I am so sick and tired of hearing (so called )Tractor guys tell me that I made a mistake buying a Kioti Tractor because of no dealer support. . .
Al, as you know I own a Bobcat tractor, which is basically a slightly fancier Kioti, but painted white. Honestly I would never buy a tractor if I could not get dealer support. I want someone to hold my hand if I fall down and skin my knee. That is what the dealer is supposed to do. You are lucky. No problems. Other people not so lucky. And it doesn't matter what color the tractor is painted, I want a dealership to stand behind me if I have a problem.
That said, I would not buy a Kioti from my local Kioti dealer, I simply don't trust him. I also would not buy a John Deere from my local JD dealership, walked in there with a checkbook and nobody would sell me a tractor?!? My new Bobcat is built in the same Kioti factory as your Kioti but I wouldn't buy the Kioti because of the DEALER. When I bought this new tractor the dealership
'warm & cozy' feeling determined which brands I would buy, it boiled down to Bobcat, New Holland, Yanmar/Cub and Kubota. I understand why you made your choice and don't blame you for it, but please understand why some of us value dealerships above brands. Doesn't have to be a big dealer, but I want an established dealer, good parts guys who know what I mean when I say "
thingy that dangles underneath" and a solid repair area (
just in case I really screw something up).
and that, Al, is why I have a Mahindra. . . and 110% of the performance for similar size frame & HP. (specifically lift capacity fore & aft)
Erik, I've spent years comparing tractor specs. If you matched up the same frame size tractors with Case/NH, Kubota, JD then I'm afraid you looked at the wrong specs. Further, I'm afraid to say that I'd be willing to bet that your tractor does not outlift the other brands. Again, assuming similar tractor frame size, etc.
Mahindra uses 'pivot pin' specs for FEL capacity. Mahindra uses 'ball eye' specs for 3pt capacity. Case/NH, Kubota and SOMETIMES John Deere use 19.2" in front of the 'pivot pin' spec as well as 24" behind the 'ball eye' spec for their lift capacity. These numbers and specs confuse a lot of people and have been the start of many a tractor brand argument. But its simple geometry. The closer you measure to the tractor the MORE it can THEORETICALLY lift. The farther out you measure the LESS it can ACTUALLY lift.
The differences between measuring 19.2" forward of the pivot pins and at the pivot pins is that at the 19.2" forward placement you are actually measuring something inside your FEL bucket or out on your bale spear. Depending on the brand, the difference that small amount of distance makes is roughly 20% to 25% of the total capacity. The same is true for 3pt hitch capacity.
More clearly written, a tractor measured at the "pivot pins" with a 1200# FEL capacity can lift no more than a tractor measured at 19.2" forward with only a 1000# lift capacity. Both have EQUAL capacity. But the advertising boys in New York who work for Mahindra
(and Kioti was guilty of this too) thought that 1200# looked better than 1000# so they changed the measurement standard.
With 3pt capacity think of it this way. Hang a really heavy box blade off your tractor and the tractor is very stable, it front tires on the ground firmly. That is because a box blade is wide, but it sits very close to the tractor as measured front to back. But hang the SAME WEIGHT rotary cutter off the same tractor and the front end of the tractor 'feels light' and the tractor is less stable. Why? Simple geometry. The rear wheel acts as the fulcrum point, the farther to the rear the weight is carried, the less pressure there is on the front tires.
Old time farmers knew all this stuff so they measured from the "center of the bucket" to determine how much they could lift. They also measured from the "implement" on the 3pt hitch to determine lift capacity aft.
When modern CUTs showed up on the market the rules changed. Small land owners didn't know what farmers knew, so marketing changed and the tractor brands split. True agricultural companies like Case/New Holland used the same spec measurement points for suburban compact tractors that they use for large farm tractors, but a few newcomers into the US market trying to develop their niche in the fast growing Compact Utility Tractor market (under 65hp) chose to use a different standard.
I've had more than one dealer scratch his head and admit he was wrong when I got done with him . . . and I've taught the sales rep at more than one "Big 3" dealership that his tractor does have specs that actually beat 'brand x' when properly compared.
There was a move a couple years ago by Kubota dealers to push for a new standard, it was rejected by Kubota. John Deere now posts mixed specs, sometimes showing one standard, sometimes the other. My own Bobcat
(deluxe Kioti) uses mixed specs!?!
