the other orange ?

A guy up the road has one and he hates is, but he is extremly rough on stuff and he says it has no resale value, so he can't afford to get rid of it.

The discussion John mentioned was about Kubota, Steve is asking about Kioti.   I believe the Kioti tractors are built in Korea, that would be enough for me to stay away from.

Edited by Claus - 12 Feb 2010 at 3:21am

What I heard is that the Koreans bought a gear tractor line from Kubota, lock, stock, and barrel.  They bought the factory machinery, and moved it to Korea, and build it there.  As to quality, I think it is somewhat less dependable than a Kubota, but definitely  better than Chinese or Indian.

Edited by DiyDave - 12 Feb 2010 at 6:39am

An hour's worth of reading at the Kioti forum on tractorbynet.com should fix any of your desires to own a Kioti.  Granted, many of the folks over there are first time tractor owners and may not be the most savvy operators, but the Kioti stuff sure does break in some spectacular ways.  Lots of front (MFWD) axle and transmission troubles, and several stories of tractors and axles broken in half.  Probably o.k. for a lawn mower, but an A-C B with a belly mower will do that for less than six months' payments on a Kioti.

I have 2 buddies who bought kioi's from our loacal deere dealer.  Both of them are not too happy with koiti.  They had alot of small problems like likes hyd lines leaking and taking 3 to 5 weeks to get the parts sent to them.  They  love them one week and hate them the rest.  

I've got a friend that had one that was about 45HP with loader which I was able to drive around some and use the loader.  I was impressed in how well built it was and how easy it was to use.  He used it for a year or so and decided he needed a larger one so he traded for the next size up, maybe a 55HP?  Have not heard how that one is working. 

Well Duh!  I guess I should read the post a bit better before making a comment!  I did hear that some ex executives from Kubota started the Kioti brand in Korea and they were pretty much the same as Kubota.  A couple outfits were selling them around here but one seems to be out of business and the other is selling Bobcat brand now so maybe they are the same as Bobcat.  The Korean company that owns Bobcat has made tractors and construction equipment for several years.

Steve I see your from SEMO, depends where exactly but you should try to deal with Little Tractor here in Metropolis, not sure if he still is but at one time he was the largest dealer in the nation and was delivering tractors to people in California cheaper than what they could buy them for locally. As for quality the only one I have used is at our fairgrounds and it gets abused there since know one has to pay for it but it holds up very well doing loader work and mowing. Its 55 horse and many who have used it say they wouldn't be afraid of buying a bigger one for feeding cows or doing hay but they are a utility tractor and prolly wouldn't hold up doing field work. We also have a Kubota dealer here but Kioti's are much more popular.   

No tractor under 100hp is made in America to my knowledge.  Some Deere and New Holland compacts are "assembled" here.

GB, the JDs are assembled in Augusta. I don't know where all of the parts come from, but most are not made there.

If you can really call it assembling.  They unpack the basic tractor from the shipping container, put on the front axle fenders, tires(which are usally sourced from the US) and place decals and cosmetic items.  More of a glorified set up.  Byron is correct, other than several small specialty companies, there is no tractors under 100 HP made in the US any more, and every year more big tractors are being made over seas. 

Don't kid yourself about the JD and NH/Case, there are alot of torn up compact tractors with torn up front axles, busted crankcases and bent spindle out there from abuse from owners, typically using the loader like a bulldozer or a payloader. 

To add a bit of info:  No tractor under 100Hp has been made in the USA since 1980.  Some assembly, as mentioned, but no mfg in the strict sence.  Yet about 75% of the tractors in the WORLD are under 75 Hp.  An example of the work  force available at a cheaper price for Mfg & assembly outside the USA. Personal opinion:  The Japanese have a stronghold on the market for the "compact sizes".