Comparison Choosing and 1st impressions

[ThundernMojo]

I'm in the market for a tractor w/fel. I have been reading, researching and watching the RK line. The RK55 seems to be the size I'm going for. The normal tractor salesmen was gone for the day but another guy and the store manager were helpful. I drove both the SC and HC. Initial thoughts were that the lock on the cab was very cumbersome, the salesmen and I both had a heck of a time to get it to work right on both tractors, which isn't a big deal as I doubt I will use the lock often. I also thought the levers to open the windows were very cheap feeling. Beyond that I was very impressed with the value of the tractor. A farmer friend of mine is trying real hard to talk me out of the RK and into buying a gently used NH, Case or Massey. I agree that for $29,999 for the SC + 2rd function valve and sales tax I could buy a decent used one. My question is then why was this used tractor traded in or being sold? What problems are gonna sneak up on me? Where the warranty with the RK would be piece of mind. I own 29 acres mostly wooded so I'm not going to be working the daylights out of the machine by any means. Guess I'm looking for advice to push me off the fence one way or the other.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Just like so many people say, gently used almost always carries an almost new price. Personally, I would go with older trusted names, but that's just my opinion. The newcomers might turn out to be GREAT tractors, but that hasn't been given the test of time yet.

 

[gunny0628]

TYM is barely a newcomer - and the maker of the RK tractor. The engines are being used in many of the other tractor brands as well.

I am thoroughly pleased with my 55 HC. More pleased with the price tag or the tractor, loader, third function, grapple, box blade, blade, carry all, boom and rake.

As far as the locks. Maybe they are a little cumbersome but they work. The window patches are functional. Best of all the engine is strong and the air conditioning works great.

 

[g8erh8er]

Guess I'm looking for advice to push me off the fence one way or the other.

I sold my MF 1532 because I wanted a cab and more power (mainly for the cab though). It was five years old, had some minor dings/scratches, and about 450 hrs on the clock. I sold it for $3k less than it was purchased for. My issue with used tractors is that if they are in decent shape, they tend to hold their value. So with a little more money, you could just go new and have the peace of mind of the full warranty.

When I was looking, LS was the only competing brand that could come close to RK as far as price was concerned. That may have changed some since there was a $2k price increase on the RK55 since I purchased mine. MF, JD, Kubota, and Mahindra were much more expensive in this size with comparable options. I felt like I got a lot for my money with the RK and have been pleased thus far with the tractor's performance (only 30hrs on the clock though).

Some have expressed hesitation over this being a new brand and whether the service aspect of RK will be around in the future. If after sale support and service is important to you, it's certainly something that should be considered. For me, I don't plan on ever having the tractor back at RK unless it has a major issue that is covered under warranty. Otherwise, I'll do it myself.

 

[markie61]

First, somehow you started two identical threads - you may want to contact Muhammed, the Webmaster, and ask him if he can combine them.
Second, I have experience in both - bought a used tractor and a new tractor. Twenty years ago I bought my NH TC40D used from a dealer. It was back from a short-term 6-month lease/rental and had 50 hours on the clock. Even though it was a hydro (which is what I REALLY wanted), it ended up costing $2000 less than any of the shuttle-shift (which is only what I thought I could afford) quotes I was getting from the tractor-brand rainbow. Essentially, I was saving a fortune at a cost of giving up 6-month's warranty - minimal risk (although it turned out to be a good thing I had the warranty since the TC40D was a new design and the bugs hadn't yet been worked out - see late 90s history of the loader joystick, corroding radiators, and tilt-steering issues).
Finally, I was looking over the past year for a deal similar to above and couldn't find one. The more I looked, the more I realized that the RK tractor was about as close to "the deal" as I was going to get: a warrantied tractor exactly what I really wanted for thousands less than what I thought I could afford. The better news is that this tractor's design is not brand new - it is a TYM T554HST cab model with RK badging (see picture of label from behind dash and the service manual cover from RK) that has been made for a few years, so it is more likely to have the bugs worked out of it compared to the NH, which was out less than a year when I bought it. If I do end up with an issue and RK (for some reason) isn't around to support it, I have the parts/service manuals, I know it's got a Yanmar engine (common in green and other brands), it's sold as Mahindra, TYM, and other brands, and most of the replaceable components under the hood have manufacturer labels with part numbers - plenty of options for service and parts.