Who actually makes the tractor and whose engine and transmission does it carry?

[jyoutz]

Kubota's big M8 series is a Versatile made in Canada.

Thanks for that information. That’s probably the only rebadged model.

 

[ptsg]

Any similarities between this Kubota EK1-261 and the Farmtrac FT26 made by Escorts Limited in India are pure coincidence...

 

[sea2summit]

Any similarities between this Kubota EK1-261 and the Farmtrac FT26 made by Escorts Limited in India are pure coincidence...

Couldn't possibly be because Kubota owns a significant portion of Farmtrac India?

 

[sea2summit]

Kubota's big M8 series is a Versatile made in Canada.

Cummings makes a good engine. Wouldn't stop me from buying that Kubota unless there was a better price/option. Heck, if anything it's probably way easier to source Cummings' parts.

 

[ptsg]

Couldn't possibly be because Kubota owns a significant portion of Farmtrac India?

I don't remember the details but I'm sure it's on the internet somewhere.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I was looking at the LS tractors at the dealer, and noticed it had Mitsubishi engines, but now I am told the LS uses Yanmar, Mitsubishi and LS engines depending on model. Now I know my John Deere is basically a Yanmar drivetrain with engine and transmission, but the FEL and Backhoe are to my understanding made by John Deere. The Kubota is a Japanese brand, and yet to my understanding the drivetrain with engine and transmission along with the FEL and Backhoe are made in the US by Kubota. Who and where is the real manufacturer of the tractors, and is the whole tractor made by them or the drivetrain with engine and transmission 'farmed out' so to say to another manufacturer? Or do some just get it from whoever, like they built the Jeep in WWII?

In a global economy the only real questions are: does it have a reputation for reliability; is the dealer reputable: are parts readily available and will the likely be so in the future; does the dealers shop have a good rep? Most tractors, even those who claim American origin outsource parts from all over the world. The name on an engine signifies who engineered it not necessarily who actually manufactured it. Ancient example the Merlin engine was designed and manufactured by Rolls Royce but the design was also built by Packard in the US. Both engines are Merlin engines.

 

[dodge man]

Tractor Time with Tim has a video of a tour of the plant where they make the smaller JD tractors. The engine is Yanmar but the transmission is made in the US. All the parts? Who knows, I know my FEL hydraulic quick connects say Italy. JD is American made as any small tractor but so is Kubota.

JD’s big stuff is made here, I’m talking large tractors, combines etc. The plants in Iowa and the Quad Cities area of Illinois.

 

[finn1]

Will drive you crazy trying to figure that out;I know the most American made car is a Honda;and truck is a Toyota!
I believe Kubota at least makes all the own parts.

That’s been refuted numerous times.

Nice try, though.

 

[s219]

I was looking at the LS tractors at the dealer, and noticed it had Mitsubishi engines, but now I am told the LS uses Yanmar, Mitsubishi and LS engines depending on model. Now I know my John Deere is basically a Yanmar drivetrain with engine and transmission, but the FEL and Backhoe are to my understanding made by John Deere. The Kubota is a Japanese brand, and yet to my understanding the drivetrain with engine and transmission along with the FEL and Backhoe are made in the US by Kubota. Who and where is the real manufacturer of the tractors, and is the whole tractor made by them or the drivetrain with engine and transmission 'farmed out' so to say to another manufacturer? Or do some just get it from whoever, like they built the Jeep in WWII?

You can look at some of Neil Messick's videos. Most small (under ~ 70HP) Kubota tractors still are made in Japan and ship over here in a crate in a partial knocked-down form. Basically the full tractor is in the crate minus the wheels/tires. Messicks showed how they used staggered pallets to save space with the tractors by nesting them together. The tires are sourced in the USA and will arrive at the dealer separately. The loaders and backhoes are made by Kubota USA in Georgia and arrive at the dealer separate from the tractor. It's the dealer that puts everything together.

The one exception are some of the large cabbed tractors, which Kubota USA assembles in their factory. Starts as a crated tractor kit from Japan and then they add the cab. I believe this is done because it's simpler than shipping the cabs by themselves.

I think in recent years Kubota USA has started doing more manufacturing (for instance, they make the RTVs from scratch) and that may have trickled over to some tractors by now. But the two formats I described above account for the vast majority of the smaller tractors, so most of them continue starting out as a crated knock-down kit from Japan.

 

[Torvy]

I think the more important question may be 'how long has the company who actually builds and designs the tractors been on the business.'.

Most of them have been at it longer than many people seem to think.

 

[Torvy]

That’s been refuted numerous times.

Nice try, though.

Car and Driver says the Honda Ridgeline has the most American parts on any truck.

The Most American Cars and Trucks You Can Buy

This definition of 'American' includes Canadian parts and some questionable methodology, not necessarily the automaker's origin.

www.caranddriver.com

 

[s219]

This is a good watch:

 

[sd455dan]

Will drive you crazy trying to figure that out;I know the most American made car is a Honda;and truck is a Toyota!
I believe Kubota at least makes all the own parts.

You sure ? Not Tesla???

Tesla Wins Most American-Made Car Title - CleanTechnica

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. Originally posted on EVANNEX. by Charles Morris If you need a little more justification to take the plunge and buy a Tesla, consider this: it’s your patriotic duty to do so. Tesla has always touted its credentials as an...

cleantechnica.com

 

[LD1]

I guess when it comes to who makes what.....how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?

Thousands of parts on a deere or kubota or whatever brand are NOT made by the tractor manufacture.

You think deere and kubota make their own ball bearings? Or their own hoses and fittings? Nuts and bolts? Lightbulbs? Wheels and tires?

You are buying an assembly with parts sourced from dozens of places. Even when it comes to engines and transmissions. No company makes 100% of the parts contained within

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I was looking at the LS tractors at the dealer, and noticed it had Mitsubishi engines, but now I am told the LS uses Yanmar, Mitsubishi and LS engines depending on model. Now I know my John Deere is basically a Yanmar drivetrain with engine and transmission, but the FEL and Backhoe are to my understanding made by John Deere. The Kubota is a Japanese brand, and yet to my understanding the drivetrain with engine and transmission along with the FEL and Backhoe are made in the US by Kubota. Who and where is the real manufacturer of the tractors, and is the whole tractor made by them or the drivetrain with engine and transmission 'farmed out' so to say to another manufacturer? Or do some just get it from whoever, like they built the Jeep in WWII?

Buy an established brand from a local dealer with a good service and parts department and don’t worry about where all the parts come from.

 

[Bobrown14]

Not for nothing but the process of small family run businesses making 1 part or a few parts has been a thing in Europe for a long time.

Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, VW to name a few all have the same or very similar parts made by those small family run companies. Parts shipped to assembly lines for "Just in Time" assembly.

I like LS - they make the whole shebang. Parts are made in Korea and shipped to the USA and the tractor "assembled" in the USA aka made in America .... sorta.

Toyota does this as well. My Tacoma was built in Texas but I think they moved the factory to Mexico due to increased efficiency and better profits.

 

[RoyJackson]

Yanmar makes engines in only the small Deere series, not sure what other engines are used.

Yanmar engines are used in the large CUTs too...replacing the Deere built Powertech engines used in the 4x20 series.
This, I believe, was due to meeting tier 4 emission requirements.
The Yanmars are strong engines but, in my experience, don't produce the torque of the Powertech.
That said, other than occasionally bogging down when going into a deep pile of snow, my 4052 has plenty of torque

 

[Reddogs]

I've never understood the fascination with trying to track down all the details of what comes from where in a product. I just evaluate products based on their features, cost/value and the reputation of the manufacturer. If I trust JD to make a good product I don't care whether they made the engine themselves or bought it from Yanmar. And for the idea of trying to make sure everything is 'from' USA I just don't think that's possible with pretty much any semi-complicated product these days. If it has multiple parts and systems it is pretty likely some of them are not from the USA.

As mentioned above, you'll drive yourself nutty trying to parse through it all. But if that's what makes you tick then go for it. It's just not worth it for me.

Easy, I know the quality of a Yanmar engine and transmission, and the little things that make it easy to use and work with, and I would like my toyota keep that. Better what you know than be unpleasantly surprised..

Buy an established brand from a local dealer with a good service and parts department and don’t worry about where all the parts come from.

OK, let's see, I use to have Black and Decker tools, and they never let me down. Can you say that now after they changed were they are made....Hmm..

 

[charles todd]

Our LS P7010C has an Iveco (Italian) engine. Pretty sure rest of the drivetrain is built/designed by LS.

CT

 

[jyoutz]

Cummings makes a good engine. Wouldn't stop me from buying that Kubota unless there was a better price/option. Heck, if anything it's probably way easier to source Cummings' parts.

Cummins is awesome when it comes to parts. When I need a filter or engine part for my Dodge/Cummins I buy from the Cummins dealer. Way cheaper than Dodge and I suspect the Dodge filter/part is a Cummins product in a Mopar box.