Here in western KY we have been the victim of the miracle of Christmas, also known as 12" of snow (probably more than we've had in the last 10 years combined). I've been using my DK 45 to plow our driveway and county roads (the county road grader finally made a pass, but didn't go all the way to the end (no place to turn around), so I cleared the ends of roads. It's been a lot of snow and a lot of clearing.
I went to work yesterday to move some furniture while no one else was there and got drafted into snow removal service. We had two contractors, one on a JD skidsteer loader and the other on a JD 4050 tractor with loader and hydraulic rear blade (and cab). So I hopped on the Kubota L3130 that we had bought for the plant.
It was the first time since the test drive that I had driven the tractor. After operating the Kioti for years, operating the Kubota was quite intuitive (so I guess Kioti has done a very good job of emulating Kubota). The temperature was a little below 20F, but fired right up and purred along.
Even though the Kubota was only about 2/3 the power of my Kioti, I was quite impressed with its ability to push snow. For the most part, I was pushing at right angles to the big JD tractor, making piles for him to push into a big pile. I also did some miscellaneous clearing and used the spreader that was mounted on the 3 pt hitch to salt the parking lots and roads (we have around 10 or 12 acres of parking lot).
Some observations:
The shuttle shift on the Kubota was slightly different - seems you have to lift up going to forward and reverse versus the straight throw on my DK 45 - just took a couple of shifts to get used to, perfect after that.
Kubota must have a seat safety switch - can't get off the tractro with the PTO running. I guess this is a good feature, but I'm also assuming you can't get off the tractor while it is in gear and moving. Now you may wonder why I would want to do that, but it is a pretty safe occurance - when we are picking up tobacco on the stick (after it is cut), it is usually just three or four of us and no dedicated driver. We put the Kioti in creeper gear, set the throttle and let it pilot itself down the skip row while occasionally correcting the steering from the ground. If any of you guys have ever used the creeper gear, you know how slow I'm talking about. We also occassionally do the same in the hay fields picking up square bales (although we usually have a driver for hay pick up). Again, that is not a big deal but it is a difference.
The dashboard on the Kubota was one of the LCD displays (or something like that). Good layout and easy to read - but I perfer the regular dial gauge/idiot light layout. I imagine that the dash for the Kubota will last every bit as long as the as the regular dial layout setup.
The loader for the Kubota seemed well matched to the tractor - operation identical to the Rhino loader on my Kioti. I have to admit, it did seem to cycle a bit faster than my Rhino loader does. Very responsive overall.
The Kubota did not have a step on the right side of the operator platform, while the Kioti does. I had to either stretch or walk around the tractor several times. If the Kubota was mine, I would put a step on that side.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Kubota tractor. Years ago, when I was shopping for my Kioti, I planned to get a Kubota but saved enough money to justify the purchase of a Kioti. When we bought the Kubota for the plant, we compared it to the DK 35 (which I guess we really should have compared it to a L3430). The Kioti DK 35 was cheaper (by around $500, I think) but also came with a canopy and box blade - however, the tractor selection commitee at work chose the name recognition of the Kubota over the efficiency and extras of the Kioti. After operating the Kubota for several hours, I think that we made a good choice. All things being equal and price notwithstanding, I would have a hard time choosing between a Kioti and Kubota.
Sorry for the long post - it was just a rare opportunity to operate two competing brands on the same day doing the same tasks (although size/power not the same) and give a report.
I went to work yesterday to move some furniture while no one else was there and got drafted into snow removal service. We had two contractors, one on a JD skidsteer loader and the other on a JD 4050 tractor with loader and hydraulic rear blade (and cab). So I hopped on the Kubota L3130 that we had bought for the plant.
It was the first time since the test drive that I had driven the tractor. After operating the Kioti for years, operating the Kubota was quite intuitive (so I guess Kioti has done a very good job of emulating Kubota). The temperature was a little below 20F, but fired right up and purred along.
Even though the Kubota was only about 2/3 the power of my Kioti, I was quite impressed with its ability to push snow. For the most part, I was pushing at right angles to the big JD tractor, making piles for him to push into a big pile. I also did some miscellaneous clearing and used the spreader that was mounted on the 3 pt hitch to salt the parking lots and roads (we have around 10 or 12 acres of parking lot).
Some observations:
The shuttle shift on the Kubota was slightly different - seems you have to lift up going to forward and reverse versus the straight throw on my DK 45 - just took a couple of shifts to get used to, perfect after that.
Kubota must have a seat safety switch - can't get off the tractro with the PTO running. I guess this is a good feature, but I'm also assuming you can't get off the tractor while it is in gear and moving. Now you may wonder why I would want to do that, but it is a pretty safe occurance - when we are picking up tobacco on the stick (after it is cut), it is usually just three or four of us and no dedicated driver. We put the Kioti in creeper gear, set the throttle and let it pilot itself down the skip row while occasionally correcting the steering from the ground. If any of you guys have ever used the creeper gear, you know how slow I'm talking about. We also occassionally do the same in the hay fields picking up square bales (although we usually have a driver for hay pick up). Again, that is not a big deal but it is a difference.
The dashboard on the Kubota was one of the LCD displays (or something like that). Good layout and easy to read - but I perfer the regular dial gauge/idiot light layout. I imagine that the dash for the Kubota will last every bit as long as the as the regular dial layout setup.
The loader for the Kubota seemed well matched to the tractor - operation identical to the Rhino loader on my Kioti. I have to admit, it did seem to cycle a bit faster than my Rhino loader does. Very responsive overall.
The Kubota did not have a step on the right side of the operator platform, while the Kioti does. I had to either stretch or walk around the tractor several times. If the Kubota was mine, I would put a step on that side.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Kubota tractor. Years ago, when I was shopping for my Kioti, I planned to get a Kubota but saved enough money to justify the purchase of a Kioti. When we bought the Kubota for the plant, we compared it to the DK 35 (which I guess we really should have compared it to a L3430). The Kioti DK 35 was cheaper (by around $500, I think) but also came with a canopy and box blade - however, the tractor selection commitee at work chose the name recognition of the Kubota over the efficiency and extras of the Kioti. After operating the Kubota for several hours, I think that we made a good choice. All things being equal and price notwithstanding, I would have a hard time choosing between a Kioti and Kubota.
Sorry for the long post - it was just a rare opportunity to operate two competing brands on the same day doing the same tasks (although size/power not the same) and give a report.
