Went to S&H today to look at some Kiotis. I like the size of the CK35! It felt more substantial than the Kubota B tractors. It felt awkward to sit in, though. I also liked the DK35. It seemed like just the right size, plenty of ground clearance but not too big. The only thing I didn't like was the loader control. I'm real skinny, but my leg was still in the way of full curl position.
I got an ugly price from the salesman. $22k for the DK35 HST, $23.5k for the DK40 HST. It seems to me like he was trying to steer me up to the DK40 (which would be awesome, believe me, but the size is just beyond what I want). The loader on the DK40 is such a jump in power that it almost silly not to get it. But anyway.
It seems to me like the Kubota dealer struck out with what is probably pretty close to his best price, and the Kioti dealer quoted a price he could negotiate from. The Kioti price included R4 tires but no cutting edge. The Kioti guy said he'd never sold a tractor with R1 tires and a cutting edge, so he's supposed to call me tomorrow when he finds out how that would affect the price.
I went to the Kioti dealer thinking I was wasting my time but needed to do my due diligence, but I really liked the tractors (still have not test driven any of the tractors in question). But then the price shocked me so much that for me personally, if those prices are stiff, then the Kubota would be a no-brainer. Everyone might not agree on which is better, but for me I'd go Kubota for that price difference.
So tomorrow I'm going to test drive the Kubota, and if the Kioti guy calls me back I'll probably swing over and test drive that one, too. Then I'll have to work on hammering down a final price from both dealers.
Observations: liked the fit and finish and styling of both brands
Without having actually used them, I'm guessing I would prefer the two-pedal HST operation vs the treadle pedal.
I don't know if I could get over the loader control on the Kioti. Has anyone replaced or "fixed" theirs? They got it right on the darn CKs!