Not to start an argument..............

[MessickFarmEqu]

Do any other "off brand" owners have a hard time buying parts or accessories?

Yes. We sold the Cub Cadet compact line for 3-4 years and dropped them because of poor parts support. When a vendor drops the ball, it reflects on us.

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.. there is alot left up to user preference.

after having my but in many different machines.. I prefer boxy tranny/straddle stations vs flat platforms.. I like spartan dashes not alot of chrome, bells and whistles and gongs. IE.. I went with an older NH economy model. at the end of the day it makes me pretty happy and that's what counts the most. A green or orange one of the same size and hp would all work fine to get the job done.. just less operater happiness

soundguy

I would agree with that statement. I felt the quality to be pretty comparable across the board. I would say that technologically no tractor was appreciably more advanced than another either. I guess my observations were more geared towards each tractor having a different way of getting the job done. Even still though it did leave me with a feeling of definite preference of some tractors over others. Regardless of price, I definitely would not have been as happy with certain tractors as I would have been with others, even though they had similar specifications. At the end of the day though I'd be hard pressed to single out any tractor as "better" than another based on my experience in testing a bunch of them out.

 

[Soundguy]

Yes. We sold the Cub Cadet compact line for 3-4 years and dropped them because of poor parts support. When a vendor drops the ball, it reflects on us.

was that the older CC or the newer yanmar?

soundguy

 

[scoutcub]

Most likely the older CC line...the CCY line just started in '08. I do remember waiting for a muffler for my 6284 for several weeks as Cub had to backorder it from Cat.....

 

[DavesTractor]

We're a long, long way from including Mahidra in the list of major OEM's. Mahindra's total production output is a ripple in the pond compared to CNH, Deere and Kubota. Despite the amount of chest pounding they do, their total production output is around 80,000 tractors a year globally which is a pitance compared to many other companies.

169,000 total tractor units in 2009 including other owned brands, 159,932 units of Mahindra branded tractors, not including loaders or implements. That is more than a "pitance", in fact it is more than Kubota worldwide. I believe it is higher then any other single brand. So our number for 2009 was 159,932 units worldwide. Neil, please give me Kubota's numbers of tractor sold. And thanks for the post, that gave me a good excuse to respond and brag a little about Mahindra.

As for the original poster's questions, I think value has to be ascribed to the dealership and the dealer network. John Deere and Caterpillar come to mind as being stellar for parts and service. And they have been doing it for generations. Also, a typical John Deere dealership will be a full service, full-meal-deal dealership. The newer brands to the market, including Mahindra, are moving that direction, but you will find excellent dealerships and then really small ones that may or may not be as good. Basically, you don't start out with every dealer being a multi-store mega dealership with all the bells and whistles. It takes time, and in that regard, those that came before are still ahead. And in all fairness to Messick, there are certainly a lot of very good Kubota dealerships. They do a great job, and they sell a fine product. They have a huge marketshare in the USA, and have earned that over the years.

Some of the newer brands will have a lower price. Let's face it, if Cub/Yanmar want to take a chunk of the market, price is part of the equation. Same with Mahindra. I suspect our Mitsubishi built tractors cost us more than Kubota pays for their product. Mitsu is a high end product in Japan, yet if you compare apples to apples, we are generally a little less $$. It's not because we are generous sorts, it's because we want market share and will slim down our margins to get it. On the other hand, there are brands that are cheaper because, well because they are cheap tractors, poor quality and poor features. That is a different issue.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

single brand. So our number for 2009 was 159,932 units worldwide. Neil, please give me Kubota's numbers of tractor sold.

You will find the 80,000 (or so) odd tractors in Mahindras financial stock reports for their own production, the other half as you said is just stickers on the hood. As for Kubota, its around 250,000/yr for just the US, which is about 1/3 of their total business.

I'd also say the same 'ripple in the pond' remark to Kubota as well. They are a much, much smaller company than Agco, Deere or CNH.

 

[timswi]

Well, I still can't find a build and price section on the Kubota site, but there is a tab showing finance offers.

Click on the model that you want there will be a "Build my Kubota" tab...Click on that and have a ball.

 

[amaxwell]

I wanted to try and keep the biased opinions to a minimum in this thread, that's why I posted it that way. As you say, some people have blinders and there is nothing you can do about that, but I feel most comments have been pretty honest.




To be fair, I never said the EX450 was $17-18K w/FEL. I said an EX3200 was. I was quoted $20K for the EX450 w/FEL.



I see that is very true. I was seriously looking at the CC line, but the thing that scares me is that they may go the way of the DoDo bird in a few years with the compact tractors and then what? On that note, please check your PM's.

Yanmar is the new CC .They have been making tractors for a long time,and are well known world-wide.I don't see them leaving the U.S.market . Probably lots of parts from JD would fit since they made the JD CUTS.

 

[EFC]

You will find the 80,000 (or so) odd tractors in Mahindras financial stock reports for their own production, the other half as you said is just stickers on the hood. As for Kubota, its around 250,000/yr for just the US, which is about 1/3 of their total business.

I'd also say the same 'ripple in the pond' remark to Kubota as well. They are a much, much smaller company than Agco, Deere or CNH.

Was 250,000 a typo? That would be more than total US sales for all brands added together.

Buck

 

[daveinnh]

Looks like you hit a nerve.

I bought a Kubota L4310 used from a Massey dealer a few years ago.

As others have said, dealer support is very important, I've never had problems getting maintenance parts with an occasional replacement part.

If I upgrade - it'll probably be NH or Kubota - too many stories of JD problems in their compact & utility models.