I think I found what I was looking for

[mudcat47537]

Ive been looking at all the compact tractors for the past month. I've got 18 acres with 10 wooded with the house in the middle and an 8 acre pasture. We raise goats both dairy and fiber barn to clean out garden to tend, fences to keep up and improve as well as a 1800' gravel drive. I have been using my 53 Ford jubilee for the last 8 years and it does well with the drive, bush hogging the pasture and other work but it does not do the barn cleaning it is all wheel barrow and pitch fork to the trailer then to the compost heap. I have been looking at tractors in the less than 30hp range, just enough to run my 5' bush hog and most I can fit in the barn isle to clean the stalls. So the tractors I was looking at were the Massey ferguson 1529, Kubota L3400., the John Deere 3032e, Kioti CH30 and the Mihindra 3016 all with FEL. After a lot of time checking them out and reading here on TBN I thought these were my best choices.The John Deere was out almost as quickly as I visited my 2 closest dealers. Neither one seemed like they wanted to sell me anything and were not helpful at all. The Kubota was a nice tractor and I liked the 27" front tires but it also was second highest in price. The Massey dealer was closest to me and really nice and I like the tractor a lot. I went to visit the Mihindra dealer and he was very knowledgeable about his product and very helpful. But the tractor just seemed kind of odd to me like where stuff was and the procedure for checking the oil was crazy, I just cannot believe it. Nice tractor but I think it just needs a little more refinement. Then yesterday I drove 40 miles to the Kioti dealer, 15 miles from work. Wow is all I got to say I was impressed with the fit and finish of the tractor right up there with the Kubota and Massey maybe even better. I like the way the loader arms are closed off and it has reinforcement plates welded to the side of the arms. Nice quick attach bucket that looked much stronger than the others. Great lay out easy opening hood, telescopic link ends nice flat platform and a nice dealer too. It seems like that lift capacities are down a little from the others but it all depends on where they are measured from. Anyway I am going to contact another dealer to check the price I was given that seems a little high 2013 CK30 HST with loader$17,500. I like the tractor now if we can just work a deal, I will be on a new tractor.

 

[cletus99]

I asked for a price quote a few weeks ago on a CK27 and 30 HST and the dealer just gave me a price back on a gear CK27 of 14,000 and said that the HST was 1500 more. I don't know why he didn't give me a quote for the CK30 also like I asked. I didn't even bother to go back and ask. I would think 17500 is probably pretty close. That all depends on if it was a cash price or zero percent financing price though. Also, if you haven't researched it you may want to look into the problem that some are having with the HST peddle on the CK30 HST. I haven't seen yet where anyone has said Kioti has fixed the problem.

 

[kiotiken]

Well, right off the kioti website they say $16,999 for a CK30. You can always do a little better as well.

CK Savings Days | Kioti Tractors

 

[cletus99]

Well, right off the kioti website they say $16,999 for a CK30. You can always do a little better as well.

CK Savings Days | Kioti Tractors

I agree, you can always do better. I wasn't negotiating a price either, just getting a quote. I imagine quotes are usually higher than what you can really get it for. I only have one Kioti dealer near me though, which fortunately is only about 15 miles away. They will still be on my list of conciderations when I am able to buy. I'm still at a toss up between Kubota, Kioti, and Mahindra myself.

I bet there is some catch though to that $16,999 pricing since they had to put "as low as $16,999 USA" in bold letters.

 

[mudcat47537]

Well I contacted another dealer and got a price of $17750 for a CK27 HST with a 5' box blade and a 5' bush hog including taxes and loader. I'm going to take it. Now just to get off work this weekend and make the trip to pick it up.

 

[kiotiken]

Well I contacted another dealer and got a price of $17750 for a CK27 HST with a 5' box blade and a 5' bush hog including taxes and loader. I'm going to take it. Now just to get off work this weekend and make the trip to pick it up.

That sounds like a pretty good price to me. Did you ask about the price diff. to the CK30 or CK35, sometimes it's very little. It sounds like he may have the most room to work with you on the CK27 though. My only real complaint with my CK30 was that high range wasn't very useful, the tractor was just to heavy to be able to move that much that quickly. I suspect a CK35 would have made a pretty big difference, but it was a big jump in price.

Anyway you go, the CK's are great machines and out spec and out perform almost everything else in the size. Congrats, you'll love it.

 

[murphy1244]

Welcome to the pack. Now we need pictures.

 

[lakngulf]

Great job studying the options. I am very pleased with my CK30 gear. The 27 should handle nicely in the barn and field

 

[mudcat47537]

All this time and decision made but here I sit second guessing myself. Wondering if I should get gear drive. I do all my own work on my vehicles after this warranty runs out of course. I can replace a clutch and even rebuild a transmission but a HST is a new animal to me. I just don't know if convenience is worth giving up some simplicity for. My 17 year old Husquvarna lawn tractor is starting to have some HST issues. Granted it doesn't owe me anything and has lasted longer than I would have ever imagined. But it is fairly simple to swap a new HST unit into. A CUT probably not so much.
I don't usually buy anything new and am not used to having such choices. I may just be a little OCD lol. But this decision is about to drive me nuts. I know which tractor I want but all these options....

 

[kiotiken]

All this time and decision made but here I sit second guessing myself. Wondering if I should get gear drive. I do all my own work on my vehicles after this warranty runs out of course. I can replace a clutch and even rebuild a transmission but a HST is a new animal to me. I just don't know if convenience is worth giving up some simplicity for. My 17 year old Husquvarna lawn tractor is starting to have some HST issues. Granted it doesn't owe me anything and has lasted longer than I would have ever imagined. But it is fairly simple to swap a new HST unit into. A CUT probably not so much.
I don't usually buy anything new and am not used to having such choices. I may just be a little OCD lol. But this decision is about to drive me nuts. I know which tractor I want but all these options....

No, not so simple with a CUT, you need to split the tractor to do it. Lots of people here say they've done it and it's not that hard, but it's not something I think a lot of us would do. The HST in that tractor is also worth about $3K, mine had to be replaced under warranty. Can't imagine what it would cost in 15 years.

If you're doing a lot of loader work, there's no question HST is the way to go. The CK line has a bit of an issue with the HST. Do a search for sticky hst pedal on TBN and you'll have plenty of reading. I still wouldn't be scared away from it, even though I had the issue and my hst was replaced because of it. I do prefer the HST set up on the DK series, not sure if that's at all a possibility for you.

I wouldn't worry about the longevity of the HST. They're not new and if you take care of your tractor should last a very long time. My first tractor was a 20 yr old JD 955 with 1900 hrs. Everything except the hst broke on that.