Buying Advice kioti dk75 vs kubota and others

[dennis52]

I do realize that for many you the tractor that you own now is your first or second and that you probably have not driven more then a brand or two and maybe a hundred hours of use a year and ownership for five years before trading them in for a new one not trying to have it live for twenty years or more.
I've seen tractors set up with so much weight that they could not get to full RPM while going down the road in high gear, I've seen the charts on increased wear by over loading the tractors with ballast as well as repaired them. I've also seen the difference in the fuel consumption between heavy tractors and lighter ones. I've seen unbalanced tractors unable to do the same job as a tractor with the ballast in the proper place. I've seen tractors that are actually over weight from the factory for the horsepower they have.

So some people like there tractors set up heavy and we still sell them that way for the folks that feel they need it and there are others that might listen to someone who has the experience of selling many makes and models as well as working with them and set them up for many thousands of hours of economical use!

I do sell the original compact tractor as well as two other top brands as well but as always, different people buy for different reasons as well as different brands and dealers included.
I feel the most important thing is that people get good honest unbiased information when making there purchase. I do talk of Kubota often for good reason, experience with the industry and after all they are the industry leader.

Exactly what my dealer advised me. Set up your tractor with the ballast and weight that suits your requirement. It's worked for me.

 

[Dmace]

You still can always add weight where it is needed and at that point the added standard equipped transmission speeds in a Kubota makes them hard for anyone to keep up with at any weight.

Oh boy, next you'll be saying having a lower FEL lift capacity is better too so you can't work too hard...

 

[Martian]

I plan to get a new one within the next month or so. All I know for sure is it will not be a kubota. I guess I will need to change my user name----Kiotichief perhaps? Time will tell.

Will need a new username for sure then!

I really like the Kioti's, seem like really great tractors for the price:thumbsup:

 

[IslandTractor]

Will need a new username for sure then!

I really like the Kioti's, seem like really great tractors for the price:thumbsup:

Don't tell Art!

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I basically agree Art and I certainly respect your long experience. I think the only dispute is whether a given tractor is "too" heavy or just on the heavy side within an appropriate range for horsepower. For example, a 40hp DK40se is heavier than a GL3940 but I would say both tractors are well within reasonable bounds of heavy/light either with or without added ballast. I don't know how farmers might over ballast their tractors but it doesn't seem like over ballasting is a big problem with the 100-200 hrs/yr crowd here on TBN.

There are examples of over weight tractors in many product lines, this is not a brand thing. I think the difference is much more pronounced in the hydrostatics than it is in a gear drive, you seem to feel the weight more in a hydro.. example, Kubota L48... way too heavy for its hydro, awesome tractor but a dog to drive.

I think you can see the differnce between one or two tractor customers who see big numbers and think...'oh... thats better', and those of us in the farm and CE business that know weight has to be balanced for the application and more often than not its not desireable. The trend is towards lighter tractors balasted for their application, you're even seeing mainline Deere and NH models headed towards the lighter weights. The new PowerStar utility tractors are now within 10% of the Kubota M's. Its all about balance, not just big numbers.

 

[art]

Deere stared pushing this with the 4000 series of tractors in the seventies and we watched it work even with our hills and the wet conditions. We were slow to make the move often loading front tires, rear tires as well as cast weight. Getting to drive them on both sides of the ballast load told us a lot! People felt better after putting 10 hours in the smoother riding non-loaded tired tractors and the other costs related to double tire life and lower fuel bills made a big difference for the farmers pocket book.

We have found that people who use their compacts for work and might be putting full days in the seat on them are also enjoying what we learned on the farm.
We have people doing loader work as well as many other tasks with there compact tractors. Our shops are finding that the tractors that are better balanced for everyday chores are also in the shop less with steering repairs as well as drive train.
I do realize that for some the tractor life is not important do to the fact they only put a few hundred hours on before getting new ones and that is fine for those people although some choose to keep them for several thousand hours of productive use with out being broken.

People do come here to learn, they want to hear of successes as well as failures. They come here to learn of things they may need as well as how to better operate their equipment. They do this to hopefully not make mistakes in the purchase of a tractor and have the best for the desired use! I know that I have not found any one tractor that is right for everyone. Weight for many tractor companies and models is an option and when people are just going to dig it is hard to replace it but for the rest of the uses it very well is a bigger disadvantage.

 

[IndyIan]

There are examples of over weight tractors in many product lines, this is not a brand thing. I think the difference is much more pronounced in the hydrostatics than it is in a gear drive, you seem to feel the weight more in a hydro.. example, Kubota L48... way too heavy for its hydro, awesome tractor but a dog to drive.

I think you can see the differnce between one or two tractor customers who see big numbers and think...'oh... thats better', and those of us in the farm and CE business that know weight has to be balanced for the application and more often than not its not desireable. The trend is towards lighter tractors balasted for their application, you're even seeing mainline Deere and NH models headed towards the lighter weights. The new PowerStar utility tractors are now within 10% of the Kubota M's. Its all about balance, not just big numbers.

I can see the advantages of ballasting to your application or not loading tires, but the issue becomes when you can't use ballast or don't want to switch rear implements all the time. I have my rear blade on now for winter but still have to move hay down a slope so if I didn't have loaded rears and resonably heavy tractor, I'd need to remove the rear blade and put on a ballast box to keep from tipping.

Also where do they remove the weight from? I'm sure thinner castings can made to handle the designed loads of a tractor, but say you have an impact on the rear case when a pin snaps off a 3 pt implement? I'd rather have a thicker casting to take a reasonable hit instead of a lighter one that gets a hole popped into it.
I don't expect a tractor to be unbreakable with unforseeable accidents but I'd rather it be tougher and a bit heavier than lighter and more delicate. Atleast for any of my rookie mistakes.

 

[art]

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Also where do they remove the weight from? I'm sure thinner castings can made to handle the designed loads of a tractor, but say you have an impact on the rear case when a pin snaps off a 3 pt implement? I'd rather have a thicker casting to take a reasonable hit instead of a lighter one that gets a hole popped into it.
I don't expect a tractor to be unbreakable with unforseeable accidents but I'd rather it be tougher and a bit heavier than lighter and more delicate. Atleast for any of my rookie mistakes.

I know many here say metal is metal but it is only looking at it in a simple way. Next time you build a house build it out of balsa wood and see how it works. Think of the savings!

We've had tot try and weld cheaper cast when housings have been expensive or hard to get as well as higher grade cast that doesn't have as many air pockets and is more like welding or working with rolled steel.

There is always that special hit or stress that a product is not designed for as you have stated but you can't build for everything as then you loose the efficiency of the intended purpose.

 

[IndyIan]

Have you had to weld kioti DKSE castings before? I assume you've welded up a few kubota ones? It would be interesting to know if they use different standards of steel/iron. I would assume that Korean industrial standards are pretty much the equal of Japan or US or Germany. Brazil, China, India not so much. My Dad does some QC consulting for off shore oil equipment suppliers and every project specs no Chinese or Indian content, in either raw materials or finished pieces. Not worth the "savings" if something goes wrong out there.

I read here that some tractors use aluminum castings for some parts which doesn't seem to makes sense to me at all on a tractor. Must be cheaper to cast aluminum given its very low melting point?

 

[grsthegreat]

From some previous posts here, i have read (unconfirmed on my end) that some people have said their JD and Kubota dealers told them NOT to put chains on the front axle. My Kioti dealer and Kioti email from corporate said go for it. wont cause any issues.

so why do the other manufactures say its not a good thing.