new dk65

[smithwoodforestfarm]

Im looking at a new dk65 with loader as my first tractor. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for any comments or helpful hints!

 

[Mousefield]

See this is your first post, welcome aboard. :thumbsup: Lots of great information on this site and from your fellow members. Don't know much about the DK65 but can tell you I did a lot of looking before I got my CK35. Very happy it, well built with lots of good features.
Couple of questions that may help get you good responses.
What will the tractor be used for, size of your property, have you used a tractor before. This and some more info from you would help us answer your questions.

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

I know I just purchased a DK45 FEL cab and love it. I went with this size as I had to fit in my barn for cleaning yet it was still large enough for some haymaking chores. I really would of like a DK65,75 or 90.

I searched fpr more than a couple of years and drove a few different brands. I looked at used, but with the incentives for new I had to go new. I think Kioti have the best balance between price and options. In my opinion it is the best time to buy with all of incentives most brands are offering.

Like Mousefield stated, any additional info on what you would use it for and size of farm would be helpful.

Welcome to TBN!

 

[smithwoodforestfarm]

My wife and I bought a piece of property last year (50 acres). Currently, it is forest land, but we are working on making it mostly pasture (about 30 acres). I have been looking at jd, kioti, and kubota for about 6 months and as stated with the incentives and the fact I do not know that much about tractors, Im looking new. The tractor will help us clear as well as bushhogging, and moving hay as it will be a long time before our land will be ready for our own cutting, if ever. I was originally looking at dk55, but I know that there is still a dk65 that the dealer said he could still get. Is this overkill for this small of a piece of property? I have been reading posts on this site for about 6 months and realized that Im going with Kioti, and contacted Wallace right before he announced he was not carring Kioti anymore. He did say that he would give me the info of a friend that still has Kiotis. I do have a local dealer that has spent about 4 hours with me over the last 2 weeks talking tractors, so Kioti is my choice. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Mousefield]

Is this overkill for this small of a piece of property?

I'm thinking you are on track in looking at the larger DK65 considering the type of heavy work you are going to be doing with it.

 

[IslandTractor]

Is this overkill for this small of a piece of property?

I'm thinking you are on track in looking at the larger DK65 considering the type of heavy work you are going to be doing with it.

I'll disagree slightly. First, no tractor is going to clear 30 acres of forest. That is serious excavator/bulldozer work. There is no tractor that would survive such a task and it would take years of work.

If you are planning to farm commercially then yes a 65hp tractor is easily justified. But, if you are just planning to clear the land yourself over time and maintain fields then at least consider a smaller tractor like a DK40se. There is not a huge difference in loader capacity and the 40 would be a bit more manuverable in woods. While the 65 can definitely pull a larger batwing mower than what the 40 could manage you'd have to think about whether you want to invest $12-15K in a batwing as part of the decision. Will you be doing commercial haying or just for yourself? I maintain a total of about 15-20 acres of fields with my DK40se and wouldn't want anything larger. I've cleared about 5 acres of brush and it is very efficient. Bottom line for me is that something as big as the 65 seems primarily aimed at big job mowing or farming. The DK40 size tractor is very capable for all around utility functions including pulling seven foot mowers without any issue and six foot ground engaging implements. Bigger implements get real pricey if you buy new. The 65 is also a beast sizewize so would be a challenge to tow, perhaps needing more than a 10,000 lb trailer if you had loader and implement attached.

I'd need to have clearly worked out just why I needed more than a DK40/45/50 size machine to justify going up a size in tractor/implements as the larger package would probably cost 150%-200% as much.

 

[Oleozz]

You need to find a balance between maneuverability and power. In my situation I found the 45 to be that machine. There is quite a substantial size difference between the 45 and 65.

 

[RedDog]

You want it to mow, move hay and help with the clearing,,,, it will do all of that. I do think a track-hoe would be your best option in the beginning. Then use the 65 in helping clear the rest.

There would be many other uses you would find for the tractor, once you had it.

What tires are you getting?

I would not go smaller with that amount of land!!!

 

[Jeff244]

I've had a DK65 since 2003, great machine. You need to be careful going thru your forest areas because of the placement of the hyd. filters, especially going backwards. After bending the pipes going into the filter housing several times causing leaks and immobilizing the machine, I finally made a small skid plate to protect them.
I recently cleared a little over an acre of forest land with my machine, however there were no hardwood trees, mostly yellow poplar (tulip trees?) I think. It took me about 16 hours, but a lot of that time was pushing all the trees to one side. I also left a few of the larger trees up. I am getting a root grapple that will make things a little more efficient.

One more thing, mine has a cab and that has saved me from serious injury several times. You can catch a vine on the corner of your bucket and next thing you know, a large branch falls on you, so be careful. Always look at the trees surrounding the ones you are planning on removing.

Jeff

 

[JIGBUILDER]

Your going to like the 65 hp tractor for helping you clear your land of brush and trees. At times you will wish for a bigger tractor if your doing your own hay work or moving downed trees and brush. I have 40 acres and a 50 hp tractor and it has never been to big.

My neighbor has a 40 hp 'bota 4wd on his 68 acres. The 40 hp is a little light for moving the heavier work/baling/mowing/moving 1200 lb hay bales/etc. His wife wanted a bigger tractor with a cab. He moved up to a 70 +hp JD. Now his wife does all the baling and mowing , in the A/C cab. He's stuck with the 'bota doing the raking and no A/C. :laughing:

Your gonna' like that size tractor.

 

[smithwoodforestfarm]

Thank you guys for the tidbits! I love TBN! I just dont want a tractor that is going to be "too big". I continue to look at both the 55dk and the 65dk. Should I be concerned that Kioti is not selling anymore 65s in the US? I know that the decision is one based on emissions with the Perkins motor. The more I look at the land, the majority of the trees will be taken out by a logger. Unfortunately most of them are large pine trees. No money in pine! Thanks again for the continued help with this decision.

 

[rd_macgregor]

For mature trees, almost any size tractor will still have to work hard compare to a dozer or excavator. I have an old, overgrown field with spruce and pine mostly in the 4" to 6" dia. range. Most of these I can push over with my DK45 bucket until a few roots pop up, then I can lower the bucket and push the whole root ball (and tree) over and away. If the trees were any bigger (or hardwoods!), I likely wouldn't be able to do this. I just got a Gator/Markham grapple rake to help clean up and pile all these trees.
If you were going to be working a lot in the woods (doing forestry) for the longer term, the DK65 might be a bit cumbersome, but would probably be a nice, powerful machine for field work...though a DK55 would probably do just as well on your relatively small acreage. If there is a big price difference, consider getting the smaller unit and putting the savings toward dozer work and/or implements.
BOB

 

[smithwoodforestfarm]

the price difference I have received between dk65 and dk55 is 3300 dollars. So I am thinking dk65 but I am still mulling it over. But, then I think for $3300, I can buy a nice heavy duty woods brushbull.

 

[CowwFace]

Thank you guys for the tidbits! I love TBN! I just dont want a tractor that is going to be "too big". ....

Hey SmithWFF,

Bite your tongue ... 'tractor to big' ... that's like the allusive jackalope. Just can't be done!

I've got a DK40SE HST and it's been a GREAT machine. I've had it for about 7 months, 40 hours now, mostly used for Snow removal but did some road work with it as well. No problems at all.

Go big or go home brother! You can always buy a smaller tractor later??

Phill

 

[Treefarm]

What about adding a Farmi Winch? anyone have experince with this. I have a dozer that I have logged with for 10 years. Pulls great but slow, slow, slow. I would love to go 10-15 miles an hour after yarding a log to get another. I'm thinking a dk65 with farmi winch would achieve this.

 

[jda1961]

i have a nice 2007 kioti dk55 with 551 loader for sale, 251 hours. 19000 bucks. the dk55 is plenty of tractor, good working weight, handles hills very well. i never stalled it, used a 6 ft brush hog with it, handled it very nicely. the 551 loader is very tough and strong. i seen mine sitting beside a dk65 when i was looking and there is a big size difference. i picked the dk55 for that reason, you can get to much tractor for what you are doing. i think the dk55 is plenty of tractor for most jobs, and the rollbar will fold down for getting under limbs. you can get either the category one or two lift arm ends, mine came with category two so i got some 2 dollar bushings made to convert category one impliments to fit category two tractors. its a horse in its own right.

 

[TBDonnelly]

i have a nice 2007 kioti dk55 with 551 loader for sale, 251 hours. 19000 bucks. the dk55 is plenty of tractor, good working weight, handles hills very well. i never stalled it, used a 6 ft brush hog with it, handled it very nicely. the 551 loader is very tough and strong. i seen mine sitting beside a dk65 when i was looking and there is a big size difference. i picked the dk55 for that reason, you can get to much tractor for what you are doing. i think the dk55 is plenty of tractor for most jobs, and the rollbar will fold down for getting under limbs. you can get either the category one or two lift arm ends, mine came with category two so i got some 2 dollar bushings made to convert category one impliments to fit category two tractors. its a horse in its own right.

If you would add your location on the left under your screen name, it could be beneficial to someone shopping for a tractor to know where the tractor is located.:thumbsup:

 

[jda1961]

If you would add your location on the left under your screen name, it could be beneficial to someone shopping for a tractor to know where the tractor is located.:thumbsup:

all done

 

[smithwoodforestfarm]

Still trying to decide.....I was actually on my way Friday to buy the dk65, unfortunately on the way got side tracked with a 2,000 dollar truck repair. Ouch! So now the question is a little different: a 2007 dk65 holdover, or a 2010 dk55 $3300 cheaper. Also do we think kioti is going to hold 0% for another month? thanks guys

 

[RedDog]

For the price difference you are probably thinking "newer" 55 model. It sounds good initally, but I think in the long run, and with your land, the 65 will be the better choice.

What motor is in the 55's? In my opinion, you can't go wrong with a Perkins!

I don't know about the zero %......