 

[5030]

J:

I can't resist sticking or stinking my nose in this thread!!

If I remember back about 10 years ago or so, which was before my computer "birth", I remember reading an article in some industry publication about the Kioti/Kubota relationship. Being that I am old and my memory is somewhat foggy (probably from too many hours on a Kubota), I seem to remember that Kioti, in it's infancy, bought Kubota's outdated casting and machining lines.
I also remember reading (I think) that parts would interchange between B-Series Kubota's and early Kioti's. I know that there is presently an ongoing suit between Kubota and Kioti over color or something stupid.
What I find that's interesting is that Kubota changed it's orange about 4 years ago to a different shade. If you check with a dealer, you will find Kubota Orange and Kubota Orange II. As I have both, I can tell you that they are different shades of orange.
I wonder if the color difference has anything to do with Kioti?

Back when I bought my first Kubota, which happened to be a B series, the only compact tractors were Kubota, John Deere, Cub Cadet and Ingersol. The Ingersol and the Cub were gas, namely Kohler. That was about 20 years ago.
I still have the factory shop manual for the B. It's probably a collectors item.

Sometimes I think "I am turning into a collectors item" too!! That's what my wife says.

 

[rbarker]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Always remember a tractor is a tractor is a tractor until it breaks down when you really need it and then its the biggest piece of junk you have ever owned. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)</font>

The voice of truth! And that doesn't go just for tractors, right men? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[rtimgray]

"I did not bash anyone"

Is being called generic or a knock-off considered flattery now...when did that happen? I have rarely thought of those terms as being associated with good things? It's not quite as bad as saying "Kioti Sucks!" but its more to that side than stating the neutral comment "I like my Kubota better than the Kioti's I've tried". Stating you opinion is what this forum is all about... that's cool.

Calling someone else's equipment generic or knock-off, in my opinion, isn't cool.

I many earlier discussions, the cost of Kiotis versus Kubotas has been debated, and the Kiotis (at least in my research) are a little to alot cheaper, although a few folks found comparable Kubotas cheaper. There also seems to be a conception that the Kioti is a lesser tractor or lower quality tractor than Kubota. I cannot dispute that Kubota is an industry leader and has a strong record of customer satisfaction (they wouldn't be the leader in compact tractor sales in the US if they weren't pretty good, would they?). However, Kioti has been around 17-18 years and is growing. I couldn't find anything I didn't like about the Kubotas I looked at (other than the price), but I felt like not only was I getting more bang for my buck, but I was getting as good or better tractor than any other tractor on the market.

You know, I remember from school that they said that folks that had to talk bad about other people really had an inferiority complex and could only elevate their opinion of themselves by trying to lower the value of other people...do you feel insecure about your purchase so you need to convince yourself and others that you bought a name brand (no knock-off generic tractor will do for you, eh?) tractor so you must be better off....I don't know...now I'm the one talkin' smack....

....but don't worry, it's just generic knock-off smack-talkin'

 

[hillslider]

There are many companies that see a product suceeding and will go after that same market. Many companies will literally disect the competions product. Some will improve upon the product and some will copy and some will do a little of both. Kioti saw that Kubota was a great product.....but price seemed high. How do you get into the market....come in with a great product and with a better price and make use of similar features....ie paint and style. My question is what else would you call it? Its a generic or a knock off. There are many products out there that are similar. Now as far as the other coments you made toward me personaly.......I won't go there. I do not have to justify anything. Take my coments as they were said without gettting all excited. Relax.......take a breath and lets all be tractor friends. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[stvman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I see it as this.........Why would anyone buy a knock off or a generic brand.....because they can not afford the namebrand.
)</font>

Kind of reminds me of Eddie Murphys line...

I got ice cream and you can't have none... cuz yo mama's on the welfare

 

[rtimgray]

"My question is what else would you call it?"

I would call it a Kioti - that is its name, after all.

Instead of generic or knock-off, I would have used the words competitive brand - this is what it is, after all.

Paint alone does not a knock-off make - it's been discussed before, but Kubota paint is only a shade or two different from Allis-Chalmers or some Agco-Allis. Also as mentioned before, Kubota did not invent the tractor or the compact tractor, nor did they re-invent the compact, but rather refined a proven design. I don't know who came up with the first tractor, but we can try to trace the origins back to the old steam traction engines and then kerosene engined-tractors, etc. etc. up through the 40s, 50s, 60s. So I guess, in that sense, probably every tractor on the market is a knock-off - after all, John Deere got their start building plows (I think) - they got in the tractor market after someone else had already building tractors.

...so we could just call tractors by their proper names...wouldn't that be a novel idea.

 

[TresCrows]

"Kioti has the new 21hp hydro unit known as the CK20H. "

Yes, I am aware of that and will stick with what I said, the Kioti line of smaller tractors more closely resembles the Kubota L (not Grande L) series than the lighter duty B series.

As to Kubota selling molds for a tractor to an upstart Korean company, anything is possible, but I really doubt it is anything more than urban legend. I know the company I work for now destroys molds for anything they no longer produce or need rather than give it away or sell it and I suspect that is universal in large companies. So, I stick with what I said until someone can present something other than here say. Kubota and Kioti have no relationship.
My only beef with Kioti is that they copy Kubota. They make quality tractors and to me the sign of a mature company and product is that it can develop it's own brand identity. If Kiotis were yellow or neon green would threads like this even come up? I think the Kioti can stand on it's own merit. J

 

[SageBrush]

Well, Kioti tractors do resemble Kubota. I don't think they had no idea of how their tractors look like Kubotas /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Even the guage clusters seems to be a match for the older Kubota's. But, the original question was not who is better. Kioti may be a fine tractor, I've never been around one much.

Who would you rather give your money too....( South I persume) Koreans or the Japanese? I perfer the latter.

 

[rtimgray]

"Who would you rather give your money too....( South I persume) Koreans or the Japanese? I perfer the latter."

That's weird - after all, we fought a war AGAINST the Japanese and we fought a war WITH the South Koreans as our allies.

The above is a joke...I realize times have changed since both the wars.