Good post Jim, I never had a hst, so I won't be able to compare the ck35 shuttle. As far as tires are concerned you raise a good point. Which tires would be better for plowing snow, turf or industrial?
I really need a better loader, love the ck but the loader is lacking.
If all three tires are compared in snow, without chains on any of them, most people have reported that turf tires offer an advantage. I don't think any of them are any good on slick ice without chains. I don't know what the problem is with IXLR8's machine, but my HST DK35se tractor does not run forward when you let off of the peddle, it stops immediately, it has never stalled, its loader response (cylinder response) is extremely fast, and it will lift every bit of its rated 1430 pounds to full height. The DK40se loader response will be a bit slower as shown in the specs, because the pump has only slightly more flow and the cylinders are bigger. To lift more you must have larger diameter cylinders, and of course they take longer to fill unless your flow rate is increased. My machines loader is so fast, that when I first got it and traded off my Kubota L3400hst I was concerned about how fast it was compared to the Kubota. It took me a couple of days to get used to it. The flow rate of the Kioti's pump is much greater than the Kubota, and the cylinders are only slightly larger, with about 300 more lbs of lift. So yeah, it is fast, real fast. But after using it for a while, I really enjoy it, and make use of the "snappy" loader response to get more work done in a shorter period of time.
So in summation, The DK40se loader response will be a bit slower than your CK. Example to raise the boom on the CK to full height is 3.9 seconds, to retract the bucket is 2.4 seconds. On the DK40se raise boom is 4.5 seconds but the retract bucket is only 2.1 seconds. So they have placed the largest cylinder on the raise boom. But the DK40's loader WILL lift over twice as much.
I can tell you this, Going from the 1100 lbs of lift on the Kubota L3400hst with the La463 loader to the Kioti DK35se with the KL351 loader is day and night difference. More than the 300 lbs published difference.