The Best Sub Compact Tractor! Which should you buy?

There are decent amount of tractor manufacturers out there. How are you supposed to know which is the best? It might not be as straight forward as simply being the best. Each manufacturer focuses on different aspects of tractor ownership. I will go over a few things that helped me decide on a manufacturer. Hopefully it is helpful in your hunt for your dream machine.
Price, lift, control and comfort are all part of the equation, it is up to the buyer to determine which is the most important for their needs!

[@philwood9760]

My uncle bought a Ford Tractor in the 70's. He's RIP but the tractor is still going. Another thing to consider is that tractors will last longer than you.(insert disclaimer here) so get what you can get parts for down the road. Kubota engines made in Illinois. They have 2 factories in Georgia.

[@IllInformedHuman]

Excellent point!

[@FLEMZZY]

Great choice on best tractors Kubota never lets u down 👍👍

[@IllInformedHuman]

Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well! Yep, the Kubota has yet to let me down!

[@richardbritton5280]

Interesting view ty 😊

[@IllInformedHuman]

Thank you! That is what I was going for 😉

[@mms8393]

Very good video. But because LS doesn't list the price of their tractor on their website I am supposed to rule them out? Your scenario is exactly how it is in my community. LS is right next door to JD. I stopped in and they quoted me $14,380 before tax. With tax it is $15,530 - still a great price. I cannot justify paying 9 grand more for green paint. So it looks like LS for me. Not sure if it will be the MT125 but it will definitely be cash - no financing. Again - excellent video.

[@IllInformedHuman]

Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed the video. I ruled manufacturers out due to not showing me the price primarily because I felt like they were favoring the dealer over the end user. I don't want to do business with a company that prioritizes their dealers over customers. As far as the LS brand goes, I have seen videos of people showing nightmare stories and others stating that the tractor does just fine. The main factor for the LS tractor seems to be how often it is used. If you plan on using it 50 hours a year, it will probably be fine for a while. All the videos I saw of people that didn't like the brand talked about how they used it like a piece of production equipment on their hobby farm (150-250 hours per year). My point being, you are getting more than just a different paint color when you go between brands. But... if you know how to weld and aren't afraid of a wrench, you can make any machine work for you! Happy tractoring!

[@surroundedbyjaggoffs]

RK 21 , two years ago and I’m happy with it, it’s not perfect but it’s what I needed and it’s affordable!!!!!!!

[@IllInformedHuman]

Then is is perfect! Perfect for your needs :)

[@gsibertjr]

I lift and curl at the same time with yanmar 324. Just hope you never need to do maintenance on the Kubota hydraulic pump....its buried in the transaxle and us a big job to get to. Yannat hydraulic pump along with 3 point lift cylinder are both external mounted and easy to repair. And yes hydraulic pumps do need maintenance.

[@IllInformedHuman]

It was a tough call when I bought my sub compact. The Yanmar still made my list and I am sure I would have been happy with a SA324. Ultimately though, I was not impressed with the Yanmar operator station. It just felt cheap, and compared to Kubota, their loader felt stiff. Maintenance wise, the Kubota has been great for the scheduled bits. If I ever have a gear pump issue, I would want to pull out the trans axle anyway to have a look at the system as a whole and not just swap the pump.

[@randylloyd9947]

I went with the Massey GC1725M. Does everything I need to do. Haven't had any problems. Bought it New,with bucket and backhoe, Great price.

[@IllInformedHuman]

Awesome, glad you found something that suits you perfectly!

[@zacharycoslic1274]

Very good video and comparison The yanmar sa324 is actually a compact not a sub compact.

[@IllInformedHuman]

It is the only one comparable to the others :/ I was also impressed that they can still get it to you cheaper than some sub compacts.

[@charlesn296]

Neither is the T25

[@xdude2x]

Wouldn’t consider a tractor that is not made by their own company along with a vast dealer network.

[@IllInformedHuman]

I have a feeling this is why JD and Kubota are so popular...

[@tomm9860]

me neither that's way I went KIOTI. way more lifting power then the one's he looked at. No regrets even after 3 threes.

[@RyanBorntreger-cx4ek]

Kioti now makes all their tractors including engine

[@IllInformedHuman]

They still don't let me build and price anything. Which is a pretty big sin in my opinion.

[@IllInformedHuman]

That is what the dealer put on there, how do you know they didn't rip you off?@@tomm9860

[@tomm9860]

didn't need to build my Kioti came with all the extras @IllInformedHuman included, all 4-wheel filled for weight balance, Bob Cat quick disconnect bucket, floorboard rubber mates, rear leave controls for 3-piont hitch extending arms. one rear remote. 6-year 100% warrantee. all in one package/ One price delivered. DK 4210 SE HST 72-inch

[@tomm9860]

i did my homework before writing the check to pay for it.@@IllInformedHuman

[@JS-we2gc]

Through your research and dealer visits, what was the best dealer you worked with? Yes, I know not all dealers are the same. What manufacturer did you find to be the most helpful, if you reached out to them directly?

[@IllInformedHuman]

Kubota and Deere websites were the best for setting up a machine exactly how you want. I never sent direct correspondence. If they are not willing to put the info online for the world to see, then they are not going to give it to me over the phone IMO. The JD dealerships were much more helpful but made walking around the lot feel like buying a car. Some of the Kubota lots felt that way, but only the ones that sold other brands as well as Kubota. If you are in mid Wisconsin, Lochen Equipment is a great place, small and friendly without being too friendly. If you want the big box store experience go through McFarlen (my old man bought a side-by-side). Yanmar and Massey dealers avoided eye contact with me and treated the product like a used implement... I visited two of each I saw off the highway, I couldn't tell you their names. It wasn't pertinent since I did not care for the operator station of either machine.

[@thelamegoat8035]

I've got a iseki TM 3265 which is a 25 horsepower I'm more than happy 🙂 with the little girl I know is made in Japan not the USA

[@IllInformedHuman]

You can't go wrong with a compact/subcompact tractor these days 😀Just don't try and make it do things it wasn't meant to do!

[@tomm9860]

You should have checked into the KIOTI tractor's as you missed out on a great tractor.

[@IllInformedHuman]

They were on the list in the video, implying that I did check them out! KIOTI had committed the cardinal sin of not giving me a price on their site. Also looking into them I found that the controls in the operators station felt cheap and loose (similar to Massey). I am sure it gets the job done but I would feel like a liar if I called it a great tractor.

[@tomm9860]

Oh well as long as your happy as I'm with my New KIOTI that's @@IllInformedHuman

[@gonzalosanabria2251]

Mahindra? ES20?

[@IllInformedHuman]

That is a smaller tractor than what I was comparing. I wanted to see how all the 25ish HP models did. The ES20 is a 19.4HP machine. Mahindra as a whole was not on my radar since they don't manufacture their own tractors.

[@stevenhooten4275]

Massey for me with his choices jd is a rich man throw away tractor have way too many problems motor wise and too expensive. Kubota is way too cheap and breakdown like crazy for people who use them for how they are made to be used a relative has a kioti and he loves it but doesn't work it like a tractor just once in awhile id prefer a case emax or new holland workmaster 25s

[@denison298]

Helpful and well-organized information. Thanks for that. However, please consider dispensing with "impacted" when you mean "affected" or "influenced." Also, you speak with a low, gravely tone that sometimes fades into vocal fry. Vocal fry makes a speaker almost impossible to listen to for any length of time. By keeping your vocal energy up you can overcome that awful fade into fry.

[@IllInformedHuman]

Thank you! If people continue to misuse a word (impacted), the definition will eventually change ;) Working on my tone for videos has been something I have been doing, thank you for the tip. This vid in particular was a bit worse since I just finished work and recording issues made this the eighth take. It was starting to no longer be fun. So I decided to just ship it since I only do this for the grins after all!

[@edstipsandtricks693]

Kubota uses kioti parts. People trust daedong parts

[@IllInformedHuman]

Kubota manufactures their parts for the American tractors in Gainesville, Georgia. The base machine, complete with engine, is manufactured in Japan... All of the facilities BTW, they own. Do they source nuts and bolts from somewhere else? probably! They may even use the same bolt supplier as Kioti! So... I guess you might be technically correct 🤔