Last Friday I was at my dealer to pick up filters and fluids for my DK45's 50 hr. service. They had two 45S' there and couldn't resist checking them out. Since I am still so new to modern tractors my observations are probably somewhat amateurish.
The wheelbase looks shorter as does the whole tractor. It may be an illusion because of the sloped hood. These tractors had the KL1451 loaders on them and they looked a little out of place on this sloped hood tractor.
Sitting on the tractor I could see almost to the bottom of the loader as it sat on the ground. Very nice. The dash appeared identical to the 45. Three things that I would have liked to have seen were an ammeter and oil pressure gauges instead of lights.(My personal preference). The third thing would be a neutral light that would light up when the shuttle shift is in neutral. I always seem to be checking that.
The joystick for the fel has been moved closer to the steering wheel. This may not be a change for the 1451 but it is different than the one on my 1590. I agree that a fender mount would be much better.
The platform has been cleaned up some with the range selector mounted behind the gear selector on the left side the seat. The manual 4wd engagement lever has been replaced with a push button on the right side fender by the back of the seat. The PTO switch is in the same place. The position and draft controls have been moved a little futher back. A cup holder has been added on the right fender.
A big plus is the lever on the rear of the tractor so that you can raise and lower the lift from the back of the tractor. It does not look like it would be to hard to adapt this to a 45. Maybe some talented person here can come up with a good modification for this.
Overall, this looks like another fine Kioti. Fit and finish looked great. Do I wish that I had waited a month for the 45S? Absolutely not. Except for the rear lever for the lift, nothing else I saw would have made the difference in price worthwhile to me. But for those now looking buy a tractor in this catagory , the 45S would be hard to beat.
George