For those of you who are tractor geeks like I am, there was an interesting development in the last few days that you might want to know about…Bobcat is getting back in the compact tractor market! Their offerings range from a sub-compact model with 21HP to a compact utility model at 60HP.
When thinking of the Bobcat brand, most of us think of skid loaders, and they are most famous for their excellent line of small construction equipment, and not tractors. That makes the re-entry into the tractor market a little interesting.
There are a couple of problems with the move…first, Bobcat has been in the tractor market before and it didn’t work. Occasionally I’ll get an e-mail from someone who has a Bobcat tractor wanting to know where to get parts for it.
The answer leads me to the second problem with the move, the tractor appears to be a Kioti painted Bobcat colors. That’s what the older Bobcat tractors were, and the Kioti dealers are usually glad to supply parts for them. There’s not anything wrong with the Kioti product, I used to sell them, the tractors and company support are both excellent, but the economics work against Bobcat. Why buy a tractor that Kioti has sold to Bobcat to sell to their dealers, to sell to you, when you could cut Bobcat out of the loop and buy directly from a Kioti dealer?
Finally, the company’s service is excellent for products they build, but as much as technicians hate change I wonder if they’ll embrace servicing a tractor that they don’t know anything about. I think about my dealership days and having to go tell the mechanics we were getting in to a whole new product line. That usually starts eye-rolling, which can turn into wrench throwing. (Technicians can be a sensitive lot.)
Having said those negatives, Bobcat has a lot going for it. They have a strong dealer network and good relations with rental yards and municipalities, who are generally large consumers of small tractors. That’s likely why they’re back in the market.
Is that enough to maintain a separate product line and encourage dealers to promote it? That’s a great question. If it doesn’t work, a good time to find a bargain on a compact tractor will be in 18-24 months, when the company has seen the error of their ways and the inventory is being flushed. You heard it here first.
Hey Mike I was looking at Bobcat tractors online and comparing them to Deere there is a bit of a differance in price Bobcat being cheaper however reading your review / thoughts I was wondering if you have verified the Kioti Bobcat partnership yet if you have perhaps you could share it on your Youtube Channel . P.S My wife and I watch your channel at breakfast and enjoy all the info you provide .
Thanks James& Beth
Creekside Dexters Wa.
Thanks guys! Yeah, the Bobcat Tractor is basically a Kioti of different colors right now, they’re planning to have different options and features to differentiate them down the road…today, I’m pretty sure the products are identical.
Hi Mike, I purchased a TYM 48 HP loader/backhoe which bears a striking resemblance to the comparable Bobcat tractor. Can you comment?
Thanks, Dan
James, Without know ing the specific model numbers, I couldn’t tell you if they’re identical. If you go to Tractordata.com and enter the two tractor models and all the specs are the same, it’s safe to say that they came off the same assembly line. -Mike
This past Feb/2021 i bought a Bobcat 5545 with the ‘free’ promotional loader with a decent discount with cash. Very cool. I also added a third function control for a grapple. Very cool again!
One BIG problem…I did notice that the plastic fuel tank was placed low on the left side beneath the door. Plastic tanks I have no issue with but this one was only protected on the forward leading edge and only the forward bottom of the tank. My first time out with my grapple, I went over a few sticks that caught up under guess where? They broke the unprotected fuel nipple and now I leak fuel ever so slowly wherever I go.
I finally removed the tank, welded the nipple using a soldering iron and a ziptie as ‘solder’ and got it to seal. I then purchased a small 22 ga. piece of sheet metal and locked it in place under the exposed portion of the tank. Hopefully this will hold until Bobcat recognizes this is a serious design flaw considering this would be a very NORMAL use concern. I will report back as to what they say.
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So, i am in California. I was interested in the Bobcat CT 4045 is this a maybe, good, great, or excellent tractor.
Brian,
I’ve been away from the dealership world for nine years, but my experience has been that Kioti makes excellent tractors and the CT4045 is made by them for Bobcat.
Good luck!
-Mike Wiles