Buying Advice kioti dk75 vs kubota and others

[kubotachief]

Both are fine machines, but...

If your purpose in building a tractor is for mowing applications first, I am not buying your tractor. PERIOD. Why would you buy a tractor that was first designed to be a mowing machine where it only requires a weak frame, loader, axles, etc and second build a tractor that is designed to suit many purposes including mowing and rugged work, such as in the woods and around farms? If your buying the size of tractor discussed your not to worried about tearing a nicely manicured lawn if you want that size of a rugged tractor. That's like saying you want a 3500 dualie with a 20' trailer to be comfortable driving around and parallel parking in down town New York city. Your idea of building a mowing tractor first is outrageous, I'm not saying that's what Kubota does, but of it is, never buy one of their tractors. I know I wouldn't want a souped up lawn tractor doing real work.

But back to weight... I too don't understand the theory less weight.

Great point Martin! We're not talking mowing grass, we're talking about a working machines. I ditto your point again. It's amazing how the kubota reps keep a close eye on the kioti thread. They must be concerned with other orange brands. Guess they have a rebuttle for everything, they must go to training to find ways to weasel out of the factual questions.

 

[art]

The industry leader in what? Overpricing? Lightly made machines? I look at it this way.......heavy duty tractors weigh more than tractors that have been engineered to be lighter to save the manufacturer money. That's what it boils down to. You can't tell me honestly that a heaver tractor will not perform as well as a lighter?

Let's put a square baler and a loaded wagon behind a light tractor and a heavy. (you drive the light one, I will take the heavy) Let's turn down a steep hill. Who is going to be in stable safe control of their machine and who is going to be cleaning their pants? Let's then have a lifting contest carrying 3x3x8 big square bales across a slope and stack them on a trailer. A little weight and tire ballast goes a long way when we talk stability.

I don't want to cause problems but dealers need to come up with excuses to explain why their product is better. Maybe in some applications it is true. The only one I can think of is if you want to drive it across your well groomed yard the day after you got two inches of rain.

Weight is weight. Make it lighter and you as a manufacturer are cheating somewhere, if you would make it heavier then you would need to scalp the customer for a few more bucks.

I wasn't born yesterday and I see over 300 new tractors sold a year. I also know some of engines afer seeing cranks made from softer metal and going egg shape in a matter of 5000 hours. I've welded cast and witnessed more that was difficult do to the blend, I've also worked with it when it was like cold rolled steel to weld! Weight and balance goes a long way and today many of the tractors we sell perform longer and far more economical for there owners then heavy ones do, even on hills I perfer not to be the first one operating on.

On the part of industry leader, who was the first with a a/c cab on compacts?
Who was the first compact company here in the US?
Who was the first to have a TLB with added hydraulics power?

 

[art]

Great point Martin! We're not talking mowing grass, we're talking about a working machines. I ditto your point again. It's amazing how the kubota reps keep a close eye on the kioti thread. They must be concerned with other orange brands. Guess they have a rebuttle for everything, they must go to training to find ways to weasel out of the factual questions.

I didn't put Kubota in the heading, I don't like people using one instance to lead, let's look at the majority.

 

[IslandTractor]

I have to say that while I have had many arguments with Art over the years on the general topic of Kubota vs Kioti, I find myself coming down on his side on this particular issue. I still believe Kioti is much better bang for the buck and more useful at a given HP for non mowing tasks than Kubotas are but I would never ever say that Kubotas are not state of the art tractors both in engineering and build. Yes they are light but that is purposeful on Kubotas part to optomize them as mowers which has always been a big draw for them. I don't believe for a minute that Kubuta takes the cheapest way out of an engineering/manufacturing problem. Sometimes they make stupid marketing decisions (quarter inching valve on the B series for example or the plastic fenders on the BX) but I don't see any evidence of shotty manufacturing or design practices.

As Art points out, Kubota invented the CUT. They defined it for many years while JD and others played catch up. I think now that the CUT concept is mature enough that other companies, Kioti for example, are building variations that do not follow the Kubota template the way JD did. For some of us the heavier Kioti/Mahindra etc CUTs are better suited for how we use the tractors compared to what the same size or $$$value tractor is we could get from Kubota. That in no way means that Kubota's are not just as good or perhaps even better overall quallity than anything else on the market. I'd personally not buy a Lexus as the mix of design/performance etc doesn't appeal to me much but I'd still acknowledge that a Lexus is about the best built car on the planet. Same for Kubota.

 

[Martian]

Do I think that Kubota is a really good brand that makes excellent tractors? Yes, there's no disputing it. Do I see more value in some other tractors? Yes.

I know the lighter thing works for some people, not me. Unless you have a very poorly designed tractor, a little more weight usually means that there is a little more beef to the bones of the tractor. I'm not saying that the Kubota will snap in half. I'm saying that I like the idea of getting a tractor that already has the ballast that I'm going to put on it, there. It is much safer to have that ballast there. I've mowed plant with my 7000 pound 5410 with little to no damage to the lawn and pastures. A new similar Kubota (M8540) weighs a mere 5000 pounds. Maybe if all you plant to ever do is mow lawns the M8540 will work, but I like the though of a beefier tractor.

 

[kubotachief]

I wasn't born yesterday and I see over 300 new tractors sold a year. I also know some of engines afer seeing cranks made from softer metal and going egg shape in a matter of 5000 hours. I've welded cast and witnessed more that was difficult do to the blend, I've also worked with it when it was like cold rolled steel to weld! Weight and balance goes a long way and today many of the tractors we sell perform longer and far more economical for there owners then heavy ones do, even on hills I perfer not to be the first one operating on.

On the part of industry leader, who was the first with a a/c cab on compacts?
Who was the first compact company here in the US?
Who was the first to have a TLB with added hydraulics power?

I don't want to get under your skin. This forum is to gather valuable information for folks who want to make an educated decision before they buy a piece of equipment. Look at my user name, I was a kubota driver for years, I still own one, (not for long) I just think there is much more bang for your buck out there in the market. I will be honest, its not so much the elevated price that bothers me, its the fact they are light. Last year my M7040 couldnt even put power to the ground on the front tires. They do tickle the ground and spin with the fronts but you are more or less driving a two wheel drive tractor. All you need to do to test this is put a 8 foot flail mower behind it, turn up a hill, lift the mower and see what happens. I have driven all brands, priced all brands and have come to the conclusion that it will not be kubota anymore.

I don't care they were the first to offer certain things or introduce the first CUT in the US. That doesn't matter to me, maybe some it does. My point is I feel there is more bang for your buck in other brands. I have been test driving a DK 75 for two weeks. Probably the tractor I will buy. Kubota or any of the other overpriced brands can't compete with the DK 75. It's well built, has a Perkins power plant and is just a heavy duty tractor.


I wish you would drive one, do a little work with one, I think you would agree with me. You know how the saying goes, "once bitten twice shy."

 

[kubotachief]

I think I am going to post some of the hard questions in the kubota forum lets see what they have to offer.

 

[CowboyRon]

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.

Since youre name is Indian related you could change it to " Dances with Kiotis"

 

[foreman Etexas]

I have the 7040 and I do believe its too light,but on the other hand,why did they invent wheel weights?Was it by a kubota owner All jokes aside, I believe when doing loader work with either/any,its gonna be better to have boxblade or something on back. I went and picked a load of hay up and the 5083e loading the hay,was using a bale on back to load(said could do it without it but spins alittle backing up slight hill). Well I was able to unload without bale on back but did it spins sometimes,yep!! So I also put bale on back for weight....What im getting at is know matter what,without the proper ballast(using the weight were it is needed) your gonna end up putting something on 3point for counter weight when using loader. I personally think all the major brands are great,but can only suggest the one I own to someone cause I havent work the others to compare....

 

[Martian]

Since youre name is Indian related you could change it to " Dances with Kiotis"

:laughing::laughing::laughing: I ditto that. If it does turn out to be a Kioti for you...