Where is that dealer at ??? You can send me a dm if you want to with that too m kinda looking at box blade and getting rid of my rear blade but tax naver seems to have much in stock

 

For your location, here are the stores which are all south or SE of you......Distance is from zip code 49424 as I remembered that from my years living there.......I know you aren't in the same zip code, but close.......

 

Ok thanks

 

Here is from their website. You might want to call the store you plan to visit to make sure they have what you want before driving there. I saw 4 to 6 of the landscape rakes, box blades, and similar implements at their Niles store the other day. They have most of the inventory on their website. Not sure if I saw Land Planes there, as I am considering getting one and selling my box blade..........I have the 48" Frontier and the only thing I use it on now is our road that I built. A land plane would work on the road better for my needs..............

 

We have an equipment dealer in the town I work in that has carried TYM for years. They had almost no tractors for the past few months and now have at least 2-5 of every model delivered last week.

 

Maybe that's some of the inventory finally being unloaded from all of the container ships which have been off shore waiting..........

When I look at the TYM website, it appears that many of the "standard equipment" items on the RK machines are actually options on the TYM machines. For example, the TYM machines offer the rear hydraulic connections on the smaller machines as an option, where they are standard equipment on the RK machines. The machines are just colored, labeled and optioned differently, but the core machines are the same. I wonder when it comes down to warranty work if the TYM dealers have an agreement with RK to perform the repairs, as it would certainly make sense.

The RK machines are offering an 8 year warranty, as follows;

All 19-55HP RK Tractors come with a 2-year full-machine warranty and an industry leading 8-year powertrain warranty (5-year powertrain warranty for 74HP) - parts & labor included, with no deductible. No tractor brand offers a better warranty. We want our customers to have confidence that RK Tractors are of the highest quality and that we will stand behind them. We’ve got your back

Interestingly, the TYM machines are providing the 6 year power train warranty with the 2 year "bumper to bumper" coverage. However, the Rural King Machines are extending the power train warranty to 8 years. The additional 2 years of coverage on the power train are unique to the RK machines.

RK is adding store locations which carry the tractors but their website doesn't seem to be keeping up with the listing of the stores handling their tractors. For example, the store closest to my location which carries the tractors has had them for well over a year, yet the website still doesn't list that location as a source of their tractors.

 

Rural King just purchased the old KMart location here in Chambersburg, PA. They have started fixing the property with fresh paint, and new roof. They also have it on the Internet as a future Rural King site. They are also leasing or selling the out parcels.

The tractor supply in Chambersburg has ditched almost all of its farm related outside gear like fence, gates, 3pt implements, etc. they have put in a new large garden center like at Lowes.

‘Now the Lowes 3 blocks away is taking part of their Garden Center area and putting in watering troughs, gates, hog panels, and deer stands, etc.

It is fun to watch the evolution of retail.

Now we just need a Menards.

 

Rural King just purchased the old KMart location here in Chambersburg, PA. They have started fixing the property with fresh paint, and new roof. They also have it on the Internet as a future Rural King site. They are also leasing or selling the out parcels.

The tractor supply in Chambersburg has ditched almost all of its farm related outside gear like fence, gates, 3pt implements, etc. they have put in a new large garden center like at Lowes.

‘Now the Lowes 3 blocks away is taking part of their Garden Center area and putting in watering troughs, gates, hog panels, and deer stands, etc.

It is fun to watch the evolution of retail.

Now we just need a Menards.

Perhaps they shouldn't call themselves "Tractor Supply" anymore then. They might call it "Suburban Botanical" supply or something like that.

 

Which RK tractor is the 1025R comparable to? The RK21H?

After looking at their site and playing around with building my own, it would appear I could have gotten either a RK25H TLB or RK25H with 3rd function and grapple for less than what I paid for my 1025R TLMMM.

Stings a little seeing how much more tractor I could have gotten for less money. Then again, the 1025R is my first tractor. I’ve only put 27 hours on it so far, so I don’t really know anything about what makes one tractor better than another.

 

The RK 24 is the machine which really is the most direct competition to the 1025r. They also have the RK25, which is a new model which interestingly, doesn't seem to be replacing the RK24, but an offering in addition to the RK24.

As I pointed out above, the RK 24 now offers a heated cab option, which is exactly 1/2 the cost of the Mauser cab offered by Deere. I haven't seen the cab for the RK24 in person, but I would like to, in order to compare it to the Mauser cab. As the owner of a Mauser cab, I can say it is a very high quality product which is well designed and built.

That's part of what intrigues me about the cab for the RK24, as I would like to see it in person to look at the details of how its built, how it functions and how it is integrated into the machine. The cab doesn't fit the RK25 and there isn't an offering for that machine that I can locate.

The weakness in the RK product line is its reliance on retail stores as the service centers. I happen to know the "Service Manager" of the Lawn Products and Tractor department of the RK store which is about 20 miles from my home. He once worked for my friend who owns the small engine shop I support and I helped start and build. The guy who is the Service Manager at the RK store is the same guy I suggested my friend terminate from his employment at his small engine store, and in fact, my friend followed my advice as he usually does.

I found the guy who was working at his store the type who tells you exactly what you want to hear, but he does very little to actually make things happen to benefit the customer. I would describe him as "All hat and no cattle", if that Texas area reference makes sense..............He is probably as much of a liability to the RK service department as he was while in my friends employ. People rarely change that drastically so I would imagine his same negative actions continue in this employment at RK as well. One day when the store or divisional manager realizes the guy is working against the stores best interests and primarily for his own personal interests, I would imagine he will be down the road, yet again.

 

One interesting aspect of these machines is they are going to push Deere to innovate and also perhaps increase their list of standard equipment to include such things as a set of rear hydraulic remotes as standard. Or maybe to increase the machines capabilities. Competition is a good thing. Now, these RK machines are such a small percentage of the SCUT market. But I assure you Deere is watching what TYM and others are doing with their products. They would be foolish not to.

Having seriously considered a Kioti before I bought my Deere I certainly looked at price and quality as well as onshore/offshore parts content.

From a business standpoint I wonder how Deere will compete? Much of our tractors are made in China/India and assembled in Mexico so there isn't much fat to cut with offshoring major components.

Assembly is already done in the lower wage tiered areas of the US.

Not here to belabor how Korea can give us a cheaper and better tractor than we in the US can build.

But without slashing parts or material quality how will Deere find the financial point to "compete" when the disparity is exponential not incremental.

Some things aren't expensive, such as adding the DI Yanmar engine. Others cost money or decrease reliability such as small increases in build strength to increase capabilities.

Just pondering how it can/will happen.

 

Having seriously considered a Kioti before I bought my Deere I certainly looked at price and quality as well as onshore/offshore parts content.

From a business standpoint I wonder how Deere will compete? Much of our tractors are made in China/India and assembled in Mexico so there isn't much fat to cut with offshoring major components.

Assembly is already done in the lower wage tiered areas of the US.

Not here to belabor how Korea can give us a cheaper and better tractor than we in the US can build.

But without slashing parts or material quality how will Deere find the financial point to "compete" when the disparity is exponential not incremental.

Some things aren't expensive, such as adding the DI Yanmar engine. Others cost money or decrease reliability such as small increases in build strength to increase capabilities.

Just pondering how it can/will happen.

Your comments mirror my thoughts when I see the RK tractors offered at the retail store. There are a number of strategic differences in the approaches, but the RK machine is an example of what can be offered at a price point that still allows Rural King to make money selling them. Sure, the profits on an RK machine are surely a fraction of the profits on a Deere machine and the other main difference is in how they are marketed by the selling organization.

When you purchase a John Deere, you are purchasing a well known, highly regarded product supported by a vast dealer network which has excellent market presence in all parts of the U.S. The company is financially very sound and quite diverse. The tractor is the core of John Deere's global business and they have built a group of companies which cover the agricultural industry as well as forestry, heavy equipment, road, highway and bridge construction and all of the necessary technology to support those vast industries.

When you purchase a Rural King tractor, you are purchasing a TYM tractor which is built and privately labeled for Rural King. After looking at the RK product as well as the TYM offerings, it's clear that RK is having TYM build their machines to specific target markets and cleverly offering many of the beneficial options as standard equipment which help the machine owners expand the use of their machines. However, Rk is a farm and rural lifestyle retailer, which distributes the products made by other organizations. They are cleverly expanding precisely as Meager Hair pointed out, by buying up former retail locations and "remodeling them" to meet their needs.

Rural King is privately owned and was founded in 1960. They are very prudently acquiring their store locations for a fraction of the cost of what other competing retailers spend to build cookie cutter buildings. You see the difference inside of many of the Rural King stores and I have been in 4 and all were prior K-Mart stores. All of the stores show their age when compared to their competitors, but I will also say they are always busier than their local competition of TSC.

Clearly, Rural King is committed to their tractor sales business as they continue to expand it. There are a number of things which they could do to improve their tractor sales, starting with having dedicated sales staff which is trained to sell the product. Right now, they often take a department manager and assign them the task of selling the tractors, but my experience is the managers lack the training to help the customers get what they desire and are seeking. Hopefully, they will work on this aspect of their business, plus working out many of the kinks in their financing offer, etc.

Retailers have customarily made products available and waited for the consumer to purchase them. Dealers have dedicated and trained sales and service staff, to support their customers and help them acquire what they need. There is a huge difference between offering a commodity and selling a premium product. Competing on price is what gives some an incentive to consider their products, but it takes a sales professional to help the customer make the transition from being a prospective buyer of the product to being an owner of the item. And as we know, these tractors offer a myriad of sales opportunities for implements, accessories, etc. which is where the sales professional comes into play.

As I see it now, they attract two prospective types of customers. Those who are driven by price and who really don't have tractor ownership experience and the very experienced tractor owner, who really doesn't rely on their dealer other than to be a reliable parts source and to purchase the equipment they need to complete their tasks and projects.

It's an interesting product line and marketing method to watch, as someone who has spent his life in sales and building successful companies. With the right people in charge of the tractor sales business, they could dramatically increase their sales of the machines. But that's for another thread, or at least another post.................

In the meantime, its interesting to watch their business and how they are approaching the sales of this machinery...............

 

Does the RK have turning brakes ?

or
1 brake like the deere compacts?

 

The RK 19,21,24. All have single brake.
The RK25 model and higher have split brakes

 

I have a couple RK implements, tiller and brush cutter, and they have been great so far. The brush cutter I had to wait 11 weeks for it to come in. They had 4 foot and 6 foot and larger in stock but I wanted a 5 foot. I have a 3 point hitch from them too and it's way over built for my 1025 but I'll never break it! I haven't looked at their tractors yet because I don't need another one!
James

 

@SulleyBear in reference to your comment about a dedicated sales staff for tractors- I don’t think RK needs that for several reasons. When purchasing a lawn mower at a big box store (where I assume the majority of mowers are purchased) there is no dedicated staff. You might get lucky and find someone working there that is knowledgeable but that is always hit and miss. JD plays in this environment and does quite well with entry level tractors and ZTs. We also read plenty of comments and threads just here in GTT about salespeople at JD dealers that don’t know what the heck they’re talking about and giving out false or incomplete information.
RK tractor shoppers probably already know a few things about tractors or are shopping purely in price point. I have a couple RK stores in my area that carry tractors so I’ve had a chance to look them over a few times. They’re competitive on price right out of the gate then if you start comparing features that are optional on JD or Kubota they really start showing their value. After the recent JD price hikes they look even better. A 37 hp cab tractor looks to be a heckuva deal.

 

... We also read plenty of comments and threads just here in GTT about salespeople at JD dealers that don’t know what the heck they’re talking about and giving out false or incomplete information....

And the same goes for their service department. Just because there's a JD sign out front doesn't automatically mean you will get stellar service commensurate with the premium you pay for buying green.

I drive past an LS and a NH dealers several times a week. They both have been selling every tractor they get on their lots (usually 6-10 at a time every few weeks) within days for the last 18 months. ..

I noticed that about our local NH dealer. JD and Kubota lots were pretty much bare, NH seemed to have a pretty good stock of machines all throughout this mess. I can't say for sure how fast they were selling, or if they were the same units sitting there every time I drove by, but they had tractors on the lot.

 

At this time RK tractors aren't available to the masses the way Deere is. I'm 6 hrs away from the closest RK store so unless they have local (3rd party?) service support, they're not an option for me.

I will admit that just looking at pricing they seem very attractive. I looked at a TYM tractor several years ago and from what I remember they seemed fairly well built. I wonder if RK offers discounts or does everyone pay list price?

 

Depending on where you live, JD's dealer network can be a HUGE advantage over a place like RK. In my part of Illinois, there are three RK's within 50 miles. By comparison, there are 15 Deere dealers within that same radius.

 

The current bottleneck of tractor availability is an opportunity to "steal" some customers.
A couple years back when I made up my mind that I was done with an open station for moving snow, I would have considered an off brand tractor if that's all that was available. I would have regretted it once a Deere was available, but I wasn't going through another winter without a cab. So if that would have been the alternative I would have looked hard at it.

 

I drive past an LS and a NH dealers several times a week. They both have been selling every tractor they get on their lots (usually 6-10 at a time every few weeks) within days for the last 18 months. Their last shipments have been sitting there for several weeks now unsold. Earlier this summer the LS dealer would have 6 -8 new tractors on the lot, next day everything is gone. I’m sure they’ve sold way more than normal and probably taken away sales from JD and Kubota.

 

Not sold on TYM yet.

Know a guy with 2 dead ones.

That said.....I did have a Dong Feng Hong that was a good machine....No loader.

Rhino was a popular brand up here for a few years........The used ones for sale usually have a broke PTO or cracked Bell Houseing (area) if they had a loader.

The new Mc Cormick line has showed up....but already seeing those for sale on CL.....Good looking tractors with cabs and lots of options as standard eqpt.

LS line is popular.
New Holland /Ford lot is well stocked

Deere just got a huge load of implements and maybe a dozen tractors in the smaller sizes...Nothing bigger than 3 series on the lot.
Kubota has near nothing on the lot but mini front end loaders and some skidsteers....just a couple tractors.

Farm stores are all stocked with Mowers ,tillers ,rakes ,spreaders.....The New price of budget implements is Crazy.
No one will be happy.

 

I’m wondering about how sales will be now that retail pricing has went up 20-40% and inventory is back in stock. I think they’ll be sitting on product for awhile.

 

I have looked some at the TYM offerings. I considered one a few years back and nothing saying I won't look at them again.

BUT when I read about the rebranded versions I think back to the stories of Cabellas that stopped selling them and couldn't get any parts and service from TYM. Buying the RK version would be a gamble in my opinion.

 

My RK only has 3 tractors, same ones that have been on the lot for a year.
They have been getting implements more regularly and have a fair amount in stock now.

 

I was getting coffee the other morning at a local gas station and a guy walked up next to me and asked where the regular creamer was. I told him they appeared to be all out. I said there's plenty of flavor type cream and he responded " as there should be" .

I'm not surprised that RK tractors has allot of inventory when Deere does not. JD would say that's how it should be (selling more). That's why I picked Deere.

 

I do not doubt the RK's tractors ability to perform work. Like others have mentioned, the dealer network and the ability to get parts is important for many people.

I started looking for a tractor in August. The LS, Kioti, and TYM dealerships all had (and still have) plenty of stock. Deere and Kubota had (and continue to have) nothing. I rented a few different tractors (3120, BX, a 2- series equivalent from TYM, and an LS) from the rental yards. I found the user experience to be more refined on the Deere and Kubota, but all four machines were very capable for their size (couldn't get apples-to-apples size comparisons). I was a bit surprised by this as the Deere and Kubota were the oldest i rented and would have thought the newer machines would have been more refined. In the end, I felt that I couldn't go wrong with any tractor as long as it was sized right (I suppose by GTT standards that is at least 1.5 sizes larger than necessary).

Beyond the ergonomics, what swayed me was the ability to get parts. The Deere and Kubota dealers were less than 30 minutes away. I could get parts same day and continue working. The other dealers were two and a half hours away, effectively making a parts trip a full day ordeal or order by mail.

Does RK have 0% financing or do they require payment up front? That would be the hard part to justify for the tractor, even if it is significantly less than a mainstream offering from a residential perspective.

From a business perspective, which is more important, a functioning asset that can no longer be depreciated or a new tractor that can be written off over the next couple of years? The lower cost may make that a viable option.

Lots of unique situations that could make these tractors viable for different people. Competition and innovation will ultimately help all tractor owners

 

Double post

 

short TYM story had a TYM233 frame broke in 2 places under warranty and 4 years after a 6 month fight frame was replaced. 4 years later with new design frame it broke in the same place repaired at . my expence TYM would not talk to me . local dealer said I had not overloaded the tractor . Dealer no longer sells TYM and I now own a Deere . good luck to those that buy TYM and its partners

 

This is NOT directed at you SullyBear

$9k savings vs
$20k going directly to Korea

…and we wonder how the US has handed the keys of our country to foreigners

What irritates me is how comfortable everyone has become sending our cash to other countries. Excuses like “What else are you going to do?” “Everything is global anyway.” Blah blah blah. Go ahead, keep rationalizing your decisions because you can’t see we’re playing the short game and Asian countries are playing the long game and will own our children someday.

Of COURSE RK tractors are cheaper. This is how you attack an established market when you have 0% market share. And, eventually once you have enough market share you raise prices. ie Kioti/Kubota

 

Rk tractors are built in Ohio with US labor and imported parts.
JD 1 series is build in Georgia with US labor and imported parts.
Either way money goes out of the country

 

From the RK Tractors "About Us" page:

RK Tractors are made in South Korea by TYM, manufacturers of compact tractors for leading U.S. tractor brands, and feature best-in-class Yanmar (19-55HP) and Deutz (74HP) diesel engines. Final assembly takes place in Waverly, OH, and Williston, FL. RK by King Kutter 3-Pt. equipment is made by King Kutter in Winfield AL, and tires & wheels are made by midwest-based and industry leader Titan International. RK provides full service at every RK Tractor location, zero down payment financing for up to 84 months, tractor delivery (for a fee) and an industry leading 8-year limited powertrain (19-55HP) and 5-year limited powertrain (74HP) warranty. We can offer fully-loaded, premium tractors at very low prices because we buy directly from the manufacturer. We can proudly say that you will not find a better value in sub-compact, compact or utility tractors anywhere!

About Us | RK Tractors

www.rktractors.com

 

Not sure if anyone runs a Massey Ferguson compact tractor, or just how relevant this is to this thread, but this is from their website...

"Where are Massey Ferguson utility tractors made?


These tractors will be manufactured in AGCO's state-of-the-art factory in Changzhou, China, which leverages 168 years of Massey Ferguson production experience with a module-oriented manufacturing approach that standardizes components, lowers costs and improves product quality and performance."

 

When I was tractor shopping a JD dealer told me that he has to pay more for compact tractors than larger dealer networks do because he doesn't sell the same volume. It would probably be the same for TYM. RK should be able to move more tractors than Joe's mower shop.

 

From another perspective, why have all the other 3rd party TYM brands gone the way of the dodo? If TYM machines are that good they could compete directly with Deere and Kubota and wouldn't need 3rd party partners to sell them.

 

TYM Tractors haven’t gone the way of the dodo, just some of the brands others have sold them as. They make tractors for the North American, Asian and European markets so they aren’t exclusively relying on US sales to stay in business. Kubota tractors are sold through a variety of dealerships, some come and go same as Kioti or Mahindra. JD seems to have the most stable dealer network, although in the recent past they consolidated dealers and closed locations. My local Kioti dealer previously sold JD lawn mowers but lost the right to sell them when Deere moved all that to their main dealerships.
TYMs business model seems to be working for them. Someone will manufacture whatever name of a tractor you want to call if you pay them to do it. Deere sold rebranded Yanmars
for years. Ford sold rebranded Isekis. NH and Case compacts are rebranded LS tractors. Bobcat CUTs are rebranded Kioti. Really nothing new with this concept.