Woods and Transmissions

LedgeMagnet · Jul 30, 2004

I am thinking about buying either a 3054 or a CK30. I have 8 acres, mostly woods, mostly hilly and rocky, a small lawn (mostly gardens by now), and a small pasture with sheep, goats and a donkey in it.

I need something to gather firewood, move snow, repair a septic system (not a complete redo), move manure, and turn more of my woods into pasture. I have no need to mow grass.

Since I'll be mostly on rough ground, I wonder what sort of transmission to get. The main thing in the woods, it seems to me, is to move slowly; and although I know HST is the slowest, I'm old-fashioned enough to trust gears over valves and o-rings and juices that leak: evrything leaks eventually, right? And if that leak is internal, it costs hundreds to get at it, So, that's my bias.

In the past, I've owned three Farmalls, all 40's/50's vintage: a Cub, a C with a trip-bucket, and a 340 with a dp loader. Only the 340, with it's TA, went slow enough for me in the woods, though the freewheeling with Torque Amplifier engaged made things exciting at times, and it was way too heavy for a lot of places. Overall the cub - with loaded tires and wheelweights - was best, though it had no loader. I dragged everything in, then yarded it up with the C.

They're all gone now anyway, so my question is how good are the gear 3054 and CK30 when it's time to go slow in the woods, or do I have to get modern with the HST?

Thanks.

Yankee · Jul 30, 2004

HST is all but bulletproof. I wouldn't give that aspect another thought.

mgrick · Jul 30, 2004

I have no problems getting around in the woods with a gear drive DK35 and I've got some scary spots..

MessickFarmEqu · Jul 30, 2004

If your looking at a serious Woods tractor take a close look at the underside of the machine. One think I have noticed is that Kioti has much more exposed linkage, hoses, etc under their machines than competing brands. Knock a good limb into that and your gonna have problems.

shoppintractors · Jul 30, 2004

Knock a good limb into that and your gonna have problems. 

Neil, The sky is falling too! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Kind of out-of-place for a salesman from a competing brand making such a post. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

(Sorry for the interjection. Don't want to hijack this thread.)

Don

KiotiJohn · Jul 30, 2004

The LK3054 and the CK30 both have a low speed of just under 1 mph, with the 3054 being just a fraction slower. Would that be slow enough for you? I do know that HST works really great in close up places and I'm happy to have mine for working in my woods.
As for Messick's comment, I haven't had any problem and I've certainly run over just about any kind of brush, limbs etc. that anyone encounters doing woods work, but I suppose it is something you should consider. Of course, a comment like that from someone who sells NH and Kubota should tell one something.
I do believe I'd rather go with the synchronized shuttle on the CK30 if you go gear, as it's just a little easier to use, but either tractor would work. John

LedgeMagnet · Jul 30, 2004

Yes: I've pretty much decided to get a Kioti anyway. I've heard that the local dealer is good, and at each level the Kiotis seem heavier. I just like the idea that a tractor is a bunch of cast iron hunks bolted together rather than components on a frame.

I don't think either that I need a "serious Woods machine," just something to poke through humpy woods and gather my firewood, pull stumps, roll rocks. Next week I'm going to try out both the CK30 and the 3054 with gear drive, put each at 1500 rpm or so, and see just how slow they'll go.

I guess that raises another question: how much torque do these little diesels have well down off of their redline? If they can get around at 1000 rpm, obviously their usable lowest speed is a lot lower than if they have to be buzzing along at 2500. My Farmalls were happy lumping along at idle - less of that blue smoke that way too.

KiotiJohn · Jul 30, 2004

( Next week I'm going to try out both the CK30 and the 3054 with gear drive, put each at 1500 rpm or so, and see just how slow they'll go.)
I'm not sure about those two models, but with my CK20 I find that I usually do tooling around type things around 1800-2000 RPM with no problem. 540 is at 2600 and not necessary for much but PTO work. A gear model would probably be more capable at lower RPM since it won't rely on hydro flow as the HST does. I think you'll find both the models in which you're interested very good, strong and well-built machines. John

LedgeMagnet · Jul 30, 2004

Thanks again.

shoppintractors · Jul 30, 2004

how much torque do these little diesels have well down off of their redline? 

www.kioti.com has torque charts posted on the "engine" pages. Look under the individual tractor specs, they'll tell you which engine is utilized. Both the engine for the 3054(TD1400-8B-1) and the CK30(3A150-D) top out "torque wise" about 1600 to 1700 rpm's.

Don