jda1961
08-19-2007, 03:30 PM
my dk55 is still doing great, no problems with the tractor other than had one flat tire on the front, ran a piece of old fence wire in it, i've mostly used it for bushhogging and its done a great job, torn up my old bushhog though, seems the old 305 bushhog is'nt as heavyduty as its advertised. 1st thing that went out was the propellor shaft, twisted that thing up real nice, got another one, then broke the output shaft on the bottom where the stumpjumper bolts on, parts are on the way, all totaled the parts i've torn up on my bushhos is around 400 bucks. my dad bought that bushhog in 1978, it did'nt come with any driveline protection, no shearpin or slip clutch, i'm paying for that now. when i get it fixed i'm taking it back to my dad's and getting my own modern rotary cutter, like a nice 6ft landpride with a slip clutch.
now back to the dk55, theres one thing that i don't like about the tractor that really needs to be reengineered i think is the way the PTO is engaged. its a push button engagement, wich is fine but it should be able to disengage it by pushing in the clutch, but ya can't, its a electric/hydrolic PTO. that puts a big shock to the pto driven impliments, to go from zero rpms to 540 in a second. even if the engine is at idle it still a nice jolt to the impliment driveline. if you've got anything with a slipclutch every time you engage the pto its gonna slip the driveline clutch when it starts turning for a few seconds, do that often enough like on a baler and you are gonna wear the slip clutch out long before it should or if its a shear pin type you'll go through many pins too. thats about the only complaint that i have with the kioti tractors, all of them have that feature and its a real engineering flaw in my oppinion. i think the kioti line of tractors are a well built and seem to be tough tractors but the PTO engagement system needs to be looked at by them, so instead of a sudden jolt its a smooth gradual engagement. as for the loader its tough as nails, the manual shuttle transmision it fun to use, the 4 wheel drive is really nice, the 3 point hitch is strong, and the turbo engine has oodles of power, i don't like the seat still, and the rollbar is to tall for most garage doors, needs to be about 10 inches shorter, i'm taking mine off, i know i know its there for my protection but you know if you are in a situation where you need a rollbar then i think you should'nt be on a tractor in th first place, and its a free country, if i wanna take the rollbar off then i'll do it, end of story.
all in all i think other than th pto engagement, kioti makes a fine tractor, they are well built, tough, well powered. mine cost me with the 551 loader about 26000 bucks, i think i got my money's worth.
now back to the dk55, theres one thing that i don't like about the tractor that really needs to be reengineered i think is the way the PTO is engaged. its a push button engagement, wich is fine but it should be able to disengage it by pushing in the clutch, but ya can't, its a electric/hydrolic PTO. that puts a big shock to the pto driven impliments, to go from zero rpms to 540 in a second. even if the engine is at idle it still a nice jolt to the impliment driveline. if you've got anything with a slipclutch every time you engage the pto its gonna slip the driveline clutch when it starts turning for a few seconds, do that often enough like on a baler and you are gonna wear the slip clutch out long before it should or if its a shear pin type you'll go through many pins too. thats about the only complaint that i have with the kioti tractors, all of them have that feature and its a real engineering flaw in my oppinion. i think the kioti line of tractors are a well built and seem to be tough tractors but the PTO engagement system needs to be looked at by them, so instead of a sudden jolt its a smooth gradual engagement. as for the loader its tough as nails, the manual shuttle transmision it fun to use, the 4 wheel drive is really nice, the 3 point hitch is strong, and the turbo engine has oodles of power, i don't like the seat still, and the rollbar is to tall for most garage doors, needs to be about 10 inches shorter, i'm taking mine off, i know i know its there for my protection but you know if you are in a situation where you need a rollbar then i think you should'nt be on a tractor in th first place, and its a free country, if i wanna take the rollbar off then i'll do it, end of story.
all in all i think other than th pto engagement, kioti makes a fine tractor, they are well built, tough, well powered. mine cost me with the 551 loader about 26000 bucks, i think i got my money's worth.