Kubota 2017 Dealer Meeting New Models

Normally, we're used to walk it around tractors outside but these machines aren't going to ship for anywhere between about two to six months here at this point. So we're going to go through a quick slideshow of things from pitchers and stuff that we took at the meeting to give you an idea what some of the new products are going to be.

The most significant item coming out for us here this year is a new BX Series. The BX is our incredible tractors force. Our dealership will sell just about 250 of them here this year alone so this product is very, very important to us. They've got four new models coming out. Basically replacing the four other product line currently that will be the BX1880, 2380, 2680, and replacing the BX25 is the model BX23S. I guess the thought behind that is we're going back to reflecting the engine horsepower, but the S denotes that it is a newer model. There had been a BX23 in the product line before.

There's several changes to those machines. The first thing that you're going to notice is the redesigned hood. Rather than being a flip-up hood, this is now a single piece hood that flips to the front. The nice thing about that is it'll make servicing the tractor a little bit easier. You won't have side panels to pull off, clips to break and that kind of stuff. So it's now a single piece hood that flips forward.

On the front, there's a new redesigned grille ground now that will flip forward as well to allow the hood to come forward, several other changes as well. The tractors are all going to get a new, more comfortable seat. That'll be in the 2380 and 2680, because of the pivot and swivel motion on the backhoe version the new 23S will continue to use the existing seat. While the 1880 uses a little bit less expensive seat. That's been on the tractor before, so that one does not get an upgrade.

There are many changes to the loader on this machine. You're going to notice here that there's a coupler on the front. Before, these tractors had a quick coupler for the loader bucket, but it was a pin type coupler. That was unique to the bucket and the pallet forks that they offered some of the blades that were out there too. But this new coupler is a full-on skid steer coupler.

The great thing about skid steer couplers is that it opens you up to the huge range of attachments that are out there for skid loaders. I'm sure you're going to start to see a lot more miniature skid loader attachments to suit these tractors. We were showing a couple of new pieces from Land Pride as well. Some new blades, a really cool little box scraper, which I'm excited about, and I'm sure we're going to start to see a lot of new options to go onto the front of that loader.

In order to support those implements, Kubota is now offering a factory third function as well. That'll be a diverter where the actual valve sits out on the loader and then adds a button back at the joystick, in order to operate that third function. Speaking of the joystick, it now comes back to the fender. Rather than being out in front of you, it's now a fender mounted lever.

I remember from seating in the seat, that the lever is right by my hand in the comfortable operation position. If I had any criticism of it, it's a pretty short throw. It may not give you as easy corner positioning and stuff as what the older, longer lever did. But it's in a very comfortable position, so that should be slick. There is also a series of new features to allow you to release the loader without getting off the seat. So in order to accomplish that, there's two latches that will release the loader from the sockets that they mount into.

Once you've taken those off, there's a manifold to release all four of your hydraulic hoses which is really cool. They're all flat faced couplers so they should release well under pressure, and then once that manifold comes off and the thing is released your parking stand has been dropped down, you can remove the loader right off the tractor without getting off the seat. It was demoed several times. It looked like a really slick and easy process.

We're excited to see how that works. Some small changes on the backhoe side as well. A new system in order to release the backhoe from the tractor. You'll notice on the old BX23 there was a cam grabbing system that existed only to release the backhoe from the tractor. That kind of comes back here in the new version. When you push the backhoe up into the tractor, some spring loaded pins will lock into the place to lock the backhoe on so that you don't have to put your hands back into as many pitch points in order to release and attach the backhoe.

That seems like a nice improvement. I did miss one feature on the loader there as well. There's a level indicator, that's an option now in order to see the level point on the bucket. They'll still have the level indicator on the bucket itself, so that is an option, but for guys that are doing a lot of loader work, you might appreciate that. There's a Z400 Series now, to kind of fill the gap between the commander's Z100 Series and the really commercial, heavy duty ZD Series or Z700 Series.

The Z400 will use a hydro gear 3400 transmission. It's a transmission that you typically find on a lot of mid to high end zero turn mowers. The transmission will run that machine up to 10 miles an hour. It's a really high speed for a machine in this class, so it should be a very nice, fast running mower. One thing we were interested to see on that machine, is if you do up for a bagger, there's no fan on the bagger that should- a little curious exactly how they're going to shove that much grass through that bag with no fan at that type of speed.

I'd expect on the bag you're probably going to have to slow down a little bit. A lot of our heavy, thick Northeast conditions. A new machine too. Coming back into the ZD Series and the diesel class is a 31 horse model with the transition to tier four. When tier four engine started to acquire DPF filters they eliminated the ZD331 because it went over the top of the 26 horsepower limit for your needing a deaf film, a DPF filter on it.

That's now back in the product line now. That machine gets a DPF filter. It does also turbo charge, which I thought was pretty cool. It has a real air ride seat on it as well. This machine is going to carry a pretty significant price point without air riding DPF on it. It's easily going to be over $20,000-$21,000. It's not going to be inexpensive but if you're in a situation in an application that demands that amount of horsepower, given today's emissions requirements, that what you need to purchase.

Along that emissions class, especially tractors are also coming back into the product line now as well. As Kubota move through tier four transitions, the narrow and low profile tractors were eliminated from the product line for a short time, because all the engineering was happening on the other models. Now that we're well into the tier four transition, we now have an M5111 low profile tractor available again. Being a 111 horsepower, this thing does have a depth tank on it. These tractors are really popular in poultry and orchard applications where you need a really low profile tractor.

For us, we have turkey barns and chicken barns going up everywhere around here. That nice low profile machine gives you a lot of horsepower in a size that you can easily fit into a barn or in an orchard application where you can be underneath branches. Those orchards- you also sell a lot narrow tractors as well. There's an M4071 coming back in again that replaces the old 7040 and an M5 91/111 narrow tractors. 9111 horsepower tractors that fill in the higher horsepower class.

We're glad to see Kubota come with those options now, that was something that we had always fought with before of not having quite enough horsepower in our narrow tractor. Another update here as well happens in the KX91, that moves on to a new model, KX033. Not a whole lot of changes to that machines, but updated with new engines, new cab improvements and air conditioning model now. Our old KX91 had an air conditioner condenser hanging off the side of the cab looked pretty hokey.

The new ones now, in the KX033, the condensers fit back underneath the machine so you have full visibility out and around the cab. It also has all the updated control panels and stuff that's come into the rest of the KX series. So that's it. Like I said, we'll be seeing those things over the next two to six months or so. Keep your eyes out on messicks.com or the Kubota website as well for new models.