First time buyer here.

[l1ttlet]

To start off, I'm in the dfw, Texas area. I'm looking to get my first 40-55hp tractor with a budget of up to 45k. I've looked into multiple tractors. Kubota would be nice, but don't have that kubota mula. I've narrowed it down to a ls345E, Tym 394, or, but it's more pricey, kioti Ns4710. I am going to want to add 3rd function, two rear ports woth toggles. grapple n pallet fork.
I saw mihandra as a brand recommended, but after research, they seem to fall apart.
I am wanting a Japanese motor, either yanmar or kioti would be fine.
Being a car mechanic, I don't mind working on these, just know that Japanese know how to build a bulletproof engine, at least in cars.
any recommendations would be great. or what to avoid. I've been researching a ton, n am just struggling trying to makw the right decision. I have all the big dealers near me, so that's not an issue. also, is yanmar affordable? or the Ferguson tractor? Again definitely want Japanese engine. They just last. I also am just looking for regular open cab, don't need anything fancy, just functional.

I'll be brush hogging, lifting round bales. ripping out trees, heavy logs to haul around etc. need upto 2500lb lifting capacity.

 

[Mike1955]

Welcome tlet. Sounds like you have it narrowed down. You will get some opinions here. And I have some opinions and can back them up with over twenty years of ownership. Course things can change since I bought. I have a 4330 Kubota and it’s been bullet proof. At 5 years old I have a 2970 Massey Furgerson and no problems either. I had a neighbor who had bad luck with mihandra. And another that had a troublesome Branson. I think a Yanmar should serve you well. Good luck sir

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Can't speak to the T394 but, I am the third owner of a 2006 T233, with just over 500-hours. Five years ago, the universal joints on the drive coupling between the engine and transmission failed. TYM covered the repair as a warranty item, because nowhere in the manuals does it cover the fact the u-joints need to be lubricated occasionally. And unless you remove an access plate, you don't know they exist until they fail. Truthfully, I was a bit shocked. Third owner, years out of warranty.

So, based on that experience, I'm more than willing to recommend TYM. And, I recently was looking at a T25, and it seemed really familiar. So, on a whim I downloaded the T25 parts manual, and started comparing things. Transaxle body has a different letter at the end of the part number, but all the critical parts are the same. Frame components are different slightly. 3-pt components are the same. So, in my mind the TYM Engineers are "bright enough to not fix what aint broke".

The T394 has a Yanmar 3TNV88-CR, which is common enough that you can buy most of the engine hard parts, fairly easily if the need arises.

 

[Jaybr]

TYM, LS, and Kioti are Korean brands and mahindra is Indian, I don't think any of them use a Japanese engine. Bobcat is a repainted Kioti and New Holland is made by LS, so both korean. Yanmar and Kubota are Japanese, and they both build the entire tractor. John Deere uses Yanmar engines and Massey Ferguson uses Iseki (Japanese).

That said, I don't think there is anything wrong with Korean engines, I have a 20 year old Kioti and the engine has been solid.

Bought a new larger tractor a few months ago and got a Yanmar and it would be in your price range. It's probably a little more than the Korean brands but less than JD or Kubota. My YT359 Cab was just slightly over your budget, you can probably find an open station YT347 for <$40k. YT359 is the same chassis just more hp and they both use an iHMT transmission which is more efficient than a standard HST.

Good luck with your search!

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

TYM, LS, and Kioti are Korean brands and mahindra is Indian, I don't think any of them use a Japanese engine. Bobcat is a repainted Kioti and New Holland is made by LS, so both korean. Yanmar and Kubota are Japanese, and they both build the entire tractor. John Deere uses Yanmar engines and Massey Ferguson uses Iseki (Japanese).

That said, I don't think there is anything wrong with Korean engines, I have a 20 year old Kioti and the engine has been solid.

Bought a new larger tractor a few months ago and got a Yanmar and it would be in your price range. It's probably a little more than the Korean brands but less than JD or Kubota. My YT359 Cab was just slightly over your budget, you can probably find an open station YT347 for <$40k. YT359 is the same chassis just more hp and they both use an iHMT transmission which is more efficient than a standard HST.

Good luck with your search!

TYM seems to have quite a few Japanese engines: Mitsubishi; and Yanmar for starts. I bought my T233 in part because it has a very common Mitsubishi industrial engine which I can buy parts, or even complete engines off eBay inexpensively. TYM bought Branson mostly to get Kukje, so you will see the Kukje engines in the tractors where it is possible. With Mitsubishi, Yanmar, and even possibly Daihatsu or Toyota engines, (both make really good industrial engines), if they meet their needs.

Looking at their current offerings, I'm seeing Japanese Yanmar, or TYM (Kukje) in the smaller tractor and Deutz in the large ones

 

[l1ttlet]

Thank you for the help. I do have a question about the Mitsubishi engines. Are they crammed in there hard to work on, or?
Also for what I'm wanting to do, what frame size should I be going for? I still don't quite understand that. I want a larger one to be able to homd round bales with ease, but not to bug where I can't shove it into a 2 car garage with the rops folded down.

 

[Jaybr]

Thank you for the help. I do have a question about the Mitsubishi engines. Are they crammed in there hard to work on, or?
Also for what I'm wanting to do, what frame size should I be going for? I still don't quite understand that. I want a larger one to be able to homd round bales with ease, but not to bug where I can't shove it into a 2 car garage with the rops folded down.

I don't know anything about the Mitsubishi engines but I'm sure someone will respond. I think your looking in the right range for round bales and to fit in your garage. You'll want a heavy compact tractor with lift capacity on the loader over 2k. HP won't matter as much as weight and lift capacity, but I think most in the 45-55hp range would be the larger frames and fine. There are some smaller frame 40hp tractors that I don't think would handle a round bale with ease, such as a Kioti CK40. The next size up would be the DK or NS and I would think they'd handle it fine. With Yanmar the YT3 series would be fine.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

When you look at tractors, look at the access to things. If you open the hood are things easy to get to? If not, how hard is it to get the hod off and set it aside and reinstall it when you're done?

If you have wrenched on a variety of machines, you should have a feel for it.

If you look at my Avatar, it is a Japanese Tiny Truck. Most of them are a pain to set valves, etc. on just because access to the top of eh engine is through a hatch in the bed floor you unbolt, which is about 1.5 X 2-ft. You can get at 90% of what you need to work on through it, but there will be time you wish you had another wrist, halfway between the one you have and your elbow, so you could twist just a bit to get at some of the hoses and fasteners. Mine happens to be a scissors lift - dump bed. Put the bed in dump mode, and block the hydraulic cylinder, and remove an engine protection plate held on by eight bolts, and you have unfettered access to the top of the engine. If I ever buy another tiny truck, it will have a dump bed.

My TYM T233, and most TYM Tractors have a front hinged one piece hood. Which is fairly easy to take on and off if/when you need to. But, for general maintenance everything seems to be well thought out enough it is pretty easy to get wrenches onto things you need to work on for maintenance.

The closest dealer to me sells, Kioti, TYM and LS tractor brands. If I were buying a new machine, I'd go in the back to the shop and ask the mechanics what in the class I'm looking at is easiest to work on, for general maintenance work. Things like: When they picked the engine and mounted it in the frame, did they block access to the oil drain pan? Can you get wrenches on the filters? Are the Zerk fittings accessible?

Typically, manufacturers will have several frame sizes, all of which can come with several different horsepower ranges. In some instances the engine options will be the same block diesel engine, with different injectors, or a longer stroke.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Kioti fan here. Mainly because they were cheaper than kubota when I priced it out about 2012. I love the simplicity of most of the features on it. Only issue I had was a dang relay issue that plagued me for about 2.5 years. Thanks again grsgreat! I learned on this site what the dealer couldn't tell me. They always told me there is a 4 month minimum wait time for their shop. I only needed the PTO sometimes so I fiddled with it and most often it would start working. Obviously nothing actually did mattered EXCEPT replace the danged pto relay...

I am not a mechanic by trade mainly by either necessity or economics but have been able to do what I needed to do. Added a 3rd function, had to drain the fuel system cause SOMEONE's diesel tank got water in it (my 55 gal barrel), took out the detent for the rear hydraulic cause my FIL would catch it with his leg and leave it engaged. That's about it.

Runs strong easy on the fuel. I have the dk45se non hst. I might would consider the HST if I got another one. The hst works great on my JD mower. I just grew up on geared tractors and decided to stick with what I knew.