<font color="blue"> Hi, Iv'e been checking out the Kioti ck 25, big price difference from the big 3, ~ is there a big difference in quality?
Is the 900 lb weight difference a good thing or not?
I like the fact that it looks like a tractor and not a lawn tractor!
any info would be great!
moving up from an IH 300 utility.
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You ask several questions and there is a lot of debate about some of them. But let me weigh in with my 2 cents.
Is the weight an advantage . . . some people think so, usually they are people who buy heavier machines. Many think not, but we qualify it. For the typicaly homeowner who has a few acres (1 to 50) and is not a farmer, but just maintains the land, maybe some horses, mows a lot, tills the garden, uses a FEL for typical chores, etc . . . then no there is absolutely no advantage to the extra weight, and it can lead to ruts in your yard if the ground is wet or soft. Now if you are doing a LOT of FEL work, or if you are using ground engaging implements (like a plow) then the added weight is an advantage.
Is there a difference in quality? Probably not much, but there are differences in philosophy and features. For example, the CK25 you are looking at is a medium frame machine carrying considerably more size and weight than a Kubota
B2410 or a NH TC24 or a JD 4115. So you have similar HP moving a larger heavier machine, which means the CK25 is going to be less manuverable due to the larger size, and it is going to need to use more HP to move the machine in any direction because of the added weight.
Now, if you go to the CK30, the same size frame is used, and it would compare very favorably to the
B7800 &
B2910. I'd even say the CK30 bests the
B7800 &
B2910 in many ways. Certainly the 130 loader on the CK25 and CK30 is better than LA402 on the
B7800 &
B2910, although not as good as the 14LA & 114LX used on the TC29 and the Farmall DX29.
Regarding some of the comments from Neil Messick, I think he is right on target with his observation of the curved arms and the curved hoods and how they relate to visibilty. The new series John Deere tractors have curved their hoods & arms, but they are only cosmetic changes. The arms of the 400x loaders have a slight curve, but with the bucket at rest, the arms are still above the top of the hood of the tractor so there is no increase in visibility. Regarding the Kioti CK hoods & arms, they are an improvement over many brands, but they do not provide the same visibility as the Farmall or NH hoods and arms, nor do they provide the lift or breakout capacities of the New Holland or Farmall loaders.
I am curious to see what Kubota does with their designs. They are very traditional looking tractors with their long flat hoods. Some people prefer that to the NH look. However, if industrial design theory of "form follows function" then the trend toward more curves will likely continue because it does offer serious advantages to the users.
