Kioti track loader / skid steers ......

[Vaquero 45]

Hello to all !
Long time reader / lurker here on HEF . First post , question ? Anybody here seen yet live in person the new Kioti track loaders or skid steers ? Would I be correct to assume they are just certain model of Bobcats painted orange ?
Just wondered . Anyone actually purchase one yet ?

Thanks to all in advance !

 

[Bumpsteer]

Interesting, haven't seen or heard of them.

Sorry l'm no help.

Ed

 

[Vaquero 45]

 

[OTG AuGres]

The loader arms don’t look like Bobcat to me. If they are going to break into the market, they better have something pretty special and at a bargain price. Just my opinion.

 

[Tags]

They kind of look like Cat skid steer loader arms...

 

[Vaquero 45]

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[Vaquero 45]

Anybody seen any whether at a dealership ? Or working out in the field in somewhere ? We talking "live " and in person .
I haven't.

 

[Chris Lewis]

I bought one been in shop since day one have only been able to operate it a total of 180 yards out of the 6 weeks I have owned it , have had 4 wire harness short out looks like a fire just waiting to happen. I have been unsuccessful at get any response from Kioti, spend to extra money and get a Tak it will be cheaper in the long run.

 

[KSSS]

There is a dealer here about 8 miles from me. They have sold a couple (based on the number of machines they used to have on their lot), but I haven't seen one working anywhere. When they first started selling them they were asking 75K for the 750 track machine in ads. Now they are advertising 69K for whatever you want to pull from that. If they had a 90-100 hp unit I would demo one just for kicks, but since I don't own any 75hp machines, and nor do I want one, I don't know what to compare it to and be fair about it.

 

[PeterG]

Kioti is not Bobcat. Kioti is brand name of Daedong Corporation in South Korea. Kioti has zero turn mowers, tractors, loaders, combine harvesters and Utv's etc. Bobcat is made by Doosan in South Korea. Bobcat has a much better reputation and dealer support in the US including parts and service. But Deadong is a big company supplying parts to other South Korean Companies (Hyundai Motor Group/Kia, GM Korea, and others). When they expanded into the US market, the US brand name became Kiota.

 

[digger doug]

Kioti is not Bobcat. Kioti is brand name of Daedong Corporation in South Korea. Kioti has zero turn mowers, tractors, loaders, combine harvesters and Utv's etc. Bobcat is made by Doosan in South Korea. Bobcat has a much better reputation and dealer support in the US including parts and service. But Deadong is a big company supplying parts to other South Korean Companies (Hyundai Motor Group/Kia, GM Korea, and others). When they expanded into the US market, the US brand name became Kiota.

But apparently the main company can't design/build a decent wiring harness.
And the US branch can't make repairs to make it right.

 

[Chris Lewis]

Correct, it’s going to be hard for them to break in to the market with no support and only 5 k cheaper than a Tak

 

[PeterG]

Kiota and Sany are sort of like KIa and Hyundai when they first came to the US. Like those Companies, Kiota and Sany will improve there product and be very good in 15-20 years.

For now, and the next 10 years or so, I wouldn't buy them. I have four Takeuchi machines, and dealers have trouble servicing them.

 

[Chris Lewis]

They will only be a good company if they back there products and support the end user when problems occur. To be on 4 wiring problems on a machine that is new is insane even worse that most of the construction side of Kioti was out of town last week and this week for conferences so dealer can’t ever order part. When I was to go out of town for work we did meeting, conferences and you still did your job with help of co workers that where in the office. You know the good ol days of customer service!

 

[PeterG]

Chris, sorry to hear of problems with your Kiota. The issue is likely with one of the OEM suppliers to Kitoa for the wiring harness, to which the parts are likely made in Taiwan or another country. The OEM spec may not be the best spec wire size, best quality wire, and best connectors, or the harness length may not have been long enough. In the assembly of the machine, the harness may be rubbing, vibrating, pulled too tightly, and subjected to, too much heat or have poor grounds. Dealer service, and customer service as you say is typically a world wide consumer problem and not likely to get better with AI in my opinion. I bet once your harness problem is solved, you'll be happy with the machine and the brand. It's likely many of the parts on your machine are produced by the same suppliers as other major brands.

 

[Chris Lewis]

I agree, I have two Kioti tractors one utility one compact no problems with them, big tractor over heats but that is a thick water weeds that grow in low areas we have. My main problem is the CTL and willingness to address the problem. They seem to want to ignore it and hope it goes away, even my local dealer is telling me that they need to buy it back or swap it out. The loaner I have seems to do everything that my Tak would do and maybe even more.

 

[KSSS]

Kiota and Sany are sort of like KIa and Hyundai when they first came to the US. Like those Companies, Kiota and Sany will improve there product and be very good in 15-20 years.

For now, and the next 10 years or so, I wouldn't buy them. I have four Takeuchi machines, and dealers have trouble servicing them.

Same problem. Taki is not supporting my new dealer (one year into carrying Taki). They have machines out, not working, and no support. They dropped Taki last week. My next dealer is 4 hours away.

 

[Chris Lewis]

My local dealer has been great, it’s Kioti that is not addressing then issues. They are working on high flow and 100hp

 

[PeterG]

Same problem. Taki is not supporting my new dealer (one year into carrying Taki). They have machines out, not working, and no support. They dropped Taki last week.

The Takeuchi Dealer near me has changed three times in the last ten years. Pretty scary to drop the machine off at these places. The good news is there are some amazing heavy equipment mechanics willing to jump in and help solve the problem on this forum site!

 

[heymccall]

12 Takeuchi here and 8 at my last contractor, and seldom, if ever, need the service dept. But, it seems like I'm tinkering with one every other week.