First tractor purchase

[GManBart]

I have the 48" grapple from palletforks.com. On my ck35. They say its just under 400 pounds. I don't think it's that heavy. Remember, your removing your regular bucket, which will give you another 150 pounds of lift (after you subtract the weight of grapple).

Not really. When they list the lift capacity of an FEL, it doesn't include the bucket. So, you're not gaining more lift by removing the bucket. Take a loader that can lift 1,100lbs, and put a 400lb grapple on it, and you're only going to lift 700lbs.

In the same scenario, the loader on a DK will still lift 2,000+Lbs, even though the grapple will likely be a bit bigger/heavier, which will let you handle a decent sized tree section.

I lift logs for firewood with my pallet forks and I've maxed out my loader regularly (it will lift about 200lbs less than a DK loader...sort of fuzzy because it has a higher breakout force than a DK).

 

[Illini22]

Bart, your probably right, I never looked.
But, I did pickup my new to me Gil sr20 box blade with the grapple. I believe the gil is 975 pounds. I think the Kioti specs are conservative.

 

[ToddFather]

MY thoughts...Have you looked at the DK40?

If the size is doable you get alot more tractor for not much more money.

I used my Dads 97 JD 970 33 horse tractor on my property and although it did get the job done, I was working on the outer limits of the tractor for ground engaging work and loader capacity (Moving BIG rocks on homemade fork attachment).

The JD has similar specs to the CK35 as far as weight, and lift capacity.
I think it would be easier on the tractor to be working in the middle of its capabilities, than on the outer edge.

You get get more work done when your not bouncing off stuff.
My place is rough, I was lucky enough to get to try the 30/35 horse tractor size and realize how much easier things would be with a heavier machine.

The step up to the 40 horse gets you alot more weight, and the lift capacity with The DK is 2700lbs lift of with the loader, thats twice the capacity of the CK.
Bigger pins sturdier everything.

I am seriously considering the DK40 HST Cab for my needs with FEL and Backhoe.

If the smaller machine will work for you than great, less money, less fuel, I can appreciate that. (your place is probably not as rough as mine

Like some of these other folks have mentioned its cheaper to spend the money once.

We all have different needs.

just my thoughts

Good luck with your purchase

I think wanting the grapple pushes you into DK40 territory. Maybe with r4's you could finish mow with it, my r1's do rut soft ground. R4's on the DK are width adjustable so maybe it could be set very narrow? I like my DK as with the big box blade on the back, it's a lifting, pushing machine. I had a few trees come down into my fields this spring and I could lift the hardwoods to buck them and jamb the softwood into woods.

I have 2 points.

1. You mentioned a grapple bucket is on your "wish list". The CK27 - CK35 uses the KL 130 loader, which has a lift capacity of about 1,100 lbs. This includes the weight of the grapple (300 - 500 lbs), making the load limit around 600 - 800 lbs. (1 - 16" red oak log, 10' long). Basically, the grapple could be 50% of the loaders capacity.

The DK loader (KL401) capacity is about 2,700 lbs. Grapple would be 11 - 18% max.

2. You mentioned the CK is as big (dimensionally) as you would like. The DK is 12" longer and 9" wider than the CK. Not a huge difference in dimensions.

I'm not advocating for a DK vs a CK, but I just finished owning a CK35 for one month, before trading up to a DK40 and don't want someone else to make the same "ill planned" decision. Get whatever you want, just understand all the issues before you do.

LOL, good luck!

This is all part of the fun. Enjoy!

Wow! I really appreciate all the advice and points are well taken. I will price both the CK35 and DK40 and see where it takes me. I really didn't want to spend more than the cost of the CK but I totally recognize the value arguments posted in reply. I really wish the CK had greater lift capacity becuase I really do like the physical size and wieght of the machine for some of the work i will be doing. Also and ironically, my wife was out near the road moving a large pile of mulch a wheelbarrow load at a time this past weekend. Neighbor from a couple miles down the road who is also a good friend of ours saw her and suggested that she use his loader tractor (JD 3120 coupld years old). I came home to find her on that thing moving mulch and apparently enjoying it. Perfect! She would have been working on that pile in mid-June without the tractor.

 

[Beltman60]

that's the best way to get the wife to buy in
mine now says all the time how did we do without a tractor around here for the first year

 

[GManBart]

Bart, your probably right, I never looked.
But, I did pickup my new to me Gil sr20 box blade with the grapple. I believe the gil is 975 pounds. I think the Kioti specs are conservative.

It depends on how high you have to lift it. 1,155lbs (listed max) is to max height, at the pins. If you only have to lift it a few feet, the number will be a fair amount higher. Sounds like thei numbers might be right on.

 

[GManBart]

Wow! I really appreciate all the advice and points are well taken. I will price both the CK35 and DK40 and see where it takes me. I really didn't want to spend more than the cost of the CK but I totally recognize the value arguments posted in reply. I really wish the CK had greater lift capacity becuase I really do like the physical size and wieght of the machine for some of the work i will be doing. Also and ironically, my wife was out near the road moving a large pile of mulch a wheelbarrow load at a time this past weekend. Neighbor from a couple miles down the road who is also a good friend of ours saw her and suggested that she use his loader tractor (JD 3120 coupld years old). I came home to find her on that thing moving mulch and apparently enjoying it. Perfect! She would have been working on that pile in mid-June without the tractor.

My wife and I used my LS to pull up all the landscaping on the south side of our house over the weekend. It all died, or got diseased during the drought last year, and she wanted a replacement project for her parents this weekend. It took us maybe 2-3 hours, and afterwards she said "that would have been back-breaking, and taken forever by hand". Yes, yes it would

 

[Illini22]

I lifted it out of a 2004 4x4 silverado hd2500. On the tips of the grapple. I'll take some pics next time I'm down at my property. I shouldn't be saying this but, I had no weight on the rear end.

 

[ToddFather]

Well, I went on vacation last week and asked my dealer to give me his best price on the CK 35 HST and DK 40SE HST. Had them both priced with industrial tires (R4) and loader (60" on CK and 72" on DK, just what comes standard), and dual remotes in the rear. Just got back and was quoted $20,775 for the CK and $24,350 for the DK. These were honestly about $2000 higher than I anticipated. In fact, when I first approached the dealer about the CK35 he gave me an off the cuff quote of $18 to $18.5K. Do these numbers seem high to anyone? Any suggestions? Possibly he mistakenly quoted me a gear model earlier? He also indicated the msrp on the DK40 SE was over $32,000.

 

[rjwerth]

Seems high to me for the DK. My 2012 DK50 w/cab loader and HST started at 28500 before I added some goodies.

 

[GManBart]

Well, I went on vacation last week and asked my dealer to give me his best price on the CK 35 HST and DK 40SE HST. Had them both priced with industrial tires (R4) and loader (60" on CK and 72" on DK, just what comes standard), and dual remotes in the rear. Just got back and was quoted $20,775 for the CK and $24,350 for the DK. These were honestly about $2000 higher than I anticipated. In fact, when I first approached the dealer about the CK35 he gave me an off the cuff quote of $18 to $18.5K. Do these numbers seem high to anyone? Any suggestions? Possibly he mistakenly quoted me a gear model earlier? He also indicated the msrp on the DK40 SE was over $32,000.

Did you ask if that was the cash price (lower)? I called two dealers in Ohio this week, and got quotes on a DK40SE Hydro with FEL, and R4s. One quoted $22,500, and the other $23,400.