Asssment of Korean Tractor Manufacturers

[murphy1244]

I think you get back what you give, at least in many cases That is soooo true.

 

[TomSeller]

I don't fully understand why a mfr. making their own engine (their own home grown design) is so important. I mean when I was thinking about buying my LS R3039, I counted it a major selling point that my engine was in tons of other industrial equipment around the world used by other big names in the industry. That told me it was a solid engine and if LS fell off the face of the earth I could still get parts for it. And parts should be cheaper and easier to find. I just can't find fault in that. That was a plus in my book. Anyway, that was my thought process for what its worth (less than 2 cents).

I don't think it is bad to use another manufacturer for the engine. Not at all. That has been a standard practice in trucks forever. LS has a solid business model, Kioti is good too, but LS has nothing to hang their head about.

 

[DT86]

I don't think it is bad to use another manufacturer for the engine. Not at all. That has been a standard practice in trucks forever.

Maybe I'm way off but... It would seem like each engine would be cheaper to build/buy if the cost of engineering a emissions compliant engine were spread over as many units as possible.

 

[hutchman]

Maybe I'm way off but... It would seem like each engine would be cheaper to build/buy if the cost of engineering a emissions compliant engine were spread over as many units as possible.

Sounds like good economy of scale to me.

 

[TomSeller]

Also allows a tractor company to change engine suppliers to select the best engine and focus more on the rest of the tractor which is mostly specific to their line.

Some make engines very well, ie Kubota. But I don't know that all are up to that standard or ability

 

[RDrancher]

The only problem I have with Kioti is the color. In my opinion...choosing to look like a Kubota clone is a mistake for growth. There's a ranch down the road that I've passed at least once a day for the last three years. In that time there's been an orange tractor (usually) sitting next to a barn. I just assumed it was a Kubota. I looked at a job next door to the place last week and much to my surprise, it's a Kioti.

 

[dave1949]

The only problem I have with Kioti is the color. In my opinion...choosing to look like a Kubota clone is a mistake for growth. There's a ranch down the road that I've passed at least once a day for the last three years. In that time there's been an orange tractor (usually) sitting next to a barn. I just assumed it was a Kubota. I looked at a job next door to the place last week and much to my surprise, it's a Kioti.

John, all the good tractor colors are taken. :laughing:

 

[GManBart]

I'm sure I don't know why larger machines that do lots of back and forth don't get HST, but I was mostly wondering about GManBart's comment that the RX had a hydro option.

Heck, if Kioti offered the RX with an HST I probably would have bought one. I figured that since utility machines pushed me into a shuttle shift, and a solid used backhoe wouldn't cost more than a new RX, I might as well get the additional capability I'm going to finalize the papers tomorrow, and hope to have the backhoe delivered next week!

 

[TSO]

So I went to look at a used piece of machinery today at Hodges Farm Equip in Fenton, MI. Didn't realize until I got there that they also sell Branson & TYM tractors, so I had a chance to finally view and sit on them. They had tractors in most ranges, but I focused on the tractors of similar size to mine, a Branson 4520c (cab) and a TYM T503 (open S). Unfortunately they did not have any TYM cabs in that size, but had them in larger sized tractors. Anyhow, now that I've had the chance to sit on them, I wanted to add to my earlier assessment.

Branson: The tractor looked very well built overall. The rear axle & 3pt area looked every bit as stout as my Massey (Iseki), which in my opinion has probably the sturdiest looking construction back there. The design and construction of the Branson components looked tight, well thought out, and sturdy. However, sitting in the operators area was a different story. Getting in/out of the cab was very difficult as it was extremely tight. Forget trying to get out of the cab without tripping over the range selection lever on the left side, especially when it is in the forward position. The cab layout was oddly designed, felt very "closed" in with poor visibility, and the materials quality left me very underwhelmed. I was very disappointed because the rest of the tractor looked like a winner. It started nice and sounded smooth. The seat was nice. But overall, it left me with very mixed emotions.

TYM: I know this might offend some of the TYM guys, and I apologize in advance, but finally seeing the TYM in person was interesting at best. Practically everything on that that tractor felt "cheaper" and more cheesy than pretty much every other tractor I've sat on. The rear axle & 3pt area felt under-engineered compared to the other tractors I've checked out (and I've now seen most models in person that are offered in the US, with the exception of Mahindra, and a few JD models). The loader construction felt somehow less substantial than most other brands. The operators area was ok, but again the plastics were very cheap, and the controls, especially the position/draft & remote levers, were tucked down the right side of the seat and not that easy to use. It started up ok, but the hydraulics at idle were very slow (when moving the loader up/down). Seeing this in person made me wonder why Cabella's chose THIS tractor to rebadge.

A few days ago I was at my local Kioti/Massey dealership tooling around, sitting on a whole bunch of machines (new Kioti/Massey, and a whole bunch of other used tractors from nearly every brand). I still maintain that Kioti/LS are the top 2 Korean brands, and Branson/TYM definitely fill out the bottom 2. And, I still feel a quality gap between them and the Japanese tractors. I know that it has been pointed out by others, and even me, that the price difference between them allows for the quality differences in materials ... and I agree that all of the Korean tractors offer a great value ... but there really does seem to be a discernible quality gap across the Sea of Japan.

My thoughts ...

 

[arrow]

John, all the good tractor colors are taken. :laughing:

I think an "autumn" color tractor would sell well. Make it sort of that coppery, rust color that you see more and more auto manufacturers use. Black wheels with the same rust color as the tractor around the rim perimeter I think would look super. I wonder if they don't use this color because people would call it "rust".