Kioti vs Kubota Quality - No Empirical Evidence

[ncridgerunner1]

I have owned 3 Kubota tractors over the years and have enjoyed each. I sold my last Kubota with plans to purchase a larger Kubota to help with Western NC Hurricane Helene clean-up. I priced a Kubota from my long time dealer and decided to price a Kioti as well (different dealer). With all said and done I ordered a Kioti because I got more features for nearly $10K less. The Kioti dealer also spent time working to meet my needs while the Kubota dealer just wrote down some numbers and basically said "take it or leave it".

Before ordering I researched online comparisons of Kioti vs Kubota Quality. Of course the findings varied though a majority stated that Kubota was superior in quality. What struck me as amusing was that as far as the quality question was concerned there was no empirical evidence offered... only opinion. It's like the heated conversations I heard in my childhood of adults who proclaimed Chevy, Ford, or Chrysler to be superior based mostly on what they owned (though I do believe on a quiet night you can hear a Ford rust )

My first Kioti is a CK4020HST Cab that is to be delivered next week. Hopefully I will be touting a positive opinion of the quality of Kioti soon.

 

[Ridgeline Farmer]

I couldn't agree more with your thoughts. I had purchased a used CaseIH C70 tractor used in 2018 that I thought would last me a long time. I was wrong. I began looking at tractors and decided on a new one. I have owned 2 Kubota tractors that have served me well. I priced a new Kubota M7060 with 12 speed transmission, self leveling loader, and their cast wheel rims.

On a whim I drove about 1.5 hours south of where I live to look at a Kioti RX7320 tractor. This tractor came with loaded tires, a full tank of fuel, and protective wrap on loader hydraulic hoses as free add ons. It came standard with a 12 speed transmission and self leveling loader.

I asked about a package deal for the tractor and dual spindle 8ft Iron Craft 3pt rotary mower. They gave me a price that I liked but told them I would think it over during the weekend. On my way home they texted me they found another $1600 in savings for me. I called back and sealed the deal.

In the end I purchased the RX7320 and 8ft rotary mower for $13,000 dollars less than the Kubota M7060 by itself. If it was just the tractor the difference may have been as much as $18,000 dollars. As much as I love Kubota I don't know if it is $18,000 dollars better than the Kioti. I currently have about 70 hours on my Kioti and no issues.

As a final note, I made this purchase in August 2024 and do not currently know what prices/incentives are for both brands. Personally I am happy with my choice so far.

 

[ncridgerunner1]

It was interesting that a few non-Kioti dealer websites had a long writeup about how purchasing a Kioti was "risky" due to lack of dealerships, parts, service, etc. For them to go to the trouble of criticizing a rival machine tells me that they must be losing a lot of sales to Kioti.

The Kubota dealer has a brand new show room building but I saw only about 9 new tractors on the lot and 3 on the shipping crate. I drove behind the Kioti dealer to see their shop facilities and saw more than 20 unassembled tractors (mostly compact or subcompact) still on the shipping crate in addition to a fair number ready to go on the lot. Maybe this means Kubota is selling as fast as they come in and Kioti tractors are not moving, but I suspect it means that Kioti is selling so well that they are ordering in bulk to keep up with demand.

Due to the number of customers, I had to wait a while to see a sales rep at the Kioti dealership and saw 2 tractor sales occur before it was my turn. I was the only customer at the Kubota dealership. These visits were on the same day within an hour of each other.

 

[IXLR8]

When I was looking for a tractor, I went into my local Kubota dealership had a pleasant chat with the owner. He showed me a few tractors in the size I was looking at. I was not happy with the ergonomics. We went back in the dealership and he asked what other tractors I was looking at, when I mentioned Kioti he became irate and about thru me out. I've never been back. I drove 2.5 hrs to the nearest dealer and bought a Kioti for less money and the loader had twice the lifting capacity as the nearest Kubota. Been running strong since 2013.

 

[IndyIan]

IMHO, you have to research model and the year, as no manufacturer hits a home run every time, and some hit a few less out of the park than others. Blindly buying a Kioti or a Kubota or anything else, especially used, can cost you a few(or a lot) bucks to fix an engineering error or parts quality problem, which could be just that one model for a year or two.
I certainly don't regret buying my Kioti as it was my first tractor, and for equal money at the time, I'd be into a much simpler(no HST) very used Kubota, or a much smaller new one.
I don't think I would ever recommend an NX Kioti to anyone(or I would tell them to do their own research), based on what I've read here, but I would recommend my tractor, or the NS series for this size, as they are pretty simple, durable heavier machines.
Also, depending on your experience, skills, or the local independent tractor repair options, the dealer can be very important or not very. For me, Kioti also has a pair of great dealers close by, and the best one for a home-owner to deal with. My tractor was a significant sale for them and Kioti is what they service. The other dealers are relatively big, and a $22k tractor is not a priority for service or maybe even training service techs, when guys are buying big farm equipment, or construction and spend 100's of thousands over the years.

 

[deezler]

Congrats, @ncridgerunner1 !

I did a ton of research when I was looking for a ~30-40 HP machine myself. I wanted the smallest tractor that A) had enough power to drive uphill in high range, on an HST with 3 ranges, and B) had enough front loader to lift at least 1600-1800 lbs (a full IBC tote of firewood).

If I wanted this in a Kubota, it basically had to be a top-of-the-line L series ($40-50k), or the MX5200/5400 which is a pretty huge machine. The Kioti CK3510 was exactly in the sweet spot for my needs, and as a bonus was a lot more affordable than a Kubota that couldn't even match its capability specs.

Then I got luck and one came up used with just 100 hours on it, in a terrific package deal - so I jumped on that. I was nervous about warranty issues and such, but my local Kioti dealership only asked a $50 warranty-transfer fee and got it switched right over into my name. Which was timely, as I had one issue arise requiring a new EGR valve. All covered for $0 under warranty but would have been several hundred dollars of parts and labor otherwise.

I am at 370 hours now with no other issues, ever. Only pesky thing is a very slow gear-oil leak on the front right drop axle, pretty common with these machines. Leaves a small spot on the garage floor when I forget to toss a rag near it, but not bad enough to motivate me to rebuild it just yet.

 

[deezler]

My first Kioti is a CK4020HST Cab that is to be delivered next week. Hopefully I will be touting a positive opinion of the quality of Kioti soon.

Remember that, as with any tractor, a lot of initial impressions of quality are actually things that can be attributed to the quality of final-assembly and sale-prep by your dealership, not the Kioti engineering itself.

While you can and should expect your dealer to do all this correctly and stand behind their work, it would also behoove you to just start taking ownership of the machine status and maintenance right from the get-go. Check every single bolt for torque/tightness (especially wheel lug bolts, front loader mounts, and the grease zerk plates/covers on the loader), keep a close eye on all hydraulic lines and fittings that the dealer may have touched, check your engine and hydraulic fluid levels right away and periodically going forward, etc.

It's sad when we see people on this site and elsewhere trashing on their new machines as a piece of junk and it mostly boiled down to their local dealership's competence.

 

[David in KY]

My Kioti dealer was a former Kubota dealer!
There were problems with Kubota corporate that made the dealer decide to end their relationship.

Nonetheless, I am the proud owner of an RX6620. It's a strong, well built machine.
I have done some amazing work with it, subduing some wild and hilly ground.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

WHen I was researching my new (then 2012) tractor. I visited JD, Kubota, Kioti, Case, Holland. I started talking numbers nothing serious at the initial visit. Got rough numbers if you will. Then I examined the specs for front, back loads weight of tractor. Lastly I looked at the neat/cool things about them. Kioti beat bota by a fair margin, the sales office was about 5 miles from my house. I ended up signing up with Kioti and literally drove it home.

I also got a lot of lip from other dealers about Kioti brand. None turned out to be true for me. I have heard the same kinda negative publicity when truck/car shopping. I ignore em or sort through the trash looking for supporting information. I always saw that as an inferiority complex.

 

[jyoutz]

They are both well established brands with good service history. As has been mentioned so many times before, at lot boils down to your local dealer support. In my case, the Kioti dealer was further away and had a fly by night appearing operation, while the Kubota dealer was long established with full service availability. I’m sure this varies by location.