Kubota skids

[05rammer]

I was wondering if anyone has ran either of the new Kubota skid steers. I sat in one the other day and the cab is amazing, I didn't get to run it though.

 

[frogfarmer]

I have operated the units on a test run basis only they are skids and do what they should. I realize thats pretty vague but I dont trust new unproven equipment until its been on the market and proven its worth. Alot of Kubota dealers are small time and dont understand the needs of the construction industry and may be a down side to the new machines. I dont expect any problems from the new units as they are built very well and have a good name to back it up but does anybody remember when Deere got into the skid market; their first units were problematic.

 

[wilddanz71]

I ran one for about 2 minutes loved it! But anything new is always awsome, I will never be able to buy one untill they are 10 years old and then I can aford one.
it looked very well built and rugged

 

[OBPM]

I can't give you any long term info as I just ordered my SVL75. It took about 5 minutes of running it for me to know it was going to be a wise purchase decision. All in all, I logged about 2 hours over 3 demo sessions and walked away satisfied and impressed. I had a Case 75XT for about 10 yrs that proved to be a great machine so I also looked at the Case CTL's and quite frankly wasn't impressed. I'm not a fan of Bobcat or Caterpillar and the other brand machines just don't have the dealer support in my area to be serious contenders for my money. The specs, build quality and cab on the Kubota are great. The more I look at the machine, the more attention to detail and build quality becomes apparent. Many people don't realize that Kubota has been in the construction machinery business building mini excavators for about 30 years and their engines are top notch. Many Bobcat purchase decisions were solidified by Kubota engines. I was always a fan of Kubota tractors and owned several and I also just purchased a Kubota U55 Mini Excavator that is also awesome. I agree with frogfarmer and be sure your Kubota dealer is not just a farm tractor dealer but a construction line dealer and can give you the support you require. Good luck, you would not regret the decision to purchase a Kubota SVL loader.

 

[dave esterns]

actually, from my experience, and from the experience of others, the kubota engine is one of the weak links in bobcats. they are notorious for cracking heads. they claim they have that problem solved. i think bobcat should stick a doosan engine in. deutz was also problematic. i think a lot of kubotas good name comes because lots of people who own kubota are not real farmers, and dont abuse their tractors like deere owners or any other farm brand owners, so their kubotas hold up. we have a 1998 deere 7210 with 9000 hours, it has been severely abused and and has had hardly any maintainance, and it has literally never had to go to the shop. also, since when are construction dealers more demanded from than farm dealers. if one of our machines breaks we need it fixed now. how much more demanding can you get. actually, mahindra is the best selling tractor in the world.

 

[barklee]

I just looked on their website and they look pretty sweet. Although they look familiar...... i wonder if someone else is building it for them???
As for the Kubota engine, i have had excellent luck. Had two Bobcats that had over 7000 hrs when i sold them with little trouble. I think i was lucky in that regard though, i have heard of trouble with them. I personally think deere builds a better all around engine, as with Catsubishi and Yanmar. But you will hear no complaints with me and Kubota equipment!
Good luck with the new purchase i hope it holds up for you.

 

[OBPM]

Dave, the point I wanted to make about farm dealers not providing construction support was this. You wouldn't want to buy a piece of construction equipment from a dealer that predominately sold tractors or AG equipment for the same reasons you wouldn't buy AG equipment from a dealer that was predominately in the construction equipment business. It has nothing to do with the quality of support or what industry demands more support, it's simply what investment do they have in that particular line of equipment you are considering. If a piece of equipment goes down, I want to be sure that first off they can get me a suitable loaner on the job as soon as possible. Idle equipment doesn't make money, it's costs money. My second concern is are they qualified to make the repairs. I won't debate how much a farmer abuses his equipment vs. someone in the construction business. Personally, I don't abuse any of my equipment. But since I don't know much about farming, it's hard for me to compare pounding a 100 - 40' pilings into the ground with a 65,000 lb track hoe or breaking up 1,000 tons of concrete with a hydraulic breaker to planting seeds or harvesting corn in a given day or week.

 

[frogfarmer]

To add to what OBPM stated above the local farm market is Red or Green no Orange around here. I have delt with both Red and Green and both are Huge dealerships with 10s of millions of dollars of equipment in stock on their lots. I would not hesitate to buy a piece of construction equipment from either as I know they are very competent. The nearest Orange dealers are very small in comparison and likely dont have the resources available to provide the needed support should it be necessary. The Red and Green dealers I mentioned above are not new construction equipment dealers for the parent companies product but they do sell a fair amount of used construction equipment from their parent companies and provide support for that equipment to rival the construction only dealers.

 

[dave esterns]

apparently im spoiled cuz we have the largest agco dealer (of certain agco lines) in the nation right down the road. ah well it seems that im being compared to a grain farmer when i am actually a dairy farmer. yes, grain farming is weak. on the dairy farm there is always a shortage of labor and time. we run our operation with 2 ppl and sometimes work 20 hours a day (per person). if our operation was say run by wal mart or something, we would easily have 15 people working to replace our 2 ppl. so i will admit our equipment gets used and abused. we simply dont have the time to run all over the farm servicing a full lineup of equipment, and we obviously cant afford to hire someone to do it. i run every piece of equipment through the shop once a year, other than that...the machine basically has to fend for itself. i might grease or change oil a little, but thats it. what impresses me is the reliability of the farm equipment with very little attention. as far as breaking up concrete and driving pilings, that is not really hard on equipment because that is what it was made to do. farmers always try to make their equipment do what it was not intended to do. a few things come to mind. using a skid steer and bucket as a jackhammer to break up concrete. breaking up frozen manure all year and dumping it right in the spreader, also not recommended. running equipment at full power in dust so thick you cant even see. we use sand to bed the cows so the sand gets everywhere trying to wear things out. its not uncommon to see skid steers running in manure past the axles cleaning out sand in manure pits. packing and pushing silage pits with a skid steer is just like driving on a sponge all day, very hard on a skid steer because of the constant strain. plowing frozen ground. raking hay all day with the 4 wheeler is a common one, not recommended with a belted machine. cutting hay and doing fieldwork with rocks in the field 15 miles per hour. ripping soil while you can feel the rocks in the ground being pushed around. the farm tractor pulls are always good just giving her full power and letting the tractor bounce off the ground from power hop. ah one of the local farmers just crashed his tractor. he was pulling 1500 bu of corn and wagons (95000 pounds) with his 20,000 pound tractor lost control going down a hill and broke the new tractor in half. haha yea farmers are awesome when it comes to managing their equipment.

 

[farmerleach]

not all farmers are like that.

 

[excav8r]

I hope I never come across any of your machines for sale

 

[dave esterns]

haha, but that is why im so impressed with farm machinery. we are hard on it, we keep it forever, and dont seem to have any problems. actually years ago we changed tranny fluid in 2 tractors and 2 cars and the tranny went out of all of them within months. so we quit changing tranny fluid, no problems since. it seems like if you keep oil in your machines, and don't overheat anything, you will be alright.

 

[LetsTalkDirt]

I just got my SVL75 with cab and air yesterday and really like it. You can tell alot of thought went in to it, very nice cab and user friendly! A big selling point to me was the small dealer, the owner is always there and most employees have been there 20 plus years. http://www.youtube.com/user/LetsTalkDirt

 

[KSSS]

I ran a 75 machine and I was disappointed. I was expecting a lot better machine. Maybe the 90 is better.