tractors,who makes what

coworker was asking about different between brands of compact or small utility tractors,he has got it bad for an orange Japaneses Allis Chalmers and green fever also but $$$$ difference is the biggest between the different brands holding him off, I told him to see who made them not the color of the paint,he asked if I could find out who made a certain brand,so in searching I found out some interesting facts, for one look up Kukje and see what colors they produce and their not the only ones either, noticed an ad QUEEN MOTHER DEERE had about "INNOVATION NOT IMITATION" made me wonder how many years other manufacturers have been producing the SAME design as it isn't anything new except the paint color.



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If You want quality; then I don't know what to tell You really. John Deere makes some cheap tractors; but made in India. A mid priced tractor made in Augusta, GA; but its not a compact. The compact's bother me. Never owned one of the Kubota; but I know a dealer that carried both Kubota, & JD. He told JD to take a hike, & pick up their garbage (HIS WORDS, NOT MINE). Said the Kubota's were in the shop for warranty repairs about 3 times less often than a comparable Deere. I have a cousin that owns a JD 950. Clutch is froze on it right now; has a 5 foot finish mower; but tractor overheats in heavy material. I told him sell it for scrap. I wont spend that much time working on a tractor if I can avoid it at the purchase!

Don't kill the messenger,but I read an article not long ago that said SAME of Italy was actually the largest tractor manufacturer in the world,that they build some models for every US company.

Sounds like the JD 950 has radiator issues, or other cooling system issues. My experience is that a finish mower will have the belts slipping before it causes the tractor issues.

KEH

A JD950 with a frozen clutch and overheating. You know that thing is at least 30 years old don't you ? Those were built for Deere by Yanmar and are some of the toughest tractors ever built.
Clutch is easy to unstick unless it is just plain wore out by now and the radiator has a fine screen in front of it you can remove to clean. By now the core may be all limed up inside and maybe the thermostat is bad ?
I'd easily give him scrap price for it. But then it's likely clear across the country and shipping would kill me.

Tell him to stick with Kubota, Deere or New Holland. Which ever one has the better dealer. Or for no other reason than you want a Orange ,Green or Blue tractor. He won't be sorry.

I was going to say that the clutch and radiator are issues that you can expect for the age. Those 850 and 950 tractor had a good reputation I thought. I can't imagine a new radiator costing a 1000 dollars that would change my mind as far as salvage goes.

(quoted from post at 05:57:01 11/10/15) Don't kill the messenger,but I read an article not long ago that said SAME of Italy was actually the largest tractor manufacturer in the world,that they build some models for every US company.

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Last I heard, Kubota makes all their own stuff. They don't contract out work. I saw that they are now producing tractors in France? Those are their "big iron".

Maybe this is a good place to ask. At grandsons birthday party last sat evening son in law was saying his John Deere compact tractor is about as old as grandson. Its under three years old NON DEF, 4x4, has 76 total hours. Paint is not off the loader bucket. Small nobs still on tires !!! Only used to mow grass. He realizes he only WANTED the tractor not needed it. I, perhaps wrongly, said he might get all or most of purchase price . My thinking is NO DEF to fool with, new tractor likely will cost much more than same tractor new now . Is this reasonable?? Thing has never sat out one night while my daughters car may sit out!! Think thats got something about selling. LOL I have many older tractors with front end loader and 3 point he can use. Ok guys tell me your thoughts. bill wilson southern Ind 812 665 3419

Hard to tell ? he might not loose too much ? That's the kind to buy though. The ones who just had to have one and then trade often or sell because they don't use it.

As far the Japanese AC tractors go there is NO parts support for 5015,5020 and 5030.They were also badged under the Massey name as 205,210,220.I have several and the only way to get anything but very minor parts is another parts tractor.

The 50 series JD/Yanmar compacts were some of the best tractors ever built. I just sold my '88 with over 3000 hours on it for better than half of what I paid for it new.

Only reason I traded is because I'm turning into a wimp in my old age and wanted a cab with heat and A/C.

New one's a Kubota cuz the equivalent JD's have too much plastic, too much electronics and WAY too much price tag. Plus, the local dealer is a dick.

We have a 750 with 4500hrs and still goes strong. Augured a lot of grain with the old girl! Dad bought a Kubota compact to mow with and gearbox went out with 25 hrs. Took 6weeks to get it back and would not give him a loaner The old 750 keep mowing!

Not likely.

The federales have not yet mandated DEF requiring regulations below about 60 PTO HP so no CUTS require DEF at this time.

Stay tuned. Eventually, your walk behind mower will secumb to the never satisfied federales.

Dean

The place where I used to work had a 850 JD for years to mow the 3 or 4 acres of lawn around the place, only thing ever wrong with it was water pump that I can remember but the screen ahead of the radiator needed to be blown out very often or it would over heat. The boss had a 750 for his home which he loaned to his son, kid wouldn't bring it back so he bought another one.

what is a CUTS?

Compact Utility TractorS

I thot it wer 'Cute Utility Toy- Steering wheel'......

Buy whatever you have GOOD local and long term dealership support for. JD, Kubota, and Fords all have pretty good models. I am talking about the 4-5 year old true Fords. The Fiat JUNK maybe filtering down to the compacts.

The guys knocking a JD 50 series compact could more than likely tear up an anvil with a tooth pick. Those Yanmar built tractors where rock solid IF you where using them as the size tractor they where. Then the 970 and later the 990 replaced the 950. These ALL where great compact tractors. The 4000 series that are made in the Augusta Ga. plant are pretty good too. The cheaper ones are the ones to watch out for.

The Kubota are good but not "god like" as many people talk about them. If you do have troubles with them it can be a real PAIN. Their parts support is a joke. Many times parts will have to come from Japan.

The Ford Boomer series has been a pretty good replacement for their 10 and 20 series compacts. Parts can be an issue with any of the older Fords. as in there are few parts for some models.

So here is how I would look at a new compact:
1) Local dealership support. That is the most important thing if you have any problems.
2) Parts availability. I am used to being able to get any part I need in a reasonable amount of time. That being just days for 90% of them.
3) Quality of the tractor matching what your wanting to do with it. If your beating the heck out of it day in, day out then you had better buy a major name brand. IF your a light duty user than you have many more choices as the lower priced units should hold up under your usage.

That remark about KUBOTA parts support is really news to me. Have been with KUBOTA for 28 years . They have 4 large parts set up in the US for tractors and consumer products and just open a central us facility in Kansas for construction products. I don't think we have any more parts problems than most other brands. Last year 86% of the folks that walked in our dealership got the part they wanted there at that trip. Most of the others were filled within the next day. I can,t remember many times that the part had to come from overseas but even then three days. I read down lower about a guy waiting 6 weeks for a gear box.. I would almost bet that was a dealership not doing their job but who knows. As one pointed out KUBOTA does build their own product. They actually cast their own steel in some of the plants. Tires, seats, radiators, batteries ect are from different producers.

(quoted from post at 20:15:23 11/10/15) That remark about KUBOTA parts support is really news to me. Have been with KUBOTA for 28 years . They have 4 large parts set up in the US for tractors and consumer products and just open a central us facility in Kansas for construction products. I don't think we have any more parts problems than most other brands. Last year 86% of the folks that walked in our dealership got the part they wanted there at that trip. Most of the others were filled within the next day. I can,t remember many times that the part had to come from overseas but even then three days. I read down lower about a guy waiting 6 weeks for a gear box.. I would almost bet that was a dealership not doing their job but who knows. As one pointed out KUBOTA does build their own product. They actually cast their own steel in some of the plants. Tires, seats, radiators, batteries ect are from different producers.

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I have a L3400. Only 250 hours on it, but zero problems of any sort. A friend has 2, one a backhoe, 3000 hours, no repairs.

(quoted from post at 22:15:23 11/10/15) That remark about KUBOTA parts support is really news to me. Have been with KUBOTA for 28 years . They have 4 large parts set up in the US for tractors and consumer products and just open a central us facility in Kansas for construction products. I don't think we have any more parts problems than most other brands. Last year 86% of the folks that walked in our dealership got the part they wanted there at that trip. Most of the others were filled within the next day. I can,t remember many times that the part had to come from overseas but even then three days. I read down lower about a guy waiting 6 weeks for a gear box.. I would almost bet that was a dealership not doing their job but who knows. As one pointed out KUBOTA does build their own product. They actually cast their own steel in some of the plants. Tires, seats, radiators, batteries ect are from different producers.

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JM I work on about 3-4 Kubotas each year. If it is much more than simple maintenance then on just about every single one of them I am waiting for parts. The biggest wait was for a MFWD housing that the owner scraped by running out of oil and then using it for another six months. It was 5 weeks to receive that housing. That tractor was 5 years old so it was not ancient. The dealers that are close are multi line stores and the parts people are not the best. I have yet to find the "good" Kubota parts person around me. I think that is the biggest issue. I am sure there are good Kubota parts people out there but they do not live around me. At most of the stores around me Kubota is the second or third line they carry. Lots of CIH stores have Kubota for a utility tractor line in years past.

I thought I just read Mahindra was the largest tractor manufacturer.???

Mahindra's the largest brand. SAME doesn't brand that many as their own,but they build for everybody,so sometimes you're buying a SAME and don't know it.

I guess I forget that we have 28 years experience with them. Maybe as your area dealers learn the system and Kubota becomes more of a dollar thing to them they will do better. I would expect if that dealer had have put your housing on UNIT DOWN status he would have had your part in three days. Sounds like he put it on stock order and it came over by boat.