Asssment of Korean Tractor Manufacturers

[DavesTractor]

How about two-tone? White top, Orange below. Yellow top, Black below? Racing stripes? 69 Z28 color scheme. white w/orange stripes.

I had a 1969 SS/RS, Hugger Orange with a black hockey puck swoop down the side. Might be too close to Kubota.

 

[TSO]

The Cub Cadet / Yanmar tractors have a two tone black/yellow scheme. Also, the Challenger compacts (MF clones, also built by Iseki) are Cat yellow & black.

 

[KiwiBro]

It's simple; All Black. If you want frills, you can put a small silver fern on it.

 

[jix]

Locally, we have a dealer that sells both LS and TYM tractors. Another dealer sells only Kioti.

Both Kiotio and LS have a good following, but Kioti are consistently better-priced..and LS have durability issues in hard service. Kioti gets my vote... Better prices, better attachments, better cabs. Weakness is that Kioti have a weaker dealer network.

I like KUBOTA best of all. Durability is best. Prices, not so much to brag about

 

[DavesTractor]

jix,

I won't disagree with you that Kubota builds a very good tractor, but one of the really smart things they did was to make the "rental/construction" grade units like the B21, B26, L35/L39 etc. models. They are much more robust and will take a lot more abuse than the comparable "homeowner/hobby farmer" units. Of course they cost more as well. I'm a Mahindra dealer and I wish they sold a dedicated TLB line in the USA. I'm not sure any of the hobby farm grade units (even JD or Kubota) are designed with the duty cycle in mind for what we might call "hard service". Hard Service to me means rental and/or construction with multiple operators where the tractor is used hard for hours each day. The average hobby farmer puts on less than 100 hours a year, and some of that is running to the mailbox to get mail or mowing the lawn. Then it gets washed and put in the garage at the end of the day. But I'm off track, this thread is about Korean tractors.

 

[TSO]

jix,

I won't disagree with you that Kubota builds a very good tractor, but one of the really smart things they did was to make the "rental/construction" grade units like the B21, B26, L35/L39 etc. models. They are much more robust and will take a lot more abuse than the comparable "homeowner/hobby farmer" units. Of course they cost more as well. I'm a Mahindra dealer and I wish they sold a dedicated TLB line in the USA. I'm not sure any of the hobby farm grade units (even JD or Kubota) are designed with the duty cycle in mind for what we might call "hard service". Hard Service to me means rental and/or construction with multiple operators where the tractor is used hard for hours each day. The average hobby farmer puts on less than 100 hours a year, and some of that is running to the mailbox to get mail or mowing the lawn. Then it gets washed and put in the garage at the end of the day. But I'm off track, this thread is about Korean tractors.

I would dare say my Massey is built to such standards... Judging by how well it's holding up with the work I'm putting it thru. CAT dealers sold the same tractor (Massey 1500 series/ AGCO ST series... as the CAT Challenger MT tractors) for such commercial uses.

 

[AaronS]

I may be blind, simple, or both, but no kidding, a quick look at the specs from the web site and I couldn't tell if they offered a cab-on version.

They do, I promise.

 

[DavesTractor]

I would dare say my Massey is built to such standards... Judging by how well it's holding up with the work I'm putting it thru. CAT dealers sold the same tractor (Massey 1500 series/ AGCO ST series... as the CAT Challenger MT tractors) for such commercial uses.

I would disagree that it is to the same standards, but not due to quality issues. It is a design thing. Look at a 26 HP Kubota B series with a backhoe attachment and a loader attachment. That's a good little tractor. Then look at a B26 TLB. These are different animals. One is meant for normal use, the other for commercial/industrial abuse! They are the same quality, but built for a different purpose.

One other example is a Green JD 85'ish HP farm tractor with a loader and backhoe. Compare that with a Yellow JD210 construction rig. Similar size and HP, but different purpose altogether. You can take the JD210 and dig (not just load) with the front loader all day long, and back drag with the bucket tipped at about any angle. You do that with a farm tractor loader for long and you have problems.

BTW, I'm a fan of the larger Iseki MF models, they are sweet tractors, and a match for about anything out there when we are talking features and quality.

 

[TSO]

BTW, I'm a fan of the larger Iseki MF models, they are sweet tractors, and a match for about anything out there when we are talking features and quality.

When you say "larger" ........ ???

 

[DavesTractor]

When you say "larger" ........ ???

Certainly yours qualifies!

 

[TSO]

Certainly yours qualifies!

Lol, no I didn't mean it like that ... Just wondered what you meant by "larger." For some, that would mean utility & up

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I sincerely doubt Kioti is going to go bottom up and vanish anytime within your lifetime.

 

[GManBart]

Locally, we have a dealer that sells both LS and TYM tractors. Another dealer sells only Kioti.

Both Kiotio and LS have a good following, but Kioti are consistently better-priced..and LS have durability issues in hard service. Kioti gets my vote... Better prices, better attachments, better cabs. Weakness is that Kioti have a weaker dealer network.

I like KUBOTA best of all. Durability is best. Prices, not so much to brag about

In the U.S. Kioti is consistently more expensive than a similar machine from LS (usually like $2K or so). There are very few reports of parts failures or durability issues with either brand when you read what people are reporting here. The worst I recall are a sticking HST peddle on some of the Kiotis and a couple of LS have broken a steering knuckle (think that's what it was...it was a steering component).

 

[TSO]

In the U.S. Kioti is consistently more expensive than a similar machine from LS (usually like $2K or so). There are very few reports of parts failures or durability issues with either brand when you read what people are reporting here. The worst I recall are a sticking HST peddle on some of the Kiotis and a couple of LS have broken a steering knuckle (think that's what it was...it was a steering component).

Don't forget LS has had some issues with cracking frames at the front loader mounts, and bending/breaking 3pt stabilizer links and mounts. Not catastrophic issues by any means ... But for the purposes of this thread, they bear mentioning.

 

[GManBart]

Don't forget LS has had some issues with cracking frames at the front loader mounts, and bending/breaking 3pt stabilizer links and mounts. Not catastrophic issues by any means ... But for the purposes of this thread, they bear mentioning.

The frame issue was certainly valid, but it appears it was limited to the R3039, and was corrected. I really think it was caused by putting a loader capable of lifting over 2,200lbs on that size frame, but it still counts either way.

I don't count the 3pt stabilizer link issue because reading the descriptions of how they happen most appear to be operator issues. I bent a 3pt stabilizer on my LS, but it was because I bounced the side of a 700lb mower off a stump....my fault entirely.

Hopefully my wife won't read that I admitted ever making a mistake!

 

[paulfun9]

In the U.S. Kioti is consistently more expensive than a similar machine from LS (usually like $2K or so). There are very few reports of parts failures or durability issues with either brand when you read what people are reporting here. The worst I recall are a sticking HST peddle on some of the Kiotis and a couple of LS have broken a steering knuckle (think that's what it was...it was a steering component).

With the exception of one dealer who had prices jacked up compared to all the other Kioti dealers, My experience with the price quotes from 3 LS dealers were all between 2 - 2500 more for the LS than the Kioti. I wonder why that is because all the prices I saw advertised online from the dealers out of state had prices about 1500 to 2000 less listed.
All my price quotes included an FEL and backhoe for every tractor I looked at.

 

[GManBart]

With the exception of one dealer who had prices jacked up compared to all the other Kioti dealers, My experience with the price quotes from 3 LS dealers were all between 2 - 2500 more for the LS than the Kioti. I wonder why that is because all the prices I saw advertised online from the dealers out of state had prices about 1500 to 2000 less listed.
All my price quotes included an FEL and backhoe for every tractor I looked at.

I have seen folks comment that the LS backhoe is more expensive than the similar Kioti model....that and maybe shipping distances could be enough to cause the difference you've experienced....just a thought.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

When I bought my Kioti, the comparable LS was a little bit less expensive.

And keep in mind that Kioti comes with one set of rear remotes and the LS comes with two, so you've got to add that cost to the Kioti to be apples to apples.

 

[paulfun9]

The cost of one extra rear remote is not going to cover a two thousand dollar difference.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Of course not. My point was simply that you have to make sure you are comparing the prices of equally equipped machines.

As I said, in my case the Kioti was a little more expensive AND I had to add the cost of the 2nd remote.