Well. I finally started haying a few days ago.
I'm running a NH488 haybine. The tractor handles this little cutter effortlessly, as it should. I had the tires filled with calcium. This is absolutely necessary to make this tractor feel "planted". The vibration of the haybine transmits through this tractor much more than it does with my larger Deutz. Not annoying, just an observation.
The first thing I did when I got the tractor home was I greased the airfilter sealing surface. I'm glad I did, as when I checked it yesterday a tiny bit of dirt had bypassed the seal and was caught by the grease. The airbox has the holding flange for the secondary filter. I have two secondary filters on hold at the "local" Perkins distributor (1 1/2 hrs away). I greased the seal heavily on re-installation and will be more comfortable once I get the additional filter. I would strongly recommend this additional filter for this engine.
The gearbox is slowly freeing up. It may shift really nicely yet. At only 54 hours of too-light use, the tranny has not been working very hard.
I changed the engine oil at 31 hours. It looked clean and normal. I bought a couple of Wix oil filters using the Wix site for reference and the filter they list for the DK90 is wrong. I have to return them. So I did not change the oil filter. I now have proper oil filters from Perkins and will change it soon. I changed the front end fluids at 42 hours. It was normal, showing tiny shiny flecs in the sun. I used the Shell Donax transmission/hydraulic fluid. I was flip/flopping from gear oil to this fluid in my brain and finally just used the Donax. It smells distinctly like gear oil and seems exactly the same as the factory fluid.
The fluid quantity for the engine is listed as 10.5 litres. This must be with a dry engine, as it only takes a little over 8 litres (I removed, drained, and re-installed the stock filter for now).
The front end quantities are a little closer, but still not exact; 6 litres in the diff to weep hole (book says 5.5). 3.1 litres came out of each front gearcase; I put 3.1 back in (book says 3.5, sticker in tractor cab says 2 litres). Minor details, but it was a bit of a pain to dump 10 litres in the engine and then remove 2 to get the level correct. It seems that the quantities of fluid listed in the "manual" (using the term loosely) are from-dry fills, not replacements from wet levels. No biggy.
The operator's manual is poor. Very little information and many minor discrepencies. I have the parts manual and the shop manual sitting at a bus station about an hour away and will get it soon. I should have had them already, but I left the dealership with a DX100 parts manual. Not sure how that got into the country, as that tractor model is not even available here. I also left the dealership with a service manual which turned out to be only the supplement for the tier III engine and a couple of other pages. I should be straightened out on this stuff right away.
I did a little baling with my NH853 baler the other day before I got rained out after about 80 bales. This is a nice tractor for baling. It steers beautifully and handles the baler effortlessly, as it should.
IMO, Kioti has made a major oversight in gearing on this tractor. There is no overlap between ranges, so when operating PTO equipment there are not enough speed choices available. I can go 3.5mph (too slow) or 5.2mph (too fast). I want to go about 4.75mph with my gear in my fields most of the time. There should be gearing choices in the "working gears" in about 0.5mph increments, not 1.5mph increments. This could be a deal breaker for many. Maybe even me if I knew the gearing right from the get-go. I may have immediately dismissed the tractor as an option before I did much more research.......Anyway, it is what it is, so I can go a little too slow or a little too fast. I have only 2 working gears: medium 1st and medium second. Low 4th should fit between there and High 1st should finish out the top, IMO.
The gearing would probably be fine for many applications not running the PTO by adjusting speed with the throttle....
Medium second has a slightly annoying gear whine/resonance/howl right at working speed/high load (full baler climbing a grade, for example). Probably nothing, probably will quiet down as it breaks in.
Otherwise I am pretty impressed by this machine overall.
The optional 3rd hydraulic lever came with the old style knob and looks stupid next to the other 2 newer style hydraulic knobs. A new knob is in the package with my manuals at the bus station.
I noticed a tiny, tiny coolant leak from behind the water pump at the 31 hour oil change (loss of about 1/3 litre of fluid since new). My dealer is 6 hours away. Luckily one of western Canada's major Perkins engine distributors is only 1 1/2 hours away. Yesterday a very experienced mechanic came out and replaced the water pump. There was nothing wrong with the original pump, but the tiny leak had made a mess of the sealing surface, so the mechanic just replaced the unit. This detail does not dissuade me, as anything is possible with new machinery. I think I will know what I have next year at around 1000hrs.
Anyway, I am finally actually using the tractor for what I bought it for. I will be putting a few hundred hours on it in the next little while. I am pretty used to it now. It has turned out to "fit" me pretty good ergonomically. It continues to get smoother and smoother. I will try to work around the limited gear selection, which is the only glaring fault I have found with the unit do date.
Everthing MBTrac said in his evaluation is spot-on. Read his report carefully if you are considering one of these tractors. I have only added the limited gear selection to his list.
I also added a report of a very satisfactory warranty claim experience.
Oh, and the young fellow who put fluid in the tires said "this is the nicest little tractor I have ever seen and I would buy one if I was in the market". He does tire work all around here on many brands. Many brands being Deere, CNH, Kubota, etc. "Nicest little tractor" is obviously not the case, but it's a FWIW. And it shows that this unit does not look cheap. The local retired old timer came out in the field to have a look at it the other day while I was cutting and was impressed with it. He's a John Deere guy thru and thru.
If this machine is as good on the inside as it looks on the outside then it is the best value in this size tractor, bar none. We'll see.
More later.
PS, I adjusted the drawbar to fit my gear and the drawbar pin keeper bolt was barely snug from the factory! I'm sure it would have eventually worked its way out. Not anymore.
