Dave from GA & KY
Bronze Member
On 5-22-2008 I posted a thread here titled "CK-35 Arrived!". Members here were very helpful with advise and information which ultimately led to my buying this tractor. I sort of abandoned this site for quite a while as I've only had 1 post in the last 10 years. I thought folks here might enjoy hearing about my experiences with 11 1/2 years with this little tractor.
Quick history - I bought a Kioti CK-35 tractor with a KL-130 loader and a tooth bar on the bucket back in May of 2008. I have a Bush Hog squealer SQ600 5' rotary cutter and a Bush Hog SQ600 5' rollover box blade I bought about the same time. Have also acquired a 5 gang spring-tooth plow, 10' Farm King drag harrow, Bush Hog post hole digger, an old Massey-Ferguson 7' adjustable disk (cuts like no other), a 400 lb. spreader, a 2-row John Deere planter, and a 6' Top Choice finish mower. I have a 300 acre farm in Kentucky with about 100 acres clear and the rest wooded. We use the farm for hunting and recreation, I leave the real farming to a local that makes hay off my tillable ground, but, even so, this leaves plenty of work for this little Kioti tractor.
Problems I've had with it over the years...
FEL joystick wore out & had to rebuild it. Kioti had a kit that beefed up the original equipment nylon "balls" with brass or stainless, can't remember exactly. Ordered the kit and put it on myself, took about an hour as I remember. That was about 6-7 years ago and haven't had any problems with it since. Kit was about $100 I think, I was a little irritated they didn't give it to me since this was a known and pretty common failure, but, it wasn't terribly expensive and worked great.
My battery no longer charges from the alternator, not sure why, alternator is putting out juice. But, have had mice chew wires and my gas gauge no longer works, so may have something to do with it. I just put a battery charger on it once in a while and top it off, no worries.
I keep losing the stinkin' pins and pieces off the check links on the 3 point hitch. Seems these links could be better designed because when running through heavy brush the little snap pins get pulled out and everything starts falling apart. I have started wrapping all the joints/pins/clips with duct tape before I go into heavy brush. It works, just cut the duct tape off when you're done.
That's about it for problems. In 11 years, I'd say that's not bad!
I have worked this little tractor hard, very hard. Everything from grading & digging to plowing & planting to Bush hogging 5-years over-grown fields to mowing the yard to logging, and it has never let me down. With this much land there is always something to clear, cut-up, clean-up, mow or plow. It'll work hard all day on 5 gallons of diesel, it'll go places bigger tractors won't, It's heavy enough to be stable, it is comfortable to operate, and after all these years, it still looks pretty much like new! I really couldn't ask for more and would buy another Kioti in a heartbeat.
Dave
Quick history - I bought a Kioti CK-35 tractor with a KL-130 loader and a tooth bar on the bucket back in May of 2008. I have a Bush Hog squealer SQ600 5' rotary cutter and a Bush Hog SQ600 5' rollover box blade I bought about the same time. Have also acquired a 5 gang spring-tooth plow, 10' Farm King drag harrow, Bush Hog post hole digger, an old Massey-Ferguson 7' adjustable disk (cuts like no other), a 400 lb. spreader, a 2-row John Deere planter, and a 6' Top Choice finish mower. I have a 300 acre farm in Kentucky with about 100 acres clear and the rest wooded. We use the farm for hunting and recreation, I leave the real farming to a local that makes hay off my tillable ground, but, even so, this leaves plenty of work for this little Kioti tractor.
Problems I've had with it over the years...
FEL joystick wore out & had to rebuild it. Kioti had a kit that beefed up the original equipment nylon "balls" with brass or stainless, can't remember exactly. Ordered the kit and put it on myself, took about an hour as I remember. That was about 6-7 years ago and haven't had any problems with it since. Kit was about $100 I think, I was a little irritated they didn't give it to me since this was a known and pretty common failure, but, it wasn't terribly expensive and worked great.
My battery no longer charges from the alternator, not sure why, alternator is putting out juice. But, have had mice chew wires and my gas gauge no longer works, so may have something to do with it. I just put a battery charger on it once in a while and top it off, no worries.
I keep losing the stinkin' pins and pieces off the check links on the 3 point hitch. Seems these links could be better designed because when running through heavy brush the little snap pins get pulled out and everything starts falling apart. I have started wrapping all the joints/pins/clips with duct tape before I go into heavy brush. It works, just cut the duct tape off when you're done.
That's about it for problems. In 11 years, I'd say that's not bad!
I have worked this little tractor hard, very hard. Everything from grading & digging to plowing & planting to Bush hogging 5-years over-grown fields to mowing the yard to logging, and it has never let me down. With this much land there is always something to clear, cut-up, clean-up, mow or plow. It'll work hard all day on 5 gallons of diesel, it'll go places bigger tractors won't, It's heavy enough to be stable, it is comfortable to operate, and after all these years, it still looks pretty much like new! I really couldn't ask for more and would buy another Kioti in a heartbeat.
Dave
