CK vs DK pricing and feedbak

[bheif]

Hi all......

Have been tractor shopping for several months hoping to find something used, but all I've found is a lot of high hour not great condition stuff, or nice low hour machines selling for 75-80% of new prices, so I'm now seriously considering new. I've looked at Kubota, NH, JD and Mahindra and am very impressed with Kioti - they just feel right for me and I like all I have read as well. I'm on the fence between the CK and DK - for my use the smaller machine has some advantages, but the pricing I have gotten so far has me leaning towards the DK. BTW I am in Vermont and a cash buyer - best pricing I have found locally is as follow:

CK4010 Manual with Loader $20,350 delivered

CK4010SE Shuttle with Loader $23,000 delivered

DK4010 Shuttle with Loader $23,500 delivered (free loader promo)

Dealer is throwing in loaded rear tires, floormat, bucket blade, bucket hooks, block heater and fuel heater for these prices and free delivery to my house about 1.5 hour drive.

While I could probably do a little better from a "mega dealer" in the midwest or south, then I have the hassle of shipping and buying from a distance. I would much rather support my local dealer and don't mind paying a few hundred more, but if I can save a couple thousand I'd look into my options. I also can wait until the spring if there might be better incentives available.

I appreciate any suggestions and feedback you all might have.

Thanks.....Brian

 

[CMV]

Do you care at all about any of the SE upgrades? Ask dealer to clearly show you differences between regular and SE so you know what that extra SE $ is getting you.

Also throw CK3510 into mix.....if CK frame size is sufficient, that 5hp is probably not significant at all.

Does loader height or capacity matter? Slightly more on DK, but CK loader is still pretty good.

 

[bheif]

We went over the differences with the SE - on the CK - shuttle shift, rear remotes, electric pto, tilt steering wheel were the biggies - the only one that really matters to me are the rear remotes, but I can add those myself later. I'm leaning towards the DK because my primary use will be using a grapple to cut and clear trails and a chipper - I have 32 acres in Northern Vermont. Property was logged 10-12 years ago so I have lots of 2-4 inch trees and tons of brush to cut trails though. I'm thinking the significantly higher lift rating on the DK might be useful and the physical dimensions are not that much bigger.

I'm looking at this as a long term investment, and want to make sure I buy enough capacity.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Dealer is throwing in loaded rear tires, floormat, bucket blade, bucket hooks, block heater and fuel heater for these prices and free delivery to my house about 1.5 hour drive.

Throwing in - ha! That's $2-3000 worth of stuff and you are being quoted the same amount over what I would expect as a selling price. In other words a fair deal, but there is no free lunch.

We went over the differences with the SE - on the CK - shuttle shift, rear remotes, electric pto, tilt steering wheel were the biggies - the only one that really matters to me are the rear remotes, but I can add those myself later. I'm leaning towards the DK because my primary use will be using a grapple to cut and clear trails and a chipper - I have 32 acres in Northern Vermont. Property was logged 10-12 years ago so I have lots of 2-4 inch trees and tons of brush to cut trails though. I'm thinking the significantly higher lift rating on the DK might be useful and the physical dimensions are not that much bigger.
I'm looking at this as a long term investment, and want to make sure I buy enough capacity.

With that info I think you want the DK. Be aware that the DK is a rather basic tractor, not deluxe. Have you been able to see one in person and try it out? I ordered one sight unseen as the local dealer only had CK and NX models in stock, and I was surprised to find that the DK is very much an entry/minimalist machine. Still perfectly good for what I do and what you've described, but it's not a deluxe or fancy model.

As of 2017 the DK didn't come standard with extendible draft links. You will want to either get those, or better yet just get a quick hitch. I went the quick hitch route and will never go back. Quality quick hitches start around $150 which is probably less than the cost of getting Kioti's extendible draft links.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Does loader height or capacity matter? Slightly more on DK, but CK loader is still pretty good.

Kioti makes very powerful loaders relative to the frame size. I'm skeptical of whether a CK can safely and reliably use all the loader lift that is available. For that matter the DK requires a lot of counterweight to fully use its loader capacity.

OP: practical use of front-end loader capacity involves the overall frame size and counterweight (whether filled tires, a heavy implement, or combination of both) as much as it involves the rated FEL lift capacity. In 10 years of tractor use around two farms I think I've reached the FEL lift limit one single time, and that was trying to pry a rock out of the ground. A BIG rock.

 

[prof fate]

I got a ck35 - no issues. If more capacity is needd g0 dk.

As for SE..I got most of the items except elec pto and tilt wheel for $650...that's the two rear remotes (295 installed), horn, mat, mirror, arm rest (well worth it). Loaded tires were a kioti deal at the time.

Why shuttle and not HST? Shuttle is good for plowing (ground engagement stuff) but it doesn't sound like it's youre main task. Diff is under $1000 and the convenience is tremendous.

 

[roth2000]

From what I know of the SE models they also have a telescoping 3 point hitch which is handy but negated if you buy a quick hitch setup. Another advantage they have is extra oil coolers on the front of the radiator (don't remember exactly for what oil)and then some of the others mentioned including premium air filter, cruise, tilt steering, linked pedal, independent pto, etc.

 

[PEJ5]

Like you, I have been tractor shopping for a few months. The dealer had a CK2610 manual and CK3510Se Shuttle. They had HST as well. I continued to look at used. I came across a 2016 DK5010HC with Hydraulic Shuttle which once I read about it - I was very interested. I bought the used tractor but have not (really) run it yet.

It appears the CK3510SE shuttle and the DK4010 shuttle will still require clutching where a DKx010HC model would not. I recommend you speak further with the dealer and get prices on a CK3510HST or DK4010HC - they are better transmission options in my non-experienced opinion.

Peter.

 

[Sparkeee24]

I've got power shuttle in my rx7320 and I love it!. It is still not as fast as hst for loader work, but you can really tell that it's a gear drive with how it hooks up With traction. Given all kioti transmission options, it would be 60% lean to hydraulic power shuttle, 40% lean hst. Ground engagement tasks and hills are where you notice huge gains in hydraulic power shuttle manual. Hst is great for delicate work, close in work, and loader work. Mine has 3 creeper ranges in addition to standard 3 ranges, and then 4 main gears and clutch button on shift lever, which let's me do very close up delicate work as well. It's very fast. Also has adjustable actuation of the clutch so if you want slow and smooth or super snappy shifts, it's all adjustable. No clutch needed for forward to reverse, but synchronized and clutch to change gears. Hope your tractor works out!

 

[jrskblx125]

if you have a chipper on the back of the tractor AND loaded tires, youre looking at a substantial amount of ballast for the loader. the smaller frame does just fine with ballast. i have an 8" woodmaxx chipper and i think it weighs about 1000 lbs. that with loaded tires will hold whatever you can fill your bucket with thats for sure.