questions for ck20/25/30 owners

[Tim M]

The Woods LC102 is the strongest FEL you can get on the CK series. 1650 lbs. to 102" at the bucket pins and 1200 lbs. at 19.7" forward. It has a skid steer (universal) quick attach as an option.

Woods Equipment Company

ATI, Horst and a few others make an add on for the Kioti 130 loader.

ATI Corporation - Tach-All(tm) Quick Attach

Millonzi

 

[IslandTractor]

ATI, Horst and a few others make an add on for the Kioti 130 loader.

ATI Corporation - Tach-All(tm) Quick Attach

Millonzi

I had the Horst QA adapter on my CK20/KL120. Worked great. Very heavy duty (and heavy). It was actually heavier duty and more weight than the QA adatper that comes standard on the KL401 loader. My point is the Horst may be overkill but is certainly a quality piece of equipment. By the way, I am pretty sure that the KL120 and KL130 have exactly the same pin mount so anything that fits one will fit the other.

 

[CurtC]

I'm in SE Michigan, and I've been going through this same debate for, well, a couple of years now. I've finally had it with moving snow off a 350 foot driveway with a 1976 21" Toro snowblower, and my daughter is off at college so I'm selling (hopefully) our big horse trailer that's just sitting idle now to help pay for a tractor finally.

My intended uses:
(yearly)
-5.5 acres
-snow plowing 300+ feet of asphalt drive
-moving trailers to/from my barn on the back of the property, with a fairly steep hill to get to it (can't get my 4x4 truck with big mud tires down there for a good portion of the winter)
-clearing dead trees & brush around the perimeter
-3pt sprayer for 10-12 fruit trees
-Possibly, if I end up keeping the horses, that will require a 3pt post hole digger for a bunch of fencing, and moving small 4-5' round bales
- dragging a large roller/aerator to smooth out the lawn
(one time projects in the coming years)
-moving some large downed trees to cut up for firewood (chunks at a time, a borrowed 40hp 4x4 JD wouldn't budge the trees)
-I need to regrade around my barn and put in a couple hundred feet of french drains
-Possibly run a 3pt trencher for the drains and running power 100+ feet to the barn (or possibly add a backhoe to do this and the drains)
-help rebuild some retaining walls & move a bunch of concrete chunks prior owners used to _try_ to build said walls.

I originally had myself talked into thinking the ck30 HST was the way to go. Now I'm wondering perhaps the ck20 HST would be plenty of tractor, eaiser to do the close in grading work around the barn that needs done, and should be way more than enough for the yearly work moving snow etc. I don't plan on doing any mowing.

I've tried a ck30 hydro at a dealear that's since gone out of business. It worked well. But i'm also considering whether the hydro is really worth it, I've run/owned other large (gear) farm tractors over the years, and I run a 40 HP JD tractor/loader with a powr-reverser or whatever they call it quite often, doesn't seem to really be any problem. I can see how the hydro might be nice for the really 'surgical precision' grading work, but not sure that's worth the extra cost over the long haul.

I was also going with Ag tires because I need to be able to get it up and down the grassy hill from the barn through whatever snow there is. I've never had R4s on a tractor before, but they don't look like they'd do too great in the deep snow...

Comments appreciated..

 

[IslandTractor]

I originally had myself talked into thinking the ck30 HST was the way to go. Now I'm wondering perhaps the ck20 HST would be plenty of tractor, eaiser to do the close in grading work around the barn that needs done, and should be way more than enough for the yearly work moving snow etc. I don't plan on doing any mowing.

I don't see anything on your list that would give a CK20 any problem. You mention small bales and that would be the only question mark but if the bales don't weigh more than 600lbs or so I don't think you'd have trouble. The CK30 loader lift capacity is only 8% more than the CK20 loader anyway so if the CK20 has difficulty it is likely the 30 would also be marginal.

I cannot comment on the Ag vs R4 tire thing except that I haven't had any trouble with traction using R4s on both a CK20 and DK40se. In snow I'd probably use chains or at least plan on that as an option if traction was a problem.

 

[BigDogues]

CurtC,
If you get a lot of snow where you are in SE Michigan, which I am assuming you do, you really should consider a rear mount snowblower. And if you do opt for a snowblower you are really better off with a HST. Search for threads by DMace on his CK20. I think a similar set-up would be just what you want.
I have R4s on my CK25 and have never had any problem with snow. I just use my 64" snowblower to cut a path to where ever I want to go.
BTW, if you only have one job that requires trenching you would be far better off to rent a peice of equipment to do that job and spend the savings on other attachments.

 

[Gittyup]

My personal choice would be the bigger tractor, just for the added weight and greater hydraulic capabilities.

I have gear. It works good for me. But, I like HST a lot for mowing and when there is a lot of back and forth. Hard to beat the fine control it gives you. If you go HST get the CK30, or the CK20S. However, it appears the 20S might have some cold weather starting issues. Though I don't think there is enough data one way or the other on this quite yet. If you like the gear, I don't see much difference between the 25 and the 30, unless your tasks require a lot of PTO power.

I have R4's. I wish I had Ags. Anybody want to trade wheels? The R4's load up easily in mud. Then they are useless. Can't speak to performance in the snow. But, I would think R4's would stay on top better given their much wider footprint.

 

[KBEAT]

I am also in SE Michigan and have had a CK30HST for a couple of years now. Have had no problems with the back blade clearing my 700' of driveway and making walking trails to get to the animals. The 30 has been a great size for me, have never lusted after anything larger or though I should have gone smaller. As someone else mentioned, if you are going to do alot of snow work the HST is a great thing to have. My drive winds a bit and the HST sure does make it easier in reverse. Good luck ! I honestly don't think you can go wrong with the CK30.