Re: Kioti CK30 HST or John Deere 3320
I don't own either, but I've played with both of them.
The 3320 is an amazinly well thought out machine, probalby one of the very best laid out machines from the ergonomic standpoint of any tractor currently made. For the past few years New Holland had the best ergonomics on the CUT sized machines (in my opinion) and they still have the best FEL set up, but overall the JD 3320 surpasses even the NH machines in thoughtful design that translates into easier/safer/more efficient/more comfortable to use machinery.
The CK30 is a nice machine, it is not a basic machine but its form factor is not up to the design standards of the 3x20 Deeres. It probably costs less, but you get less.
A couple of objective things to keep in mind, the 3320 generates more horsepower, and if you need to run PTO powered equipment, the 9% additional boost in power the 3320 offers may be of a real advantage.
I'm a big fan of the curved boom loaders, they offer greater visibility and are easier and faster to use than older style loaders, that would give Kioti an advantage here, however there are 2 threads running now were Kioti curved boom loaders are cracking at the cross beam. These are new loaders. Now in fairness, there appears to be a fix on some of the new loaders, but not on all. The Deere has a curved boom loader, but in my tests it does not offer anything close to the visiblity forward that the New Holland curved boom loaders offer. So in my mind, the Deere is OK, the Kioti is Questionable, and NH still wins the loader advantage. In a choice between the Deere & the Kioti, right now with the problems reported about the Kioti stress cracking, I would easily choose the Deere given your 2 choices.
