RodgerF
Silver Member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2004
- Messages
- 168
- Location
- S.W. PA
- Tractor
- New Holland TC 30, Kubota L3901DT, RK24 with FEL and mower, Massey Ferguson 35 and 2 Farmal Cubs
The local Rural King just started selling their line of tractors here within the last month so I thought I'd stop by and take a look. The tractors appear to be well built and come with a lot of options as standard features. I was looking for a smaller tractor for maintaining 1.5 acres around the house and had been looking on and off for a while. I had previously looked at Kubota, John Deere and Branson.
I had originally wanted to look at the RK 19 with a 54" deck but they had just sold the one they had. They did have a RK 24 with a loader and 60" deck in stock but it had R4's on it instead of turf tires. After giving it some thought, I went back yesterday and bought the RK 24.
The purchasing process was a little painful. Mine was the second or third tractor sold so there was a lot of "I'm not sure what to do next" during the process. The people were very nice but it was definitely a new process for them and it took a while to get through it. The service/repair area was a little underwhelming as well. The "tractor guy" wasn't there yesterday so I didn't get to meet the service tech. He'll share shop area with the Stihl people. The tractor had been service at the assembly plant and at the store where I bought it and was ready to go.
I haven't got to use the tractor much yet due to weather. Yesterday, I woke up to 2-3 inches of new snow but it quickly melted off and left a muddy mess. Some quick first impression are I'm glad I got the R4's instead of turfs. It looks like they provide more traction and really didn't do any damage to the mud field, er, yard at all. I used the mower deck some too. It looks like it'll proved and nice cut and threw and scattered the clippings nicely even though the grass was wet.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with it so far. It appears to be well built and has a lot of standard features. Mine came with a 12v power outlet, cup holder, cruise control, rear work light and a set of rear remotes. The one feature it has that I really like is it automatically raised engine RPM's as you press either the forward or reverse pedals. All my other tractors are gear tractors but any older hydro units I've used, the engine RPM's had to be set with the hand throttle. I can still set the engine RPM's with the hand throttle for mowing but for just driving or loader work it will do it automatically.
Based on my experience, I would recommend first time buyers stay with and established dealer. My store just started selling tractors but some have been doing it longer so you may have a different experience there. Mine was a little weak in the service area but hopefully that'll improve with time. Overall it seems like a nice little tractor though. Time will tell.
It's been a while since I've posted on here so I'll see if I still remember how to post pics. After all, It didn't happen without pics!!
Rodger
I had originally wanted to look at the RK 19 with a 54" deck but they had just sold the one they had. They did have a RK 24 with a loader and 60" deck in stock but it had R4's on it instead of turf tires. After giving it some thought, I went back yesterday and bought the RK 24.
The purchasing process was a little painful. Mine was the second or third tractor sold so there was a lot of "I'm not sure what to do next" during the process. The people were very nice but it was definitely a new process for them and it took a while to get through it. The service/repair area was a little underwhelming as well. The "tractor guy" wasn't there yesterday so I didn't get to meet the service tech. He'll share shop area with the Stihl people. The tractor had been service at the assembly plant and at the store where I bought it and was ready to go.
I haven't got to use the tractor much yet due to weather. Yesterday, I woke up to 2-3 inches of new snow but it quickly melted off and left a muddy mess. Some quick first impression are I'm glad I got the R4's instead of turfs. It looks like they provide more traction and really didn't do any damage to the mud field, er, yard at all. I used the mower deck some too. It looks like it'll proved and nice cut and threw and scattered the clippings nicely even though the grass was wet.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with it so far. It appears to be well built and has a lot of standard features. Mine came with a 12v power outlet, cup holder, cruise control, rear work light and a set of rear remotes. The one feature it has that I really like is it automatically raised engine RPM's as you press either the forward or reverse pedals. All my other tractors are gear tractors but any older hydro units I've used, the engine RPM's had to be set with the hand throttle. I can still set the engine RPM's with the hand throttle for mowing but for just driving or loader work it will do it automatically.
Based on my experience, I would recommend first time buyers stay with and established dealer. My store just started selling tractors but some have been doing it longer so you may have a different experience there. Mine was a little weak in the service area but hopefully that'll improve with time. Overall it seems like a nice little tractor though. Time will tell.
It's been a while since I've posted on here so I'll see if I still remember how to post pics. After all, It didn't happen without pics!!
Rodger
