Year Manufactored

[Russ82nd]

I've seen many post stating the model and year of their Kioti. I have a CK20S HST I purchased new a month ago but see no reference to a year build on the tractor. Only on the valve cover do I see a date of 2008 and that's referencing CA.'s 2008 emissions. The owners manual that came with it is no doubt for the older CK20 and the date the owners manual was printed was 2003. Just curious.

 

[ERE]

Welcome to the pack Russ. I can't really help with the date. My CK25 doesn't have any obvious marking on it either. I bought it in 04, so I call it an 04. I think the important thing is how many hours on it rather than the year it was built. Enjoy your new machine!

 

[bp fick]

It is my understanding that tractor builders don't actually date their products by year. That is sort of extension in the customers mind from the auto world. The builders and sales people refer to the model version only. Thus a CK20, what ever it was built is a CK20, by way of example. Yes, hours are relevant too.

 

[MichiganIron]

The actaul manufacture date of the tractor can be determined from the serial number. KIOTI does it this way, as do others, to track engineering changes and parts. The actual year of manufacture is in the tractor serial number.

Dealers have the pleasure of explaining to customers that although a tractor is a "2008" tractor, it may have been manufactured during 2007. There is a significant time lag between manufacture and dealer delivery. Dealers will often use the date the tractor was delivered to them, or the dealer invoice date (unless there was a design change as in the CK20S) since the price is set by the year the dealer received the unit, not necessarily the year it was manufactured.

If it is a CK20S, it is at least a 2008, or later.

 

[IslandTractor]

It is my understanding that tractor builders don't actually date their products by year. That is sort of extension in the customers mind from the auto world. The builders and sales people refer to the model version only. Thus a CK20, what ever it was built is a CK20, by way of example. Yes, hours are relevant too.

You are correct but that doesn't mean that a 2004 CK20 is the same as a 2006 CK20. For example, they added a suspension seat (2005 I think) and likely changed a few other things along the way. They only changed the designation to CK20S when they changed the engine to meet future air quality standards.

 

[Gil Case]

The owners manual for my CK 20 HST bought in mid 08 is listed as Oct 2007, so you should at least get a newer owners manual.
MIE where is the year buried in the SN? Tractor Serial # or Engine Serial #?

 

[MichiganIron]

Didn't mean to say they are the same year to year. As we pointed out, the serial number is used to track changes, such as the seat, addition of a cupholder, changes to "power on" fuel system, and so on. The 2004 and 2006 have a bunch of differences. When a customer needs parts, the serial number tracks all the changes model to model. The difficult part for a dealer is the communication of model year to a customer. A dealer can recieve a tractor in June, sell it as a 2009 in July, but the serial number would track to a 2008 production run. This isn't unusual at all.

When there are changes, most of them are pretty subtle...except the cupholder.....it's easier to point out what you have. The 20S was designated differently since the engine and transmission were completely re-done. It really is a different tractor than the 20.

The production year on KIOTI Tractors is coded by the first character in the serial number. The "model code" is the next 3 characters in case there are engineering changes/updates during a production year. The rest of the serial number tells you where you were in line.

For this type of equipment, the hours on the meter is usually the most important thing to look at. The "year of the tractor can be mis-leading.

 

[Russ82nd]

Thanks for the reply's. I'll purchase myself a repair manual soon and not worry too much about the owners manual. I noticed that things listed/shown in my owners manual were not the same on my tractor. I have a newer style seat that has three different control adjustments on it. One for the front to back slider and one makes the suspension on it stiffer ( has a handle on it that folds over) but I haven't a clue as to what the third one below that is changing. And I have the beverage holder. So far all is well and I'm really liking this tractor. My dealer told me he had just got this one in a few months ago and I have no reason to doubt him. I'm finding more and more uses for it.
A few add-on's I plan to do soon is additional lighting that I'll put on the ROPS for plowing this winter and a chain hook or two welded to my bucket for when I lift items into a truck bed. I had been using an old 8N to plow with and I had chains on that. I'm waiting to see if I'll need them on the CK20S also.

Russ