Quote:
Originally Posted by JSchmitz
Kubota is top notch. As you said, a tractor big enough to move heavy stuff is too big for riding mower duties. But it will do brushhog and/or finish mower if you have large areas to cut. Of course, don't buy a front loader without four wheel drive.
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I agree with this. ^^^
Wouldn't want a belly mower on a tractor. Keep a lawn mower, for mowing the lawn.
Here's my take of the tractors.
I did my shopping & purchase in 2009.
This is my take, from back then.
#1 was John Deere, without any doubt.
BUT, NOT the small compacts. I did a test drive on a small one, then the one just above that size. I don't remember the model number. I think it had 30hp. It had the feel of a high quality machine, heavy, smooth, & powerful.
I assume those small JD's were just cheap imports made to compete with the other cheap compacts in the market.
BUT, that nice JD was above my price range.
#2 was a surprise to me. It was a Branson.
I'd never even heard of that brand. It felt real nice. One thing I really liked about it was that the fuel filler cap was behind the seat & easier to pour fuel into, than when located up on top.
#3 Kubota was good, & cheaper than the JD & Branson.
And, there are several Kubota dealers in my area.
#4 New Holland was good & cheaper than Kubota.
#5 Kioti seemed just as good as Kubota & NH, and was cheaper. in '09 I think the selling price was around $12k, with loader. Then I bought a $750 5' bush hog from an area farm supply store.
The Kioti, with loader & bush hog have done everything we've needed done here. I've maintained our 1/2 mile gravel/dirt entrance road/driveway. Cut the grass in the former hay field surrounding our house(about 10 acres), & moved countless trees, along TJ's horse riding trails.
In the past several years we've had several tornadoes come thru, knocking down countless old oaks & really making a mess of the surrounding wooded area. No, this little Koiti won't move a 4' diameter oak tree. But, if you cut it up into sections, it will move a larger chunk of it than I figured it would. I've hooked on to several 12" pines across roads & trails & dragged 'em off into the woods.
My Dad was a farmer, so I've been driving tractors since I was 6. Early on, he had a variety, such as Allis Chamlers, Case, & Furguson. In '64, he bought a new 2000 gas Ford, 2-wheel drive. Kept it the rest of his life, along with the 2000 gas Ford he bought in '74.
I inherited them both. So, I worked them both, quite a bit, especially the '64. Here's some of the things I learned about tractors.
(1) Never buy a 2WD tractor.
(2) Never buy a tractor without a front end loader.
Even if you hardly ever need a loader for moving dirt/gravel, it will help you get out of stuck holes, which saves you a LOT of work.
(3) Never fill the tires with plain water that can freeze.
I haven't needed to add water to the tires in my Kioti. The weight of the bush hog seems to be enuff.
My Dad filled his tires with plain water. Here in LA it seldom gets cold enuff to freeze the water in tires. BUT, it does eventually. Chunks of ice will wipe out an inner tube quickly. Don't know how long it would take to ruin a tubeless tire.
(4) Always have decent spare rear tire/wheel you can bolt on, in case you have a flat while on the job.
Twice now I have let the air get too low in the rear tubeless tires on my tractor. That caused the tire to separate from the wheel & lose the air. Had to walk back home, drive the pickup as close as we could to where the tractor was, then take the tire/wheel off & take it to the tire shop right then, wait for then to fix it, then take it back out in the woods & put it back on, so we could get the tractor home.
If I'd had a spare, I could have put it on & finished the job, then took the flat to get it fixed, at my convenience.
By the way, the tire guy said that if I'd keep the air pressure up near 30lbs I'd never have that problem again. So now, I do check the pressure occasionally.
(5) Make sure it has a live PTO.
They may not even make one without, nowadays. But, Dad bought a used one without & it was awful. For any who don't know, without a live PTO, when you mash the clutch to shift gears, the PTO stops turning, til you release the clutch. With live PTO, you can mash the pedal far enuff to shift gears, without stopping the PTO.
Obviously, this would not be a problem with auto trans models. I reckin they call 'em hydrostatic drive, or some such term. But as long as I can mash the clutch pedal OK, I prefer a manual trans.
My Kioti is a CK27 model. IIRC, I have a little over 600 hours on it. The only problem I've had is wearing out the shifter pivot pin. So, I bought 2 & have one in the tool box, as a spare.
Last year I sold my old bush hog & bought a new County Line brand from Tractor Supply. The price has gone up a LOT, since '09.
FWIW, I don't like zero turn mowers. Don't care how fast they are. I like the lawn tractors. Have had 42" 2-blade, 48" 3-blade, & 54" 3-blade models.. The one I liked the best was our last Craftsman 42" 2-blade. I think it had a 24hp B&S engine. The main thing I liked about it was the stick ground speed control. The farther you pushed or pulled the stick, the faster the ground speed. MUCH prefer it to the foot operated models. But, those were discontinued. So, we bought a JD this time. It's a 3-blade 48". 22hp, IIRC. It has the traditional small spin-on oil filter. The reason we bought it is because it has separate pedals for forward & reverse. Don't like the way it feels to have to use the heel to engage reverse. I don't try to see how fast I can mow. Too ruff for me. So, I just move a long at a comfortable speed, & rather enjoy mowing. I usually do all the mowing near dark, when it's lots cooler. I see folks out mowing at noon-5pm, when it's near 100°. Don't make sense to me.