Well I drove around all morning checking several different models. One dealer also sold yanmars and I drove a SA324 didn't like it much but it had a roomy operators station. Lots of plastic on it though and the loader seemed pretty flimsy.
I ended up getting the Kioti. The one thing I don't necessarily like about it is the treadle for the HST I played around with it for about 30min or so and after a little seat time I felt I could get used to it. Some of the others were nicer in some areas and not so much in others. The thing that stood out to me the most on the Kioti was it felt much tougher and more solid. It is built a lot heavier in a lot of areas. The other thing was the loader control. It was a lot smoother and more refined and could be feathered easier to lift and curl at the same time. Most of the others it was either or and they also seemed to take a lot of finesse to prevent the all or nothing when moving the bucket.
The dealer had come down quite a bit on price since last month which was also a contributing factor. I got the tires loaded, a cutting edge for the bucket and all the filters for the first service. Out the door cost before tax was $14,500. Total with tax and insurance (@$10mo) was $16,400. Darned taxes! It includes free delivery and free implement rental 5 times a year for up to 10days for 5yrs. That'll give time to see what I'll need without be pressured to buy a lot of stuff right away.
Should be here tomorrow or Thursday depending on when they get it back from getting the tires filled. Just in time to break it in this weekend!
Thanks everyone for the input! This is great resource!
