Who Really Makes Your Favorite Tractor – Does it Even Matter?
Hey it's Brock here with Rock Hill Farms And today we're going to have a little Conversation about tractor brands and Just share some information that Actually you could Google and find Online and give my thoughts on it so you Guys know I like to go to as many farm Shows as I can and one of my favorite Things to do is walk up to a Salesman And say with all the different tractor Brands that are available today why Would someone buy yours and I really Enjoy hearing what their responses are I've also been going around and visiting People who live maybe within a few hours Of me and have a different brand of Tractor that I haven't shown before Operate the tractor ask them what do you Like about it what do you not like about It what made you pick this brand and Find it the answer is really unique and Interesting And I've been saying for a long time I don't Think that there is anybody making a bad Machine now Thus the build quality on all of these Tractors is really good and it has to be Because how else would you compete in This market so we'll start with the Elephant in the room which is John Deere Now I actually had someone get mad at me During the Mahindra video I think Because I was promoting foreign made
Tractors and if we would all just Promote American-made tractors we'd have More jobs and I agree with a lot of that Mindset but the fact is there are no 100 American-made compact tractors Zero so if there was a 100 American made Someone locally started their own Tractor company I'd be really interested In getting that American-made tractor And supporting that company To a point If they don't make a good tractor it Doesn't matter right Are you going to spend forty thousand Dollars on a machine So that you can feel proud to have Bought an American-made machine if it's Not a good machine I don't think any of us are doing that So I like it when I can see that Maybe the entire machine is not American Made but they're assembling it in the United States something like that and That's the case with the majority of These manufacturers I think deer they Get a bad rep for people pushing against Them sounding like the most American-made company but the truth is They probably are the most American-made Tractor because all their big tractors They're big AG tractors They're building their own engines here In the states and they're assembling all The tractors here
But even in those cases you're still Getting your hydraulic components and Maybe your computer chips and you're Getting parts from overseas but Yanmar partnered with John Deere to make All of their compact tractors for a long Time and I believe they might still make Some of them now But Also I think a lot of the compacts are Made by deer but they all have Yanmar Engines so that's a Japanese company So there's no American-made tractor we Just got that out of the way what John Deere does is they find a company that's Really good at something they partner With them they learn how to do it my Stand on mowers were partnered with Right right is an American-made company They make their own mowers it's all Designed in-house with lawn mowers there Are more of those companies like I was Talking about where some guy starts up a New company and they build it up and You've got these real American-made Options same thing with the attachments There are tons of companies that I've Featured that Are 100 building these things the Ownership is here you the the company's Still family owned all the stuff you're Looking for it just doesn't go all the Way up to tractors so They partnered with Wright and they
Learned how to make a standoff mower the Partnership ended and you can look and Judge for yourself which company has Continued to innovate with those Stand-on mowers And same thing with like John Deere Construction equipment they partnered up With Hitachi the compact tractors it was Yanmar and You know that's just the nature of this Business so we just talked about the Partnership between Myanmar and deer Let's talk a little bit about Yanmar That's a Japanese company that when I've Showcased them in the Tulsa Farm Show Video a lot of people didn't know much Of anything about Yanmar and that Salesman was really effective at talking About why Yanmar is a great company and Obviously deer chose to partner with Them for a reason right it's not because They made a bad machine yanmar's been Around since 1912. and in 1933 they made The first diesel engine that was small Enough for practical use so they've been Perfecting the diesel engine for now 88 Years if my math is correct and they Make Yanmar has a full line of Construction equipment I've rented a Yanmar mini excavator You name it they make it all different Size tractors and they make engines for A ton of different manufacturers so The thing I was most impressed about
Yanmar is out of any of the companies I'm aware of Yanmar comes the closest to Making every single component of the Tractor and designing it themselves from The engine to the transmission to the Axles If you buy a Yanmar tractor it's all Yanmar and it's got a 10-year warranty On it so Right now if I was looking to buy a Tractor and said I'm not focusing on Cost as my primary concern I want the Best tractor I could get I would look Really hard at Yanmar next is Kubota Almost should have started with them Because they're number one in sales for Compact tractors although when I get to The end and list off overall sales They're not at the top for compacts Kubota is number one and you don't Become number one in sales As a Japanese company you don't become Number one in sales in America without Doing a few things right Same thing I was just saying about Yanmar Kubota has been making engines For a very long time 1923 they made Their first combustion engine that ran On kerosene kubota's been making Tractors since 1960 and the way they Became number one in the states was by Being Innovative at a time when no one Else was You had small garden tractors you had
Big AG tractors and there was kind of a Gap in the middle and Kubota was the First one to really Nail that Gap that sweet spot where most Of what me and most of my viewers are Probably living in is the hobbyist Tractor in 1974 Kubota was the first Company to make a mini excavator the way We know them now that had 360 rotation Moved and everything like what you're Used to on a mini excavator that was Kubota Innovation they were also the First company to make a Sub-Compact Tractor with a loader and a backhoe like What is so popular now and that's how They gain the market share by hitting That hobbyist market people think I Don't like Kubota and I'll say you don't Become number one on accident but I Would also say that nobody writes songs About orange tractors That's just a joke but I enjoy making it And Kubota is just like Yanmar a lot of Other companies are choosing Kubota Engines to put in their machines it's a Big compliment So far we've covered two companies that Are Japanese companies and one that uses Japanese engines And now we're going to South Korea and It might seem kind of weird that the Fourth company I want to talk about is Tim because to a lot of people Tim is One of these new companies to jump into
The game but that's not really the case Either tym has been a company with the Name Tim since 1951 and they've been Making farm equipment since 1973. They've been selling tractors in the United States since 2004 and they've Sold a lot of tractors or they've Manufactured a lot of tractors sold Under other names I found a list of Tractor brands that were manufactured by Tym and it was a long list like 12 names On there and Some of those have only been sold in Other countries and some of them have Went out of business in the United States But the fact that that tractor brand Went out of business isn't a reflection On Tim but it is something that you Should think about when you're looking At Tractor Brands there were so many Brands on that list I'm not going to go Through them all but I did write down a Few of them that were noteworthy So we have the Cabela's tractor I didn't Know Cabela's ever made a tractor But they did and it was a tym Then we've got Lamborghini yes that Lamborghini if you're in Europe a lot of Countries you can go and buy a Lamborghini tractor it's made by tym Mahindra Mahindra is a huge manufacturer On their own they make a lot of their Own tractors but they also in America if
You buy a compact Mahindra there's a Good chance it's made by tym RK if you guys are like me and you like To watch outdoors with the Morgans he Had those RK Rural King tractors for Years always talked about how much he Liked those tractors Those are all tym tractors and then There's an example Montana tractors They came on the scene and went out of Business And like I said about Cabela's Having a good tractor is not all it Takes you have to be able to support the Customer after they buy the tractor and The biggest bridge to that is building Customer confidence That you can sell tractors and support Them because if people don't believe you Can support your tractor they're not Going to buy it so I could contact tym If I had deep enough pockets and say I Want to make the Rock Hill tractor but If I'm not answering the phone when you Need a replacement lift cylinder then We've got a problem So what does that all tell me tells me If I was going to buy a tractor that's Made by Tim I'd be tempted to just buy a tym tractor Because Another company Rebranding a tym tractor
Might work and they might be here for Another 50 years or they might not I Would put my trust tym is a big National Company I would put my trust that they're still Making tractors I've got to run several Tym tractors seem really nice to me I'm Seeing the dealer Network expand for tym And they've recently well I say recently But I guess it's been six years now They've bought Kook J and Kook J is an Engine company that also is the same Parent company that makes Brands and Tractors tym has acquired Branson and so If you have a Branson Tractor you can Still get parts for it through Kook J And tym but the Branson tractors will Now be sold you can get the same basic Tractor but it's going to be sold as a Tym tractor most of the online tractor Community is probably aware that Branson's been acquired by tym they're Doing all their advertising about Bringing those two Brands Under One Roof But you may not be aware of is that bad Boy tractors is also made by Branson or They they were manufactured by Branson Rebranded as bad boy And That's now a branch of tym so if I was Going to buy A Branson Tractor I just get a Branson Tractor even though Is getting a little confusing even
Though it's now called tym now what's Next for bad boy that's the question are They going to innovate are they going to Build their own tractors you know They've made a name from themselves as a Mower brand but I'm interested to see What they do as a tractor company so I'm Not saying don't buy a bad boy tractor I'm just I think everyone should take That time to find out who's actually Making it so they can try to make a Determination of what the future support Is going to be to get parts and service For the machine you're buying next is Coyote And coyote is owned by daedong I'm probably not saying that right but That is a South Korean tractor Manufacturer that makes the coyote Tractors and I think they've done some Brilliant marketing because they've in The U.S market they're selling the Coyote Tractor and doing The best of the two most popular American compact tractors this John Deere and Kubota they're making an Orange tractor like Kubota and they're Misspelling an animal name and putting It on their emblem like deer so very Well done on the marketing and a lot of People say that coyote is just a copy of Kubota I think that just comes from the Fact they're both Orange That does not mean anything else about
Them is the same 800 videos I've put out All the comments I've got I've never had Somebody say they weren't happy with Their Coyote Tractor But just putting it out there it's a South Korean company called daedong Next Is Bobcat when you hear Bobcat you think Well that's an American-made company Well no it's 2007 Bobcat was bought by doosan which Is a South Korean company and They're not making their own tractors Bobcat years ago made their own tractors And a rep from Bobcat has told me They're committed to making their own Tractors in the future but right now Bobcat tractors are made by dadong and It's almost the same tractor as the Coyote and when I say it's made by that Doesn't make it the exact same tractor Because they can say we want these Components that you use on the coyote But we want a different loader we want a Different they make all these different Options to differentiate between the Brands but there's you're going to find A very similar tractor between coyote And bobcat now Bobcat is a big enough Company in all other Industries I would Trust that they're going to continue to Be available long term and provide Support there's a huge Bobcat dealer Network so I wouldn't be concerned about That and I'm really interested to see
What they do with their tractor line Going forward next company I wanted to Bring up is LS tractors They are a South Korean company they've Been selling tractors in the U.S since 2009 as LS but they sell tractors around The world they've been doing this for a Long time I could not find a lot of Information on the LG Group which is What owns LS but I have been very Interested because Some of the big brands have their own Line of dealerships they're dedicated to Only carrying their products deer sales Deer Kubota sells Kubota kind of thing Bobcat sells Bobcat but then some of These other these smaller independent Dealerships will have Bad boy and Branson and LS at the same Dealership or whatever the case may be And so I like to ask those guys when You've got a customer coming in how do You advise them between the three Tractor brands that you sell and What I'm hearing from those guys is that The ls tractors are dramatically cheaper Than the same size equivalent from the Other brands and Everyone wants the best tractor but You've really got a factor in price so I'd be really tempted to give a hard Look to those LS tractors when we're not Talking about two or three thousand Dollars difference we might be talking
About 10 or 15 000 difference so They seem to have a good dealer Network They've been around a while And That's a lot of money to save next is Mahindra the number one sold tractor in The world is Mahindra It's Made in India This is our first company that makes Tractors in India And the market for tractors in India is Very different than it is in the United States In the U.S we have mainly most of our Food is produced by giant farming Operations that have million dollar Machines and giant equipment a field Across from me the machine that runs That is like a eight or nine series deer With with two sets of tracks ten foot Tall like this monster machine that runs Through the field at 40 miles an hour And um I don't know a whole lot about That kind of Agriculture but that's Where a lot of our food comes from it's Not as much small farmers and then a lot Of our tractor Market is homesteaders But also just hobbyists people who want To be able to get stuff done And in India You've got a lot of people who want to Grow food As cheaply as possible and they're Buying they want the cheapest tractor They can get but that is a huge Market
The population is huge the number of Tractors sold in India is more than any Other country and Mahindra sells more Tractors than any other manufacturer in The world John Deere being second So in America Mahendra I I had people Comment about someone saying they were Like new or Mahindra's been around a long time and They know how to build a tractor that Doesn't mean that they might not have All the features that you're looking for In the tractor But for a cost-effective Base tractor Uh I've talked to several people who are Really happy with their mahindras now We're going to get to a couple models That Stir up a lot of Debate and comments which is itl I've Already forgotten what itl stands for But it's an Indian company they're the Third largest tractor manufacturer in India they're also known as sonalinka And in America they're just now starting To sell their own tractors with their Own branding and it's called soulless so Brand new tractor manufacturer in the United States but just like I was saying Before they're not new to making Tractors so these companies that have Been making tractors for a long time Sell hundreds of thousands of tractors
Every year I don't doubt at all that they make a Good tractor the question is What's the dealer Network going to turn Into in the United States same company That's making the soulless tractor is Also making the summit tractor I've demonstrated a summit tractor we All know Courtney from Good Works Tractors has been showing the summit Tractors a lot they have a very Impressive feature set for what you pay For the tractor It's I was impressed with the machine We ran a stump grinder on it I moved Some rock I moved some brush and some Some tree branches and just used it a Little bit right but I liked a lot of Things about that way that machine was Built and it comes with a lot of Premium Features at a economy price And that's made by itl Solus is made by Itl and the question is are those Companies going to be the next Cabela's Tractor that might have been a great Machine in that case made by tym but Cabela's did not stick with selling that Tractor and supporting that tractor Or are they going to be Mahindra which Has been in the United States and as a Reputable there's a Mahindra dealership Five minutes from me it's the closest Dealer anywhere near me and they have a
Great reputation around here The question with buying a tractor from Solus or Summit is are they going to Build that Network and right now Summit Tractors are purchased at Atwoods if you Want one worldwide New Holland is the Fourth most purchased tractor according To the information I could find their Number four in Tractor Sales but I don't Really see much of a market on the Compacts now around me all the bigger Farmers they're either running John Deere or they're running New Holland It's because I've talked to these Farmers and they say New Holland makes A really good machine and it's a lot Cheaper than John Deere so that's the Two number the two biggest things I see Are New Holland and deer but I think New Holland is not a real big player in the The compacts And then the same company that owns New Holland Is case So it's case New Holland I believe it's Cnh is the company and even further up The ladder is Fiat owns the whole thing Which is the same foreign company that Owns Ram you guys know I've got a ram Truck that I had an issue with and all The Fiat comments have been drowning me On those videos so I don't have any Opinion on that but I was really Interested to see that case is still
Selling compact tractors I knew they Make big construction equipment I knew They had bigger tractors I didn't know Much about their compacts but you can go To Case and case is still selling Tractors that are branded as Farmall and I thought Farmall tractors didn't exist Anymore but if you buy a compact tractor From case it looks like you're actually Buying a Farmall another one that's Really interesting is Massey Ferguson I Never hear anything about Massey Ferguson compact tractors but according To what I could find they're the third Most sold tractor in the world And they've been around a long time if I Was buying a tractor I would take the Time to find out about Massey Ferguson So again I've got no real recommendation Here I'm not telling you what you should or Shouldn't buy I just thought I'd clear Up some information about who makes what And where it's made and I wish I could Buy an American-made tractor but it Doesn't exist so what I'm going to try To do if I decide to switch tractors is Try to find a company that makes a great Machine at a good price so I appreciate You taking time to watch this video I'll Put links on the screen to a couple more Of our videos I'll see you next time
