Whatsgnu,
As delivered, the tractor had a couple problems.
1. With less than 1 hour on the meter, the backhoe leakdown was unbelievable. On a hot summer day, the bucket will leak down in 10 minutes. The dealer's two technicians said this is not uncommon for Kioti, and this is a quote.."because Kioti ships the cylinders dry". I don't believe them. The FEL will stay put for weeks. The dealer said he would ship replacement packing kits. That was 4 months ago, and I am still waiting. I guess I'll have to escalate to Kioti (again).
2. The dealer installed the front wheels wrong side out. The tractor was very difficult to maneuver and the tires were being ripped by the loader. The dealer and his technicians were steadfast that it was a Kioti design problem and advised me to grind the loader to clear the tires (as they normally do). Thanks to Rick Wallace and other contributors here, that was rectified.
3. The headlights, signal lights, and flashers did not work. My son fixed this.
4. There is a problem with the starter. On occasion, it seems to disengage from the flywheel prematurely, and sometimes requires many tries to get it started. I plan to remove the starter this spring to see if it is something obvious. I hope I can fix it myself.
Positive:
Our DK45s has almost 200 hours on it, and there are no new problems detected since delivery.
The front end loader is strong for the size of tractor. It has no problem lifting the rear tires off the ground. (with the backhoe on).
It uses very little fuel. 1 gallon lasts approximately 3 or 4 hours when using the backhoe.
The engine is quiet and smooth.
Negative:
Backhoe leakdown.
Dealer support: Our dealer has two technicians, and according to them, neither had received Kioti training, and it shows.
To return the tractor to the dealer to address deficiencies as delivered, he wanted $5 dollars per mile. (60 miles. Pickup and delivery...$600 plus taxes). I did not feel confident in the technician's familiarity with the tractor, and I wasn't impressed with the dealer charging $600 to fix things that should have been caught before delivery.
Parts availability: 2 months on backorder for a 12" bucket. Our dealer said that Kioti was all out, and that they had to wait until they made another batch.
4 months and counting for cylinder packing kits.
The markup on parts is a little excessive. Our dealer charged $17.80 for an oil filter.
