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.

 

[eonblue]

I was in a similar situation with you. I have 30 acres of 20 yr old hardwoods and one of the main uses is clearing land/trails with grapple. I started looking at CKｴ and ended up deciding between DK with HST and NX. I cant say that the CK wouldnt have done what I wanted but I can say that the DK has exceeded my expectations in every way. It feels pretty agile in the woods but is a beast and will push out any trees under 4 inches that ive run into and bigger trees depending on their root structure. Im running a 6 medium duty rotary cutter for the big patches of saplings under 2 and its done nicely there too.

Hard to make a solid recommendation without directly comparing the CK but I took the recommendation around here on as much tractor weight as you can afford to heart and have had absolutely zero doubt about my purchase.

I will say that the nature of working in the woods does involve a good many 7 point turns. Something to consider when choosing between manual and HST.

 

[Sbalak]

I'm in a similar situation trying to decide between a dk4210se or ck3510se cab. I live on a 9 acre hobby farm and currently have a Kubota b3030 open station w/ mower and loader. I use to Bota to mow, snow plow, pallet lift, load small hay rounds, auger fence posts, move sheds, and brush hog. I like my Bota but I'm looking for more lift capacity, quick change on the FEL, and cab features. My delimea is mowing my ~1.5 acre lawn. Without to the mid PTO I'm looking at a 3pt finish mower which I figure will cost ~$2k. My dealer said the CK can mow without tearing up the lawn. Anybody else here mow with the CK? If it can't mow then I figure why not move up to the DK and take the extra power and lift. It's probably overkill, but part of me says if I'm spending all this money then is the CK really that much different than the B3030. Also if neither of them can mow, then I could easily can a riding mower for $2k. Any opinions out there? Any new Dk4210se cab owners?

 

[DK35vince]

I'm in a similar situation trying to decide between a dk4210se or ck3510se cab. I live on a 9 acre hobby farm and currently have a Kubota b3030 open station w/ mower and loader. I use to Bota to mow, snow plow, pallet lift, load small hay rounds, auger fence posts, move sheds, and brush hog. I like my Bota but I'm looking for more lift capacity, quick change on the FEL, and cab features. My delimea is mowing my ~1.5 acre lawn. Without to the mid PTO I'm looking at a 3pt finish mower which I figure will cost ~$2k. My dealer said the CK can mow without tearing up the lawn. Anybody else here mow with the CK? If it can't mow then I figure why not move up to the DK and take the extra power and lift. It's probably overkill, but part of me says if I'm spending all this money then is the CK really that much different than the B3030. Also if neither of them can mow, then I could easily can a riding mower for $2k. Any opinions out there? Any new Dk4210se cab owners?

My opinion if your looking for lift capacity, move up to the larger models.
I doubt the CK 3510 has that much difference in lift capacity to warrant changing from your current machine

 

[Sbalak]

My opinion if your looking for lift capacity, move up to the larger models.
I doubt the CK 3510 has that much difference in lift capacity to warrant changing from your current machine

I think the CK loader is about double what I currently have. The LA403 lifts 1091lbs at the pins and 882lbs at the bucket mid point. The KL4020 lifts 1930 at the pins. I think where I'm really loosing out is when I do pallet forks. Since I don't have quick attach I had to get bolt on forks. My guess is that I'm down to ~750lbs at that distance. The Bota is definitely lighter so I never do any loader work without the box blade. I can pick up 4 by 5 round hay bales with the forks, but want to move to a hay spike. The other day I was stacking wet split fire wood on pallets. I had a good sized load and maxed out the loader. I could lift the load ~1.5 ft with full RPM but couldn't get any higher. I had no problem with ballast or the rear losing traction, but I could tell the machine was at its limit. When I looked at new Kubotas it still seams they're well behind the competition with max lift for comparable priced machines. I'm sure the newer Kubotas are better than mine, but I figure the QA moving the pallets closer to the pin would be a big advantage.

 

[dirtfergy]

I have on order a 2018 DK4510H with Ag tires and 5510 Loader. My base price is 22495 It started out as a standard gear 4510. Then I used LS MT345 offered to me for 21K as a bargaining chip, and said he could lower the price 1K or sell me the tractor with the Hydro shift. We decided on the Hydro for the same price as the standard shuttle. I got free mat and loaded rear tires. Total is 27300 which includes the following. Jump start accessory under hood since battery is located under floor, Bronco brush cutter, Metal Canopy, Telescoping Stabilizers, Kioti Quick Hitch, 1 remote Valve, 3rd Function, Arm rests on seat, and 1 rear view mirror. This is stuff I need right now. I will add grapple later. I have been searching LS, Mahindra, Massey Ferguson and New Holland. When I found Kioti. They were a half hour away. It had great lift. Most of the bells and whistles of the LS brand, but the Kioti sales guy was a lot more familiar with his product than LS man who was also a half hour away. I also liked the tranny, and easy clutching of the suspended pedal. Tractor seemed to drive itself. Very comfortable and great turn radius. Which is important in my heavily overgrown 10 acres. Hope this helps some folks.

 

[YLee Kioti]

Something I've not read yet is:
DK frame size is not the same as the CK.
The DK would better fit all the heavy work to be done. The weight and frame size will come in handy for handling the soon to be heavy loads.

Speaking form limited experience. I pulled a 15-18 foot buried oak (within a creek side) and the CK4010HST pulled it but it was at its limit no doubt. Had to cut it in half chain it to the bucket and haul to the xfer station.
The NX totally different story.
Now if I'm wrong on the frame size I apologize in advance but am going from memory when dealer and I were discussing the upgrade. The DK was a better deal price wise but would lose about 4 months to wait on delivery of the HST version.
Regardless, with 30+ acres its quite possible you may regret the CK; the DK highly unlikely.
Either case all the best in your selection.....

 

[prof fate]

teh CK has an optional mid mount PTO and mower deck. If it's priced like kubota does their MMM it's cheaper to get a zero turn for mowing. and no taking the deck off/on all the time. My last tractors was a bota with a MMM that used the 3pt for lift..pita to take on/off just about weekly, or plan dirt work and such around mowing.

That and a 3510 with loader and loaded tires is some 4k plus lbs...

I'm still debating a rear mower - sucks along a fence line and that would be my primary use..this time of year i'm finding them used pretty cheap. Still may be cheaper to get a used cub cadet ro something dedicated to mowing. Yes, another engine to deal with, but so what? with chain saws, mowers, weed whackers, snow blower, what's one more?

 

[dirtfergy]

Something I've not read yet is:
DK frame size is not the same as the CK.
The DK would better fit all the heavy work to be done. The weight and frame size will come in handy for handling the soon to be heavy loads.

Speaking form limited experience. I pulled a 15-18 foot buried oak (within a creek side) and the CK4010HST pulled it but it was at its limit no doubt. Had to cut it in half chain it to the bucket and haul to the xfer station.
The NX totally different story.
Now if I'm wrong on the frame size I apologize in advance but am going from memory when dealer and I were discussing the upgrade. The DK was a better deal price wise but would lose about 4 months to wait on delivery of the HST version.
Regardless, with 30+ acres its quite possible you may regret the CK; the DK highly unlikely.
Either case all the best in your selection.....

The CK is a smaller tractor
The DK and NX are the same frame but NX has more stuff

 

[Z-Michigan]

DK is a much larger frame than CK as noted.

I would not seriously consider lifting 1900lbs on the FEL of a CK even if it's mechanically possible. Your counterweight need would be huge and that's just way too much weight for that frame size of tractor.* Lifting 1000lbs on my DK is at the max I'm comfortable with, even though its rated capacity is around 2500lbs. YMMV but be safe.

*similar sized construction loaders have higher capacities, but they weigh far more and are designed with enormous weight low and behind the rear axle to act as a safe counterweight.

 

[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 DK5010HS 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 DKx010HS model would not. I recommend you speak further with the dealer and get prices on a CK3510HST or DK4010HS - they are better transmission options in my non-experienced opinion.

Peter.

BHeif/Brian:

Not sure if you are still shopping, but I thought I should clarify a couple of things about how the Hydraulic Shuttle really works on my Kioti DK5010 HS. This comes from running the machine and guidance from my Kioti dealer. The transmission is synchronized meaning I can shift through gears while moving (using the clutch pedal) as you would the manual transmission on a car/truck.

The Hydraulic Shuttle lever next to the steering wheel allows me to shift from forward to reverse and vise versa without clutching, but this is NOT synchronized so I must come to a stop before changing directions. With my limited experience, I find it works best in the lower/slower gears. If i want to change directions, I can at any time, move the lever from fwd (or from rev) to neutral, pause for the tractor to stop (or brake to stop), and then move the lever in the other direction, all without the clutch pedal. I can pause forward or reverse motion (say chewing into heavy snow with the blower) by moving the shuttle to the neutral position and then back to the same direction. In this case, I do not have to be at a complete stop to engage the shuttle in the same direction I am coasting. Someone certainly please correct me if I am using my new tractor incorrectly.

I would be interested to hear from someone with a non hydraulic shuttle version of the DK series. The web site states manual transmission (is that synchronized or not??) with synchronized shuttle (so no need for stop between forward/reverse??, but clutching required?? or not??). This Kioti web site is certainly short on words!

Happy shopping.

Peter