RK Tractor reviews???

[RK Tractor Guy]

Unloading Hay with RK 55 Tractor - YouTube

I love this one, the RK55 moving a load of wet bales in the mud.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Just for reference...My recently traded WM 50 was rated at 3550 pounds at the pins and 2200 pounds at 800 mm to full height. That is 62% of the max at the pins. 2116 pounds at the pins multiplied by 62% equals a little over 1300 pounds. I don't see an issue with most round bales.

 

[Ford850]

Unloading Hay with RK 55 Tractor - YouTube

I love this one, the RK55 moving a load of wet bales in the mud.

I like the video, but that's a lot of abuse on the front axle since he isn't using a rear ballast.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

I like the video, but that's a lot of abuse on the front axle since he isn't using a rear ballast.

Good observation but that tractor has 1200 lbs of Rimguard (beet juice) liquid tire ballast in the rears, as does every RK 55HP tractor sold with a loader. We want the tractor and loader to be ready for work the day our customer takes it. Our RK37s have 900 lbs when sold with a loader. No extra charge, it is part of he loader to us.

 

[Ford850]

Good observation but that tractor has 1200 lbs of Rimguard (beet juice) liquid tire ballast in the rears, as does every RK 55HP tractor sold with a loader. We want the tractor and loader to be ready for work the day our customer takes it. Our RK37s have 900 lbs when sold with a loader. No extra charge, it is part of he loader to us.

I figured it had loaded tires, and while that definitely helps with stability and makes it much safer it doesn't help at all with the stress on the front axle. But kudos to RK for making the filled tires a standard feature.

 

[LouNY]

First, Mike Morgan proved that the lift capacity of this model is amazing.

Secondly, my farm has been in the family since 1947. We bale hay every year. Large square bales, one baler produces 3 x 4 x 8 ft the other 2 x 3 x 8. No one, yes NO one who considers himself a hay producer uses compact tractors in hay production. Not even for raking and tedding,

We produce quality grass hay and the small tractor in the operation is the deere 5125r. The 5075m does occasionally rake, supplanting the small tractor status.

We also produce a bit of hay for our use;
mow with a 7110 Magnum
ted and or rake with Ford 8000 or JD 4020 or my Branson 8050
bale with a CNH Puma 125
Haul round bales with the7130 Magnum
the grapple tractor for round bales is a NH T6050
for wrapping we use the 50hp Kubota ? model
chop haylage with a 7130 Magnum
We don't try to max out a loader or tractor with round bales.

 

[ThirdMan]

Good observation but that tractor has 1200 lbs of Rimguard (beet juice) liquid tire ballast in the rears, as does every RK 55HP tractor sold with a loader. We want the tractor and loader to be ready for work the day our customer takes it. Our RK37s have 900 lbs when sold with a loader. No extra charge, it is part of he loader to us.

How much extra weight does the Rimguard add to the RK19s?

 

[rngrrymd]

View attachment 568093

These bales weighed 1100 lbs. when we did the photo shoot. Specs are good for comparisons and apparently a lot of debate fodder. The real world is the decider. Our RK37 with L102 loader can do anything that a tractor in its class is expected to do.

A word of caution: In the real world a poster interested in your RK tractors just asked you how much weight a BUCKET MOUNTED BALE SPEAR could lift, not a SSQA Bale Spear, and then asked 1500lbs? and you responded with "Our RK37 with L102 loader can do anything that a tractor in its class is expected to do." Are you saying the RK37 can lift a 1500lb bale with a bucket-mounted bale spear? Is a tractor in the RK37 "class" expected to lift 1500 lb bales with a bucket mounted bale spear? Is there a better answer or solution?


Major....

I watched that video Mike made of the RK37 lifting the log. He said the log was roughly 1176 lbs and averaged 25" wide so the center with the grapple depth would be close to 500mm from the pins. I looked up the grapple weight (we'll round up to 300lbs more than the bucket which is high) and added to the log weight and that log was within the advertised RK37 loader specifications. I have doubts about a 1500lb bale with a center of gravity roughly 4.5' from the pins.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have doubts about a 1500lb bale with a center of gravity roughly 4.5' from the pins.

ME too!

SR

 

[4570Man]

It’s rated 2100 pounds full height lift at the pins which is about 300 pounds more than my old Kubota. Assuming that accurate um betting it would lift a 1100 pound bale.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

People who lift 1500 lb round bales take tractor weight, hydraulic flow, pump capacity, cylinder size, ballast and know without even having to operate the tractor. Operators lifting 1500 lb bales regularly would not use a 37 hp compact tractor. It could lift it, but 37HP would be marginal. The RK37 has very good material handling capabilities for its class, meaning, it will perform as well as any other 37. The reason that there are sub-compact, compact, light utility, utility, mid-range, row crop and 4wd tractors is to match the tractor class with the predominate application. There will always be cross over capabilities where stepping from one class to the next makes the job easier. 1500 lb bales handled regularly and in quantity, use a 50 plus hp tractor. 1200 lb bales ok for a 37.

 

[MossRoad]

We can do a google search and find a hundred links to pro farmers dying in farming accidents.....

 

[MossRoad]

And most people on TBN, and I mean probably 95%, aren't farmers. Or professional tractor operators.

 

[rngrrymd]

People who lift 1500 lb round bales take tractor weight, hydraulic flow, pump capacity, cylinder size, ballast and know without even having to operate the tractor. Operators lifting 1500 lb bales regularly would not use a 37 hp compact tractor. It could lift it, but 37HP would be marginal. The RK37 has very good material handling capabilities for its class, meaning, it will perform as well as any other 37. The reason that there are sub-compact, compact, light utility, utility, mid-range, row crop and 4wd tractors is to match the tractor class with the predominate application. There will always be cross over capabilities where stepping from one class to the next makes the job easier. 1500 lb bales handled regularly and in quantity, use a 50 plus hp tractor. 1200 lb bales ok for a 37.

1. This is the response I expected from a man in the business for 30+ years
2. You just verified specs do matter
3. Answer to 1st question on RK37: No
4. Answer to 2nd question on RK37: No
5. Answer to 3rd question: RK55 or new model RK74

"This is where RK would be better served to put 500mm from pivot pin #'s out there - so customers can pick the right tractor/loader for their application."

 

[atsah]

I think it’s funny that I’m reading about a 37hp tractor to move round bales around..

There are very few people on this site that have any idea how much weight and hp it takes to move round bales efficiently, there are no compact tractors on farms around here for good reason, it’s not what they are made to do.

 

[sd455dan]

i think it depends a lot on how large of rounds / what they are - Big difference between say straw and Alfalfa...

And then there is the question of how many bales will need to be moved each year and if they need to be stacked more than a couple high.

Moving large squares of Alfalfa and stacking them 3 high is a good work out for most 55 hp tractors


Couple examples of tractors- farmers used to load my trailer this year was a Ford 7710 and the other was a JD 6630

 

[sd455dan]

As Moss said about 95% of TBN readers aren't farmers or professional operators.

Nobody is suggesting that a good sized hay grower would buy a CUT to move large squares or rounds with.

The question came up because SouNdguy wanted to know whether the RK 37 is up to picking up (and I assume moving and maybe even stacking) some 1500lb? rounds.


(Question for you. On an RK37. I'm looking at putting a bucket mounted bale spear. Can you tell me 'about' what weight ( round bale ) I should be able to lift on that spear? 1500#?

Ps.. this is a real question.. not fishing for an argument over specs, etc.

thanks)




There are some small farms/ ranches that buy and (feed) large rounds or squares.

This is about needing to move a (limited) # of bales a year as I understand it.



Rk tractor guy posted using the RK 37 is suitable for moving 1200 lb rounds... Fine

BUT in the question- they are to be lifted on an add on bucket bale spear

- the RK 55 sounds like the minimum that would be needed for the asked question



Oops... I see the post this is in response to has been removed

 

[g8erh8er]

Have you tried Farm Credit?

Yes. Their in house rates are higher than Rural Kings. They have something called Farm Credit Express that has better rates, but it is only offered through specific dealers.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

1. This is the response I expected from a man in the business for 30+ years
2. You just verified specs do matter
3. Answer to 1st question on RK37: No
4. Answer to 2nd question on RK37: No
5. Answer to 3rd question: RK55 or new model RK74

"This is where RK would be better served to put 500mm from pivot pin #'s out there - so customers can pick the right tractor/loader for their application."

Our plan to handle is to actually shoot a series of videos showing each tractor/loader lifting different things using bucket, bale spears, pallet forks etc, labeling the weight, and taking to max and to failure, covering the difference between proper ballast and no ballast. Specs are good for comparison purposes. We will have these on rktractors.com in late October. We want to align our equipment performance with what people use our tractors for, which is the most useful way to present information. I think my answer that our 37HP tractor is not suited for 1500 lb bales was pretty clear. Other brands may not say it that transparently. That is what 30 years has taught me.

 

[Btown]

A word of caution: In the real world a poster interested in your RK tractors just asked you how much weight a BUCKET MOUNTED BALE SPEAR could lift, not a SSQA Bale Spear, and then asked 1500lbs? and you responded with "Our RK37 with L102 loader can do anything that a tractor in its class is expected to do." Are you saying the RK37 can lift a 1500lb bale with a bucket-mounted bale spear? Is a tractor in the RK37 "class" expected to lift 1500 lb bales with a bucket mounted bale spear? Is there a better answer or solution?


Major....

I watched that video Mike made of the RK37 lifting the log. He said the log was roughly 1176 lbs and averaged 25" wide so the center with the grapple depth would be close to 500mm from the pins. I looked up the grapple weight (we'll round up to 300lbs more than the bucket which is high) and added to the log weight and that log was within the advertised RK37 loader specifications. I have doubts about a 1500lb bale with a center of gravity roughly 4.5' from the pins.

My 32 hp Ford 1920 loader can lift and move 1400-1500 lb (2 3x3x8 large square) of hay and it not rated for nearly as much as the RK37 is. I can’t lift it too high and I wouldn’t want to. If one was going to move 1500 lb round bales all day the RK 37 is too small. It would be OK do do it once a week, 1500 lbs is a lot of weight to move around.