MikeH-OH
New member
I am an RK55 HST Cab owner. I have 75 mostly wooded, hill side acres, many trails one long gravel road, 3 ponds, several food plots, 2 beef cattle on butchering rotation, and I cut about 5 cords of firewood a year to heat my barn. I have a woodmax 78" flail mower, 72" tiller, disk, Baumalight 3p stump grinder, a woodmax wood chipper and other small attachments.
After milking A JD3200 for all it was worth over 18 years, riding it hard and putting it away wet, it became time to upgrade to mid weight and more HP.
I LOVED MY DEERE. It served me very well for thousands of hours with the rare minor problem. I used it hard and did many things a tractor that size had no business doing.
I have been an RK customs for over 25 years.
Their entry into the tractor market timed perfectly with my needs.
I decided to roll the dice on the 25 percent savings. The features combined with the price was just to much to turn down. I was assured that service was a real commitment of the company, and a certified JD expert told me he thought it liked like a great tractor for the price.
I have experience with International, JD, Kubota and Kioti tractors. The Kioti lead me to think I would find the RK55 to be adequate, and with the jump in size and HP, I'd lack nothing compared to my old 3200.
I was wrong. If you've never owned JD hydros, and do a lot of bucket work, you would be happy with it. But it's no Deere. The hydros are painfully slow in comparison and I got more done with a smaller bucket. Shaking it to empty stubborn dirt, manure etc... is a challenge.
It has been great for pulling logs off the hill. That much I can it did very well.
The cab AC is underpowered for hard engine work (running a 78"flail mower) on 90 degree days, otherwise it's good, and the heat is excellent.
It does drink a lot of fuel.
It was advertised and sold as having a Bluetooth radio. They lied. I was told that radio wasn't available to install on the earliest assembles. "Well When are you going to install the system that was advertised? " he just laughed and said "we aren't".
Here's the real crux of the tractor after a couple years of use.
With 330 hours on my RK55 I I have:
1. Had to replace the very cheap aluminum battery cable ends at around 60hrs.
2. Replaced a failed AC compressor idler wheel bearing at about 150hrs. When I tried to order the part, the delivery time was crazy. I got an identical bearing from NAPA that day and fixed it myself. It's a very awkward job without the right tool.
When replacing the idler wheel a much more serious issue was found... the tractor frame mounting bolts for the front lifting arm assembly were loosening badly. This is a very dangerous issue.
3. The front brush guard mount is flimsy mild steel and is bent beyond usefulness. It is not sturdy by any definition.
4. At around 300 hrs, I developed a drastic loss of power. My local RK store claimed they were undergoing a service dept remodel and couldn't get me in. Said "the Wooster store should be able to help you" and gave me the number. I was told "get it hear this weekend and I'll dig into it on Monday". 2 weeks later it has not been touched. I call my local dealer and he gets some action.
I was called 4 hours later and told it was ready for pick up.
In addition to the power issue, I had requested my 350 hr service be done while they had it. I am a busy guy and the service is worth paying for with my time constraints. I use the tractor nearly every day and down time is a real problem. Ialso requested new left side door hinges because I had ripped the lower hinge off on a tree and had the door duct taped shut.
When I arrived to the 1 hour distant facility I discover the power problem was a simple cleaning of the contact points on the computer board that controlled the exhaust regeneration system.
NONE of the other work was done.
About 2 months later the same loss of power occurs as I am unloading pallets of feed (about $400/ month of RK feed buyer) and as my tractor is sitting still with a full pallet on the forks, the seal in the left front axle fails, dumping hydro oil all over the barn floor.
The next day I call my local store. Again I'm told bring it over I can start tomorrow.
I get it there, he said he'd call me tomorrow with what he finds.
Again I request the door hinges be replaced, and, now at 330 hours, a full service.
Long story short, 6 weeks later my tractor is still sitting outside, the contact points had been cleaned. The tech basically told me he was swamped, hadn't been able to get to it, and if I want to come get it and have someone else fix it, it was fine with him.
2 weeks later, I pulled in, loaded it and left. No one asked what I was doing or who I was, 3 more weeks later, no one has called to tell me my tractor is missing.
Between myself and my construction related business, RK has lost a fairly significant customer.
I wish I had gone another direction.
I hope someone finds this useful.
Sorry for the brevity, lack of detail and any typos. Doing this on a phone.
After milking A JD3200 for all it was worth over 18 years, riding it hard and putting it away wet, it became time to upgrade to mid weight and more HP.
I LOVED MY DEERE. It served me very well for thousands of hours with the rare minor problem. I used it hard and did many things a tractor that size had no business doing.
I have been an RK customs for over 25 years.
Their entry into the tractor market timed perfectly with my needs.
I decided to roll the dice on the 25 percent savings. The features combined with the price was just to much to turn down. I was assured that service was a real commitment of the company, and a certified JD expert told me he thought it liked like a great tractor for the price.
I have experience with International, JD, Kubota and Kioti tractors. The Kioti lead me to think I would find the RK55 to be adequate, and with the jump in size and HP, I'd lack nothing compared to my old 3200.
I was wrong. If you've never owned JD hydros, and do a lot of bucket work, you would be happy with it. But it's no Deere. The hydros are painfully slow in comparison and I got more done with a smaller bucket. Shaking it to empty stubborn dirt, manure etc... is a challenge.
It has been great for pulling logs off the hill. That much I can it did very well.
The cab AC is underpowered for hard engine work (running a 78"flail mower) on 90 degree days, otherwise it's good, and the heat is excellent.
It does drink a lot of fuel.
It was advertised and sold as having a Bluetooth radio. They lied. I was told that radio wasn't available to install on the earliest assembles. "Well When are you going to install the system that was advertised? " he just laughed and said "we aren't".
Here's the real crux of the tractor after a couple years of use.
With 330 hours on my RK55 I I have:
1. Had to replace the very cheap aluminum battery cable ends at around 60hrs.
2. Replaced a failed AC compressor idler wheel bearing at about 150hrs. When I tried to order the part, the delivery time was crazy. I got an identical bearing from NAPA that day and fixed it myself. It's a very awkward job without the right tool.
When replacing the idler wheel a much more serious issue was found... the tractor frame mounting bolts for the front lifting arm assembly were loosening badly. This is a very dangerous issue.
3. The front brush guard mount is flimsy mild steel and is bent beyond usefulness. It is not sturdy by any definition.
4. At around 300 hrs, I developed a drastic loss of power. My local RK store claimed they were undergoing a service dept remodel and couldn't get me in. Said "the Wooster store should be able to help you" and gave me the number. I was told "get it hear this weekend and I'll dig into it on Monday". 2 weeks later it has not been touched. I call my local dealer and he gets some action.
I was called 4 hours later and told it was ready for pick up.
In addition to the power issue, I had requested my 350 hr service be done while they had it. I am a busy guy and the service is worth paying for with my time constraints. I use the tractor nearly every day and down time is a real problem. Ialso requested new left side door hinges because I had ripped the lower hinge off on a tree and had the door duct taped shut.
When I arrived to the 1 hour distant facility I discover the power problem was a simple cleaning of the contact points on the computer board that controlled the exhaust regeneration system.
NONE of the other work was done.
About 2 months later the same loss of power occurs as I am unloading pallets of feed (about $400/ month of RK feed buyer) and as my tractor is sitting still with a full pallet on the forks, the seal in the left front axle fails, dumping hydro oil all over the barn floor.
The next day I call my local store. Again I'm told bring it over I can start tomorrow.
I get it there, he said he'd call me tomorrow with what he finds.
Again I request the door hinges be replaced, and, now at 330 hours, a full service.
Long story short, 6 weeks later my tractor is still sitting outside, the contact points had been cleaned. The tech basically told me he was swamped, hadn't been able to get to it, and if I want to come get it and have someone else fix it, it was fine with him.
2 weeks later, I pulled in, loaded it and left. No one asked what I was doing or who I was, 3 more weeks later, no one has called to tell me my tractor is missing.
Between myself and my construction related business, RK has lost a fairly significant customer.
I wish I had gone another direction.
I hope someone finds this useful.
Sorry for the brevity, lack of detail and any typos. Doing this on a phone.
