Considering a new tractor

[Bhardy23]

Hello It has been quite some time since I posted on this forum. Years I'm sure. My trusty Kioti LK2554 finally bit went down. Started knocking after 1 round of bush hog cutting. 20 plus years of pretty reliable service with pretty much only yearly maintenance. I changed the Head gasket and injector pump last year (beginning of the end?) I'm a little reluctant to spent to much on the kioti as its been used quite a bit. I take care of several small properties mine and family. 2 to 8 acres. I liked the versatility of a smaller machine being easy to transport and maneuver around trees and such. Im leaning towards a larger frame machine. I have a smaller JD that im using to get by. That machine stayed on my coast property. But the property was destroyed by hurricane Laura. The JD really is to small (JD 4100) for anything but grass cutting in my humble opinion. I'm leaning towards a large frame Bobcat 4045 shuttle shift. I looked at (specs) a kubota mx4800. I am sure I could get by with the smaller bobcat 2040 easily as its more powerful than the LK2554. Although the LK2554 Had more 3 point lift and similar hydraulic flow. I have spent quite a bit of time reading up on peoples thoughts on Bobcat tractors and then exiting the tractor busness Exiting then re-emerging. I'm not afraid of the daedong engine despite having a failure. Any thoughts or personnel experience with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[stevem5215]

Lots of choices out there. Test drive a few and see what you like for a dealer and their support (if you need that). That said I had a Ford 1900 that I used for grass cutting duties for 15 years that I owned it. Used is cheaper if you can find what you want at least. Dealer support is no 1 in my book when buying a new machine though.

 

[jeff9366]

Bobcat tractors are produced for Bobcat as private labels by Kioti.

Bobcat procures their own Loaders for their Bobcat badged Kioti tractors, Bobcat does not offer Kioti (brand) Loaders.

 

[jeff9366]

Reading your post is difficult and confusing.

Please use the EDIT key to organize your Post #1 into paragraphs.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Again, there are multiple manufacturers, check the others too! You may find that a certain brand may fit (comfort) you better. Others may have features/options that you may want. There can be dramatic difference in prices too, location may come into play with prices.

Other proven brands could be LS, TYM / Branson, NH, Mahindra, and Yanmar.
Don't forget about Kioti.... they are making the Bobcat tractors. They are all suitable tractors.

 

[DaBear3428]

YMMV but in my area used tractors with 1000 hrs are going for about what a new unit would cost. also in todays market i would not be afraid of putting a few $1000.00 into rebuilding an engine if the tractor is what you need want.

 

[Williy]

You can't tell a dealership by its ratings.
There are people that abuse their tractors
and equipment and expect the dealer to
fix it under warranty but in that case dealer
will not fix under warranty and then the crap
comes in the dealer ain't worth a crap! TRUE??

willy

 

[ptsg]

You can't tell a dealership by its ratings.
There are people that abuse their tractors
and equipment and expect the dealer to
fix it under warranty but in that case dealer
will not fix under warranty and then the crap
comes in the dealer ain't worth a crap! TRUE??

willy

This happens soooo much Willy. You're spot on. Specially when it involves a front loader and all kinds of implements that shouldn't go there in the first place. Dealers still cover so many things that they really didn't have to.

It's almost getting to a point that people try to file warranty claims for an empty fuel tank. Yes, I'm exaggerating here but you get the point.

 

[LouNY]

This happens soooo much Willy. You're spot on. Specially when it involves a front loader and all kinds of implements that shouldn't go there in the first place. Dealers still cover so many things that they really didn't have to.

It's almost getting to a point that people try to file warranty claims for an empty fuel tank. Yes, I'm exaggerating here but you get the point.

Nope, your not exaggerating.
I know of an individual that ran a tractor out of fuel, called his dealer pitching a fit because it died while he was using it.
They came out and spent a bit of time trying to start it, then tried to bleed the system and found no fuel. Explained to the owner it was out of fuel, he demanded they go to town and get fuel and get his tractor restarted they did so. When he got billed for time and fuel he came unglued again and blamed them and their poor service department for his getting a bill, one of his comments was it was a new tractor it was warrentied. Oh, and the fuel gauge was working.

 

[IndyJay]

Nope, your not exaggerating.
I know of an individual that ran a tractor out of fuel, called his dealer pitching a fit because it died while he was using it.
They came out and spent a bit of time trying to start it, then tried to bleed the system and found no fuel. Explained to the owner it was out of fuel, he demanded they go to town and get fuel and get his tractor restarted they did so. When he got billed for time and fuel he came unglued again and blamed them and their poor service department for his getting a bill, one of his comments was it was a new tractor it was warrentied. Oh, and the fuel gauge was working.

Reminds me of a story my Dad told about helping someone broken down in front of him. He walked up as she was cranking the starter with no luck. He offered help and popped the hood, did the standard screwdriver in spark plug wire to check for spark, good there. So he asked if he could try. She slid over and he got in.

As he turned the key he saw that the gas gauge was on 'E'. He told her, "Do you know that your gas gauge is reading empty"? She replied, "Oh, would it hurt if I drove it home that way?" He said, "Not at all", went back to his car and drove away.