Kioti Ck30 w/HST or Century C35 Gear

Twigman · Jun 25, 2005

It's crunch time! Kioti Ck30 w/HST or Century C35 Gear? I will be getting FEL, BH among other things. I will semi clearing ( taking out small trees and brush) about 10 acres, cutting in a long driveway, site work for a house and a barn and a whole lot of other things! HST very easy to operate, C35 w/ 50HL loader is alot more powerful and heavier, but have to shift.

Big_Lug · Jun 25, 2005

Hydro is nice, I have it on my JD lawn tractor and wouldn't have it any other way, but I also have a Branson 4020 which is the same as a Century, and it is not bad with the shuttle shift. All I can say is go with the best dealer.

Stimw · Jun 25, 2005

I just bought a Branson 3510 with R-4 tires, I'm up to 8 hours on it. I spread 2 dump truck loads of dirt for a neighbor last week. I have a 7' grader blade and the tractor didn't even notice it was back there. I did slip the tires until I went to 4 WD. I read that the Branson (Century) weighs about 500 lb more than others in it's class.
I also used my 5' bushhog and it was very smooth and had plenty of power. I even hit an 8" piece of concrete and it chewed it up before I could abort.
And unless you are going to do a lot of plowing the R-4 tires (industrial) are the best. They haven't hurt my grass and really compacted that dirt when I spread it. tim

Evasive1 · Jun 26, 2005

I have a Century 3045 for over a year now with over 100 hours on it and love it as much as I did when I bought it. I have used it fairly hard as we are also building a house. The C-50 HL loader is awesome. I have moved substantial boulders, cut in a driveway and it has been used everyday since starting the house from moving lumber, bricks, morter and anything else that needs moved. I ordered 55 square of shingles for the house and had 9 left over on 2 pallets and the loader lifted the pallets up on my trailer saving me a lot of hard work. It made the back end a little light but the heavy weight of the Century balanced it out. I like the feel of the clutch throttle setup for front end work and the the shuttle allows you to go from forward to reverse even while still moving.

Something I also like about shuttle tractors is that you do not have to have the engine at high idle all the time. To me this is nice as it saves fuel, cuts down on sustained noise and the hour meter does not rack up as fast. Of course if you are running a PTO implement your rpm's will have to be set high anyway, but for loader work and moving around I rarely get mine over 2000 rpm.

I have no problem suggesting a Century/Branson to anyone.

What kind of price have you been given for both?

Twigman · Jun 27, 2005

Kioti FEL,BH, 20,000.00, Century FEL, BH, 22,000.00.

Gatorboy · Jun 27, 2005

Duplicate Threads cause disjoint conversations: Kioti Ck30 w/HST or Century C35 Gear

HODAK · Jun 28, 2005

disjoint...? Never heard that one before. Oh, wait...the other day I said to my wife, "wanna stop at disjoint for a sandwich". /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

anthonyk · Jul 2, 2005

Just another thought: The hydrosatatic is easier to drive, and leaves the hands free, but it does seem to use some of the available power as a trade off for convenience. I've got a Century 3647 with the shuttle shift, and don't mind shifting. Once you drop the clutch, you're in. Direct power transfer to the wheels.
My neighbor has a JD with hydro, and more than once he's said that he wished he hadn't gone with it. It does sound like an electric tractor to me, and I've seen him trying to load dirt with the FEL and the tractor just hums and sits there.
I don't know for sure how much of the power is routed to provide the ease of the hydro, but it must be some.
That may not be important, but when you're wishing for that last little bit of hp, it sure can seem that way.

anthony

wejones · Jul 3, 2005

Twigman, As others have said with a shuttle transmission you can get a rythmn where you hardly stop moving when you are shifting. I have a Century 2535 with about 90 hours on it and the c50 loader. It is a very smooth operating system and you will be amazed at how much dirt you can move in very short amount of time. I have also used the Kubota HST's doing loader work and an hst is great for doing loader work. Either machine you have mentioned will do a good job. In the end it will be your preference and the dealer that will determine your choice. I prefer fewer bells and whistles in my equipment; others want them. You can find examples to justify either choice. Good Luck. Willie Jones