CK20 or CK25 for my "to be" horse farm?

[ninermac]

CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

First post, but I've been lurking for quite a while. The info on these forums is priceless, but there is just so much advice this and that way on everything, I thought it was time to post a question for myself.

My wife and I bought a 13 acre wooded(forrest) lot with a house. We could see the land was nice rolling hils and had potential. IT's now been cleared with the exception of trees we marked for keeping. We have probably have a 1000 feet of total driveway to manage (road to house with a split off to barn). There is probably close to two acres of mowing that will need to be done around the house, but we will be using a lawn tractor for that(already have one). During clearing, we created a small pond and a flat place that will eventually be a dressage(sp?) arena. A 6 stall barn will also be built eventually.

Immediate tasks for a tractor would be working on some of the ditches for our drive, cleaning out where sediment has moved (no grass yet). We want to raise the dam a little for the pond to increase it's size and possible cut out the pond a bit more. There is probably some bush-hogging to be done in back and a good bit of post-hole digging everywhere...

Ongoing: Pasture maintenance, work around the barn, driveway maintenance, etc...

My question is would the CK20 or a CK25/30 be my best bet for what I need? All thoughts and opinions welcome!

Thanks,
Mac

 

[Whiskey]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

Ninermac:

I would have to say, being you have a yard machine for the yard and getting around the trees, I'd look at the CK30. I only take care of 5 acres and a 12 stall barn with only 2 horse's and it keep my JD 790 hopping.

I think you will find 30 hp go's good on the smaller horse farms and you'll like the weight and power of the CK30 for what your looking to do with it.

oh, and welcome to the site /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Golfgar4]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

Welcome! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I would think that any of the 3 would work well, but if it were me, I'd be going with the 30. Of course, it's always easier to spend someone else's money! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

However, you mention that you'll need it to work around the barn. Since you also mention a dressage arena, I'm guessing you're going to have horses, huh? Pretty astute observation if I do say so myself! /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

You might want to determine what the size of your stalls will be. I'd think you'd want to be able to get the tractor into the stalls for clean out?

I'm always interested on why a person seems to already have his/her mind made up at the beginning of their tractor search. Is there a specific reason why you've settled on Kioti? Please don't take this wrong. I think Kioti is a great tractor. I wish I had a dealer closer to me. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

But there are a lot of other fine machines out there too, like JD, NH, Kubota, MF. Have you looked at these too? I would definitely encourage you to shop around to see what other possibilities might be available.

Good luck on your search and have FUN. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[pilonidal]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

I have a CK 20 for 10 acres 300 ft lane and does fine. How big will the pasture be and the size of the manure spreader? Probably a CK 25 at least.

 

[ninermac]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

The reason I'm settling somewhat on Kioti is the dealership is 5-7 minutes away and they seem to be super nice. They have not tried so sell me on anything I don't think I need. The other close dealer carries New Holland and Kubota. From what I've looked at, specs and features, the Kioti seems to give me a little more for my money. Also, the NH/Kubota dealer seems to be more concentrated on taking the cash out of the wallet than selling me the right tractor.

There is a Farmtrac place about 15 miles away, and I've heard good things about them, but I haven't really looked that way yet.

-Mac

 

[GerardC]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

Welcome to TBN.
Kioti offers it standard as others have it as options. I looked at several brands and found no better deal than Kioti for what I wanted in a tractor. You WILL NOT be sorry if you go with Kioti. I'm amazed by what my CK20 has done for me without any problems what-so-ever. They can handle a lot more than you think. Good luck in your decision making. G

 

[To20Chris]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

Go for bigger - but you may also want to look at the LK3054XS. I hadn't even looked at that page of the Kioti website until after I went to see a CK20HST (which I also very much liked), and drove an LK too. You may find it to be a good value

 

[VT_Kioti]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

I would go for the CK 30. In fact that's just what I've done. I found out the hard way that if you go to small you will be sorry. If you go big you will never be sorry. Unless, of course it really big.
When looking to upgrade in HP, I looked at several 30HP range models and makes. I like the layout of the operators area best. And the new design of the hood and the new loader arms make seeing what your doing a snap.
Should be here in 1 to two weeks. (I hope) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[KiotiJohn]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

I have the CK20HST, and trying to imagine it with 5 or 10 more horsepower, I can easily see that the CK30 would probably be all the tractor you'd ever need. You spoke of ditch work, and I'm sure you could do it with the CK20, but the extra HP will always help with any ground-engaging activity. One of the advantages I like about the CKs is the use of curved loader arms and sloped hood for extra visibility. I have the tractor, loader and backhoe along with a host of other implements and my CK has done most everything I've needed it to. I may soon add a CK30 however for more intense ground work. In summary, if I had what you have there, I'd go with the 30. John

 

[BobJG]

Re: CK20 or CK25 for my \"to be\" horse farm?

For what your looking to do I would recommend the CK30. Even though I did not end up buying one (I went with a 32 horse JD4310) it was my first choice for a while. I do a lot of loader work (turning 10 tonnes of manure every thirty days) and do not regret for a second going with a 32HP tractor. Regardless of brand the questions you have to ask yourself is how much work will there be and how quickly will I want to do it? A 30 horse tractor with a 60" bucket will move a lot more horse manure faster than a 20 horse with a 48" bucket.

In my mind there is no reason to get a CK25 as the CK30 has basically the same weight, same dimensions, and gets you 5 more HP. That will help with ditch work.