Buying Advice New 2011 CK30

[dustinfox]

I'm trying to decide on a new tractor (my first tractor). Got a price from the local dealer on a new CK30 (manual shift) with FEL for $16,300. Fair price? Are there any options/accessories I'm gonna wish I had asked for if I do buy it?

Thanks!

 

[Kiotikarl]

i have the exact same tractor but a 2010 bought in October 2009. Don't know bout the price since i'm a canuck, but i love my ck 30. Things i had installed before delivery; Metal canopy top, 2 rear remotes, 2 extra lights for the front and one in the back, skid-plates, R-1 tires (althought now i wish i had R-4s)
What i have recently added in the past 2 months; KB2475 BH with bigfoot pads, Diverter kit on the fel, and presently working to make a cab.
Good luck with your purchase:thumbsup:
KK

 

[RoMad]

a couple of months ago my Kioti dealer had a new CK30 with a hydro transmission and FEL with a tag that said 13,500. I didn't ask him what year it was. I had my CK20 there for a repair and tried to get my wife to go sit on the CK 30. She wasn't the least bit intersted so I didn't ask any questions about the tractor. It was as Novia Indusries in Ocala Fl. You might call them and ask about it.

 

[dustinfox]

a couple of months ago my Kioti dealer had a new CK30 with a hydro transmission and FEL with a tag that said 13,500. I didn't ask him what year it was. I had my CK20 there for a repair and tried to get my wife to go sit on the CK 30. She wasn't the least bit intersted so I didn't ask any questions about the tractor. It was as Novia Indusries in Ocala Fl. You might call them and ask about it.

Good info thanks!

 

[MotorSeven]

DF, great tractor, but think long and hard about the gear. I am hands down sold on Hydro as my CK30 was hydro and my Dk40 is too. Between the two I racked up almost a thousand hrs(560 now on the DK) & will never go back to gear or even shuttle. Before you buy do you self a favor and go drive a hydro around, back & forth, simulate loading with forks or bucket. I think you will be surprised at how much easier and faster you can get things done with a hydro....not to mention your left knee will thank you later.

 

[dustinfox]

DF, great tractor, but think long and hard about the gear. I am hands down sold on Hydro as my CK30 was hydro and my Dk40 is too. Between the two I racked up almost a thousand hrs(560 now on the DK) & will never go back to gear or even shuttle. Before you buy do you self a favor and go drive a hydro around, back & forth, simulate loading with forks or bucket. I think you will be surprised at how much easier and faster you can get things done with a hydro....not to mention your left knee will thank you later.

Thanks MotorSeven.... Does it depend at all on the terrain where it will be used? or the type of work it will be used for? Also, is there some loss of power due to the fluid dynamics as opposed to a mechanical link?

I can see where constantly working a clutch would be pretty annoying though. Now I need to think more.

 

[Mousefield]

DF, great tractor, but think long and hard about the gear. I am hands down sold on Hydro as my CK30 was hydro and my Dk40 is too. Between the two I racked up almost a thousand hrs(560 now on the DK) & will never go back to gear or even shuttle. Before you buy do you self a favor and go drive a hydro around, back & forth, simulate loading with forks or bucket. I think you will be surprised at how much easier and faster you can get things done with a hydro....not to mention your left knee will thank you later.

Have to agree that Hydro works very well. Sure glad I got it on my CK35, for what I use it for the shift model would have been a real pain.

 

[TractorTidy]

$13,500 doesn't sound right for a CK 30. That's the price for a CK20 currently.
In my area, a CK30 hydro w/ ldr is in the upper 16's. Don't expect that 13 range at all. He's losing a few thousands if that is at all true.

 

[dustinfox]

$13,500 doesn't sound right for a CK 30. That's the price for a CK20 currently.
In my area, a CK30 hydro w/ ldr is in the upper 16's. Don't expect that 13 range at all. He's losing a few thousands if that is at all true.

Thanks! Should I assume that a gear shift model would be about $1,000 less?

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks MotorSeven.... Does it depend at all on the terrain where it will be used? or the type of work it will be used for? Also, is there some loss of power due to the fluid dynamics as opposed to a mechanical link?

I can see where constantly working a clutch would be pretty annoying though. Now I need to think more.

Yes there is a small loss of HP, but mostly it behaves differently than a gear. Hydro's like rpm's, so guy's used to gear have to learn to throttle up. When a gear tractor comes up against an immovable object(like driving the bucket into a pile of dirt/gravel) it will spin all 4 tires. A hydro might spin some, but not aggressively and may just stop. This is normal, but it will teach you to go in easy, lifting and curling at the same time. I don't see that spinning the tires is a benefit, since once that happens all you are doing is digging 4 divots at the same time.
On steep terrain(and I have a ton of it) I can climb a steep hill in Med range with a load. I recently used a shuttle tractor 15 horses bigger than mine on the same hill(my driveway) with a load and I might have been able to go a mile or two faster than my DK. The shuttle & gear tractors seem to have much better ground speed for running down a mostly level road.

It's a personal choice, so if you can drive all 3...gear, shuttle & hydro, then make up your mind. For me, the hydro benefits out weigh the small negatives by a wide margin.

Yes, Hydro's are usually about a thousand bucks more when buying new.

 

[dustinfox]

Yes there is a small loss of HP, but mostly it behaves differently than a gear. Hydro's like rpm's, so guy's used to gear have to learn to throttle up. When a gear tractor comes up against an immovable object(like driving the bucket into a pile of dirt/gravel) it will spin all 4 tires. A hydro might spin some, but not aggressively and may just stop. This is normal, but it will teach you to go in easy, lifting and curling at the same time. I don't see that spinning the tires is a benefit, since once that happens all you are doing is digging 4 divots at the same time.
On steep terrain(and I have a ton of it) I can climb a steep hill in Med range with a load. I recently used a shuttle tractor 15 horses bigger than mine on the same hill(my driveway) with a load and I might have been able to go a mile or two faster than my DK. The shuttle & gear tractors seem to have much better ground speed for running down a mostly level road.

It's a personal choice, so if you can drive all 3...gear, shuttle & hydro, then make up your mind. For me, the hydro benefits out weigh the small negatives by a wide margin.

Yes, Hydro's are usually about a thousand bucks more when buying new.

Thanks... I will probably be doing mostly digging, leveling, grading, etc. "poor man's backhoe" really. Not much of just scooping and loading. I've been told that gear shift might be better for that type of work but I don't know cuz I'm a newbie...

I don't even know what a shuttle is :confused2:

 

[RunninOnEmpty]

Are there any options/accessories I'm gonna wish I had asked for if I do buy it?

Thanks!

IMO a few options you'll want to add: Loaded rear tires, tooth bar & hooks welded on the bucket.

 

[hypotenoose]

I'm trying to decide on a new tractor (my first tractor). Got a price from the local dealer on a new CK30 (manual shift) with FEL for $16,300. Fair price? Are there any options/accessories I'm gonna wish I had asked for if I do buy it?

Thanks!

I was quoted $16,600 for a 2011 CK30 HST with FEL just last week by my local dealer. Comparing the two, I would consider $16 even for a geared CK30 with FEL a fair price. Like MotorSeven stated, give the hydro a test drive. What you may lose in HP you will gain in mobility and time and, that my friend, is priceless. :thumbsup:

 

[MotorSeven]

A shuttle has a lever on the steering column, it changes your direction: push it forward and you go forward, pull it back you go into reverse. I don't know if Kioti's shuttle requires clutching, JD's does not, Mahindra's does. To be honest I don't see much advantage of a shuttle over gear. They still require a hand to do something, and they are not smooth like the hydro. With my hydro I can make my tractor go from forward to reverse at work rpm with zero herk & no jerk. You will find lots of things require a feather touch and a hydro does that better than anything.

 

[dustinfox]

A shuttle has a lever on the steering column, it changes your direction: push it forward and you go forward, pull it back you go into reverse. I don't know if Kioti's shuttle requires clutching, JD's does not, Mahindra's does. To be honest I don't see much advantage of a shuttle over gear. They still require a hand to do something, and they are not smooth like the hydro. With my hydro I can make my tractor go from forward to reverse at work rpm with zero herk & no jerk. You will find lots of things require a feather touch and a hydro does that better than anything.

Thanks! I'm learning! It seems like any power loss from a hydro becomes less of an issue as you move up in HP. Maybe instead of a CK30 gear, I should think about a CK35HST.

 

[DK35vince]

To be honest I don't see much advantage of a shuttle over gear. They still require a hand to do something,

I think there is a huge between straight gear and a shuttle.
I have both and the syncrinized shuttle is SO much nicer/faster/smoother.

 

[MotorSeven]

Vince does synchronized mean no clutch and is that how Kioti's work? My neighbor had a JD, no clutching to go from forward to reverse, but it is nowhere near as smooth as my Hydro.

 

[Gittyup]

HST is "better" in most cases. But, don't discount gear if you are doing mostly straight-line stuff, without a lot of back and forth. The gear allows you to also step down a couple of HP if you want to save money without giving up any net power that is lost in the HST.

The CK27/30/35's gear model is shuttle. You do have to clutch. Synchro means you don't have to stop to shift. One advantage of the shuttle is that you have 8 reverse speeds instead of just 2 with a regular 2-range gear tranny. I like this feature. I tried out the CK20 gear for a few hours, which isn't shuttle, and reverse was very slow in both ranges.

The hardest part for me was getting use to having the shifter/shuttle on the left. But, now it's second nature. I prefer HST, but I'm not really missing it all that much on my CK25 gear. I've spent as much as 12 hours at a time on it, only getting off to refuel and pee, and I found the action of operating the shuttle lever more tiring than the clutching. It's gotten easier as the shuttle mechanisms have broken in.

Do be careful in shoes with no heel or lugs. A wet muddy foot can easily slip off the clutch when you aren't expecting it. HST is safer and if money isn't so tight, I'd go CK35HST.

 

[DK35vince]

Vince does synchronized mean no clutch and is that how Kioti's work? My neighbor had a JD, no clutching to go from forward to reverse, but it is nowhere near as smooth as my Hydro.

With the shuttle on my DK I do need to use the clutch. With syncronized shuttle you do not need to be at a complete stop to forward/reverse.
The transmision gears are also sycronized. Meaning you don't need to stop to shift gears.
Shift on the go, forward or reverse.
I have older model DK 35 so I have 8 forward and 8 reverse gears. The newer SE model 35's have 12/12.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Very interesting.
I notice at least a $2000 cash difference in quotes between the east coast, and the midwest on both Kioti and Bobcat tractors.
Almost cost effective to buy one out there and trailer it back.

Except NH doesn't have any sales tax.