Neil from Messicks here. We had the opportunity to have
a bunch of current competitive models on our lot
and it presented an opportunity go around and do some videos on them.
Now we need to prefix this with saying that talking down
another competitor's equipment is not a way that we typically like to see
business and sales transactions done.
Generally, we're of the opinion that our dealership, our experience,
the products that we sell can stand on their own without
having to talk down about other products.
Unfortunately anymore we find a lot of customers developing opinions
about things through Youtube videos
that may be really based upon half-truths.
While we had this product to your own hand,
we wanted to take the opportunity to walk around and do a video of
our own and try to show how some others' comparisons show are made
in dishonest ways and try to make our own comparisons
and maybe do it a little bit more honestly
than what you typically would find.
Take a quick look here at this video
and let us know down in the comments how we did.
To start, we're going to look exactly what tractor we're comparing to.
In the case of this machine, this is John Deere 4052M.
A 52 horsepower economy version of this tractor.
If we work through the options that Deere uses to compare on
Johndeere.com to the Kubota tractor, you'll notice that they compare
this 4052 to a Kubota 4760.
Giving themselves a small edge in horsepower,
but picking a transmission that's actually
a lot more simplistic than the Kubota equivalent.
You won't find those differences if you
work your way down through the spec sheet.
This is Deere's mechanical hydrostatic transmission.
It doesn't have any of the electronic features
found on their M series tractor.
Over here on the Kubota side, we do have all the features
found in Kubota's HST Plus
and some things that Deere doesn't offer.
Over here we have things like
an electronically controlled hydrostatic
with things like hydrodualrspeed to shift speeds on the fly,
ability to tie the hydrostatic pedal
to your engine rod RPMs to drive this thing like a car,
Kubota's power-up button,
all these are features that are found on this tractor.
If you work your way through the competitive comparison,
you'll find they're all completely absent from any information
that Deere is going to present to you.
They pick this tractor because it's a little bit less capable
and a smaller machine by the numbers.
It outclasses the machine as far as features go.
When we're comparing on features,
Deere will pick a more economy-oriented tractor.
One of the things they're always very keen to point out
and keen to fluff up is their plastic hoods.
One of the interesting things that you'll find on this plastic hood
is if you go through the owner's manual,
you'll find references that you should only clean
this plastic hood with a soft damp cloth,
as to not scratch it.
They are quick to show you that it can be beat on by
all kinds of things which is probably true out of the gate,
but one thing with these plastics is that the tractors start to age,
become brittle, rather than being bouncy,
they start to become brittle and break.
That's something that won't happen on a metal hood as it ages.
Yes, can metal rust, absolutely. I couldn't tell you the last time
I saw one of these rusting but yes, it could.
A metal hood doesn't weaken with age and is over all,
if you listen to my pounding, a lot more dense, solid,
than these flimsy plastic hoods could be.
One of the things that drives me the most crazy
in Deere's competitive comparison
is their continued focus on Kubota's front axle designs.
Here you'll see a hydrostatic steering system
with guards and stuff over top of the front cylinders
in order to protect them. They will point out that
because the steering components are here in the front,
they're susceptible to damage.
If you come over here to the John Deere version,
you'll notice a much lighter front axle for one,
steering components that are behind the axle but also below it.
If you're mowing along everything, the rods, the cylinders
and everything hang down here below the axle itself.
[chuckles] My opinion, I would much rather take a higher mounted system
that's protected and shielded across the front to one that hangs below.
Deere also uses a lot of half-truths when it comes to
their comparisons and the amount of service
that's required on their tractor versus the Kubota.
The most blatant that we were able to find
is the comparison on number of grease ZERKs.
They point out, they've got four compared to Kubota's 17.
The only way that we can figure they came up with that number is
by comparing their tractor without a loader to a Kubota with one,
because most of the grease ZERKs are still found in the loader.
We counted on these two tractors, and came up with 14 on both tractors.
On their loader alone there's more than four grease ZERKs,
so not 100% sure where that's coming from.
In my opinion, I would rather have more grease ZERKs.
We all know that as machines work, those pins wear
and so having grease ZERKs is a positive, not a negative.
Another blunder is the references to
the cost of the transmission oil changes
and the frequency that they need to be done.
One thing that has been a little confusing even for us
is that there's some conflicting information about that.
Most of that is driven by Kubota's changes between transmission fluids.
The old version of Super UDT was
a regular multi-weight transmission fluid.
Few years ago, Kubota changed to Super UDT2,
which is a synthetic transmission fluid.
With the change in their transmission fluids,
the service intervals also got much longer between the oil changes.
Deere's exploiting that fact and using the information from
the old transmission fluid that's not even produced anymore
in order to exaggerate the differences
and maintenance cost between the two tractors.
As you could see, I don't have a whole lot of faith in
the comparisons that Deere made to a Kubota tractor.
I'm not going to try to make those same kind of comparisons.
As I said, I don't think it can be done honestly and fairly.
You as somebody shopping for a tractor need to go and choose
two tractors that are right for you and make your own comparisons.
I am going to do a quick walk around this tractor as an operator.
As somebody that gets the opportunity to get on and off of
a lot of different brands of tractors all the time,
and I'll point out some things that I do like on this tractor
and things that I don't that are worth considering.
Take a quick walk here around with me
and we'll point some of those things out.
Here on the Deere side, they used
a proprietary coupler that is system [?].
Another thing is the simple mechanics of this.
I'd rather have a lever to reach, to lift and release the bucket.
You have to be down to the bottom and flip one these potter pins off
in order to drop the bottom of the bucket out.
It's not hard to do, it's just a little crude,
compared to a modern skid steer coupler.
Their loaders also have some issues that I am not wild about either.
Many of their loaders are permanently attached to the tractor
and do not remove from the machine.
Kubota uses removable loaders as standard equipment
across every one of their products.
They don't even make a fixed loader. In the case of this Deere tractor,
the options in the parking stands and stuff that you need to make
this loader removable add more $900 to the cost of the machine.
One thing I like about this, it is an amazing piece of casting.
The way this casting is curved around, it is cool and robust.
You got to give them that. Another concern that
I frequently have with Deere tractors is the way that they choose to route
their hydraulic lines and where they will place their loader couplers at.
You'll see here, they're using hard lines which is great,
not hoses on it, that's a positive.
Those lines all route down here coming underneath the floorboards.
Just like that steering cylinder on the front axle,
these very vulnerable components become the low point on the tractor.
If we look at a Kubota, there's two different places where Kubota
will put their valves and two different routings of hoses.
You'll see that the valve is kept up here on the post,
with all the hoses in the routing up here tight against the loader
and coming off the manifold down here at the bottom.
There's none of the loader hydraulics
really hanging down here below the tractor.
A grand L60 series is exactly the same way.
The couplers are up here and all the routing for those pieces stays
in the high parts of the tractor, rather than being down below.
Deere does an excellent job at marketing.
Absolutely, bar none, the best tractor company in the industry.
They are experts in giving funny names to everyday things.
One of those is the iMatch hitch.
This is just a universal three-point quick hitch
that has existed for years.
Nobody has really marketed it in the way the Deere has.
Many companies put a big focus on getting these quick hitches on
the backs of their tractors because the expectation is then,
because this hitch is here, you'll also buy
the branded implements to match it.
This is nothing special.
There are hitches like this from about dozens of companies.
This standard for the iMatch is actually an SAE standard,
that's not followed very well within the industry.
If you have one of these quick hitches,
you should be prepared for maybe 2/3 of your implements
actually being able to hook up to this hitch.
While Deere goes and they strip deluxe three-point hitch options off
of these tractors, replacing them with iMatches, you got to be aware
that this is a far from perfect system in reality.
Look familiar? This is a Land Pride series quick hitch, a QH20.
We probably sell about 50 of these ourselves every year.
Exactly the same thing as the John Deere iMatch,
but without the funny name and price tag.
A few things that I noticed here from the operator station.
When I take a look around here, frankly I'm very impressed.
When these companies make economy tractors,
you'll find they start stripping off a lot of options.
A lot of places they typically do that is in the sheet metal
and the four panels down here around the bottom.
This tractor actually has a fairly modern operator station for
one of their more economy oriented models.
A couple of places that I'm a little bit less impressed,
come to some of the positions of the levers.
The range selector here in the side is really long and a little clunky.
I'm also not a big fan of hand parking brakes.
I much better like the pedal latch and brake system.
One can't talk about the platform without talking about
twin touch hydrostatic pedals.
There's repeated conversations of comparisons between
a two pedal system, which Deere and some other manufacturers that
I also sell use and a single treadle pedal that Kubota uses.
The Kubota uses that system because if you do surveys of the population
it has always been that 50% or a little bit better
tend to prefer the single pedal system.
It is a Chevy or Ford type question of what somebody prefers.
It's not necessarily that one is better than the other.
They will make comparisons to this being an automotive style pedal,
which is kind of true, it's got a gas and brake feel going to it,
but the positions are actually flipped.
The forward lever is where the brake would be
and the backward lever is where the gas would be.
For me personally too, it's always felt a little unnatural
to press a pedal forward to go backwards.
I'm a treadle pedal guy, but that doesn't necessarily mean
that's right or wrong, it's a personal preference.
The way that you should decide that is not by watching a youtube video,
it's getting in the tractors and driving them around yourself.
Another thing that I often find on Deere tractors is I have
a lot more trouble doing multiple functions
with the loader valve than I do on a lot of other machines.
In that case that's pretty pronounced on this tractor.
I find the loader valve to be really stiff
compared to a lot of machines, and oddly when the tractor
is turned off it moves a lot easier than
when it has hydraulic pressure behind it.
Is the John Deere or 4052M a terrible tractor? No.
Should you absolutely run out and buy a Kubota instead? No.
Frankly, this isn't the right way in order to buy a tractor.
In my experience as a dealer myself, a lot of your experience with owning
a tractor has a lot to do with the dealership
that you decide to buy it from.
A good dealer who can provide good support,
who knows their product is going to give you
a much better experience than one who doesn't.
Rather than comparing specs in Excel and watching videos on YouTube,
the right way to buy a tractor is to go out to few of local dealers,
get the keys to many of the machines and go drive them.
Find a salesman who you trust and seems knowledgeable
that can put you into
the right machine for your application.
Application has a huge importance and saying that this machine
compares to this machine, it really often isn't that simple.
It really is all about the job that you have at hand.
Get out, get some keys, visit some dealerships and find somebody
who knows these products well that can put you into the right one
and ensure that you have a good ownership experience.
If we can help you through this process,
give us a call at Messick's.
We're available at 800-222-3373 or online at messicks.com.
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