Yota_85
Silver Member
Hey all, I will give some of my initial thoughts of my DK35se.
I will first say that my previous tractor was a Kubota B7610/LA351.
Pluses-
Loader is very strong, and quick. Bucket seems to be able to take some punishment. QA feature is nice.
2nd 3pt lift lever behind tractor. Great. Use all the time.
Hi/Lo beam headlights .....nice touch. Still mounted to low to use effectively with bucket though.
Weight of tractor is nice. Puts power to the ground nicely. Pushes brush piles, knocks over trees very nicely for a CUT.
Has proven reliable so far. Starts easily, but loud for first 3 seconds or so at startup. Must take a few seconds for the oil to work around.
Seems to have plenty of PTO HP to run my 70" snowblower. (in Med gear.....see below)
So far, it is very good on fuel. got around 12 hours on a full tank. (around 11 1/2 gallons I think)
Paint, Fit and finish is a 9 out of 10. A few small blemishes here and there, but nothing serious.
3pt seems to work well, and is strong. Easily lifts my pallets of firewood.
Negatives:
ROPS flexes and vibrates especially in lower (2) positions. Rattles unless upright and anti-rattle bolts are tightened. There are rubber mounts that rear body of tractor mounts to. This is where the flex appears to happen. I can see the body to be on rubber mounts for vibration, but the ROPS should be mounted ridgedly for safety. Looks from the design that it is designed to move a little like this. I don't get it.
My only really big issue is the power in Hi gear on the hydro. There is not much. My old Kubota B7610 could go ANYWHERE on my hilly property in Hi. It could stop an practically any hill and continue on where it left off. Not so with the DK35se. It struggles to go up my paved driveway with no load. I realize it's a much heavier tractor with larger tires, but it almost needs a 4 speed tranny, with the current Hi as a "travel" gear. It's a little disappointing when the RPM are always dropping from just driving the tractor around. Or when I stop on a hill, the tractor will not go, need to shift into Med. The tranny doesn't whine too much, the RPMs just drop. Needs to be on flat land to use Hi effectively. (my rear R4s are loaded with Rimguard)
That being said, Medium has PLENTY of power. Will haul the DK ANYWHERE on my property without breaking a sweat......albeit a little slow. (I think Med maxes out at 5-6 mph) Will snowblow (70" Pronovost Lynx 3pt blower) uphill easily without bogging down. It works so well in fact that I have not had the need to use Low yet, including digging out a couple stumps/rocks. Again, it's just a little to slow for some things, such as bringing a load of gravel or firewood up the driveway. Seems like a near 40hp machine should be able to do that at more than 5-6 mph uphill.
But as a whole, I am happy with the DK35se. I would give it an 7 out of 10. For a flatlander (no insult intended), it would be a 9. I know the DK40se has a little more HP, but also weighs more. Would seem like a wash to me.
I will first say that my previous tractor was a Kubota B7610/LA351.
Pluses-
Loader is very strong, and quick. Bucket seems to be able to take some punishment. QA feature is nice.
2nd 3pt lift lever behind tractor. Great. Use all the time.
Hi/Lo beam headlights .....nice touch. Still mounted to low to use effectively with bucket though.
Weight of tractor is nice. Puts power to the ground nicely. Pushes brush piles, knocks over trees very nicely for a CUT.
Has proven reliable so far. Starts easily, but loud for first 3 seconds or so at startup. Must take a few seconds for the oil to work around.
Seems to have plenty of PTO HP to run my 70" snowblower. (in Med gear.....see below)
So far, it is very good on fuel. got around 12 hours on a full tank. (around 11 1/2 gallons I think)
Paint, Fit and finish is a 9 out of 10. A few small blemishes here and there, but nothing serious.
3pt seems to work well, and is strong. Easily lifts my pallets of firewood.
Negatives:
ROPS flexes and vibrates especially in lower (2) positions. Rattles unless upright and anti-rattle bolts are tightened. There are rubber mounts that rear body of tractor mounts to. This is where the flex appears to happen. I can see the body to be on rubber mounts for vibration, but the ROPS should be mounted ridgedly for safety. Looks from the design that it is designed to move a little like this. I don't get it.
My only really big issue is the power in Hi gear on the hydro. There is not much. My old Kubota B7610 could go ANYWHERE on my hilly property in Hi. It could stop an practically any hill and continue on where it left off. Not so with the DK35se. It struggles to go up my paved driveway with no load. I realize it's a much heavier tractor with larger tires, but it almost needs a 4 speed tranny, with the current Hi as a "travel" gear. It's a little disappointing when the RPM are always dropping from just driving the tractor around. Or when I stop on a hill, the tractor will not go, need to shift into Med. The tranny doesn't whine too much, the RPMs just drop. Needs to be on flat land to use Hi effectively. (my rear R4s are loaded with Rimguard)
That being said, Medium has PLENTY of power. Will haul the DK ANYWHERE on my property without breaking a sweat......albeit a little slow. (I think Med maxes out at 5-6 mph) Will snowblow (70" Pronovost Lynx 3pt blower) uphill easily without bogging down. It works so well in fact that I have not had the need to use Low yet, including digging out a couple stumps/rocks. Again, it's just a little to slow for some things, such as bringing a load of gravel or firewood up the driveway. Seems like a near 40hp machine should be able to do that at more than 5-6 mph uphill.
But as a whole, I am happy with the DK35se. I would give it an 7 out of 10. For a flatlander (no insult intended), it would be a 9. I know the DK40se has a little more HP, but also weighs more. Would seem like a wash to me.
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