KL1595 FEL Upgrade Kit Question

[Piney Woods Rooter]

Hello All,

New to the forum and I have to say it looks like a great source of information! Wish I'd found it years ago!!!

I'm the new owner of a 2003 DK55C w/1595 FEL and am trying to find out the cost of the FEL upgrade kit. None of the five dealers I called had any information and only one knew the kit even existed. All the stores said they would try to find out the details but it may take awhile. Maybe some of you TBN’s can provide the information while I’m waiting on the service managers to call back. I understand the cost may vary, dealer to dealer but I’m just looking for ballpark figures now; cost of kit, shipping, installation, etc. How difficult is the install in case I decide to do it myself?

Thanks for any information,

PWR

 

[depratt_equip]

check your private messages...

 

[soggybottom]

How many hrs on your 55 piney? and hows the general condition after 3 yrs? I'm thinking of buying a new one, my 2yrs old NHTC40D has 1400, I'm hoping the dk55 will hold up as well, seems most here don't put many hrs on their machines?

 

[tractorhill]

Hello All,

New to the forum and I have to say it looks like a great source of information! Wish I'd found it years ago!!!

I'm the new owner of a 2003 DK55C w/1595 FEL and am trying to find out the cost of the FEL upgrade kit. None of the five dealers I called had any information and only one knew the kit even existed. All the stores said they would try to find out the details but it may take awhile. Maybe some of you TBN’s can provide the information while I’m waiting on the service managers to call back. I understand the cost may vary, dealer to dealer but I’m just looking for ballpark figures now; cost of kit, shipping, installation, etc. How difficult is the install in case I decide to do it myself?

Thanks for any information,

Part Number 1590-2035 Kit Number Cost around $950.00 Plus Shiping

 

[psuedofarmer]

How many hrs on your 55 piney? and hows the general condition after 3 yrs? I'm thinking of buying a new one, my 2yrs old NHTC40D has 1400, I'm hoping the dk55 will hold up as well, seems most here don't put many hrs on their machines?

bought a DK55c (w/ 1595 FEL) new in july '04. now have 710 hrs on the machine. i've had no problems that i would characterize as severe:

- lost linkage to the shuttle when a $1 pin wasn't set properly @ the factory
- FM antenna connection came loose
- replaced rear worklight (turned out to be a bulb)

i'm using it for a large farm (haying, 10+ acres under cultivation, etc.).

pf

 

[Piney Woods Rooter]

How many hrs on your 55 piney? and hows the general condition after 3 yrs? I'm thinking of buying a new one, my 2yrs old NHTC40D has 1400, I'm hoping the dk55 will hold up as well, seems most here don't put many hrs on their machines?

300 hours in 3 years. I know that's not a lot - one of the reasons I bought it. The general condition is very good to excellent. I know the former owner; and that it was kept in a barn; and that all the preventive maintenance was done. The tractor had the front axel upgrade and was not abused - though definitely not babied! Most of the hours were spent bush-hogging, moving and stacking round bales and some dirt work thrown in. I think the only things that didn't work were the cigarette lighter (dealer repaired) and the windshield washer (I'll look at it when I get a chance).

I was looking mainly at John Deere and Mahindra (Kioti dealer too far away) when the deal on the DK55C came along. I was impressed with Kioti before I got the used one and even more impressed after I operated it awhile. There are plenty of other threads comparing the different brands cost, reliability, etc.; so I'll simply say this tractor has a lot of really nice features, is very user friendly (ergonomic?), looks to be easy to maintain and appears to be built to take a lot of abuse. The only thing I'm not real impressed with is the FEL, but the upgrade kit will take care of that, and of course it will be fixed on a new tractor. Only time will tell regarding future parts availability but I'm willing to bet it won't be a problem.

I don’t expect to replace this tractor any time soon!

Also; thanks depratt_equip and tractorhill !!

PWR

 

[jeffva]

A late post, but I'm now thinking of upgrading my loader - I really could use more curling angle, to save a few trips carrying stuff.

Has anyone bought and installed the upgrade? I'd like to try it this summer. I also have a grapple bucket that I switch out, so I'm hoping that won't be a problem.

tks,

 

[nkole]

My dealer provided the upgrade kit at no cost eventhough my tractor (DK45)was out of warranty.

I did the installation myself and it took about 90 minutes.

The unfortunate part is the new brackets must be welded onto the bucket. This may not be the case if you have a quick attach bucket.

Anyway, the upgrade was well worth it. I had many issues with the loader prior to the upgrade including bent tie rods, poor roll back angle and poor roll back power. Haven't bent any parts since the upgrade and the tractor can now pick up a loader full of material.

The only other issue with the upgrade is my bucket level indicator no longer fit the new brackets.

I hope this helps with your decision.

Neil

 

[jeffva]

Yep, sure did and I will. I'll see if I can get my dealer to give me a break on the upgrade. I'll say the current setup isn't quite right, which I'm sure is fixed on the new loaders.

tks,

 

[frenchie4x4]

nkole, Sounds like great info could you post pics of your loader? What all was included in the upgrade? cylinders,brackets, linkages ? 3 years ago when I bought my DK50C I was disappointed with the rollback and also bent the upper rods (at that time I did not know about TBN or the upgrade kit) so I modified the loader myself to fix these problems. It has worked out really well although I have lost some dumping angle.I think longer travel cylinders would fix this. Anyways I may be interested in this kit but I would like to see pics. first. Here are some pics. of my homemade mods. Thanks, Frenchie

 

[nkole]

Frenchie, sorry but I don't have any pictures.

The upgrade kit (from 1590 to 1590S) included a lot of parts.

- New roll back cylinders
- New tie rods
- New linkage
- New pins
- New mounting brackets for the bucket

Everything was pretty much plug and play. The kit came with instructions which were pretty easy to follow.

I had a lot of issues with the loader from day one. The new tie rods are much heavier than the old ones. I had bent three of the old type in less than 125 hours of use. I would not characterize my use of the loader as harsh or abusive. No problems with the new ones.

Fortunately a neighbor of mine is handy with a torch and welder and was able to remove the old brackets from the bucket and weld on the new. I'm sure it took him longer to do that than it took me to complete the rest of the installation.

The roll back angle performance improvement is the most significant outside of not bending parts. Prior to the upgrade I could maybe get the bucket 50-60% full if I was lucky.

My dealer (out of state 2000 miles away) was very helpful in getting Kioti to cover the cost of this upgrade. I only had to pay the freight to ship the old parts back.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Neil

 

[frenchie4x4]

Neil , Thank you very very much that is a BIG help thats the most info I have found on the upgrades.I am just impressed with this tractor and it's performance. The loader and bucket have always been very strong just a lack of rollback or dump angle. If anyone else has pics. of there DK45/50 loaders upgrades or stock I would apriciate it.I have seen different configurations on used ones at the dealers. Possibly different years have slight upgrades. THANK YOU again Neil. Everyone here on TBN is very helpfull.

Frenchie.

 

[jhixf564]

I'm with Frenchie on this one, I would love to see pics of the kit also. I would be inclined to get one too if I could see it. That is after I saved the money up!

Justin