Who has the most hours on their Kioti?

[steve0413]

I personally don't think that people who use their tractors for commercial use are gonna be hanging around tractor forums. I do know locals who have used Kioti's in the commercial hay business for several years and they love them. I don't, however, have any idea of the number of hours they may have on them.

I would be curious to know what type of commercial use these tractors your friend has on his lot were used for. Agri? Constructions?...etc.? I just can't imagine any type of business where one could put 1500 or 2000 hrs a year on a tractor. I mean, that's non-stop, 40hrs a week, 52 weeks a year. Just doesn't add up.

 

[Dargo]

I would be curious to know what type of commercial use these tractors your friend has on his lot were used for. Agri? Constructions?...etc.? I just can't imagine any type of business where one could put 1500 or 2000 hrs a year on a tractor. I mean, that's non-stop, 40hrs a week, 52 weeks a year. Just doesn't add up.

As I was concerned about, Kioti owners getting defensive when I'm trying to get a Kioti dealer in my area. As I said, drop it. It's not worth the trouble. Your statements unfortunately only support what he's been told. Plenty of his customers put that type of hours on their tractors. Everything from ag use of utility sized tractors, rental yard customers, 'underground plumber' customers, construction customers, landscape customers etc., etc., etc. The days of working a 40 hour week and being a successful business owner are long since past. Most owners work 50, 60, 70 hours plus per week.

 

[ToadHill]

(If they can't break out of being that tractor company who sells most of their tractors to first time tractor buyers and for homeowner use, they'll never get any of the big hitter dealers doing serious volume to take them on.)

I've owned Ford, Massey Ferguson, Oliver and now Kioti. I'm not a first time tractor buyer and my homeowner use includes 25 tillable acres and 60 acres of hardwood forest that is regularly thinned and managed using the Kioti. It takes care of snowblowing on 2 drives one 900 ft and the other about 1/4 mile long in the heart of lake effect snow country.

Clearly my acreage isn't huge but this tractor gets a good workout, and I've had fewer problems with it than I have had with the MF or Oliver.

 

[steve0413]

As I was concerned about, Kioti owners getting defensive when I'm trying to get a Kioti dealer in my area. As I said, drop it. It's not worth the trouble. Your statements unfortunately only support what he's been told. Plenty of his customers put that type of hours on their tractors. Everything from ag use of utility sized tractors, rental yard customers, 'underground plumber' customers, construction customers, landscape customers etc., etc., etc. The days of working a 40 hour week and being a successful business owner are long since past. Most owners work 50, 60, 70 hours plus per week.

I apologize if you thought I was getting defensive. You will never be able to convince him that my DK45 w/BH will compare to a Case or JD or whatever backhoe for example. I was trying to get a better idea of what you were up against even though you originally just asked for hours.

Hey, I'm with you in that I want a local, dependable Kioti dealer near me too. Again, sorry if you misunderstood.

 

[IslandTractor]

Unfortunately, that's how the competition is painting Kioti; as a small company that sells their products out of roadside shacks to customers who will never expect them to work more than 2000 hours.

Hey, if I were the competition I'd make that argument too. Time tested way of undermining newcomers. However there are other examples to point out to a good businessman. How'd he like to be the first Honda or Toyota dealer in his area (thinking back to the early seventies)? I'm quite sure the GM and Ford dealers (even the Rambler dealers) would have made similar arguments regarding taking on a Japanese line back then. Hard to find a Toyota with 200,000 miles on it back in 1975. All businessmen need to decide what risks to take and those who don't take risks or are late to the table don't get much benefit. Korean manufacturers are today pretty much in the same spot that the Japanese were 30-40 years ago where they are producing world class products but don't yet have the respect or prestige value that established brands have. A good businessman knows how to evaluate those sorts of opportunities and risks and to exploit advantages and avoid pitfalls. The car dealers who waited until the first Toyotas reached 200,000 miles are today left with their (ex)GM franchises and perhaps doing fine but not as well as dealers who stuck their necks out and added Toyota, Honda, Subraru, Nissan etc to their lineup. A dealer would be nuts to give up JD, Kubota or NH to take on Kioti but if they could add either Kioti or Mahindra to their more established lines they have opened a new avenue for growth.

I appreciate Dargo's desire to stay out of any fireworks but this discussion really doesn't seem likely to go that direction. It's been a while since Tractor Color Wars clouded the TBN horizon. Don't be timid about giving open well thought out criticism (as if that point needs to be made to him). There is not nearly the sensitivity or defensiveness to that as what existed three or four years ago.

 

[Dargo]

(If they can't break out of being that tractor company who sells most of their tractors to first time tractor buyers and for homeowner use, they'll never get any of the big hitter dealers doing serious volume to take them on.)

I've owned Ford, Massey Ferguson, Oliver and now Kioti. I'm not a first time tractor buyer and my homeowner use includes 25 tillable acres and 60 acres of hardwood forest that is regularly thinned and managed using the Kioti. It takes care of snowblowing on 2 drives one 900 ft and the other about 1/4 mile long in the heart of lake effect snow country.

Clearly my acreage isn't huge but this tractor gets a good workout, and I've had fewer problems with it than I have had with the MF or Oliver.

You are my proof, case in point, etc. I just need a lot more to get someone to get past the old labels and trust in the brand enough to sink a chunk of money into them. Again, this is not first hand, but it doesn't seem that Kioti is trying to do much to break out of their mold of being a second tier tractor that sells on price. I just thought it is time they stand up and take that next step. Having zero response here that would help me convince someone differently makes me sorry I stood up and tried. Sorry if I offended by trying to get Kioti to take the next step. Maybe their true market is almost exclusively first time buyers for what amounts to light duty use. I don't set their market strategy and I don't really know if they will last like the established brands. It was just a thought.

Have fun, be careful. Over and out.

 

[albmn10]

Hello Dargo, what you are looking for is a Kioti dealer that has been established for quite awhile. My dealer who i bought my Kioti from, Rodick Farm Machinery was in business for over 20 years. I asked him about the Kioti line and he said hes had no major issues with the brand, said they were pretty reliable. He told me he had customers in the 8000 hour mark. I asked him about my ck30 on how many hours to expect , he told be 6000 to 7000 hours. He is a pretty straight shooter and your friend can call him himself, im sure he will tell it like it is. I know he had mentioned about retiring last year when i saw him, and i didnt see his dealership on the Kioti list of dealers,but i did call his number and got his dealership answering machine. I guess your friend can call him and ask whatever info hed like, being he is so far away i wouldnt think he would be a threat business wise. His name is Bud, at Rodicks Farm Machinery in Schroon Lake Ny. Number is 518 532 7724 hrs 7 30 - 5:00 m - f Sat, 8 - 12, Hope that helps.. Matt

 

[DK35vince]

I don't have the thousands of hours you are looking for. But I have owned my Kioti DK 35 and my John Deere 850 long enough to get a very good idea as to how they are comparing as far as reliable and build quality.
I've owned my JD 850 for 15 years and 1800 hours.
I've owned my Kioti DK 35 for 8 years and 1355 hours.
So far my Kioti is showing no signs at all of any wear, leaks or weak areas. Seems to be just as solid, well built and reliable as my JD from what I've seen to date.

 

[IslandTractor]

Maybe their true market is almost exclusively first time buyers for what amounts to light duty use.

That is probably a true statement for ALL brands of compact utility tractors. These things are not Ag tractors or skidsteers or excavators. Kubota started the CUT trend and I would be quite sure that the majority of Kubota owners are "first time buyers for what amounts to light duty use". From my experience on TBN there are relatively few who report heavy duty or very high hours/year use of their CUTs. I am well aware that there are professional farmers and landscapers and contractors who use CUTs and report on that experience here using all sorts of brands but I believe it is still true that the majority of users here are first (or maybe second) time buyers who do loader chores and mowing as their primary tractor duties. Perhaps we should take a poll on total number of tractor hours in a TBN member's life. I imagine you'd get a normal distribution with a some outlyiers who have grown up on farms reporting many thousands of hours, a few newbies with less than a hundred and the reporting something between a hundred and a thousand or maybe two thousand hours. That can generally be considered light use if it is accummulated at a typical CUT users rate of 100-200 hours/year. So, I guess all this just makes me wonder if the dealer who is considering Kioti/Mahindra understands or is really interested in entering the "light duty CUT market" at all.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I think there is a catch-22 in the market. The big hours are accumulated by business people (contractors, farmers, etc.), not casual, homeowner types. Business people can't take a chance of additional downtime from a (potentially) sub-par piece of equipment just to save a few bucks on purchase price, so they go with the known brand.
Unfortunately, this dramatically constrains the ability of the "new" brand to accumulate a reputation for reliability and attract more commercial buyers.
I asked my local Kioti dealer if he has sold a DK90 yet: "No". Most of the Kioti line isn't quite up to heavy farm or even contractor use, where the big hours are, so the vast majority of machines will fall in the couple-of-hundred-hours-per-year class. I love my DK45SC and it does a great job of blowing snow, mowing fields and working in the woods...but only for 100+ hours per year. The tractors are good, but the competition is stiff.
The comparison to early Japanese car dealers is apt. Only if the newcomer is demonstrably superior to the established brands in some way, will it catch on and grow in market share, though.
BOB