"I have no brand loyalty. Did the research and narrowed down to Kioti and Mahindra. Kioti has a somewhat heavier frame; and the Mahindra CUT's are not made directly by Mahindra, so went with the Kioti. Ballasted rear tires. Very hilly/sloping terrain used on. Very stable with the wide front end and ballasted tires. In the last 3 years, haven't used an awful lot, but what there is, has been heavy work. Has done everything I've asked of it. Loader quick disconnects a little loose and prone to popping off. Corrected with tighter o-rings. My wife keeps bumping the remove hydraulic valve lever out of neutral, which kills power and stalls the tractor if you don't have anything connected. Got a gear tractor due to direct transmission power vs HST slight slippage under heavy load. 4WD and differential lock is a big step up from the old 1949 Allis Chalmers C I was using before. In short---build quality and reliability great. Not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for. Dealer makes all the difference in a major purchase. After the sale is critical (Moon tractor in Hillsboro, OH). Wait for the right deal (got free loader with the seasonal deal that was on at the time, and LORD has it gotten a workout!) The setup cost me $25,500 at the time. Get the biggest setup you can afford, as the extra power and weight come in handy (better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it). Have pulled logs, cut wood, ripping point in heavy clay, hauled many tons of rocks, sand, and gravel, and rabbit/chicken poo, swung a 5 foot bush hog in HEAVY brush, 6' rototiller on 4 acres, Woods PSS72 (6' precision seeder on 4 acres), etc. Plenty of power, traction, and loader/3 pt/ PTO power for my uses. Only detraction is almost too MANY features. Confuses my wife. However, the power steering, wet brakes, etc., make it drive like a car (almost). Having the exhaust out the lower left side keeps the fumes out of your face. Lots of ground clearance. Great purchase."

"Reliability gets a 4 because I haven't owned it for a long time and I'm still under 100 hours. (I have a second smaller 28 horse Cub Cadet that I use 50 % of the time). It does have a four year warranty the best in the business. This is a heavy solid cast steel and iron tractor. No plastic hood like JD and much heavier than JD and Kubota. In short, this is a tank. So if your looking for a light wt. toy move this down your line of choices. The heavy beefy part is what drew me to this tractor. It also has the more moderate tier 4 pollution standards that doesn't hurt the horsepower. No diesel re-burner as yet. IMO you are getting more tractor for the money when compared to Kubota and JD. Kioti originated in South Korea and have Daedong engines (also Korea.) Now have a joint partnership of manufacturing in the USA. Do not buy Kioti if you expect to do much work on turf. It is heavy and will bite in. I have filled ag tires so it doesn't touch my lawn. I have been truly impressed with this tractor and it's performance, so far it has been up to the task."

"This tractor is really strong for its size and has great hydraulics. It came with a lot of features not available or as options of other tractors its size. It is also much heavier than most tractors its size. The price was incredible too. I was originally reluctant to buy a foreign tractor, but as I looked into John Deere and New Holland and others, I found they were all foreign made or at least contained all foreign components. Then after the tractor being thousands less than the others, I took the plunge."

"My original requirements for the tractor and my impressions now are: - moving round bales - plenty of power, though you want to make sure you have enough counter-weight. This not a knock against the tractor but something a first-time tractor owner needs to learn. - caring for 1/4 mile long driveway - 72" box blade makes this easy work - brush hogging approximately 7 acres cross fenced into 8 smaller paddocks (smallest gate is an 8', most are 10') - no problems using the 6' brush hog - several smaller loader projects that have piled up (pun unintended) - this loader makes chores fun! - cleaning out winter bedding from barns - where the tractor can reach it speeds up this process - consolidating a few brush piles - pushing around loose piles is a bit more cumbersome than I thought, need a grapple. - cleaning up waste hay from round bales - I've been careful to not push too hard on thick piles of waste hay, it's a loader, not a bulldozer I keep telling myself. A grapple is definitely best for this chore. - turning compost piles of waste hay and bedding - no problems with this. - loading an old ground driven manure spreader with compost - no problems with this. This is a great tractor and it's just the right size for our little operation. I'm afraid a smaller tractor would have me in some unsafe positions trying to unload double stacked round bales of hay. I chose this tractor over the DS line and I'm glad I did. All the little extra features make using the tractor a pleasure. Hooking up implements is simple using the QA on the front and the telescoping 3-point arms and rear operated lever on the rear. Neighbors with the traditional green and yellow tractors have been impressed with the features and the size of the metal (axles, loader, etc). Pre and post sales experience with S&H of southwest Missouri has been fantastic."

"I will start by telling of my first tractor a Ford 3600, about the same horse power. My 3600 did the job and it might be around long after my Kioti bits the dust. But it was at the time in its life that it was costing me about 500 dollars a year in repairs, mainly from age, and I just wanted newer and less maintenance. I only have 10 acres and to most my DK40se may seem over kill. I mow all 10 acres half rotary cutter and the rest finish mower both 6feet, and I do it quick and efficient. I keep the FEL off most of the time, just makes it easier to mow. Other uses include snow removal, post holes, FEL work, grading and heavy lifting. The pallet forks are one of the best acc. I bought for this tractor. It does not take much of a incline to get a 2 wheel drive tractor stuck with hard frozen ground, with that little thaw on top (like snot), so that 4wd sure comes in handy. The only problem has been that about one in thirty starts the stop solenoid does not release and does not start, one key turn to off and back has always fired right up. And always just the one cycle of the glow plugs has been enough for start, even down to 10 degrees. So far its been a great tractor and I love to get on it when ever I can, but I think the barn cat gets more seat time than me (wished I could have afforded the cab)."

"I had and still have a Kubota 1500 and used it for mowing and tilling (4ft). Now that i have the Kioti with backhoe, loader, post hole digger, 3 augers, pallet forks, brush hog and tiller (6ft) my back has never felt better. The next attachments will be a root grapple and a box scraper. "

"I've always been a Massey Fergson man, I also own a massey 231 old and beat up but still gets the job done, bought a Koiti DK40SE from a widow woman for a great price and it only had 5 hours on it. I had used a Kubota and it wasn't my cup of tea. and my Kioti was the same color so in my mind it was like a Kubota. well after a lot of use I love it. I haven't asked it to do anything yet that it hasn't delivered. When my fan broke this week I loved it more because it cost me 28 bucks for a new one."

"I purchased the dk40se to use on my 50 acres, does everything i could ask and more. So far I have used the FEL plenty and I'm impressed with the amount of dirt you can move with ease. I have also used 7 ft back blade, 55 gallon 3pt sprayer, 3 bottom 3pt plow and a 6ft brushhog. The tractor handles them all with plenty of hp to spare. I would highly recommend the tractor to anyone. Kioti is top notch. I'll leave one complaint to keep the review completely honest. The forward and reverse lever on the synchro. shuttle is a small reach with your left hand. "