RK Tractor reviews???

[RK Tractor Guy]

I believe the bigger concern with this RK/TYM partnership is on RK's side. They have to be concerned that they don't do all the work building out name recognition of TYM made tractors and that TYM doesn't "Montana" them like LS Tractors did to Montana Tractors (also a retail brand name that relied on 3rd party to make their tractors for those not familiar with Montana). Unlike Cabelas venture with TYM where they never intended to service the tractor after the purchase, Rural King is investing a lot of money and thought by providing service and parts and I believe they will make this partnership work on their end.

LS tractors - which are a well made tractor widely liked on this board - is another company just like RK which is guilty of fluffing their loader specs and 3-point specs by only listing higher numbers such as the loader capacity @ the pivot pin instead of 500mm or 800mm from the pivot pin and 3-point capacity at the hitch instead of "24" behind pins".

RK public print form and digital specs provide 24” behind 3-pt lift capacity specs. We use breakout force, pivot pin and full height lift specs for loaders, and list full height, the lowest number, first. No attempt to mislead, prospective customers can just make sure that if they compare brands, they just match up what is being measure; pivot pin on one, pivot pin on the other for example. As Mike Morgan said in his example, real world applications are the true test, and we are confident that RK lift capabilities (and backhoe digging force) for loaders, 3-pt hitch and backhoes are very good in each tractor family. We are working on a set of application based trials that show for example how many 80 lb bags of cement on a pallet can be lifted using skid steer compatible pallet forks or how heavy of a log can be lifted using our grapples, etc. That, we believe is being transparent.

 

[g8erh8er]

I see those side panel pins snapping off that plastic panel after a few times of being popped off/on..

Hopefully the fastening bosses hold up to heat well. I cringe anytime I have to remove a plastic clip or similar component within the engine bay of my truck, knowing chances are good it is going to snap coming off or going back on.

These tractors appear to share a lot of components with Mahindra, so I guess one could research their body panels to see if it is a known issue.

 

[rngrrymd]

RK public print form and digital specs provide 24” behind 3-pt lift capacity specs. We use breakout force, pivot pin and full height lift specs for loaders, and list full height, the lowest number, first. No attempt to mislead, prospective customers can just make sure that if they compare brands, they just match up what is being measure; pivot pin on one, pivot pin on the other for example. As Mike Morgan said in his example, real world applications are the true test, and we are confident that RK lift capabilities (and backhoe digging force) for loaders, 3-pt hitch and backhoes are very good in each tractor family. We are working on a set of application based trials that show for example how many 80 lb bags of cement on a pallet can be lifted using skid steer compatible pallet forks or how heavy of a log can be lifted using our grapples, etc. That, we believe is being transparent.

I see you do have the 24" behind the 3-pt specs when you click on the tractor specifications on the main page which is good. However, it looks like you have some discrepancies on your Full Line Brochure in your comparison section:

Kubota BX23SLB-R - "Lift Capacity to Full Height - Bucket Pivot Pin (lbs)" should be 739lbs not 509lbs.
https://www.kubotausa.com/products/tractors/sub-compact/bx23s#specifications <-- Kubota spec page
Kubota BX23SLB-R - "Breakout Force (lbs)" should be 1407lbs not 987 (987 is 500mm from pivot pins)
https://kubota.ca/getmedia/8309effd...X23S,-LA340,-BT603-OPS-EN-K289271213?ext=.pdf <-- See page 32 for correct specs

Kubota L3560HSTC - "Lift Capacity to Full Height - Bucket Pivot Pin (lbs)" should be 1720 lbs not 1705
Kubota L3560HSTC - Max Lift Height" should be 105" not 104"
https://www.kubotausa.com/products/tractors/compact/grand-l60#specifications

Please explain.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

I see you do have the 24" behind the 3-pt specs when you click on the tractor specifications on the main page which is good. However, it looks like you have some discrepancies on your Full Line Brochure in your comparison section:
View attachment 567675
Kubota BX23SLB-R - "Lift Capacity to Full Height - Bucket Pivot Pin (lbs)" should be 739lbs not 509lbs.
https://www.kubotausa.com/products/tractors/sub-compact/bx23s#specifications <-- Kubota spec page
Kubota BX23SLB-R - "Breakout Force (lbs)" should be 1407lbs not 987 (987 is 500mm from pivot pins)
https://kubota.ca/getmedia/8309effd...X23S,-LA340,-BT603-OPS-EN-K289271213?ext=.pdf <-- See page 32 for correct specs
View attachment 567676
Kubota L3560HSTC - "Lift Capacity to Full Height - Bucket Pivot Pin (lbs)" should be 1720 lbs not 1705
Kubota L3560HSTC - Max Lift Height" should be 105" not 104"
https://www.kubotausa.com/products/tractors/compact/grand-l60#specifications

Please explain.

Thank you for posting this on the RK Tractors forum! We appreciate it.Just as with any competitor comparison, we document the source by date and time and file it, and as with any company, our published materials have disclaimers that state specifications are based upon what is public at time of publication. If competitive comparisons could not be made without this point in time flexibility, no one making any product of any kind could make comparisons to any competitor. Hope that is a reasonable explanation to you. The point of our competitive comparisons to Deere and Kubota is that we offer a very good tractor for thousands less. That is a debate we’d love to engage in.

 

[rngrrymd]

we document the source by date and time and file it, and as with any company, our published materials have disclaimers that state specifications are based upon what is public at time of publication.

https://kubota.ca/getmedia/8309effd...X23S,-LA340,-BT603-OPS-EN-K289271213?ext=.pdf <-- This one says printed in 2016. I found it in less than 2 minutes. Just saying.

Yes, you are offering a great price on your RK tractors and they seem to be really nice. Might be a good idea to correct these comparison sheets though. Doesn't look good.

 

[PerkFarmPa]

Anyone know if the Clearfield Pa RK store is selling the tractors? Unfortunately I'm an hour NW of Philadelphia and this location is still a 3.5 hour drive (173 miles). Would like to take a drive out and see if I can get my eyes on an RK 37. Possibly get the ball rolling if I like what I see.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

Anyone know if the Clearfield Pa RK store is selling the tractors? Unfortunately I'm an hour NW of Philadelphia and this location is still a 3.5 hour drive (173 miles). Would like to take a drive out and see if I can get my eyes on an RK 37. Possibly get the ball rolling if I like what I see.

The Clearfield location will offer RK Tractors beginning in March 2019. The RK locations that have RK Tractors now are Butler, Connellsville, Washington and a Monaca.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

https://kubota.ca/getmedia/8309effd...X23S,-LA340,-BT603-OPS-EN-K289271213?ext=.pdf <-- This one says printed in 2016. I found it in less than 2 minutes. Just saying.

Yes, you are offering a great price on your RK tractors and they seem to be really nice. Might be a good idea to correct these comparison sheets though. Doesn't look good.

We take directly from the Kubota USA brochures on their website and keep in mind we compare the quick attach version of the Kubota LA340, now LA340s in some literature, LA344s in other. The LA340 pin-on specs is what you quote. RK L75 on the RK24 has quick attach standard. We review all competitive comparisons at each time of publishing, so we move when competitor info moves. We also do not publish the actual lift capability of the RK L75 loader, which is much higher than we state, we list only what the tractor/loader as a system has as a max. On the larger Kubota LA805 loader, guilty as charged, Kubota most recent spec has lift at pivot pin of 1720, we had it at 1715 (not 1705), and max lift height, we had at 104” and latest Kubota spec has it at 105.” Five lbs and one inch discrepancy, and because there was a change on the Kubota materials. We will update at next publishing as we do each time.

 

[Diggin It]

Getting kind of tired of other dealers and brand loyalists picking on the new guys on so many threads. It says more about the others and their fear of the new guys; like they're trying to kick the new guys off the block before they can get a foothold.


I don't know if I'll buy RK for a few reasons, one being what seems like a high finance rate compared to others. If I could find independent financing, maybe. But there is still the question of service and reliability that can only be answered with longevity. And the fact I can't go sit on one yet like I'll be doing with six or seven other brands in the next few weeks.

Literature takes time to put together and publish and is often out of date as soon as it comes off the press, so I don't see the validity of taking it apart line by line.

 

[g8erh8er]

I don't know if I'll buy RK for a few reasons, one being what seems like a high finance rate compared to others. If I could find independent financing, maybe.

Exactly my dilemma. Looking for 60 month financing but not at 5.99% with an 800 credit score. If anyone knows of credit unions and the like with better rates for tractors, I would like to hear them.