I heard from a reliable source that it may be in the works. It's news to me, although I know somebody here has probably heard about it? Any thoughts? Also, any opinions on JCB Robots? Operation, dependability, what breaks often, etc? JCB CTL undercarriage looks to me like a Bobcat clone.
A kubota dealer rep told me the same thing. They will be here soon, and I hear they are going to be very competitive.
My dealer said that they will be 2 sizes of CTL's not skid steers. :beatsme He didn't know a target release date but I'm anxious to see them.
I recently heard the same thing. Rumor has it that Kubota had an agreement with Bobcat that went like this: Bobcat would buy Kubota engines and Kubota would not sell their CTL in the US(they have been selling in other countries for the last 5 yrs.?) Since I.R. recently bought Bobcat they decided to not use Kubota engines exclusively in their equipment so Kubota said OK we will now sell CTL's in the U.S. If this is true, I think that IR made a very BIG mistake. Lets wait and see if this rumor has any merit. Alan
It's probably the same screwed up agreement that Deere and Hitachi have over selling Deere's stuff across the pond.
Agreements like that seem to me are one way or the other a different way of shooting yourself in the foot. But I'm not a business type of guy.
Actually, I seem to recall that IR recently sold Bobcat to an Asian company, I belive it went to Doosan (Daewoo). Brian
Yeah, it went to Doosan Infracore, formerly Daewoo in Korea, rumored to be owned by the Korean Gov't. Dropping the Kubota motors seems like a poor idea given their good reputation. I think it's been among BC's best selling points. Anyone seen pic's of the Kubota CTL if they've been around a few years? Curious what they've come up with to add to the mix. I'd guess it's on the basic side, but well built from looking at the rest of their lineup.
Could the kubota be a rebadged thomas?
I heard that rumor back a year a go I bet. I can second bobcats sale to daewoo.
You might be right there lostinfrance, or at least a rebadged something or other. Again read it but didnt file it in the space between the ears :bash
My buddy works for a Kubota dealership up here in Wisconsin and he knows a salesman who just got to run it. The prototype machine for their smallest of the two is making the rounds in Texas right now (painted yellow to blend in). I was told it was 68hp had a lift height that would just barely got over the side of the truck, pilot controls, high flow, rough riding with an undercarriage similar to Takeuchi (was told he wouldn't be suprised if Takeuchi made it for them), big cab, and about 3000lb ROC (he was guessing). He was told he thought they had some work to do before they released it. I don't think it's a rebadged anything unless it's a rebadged Takeuchi like Mustang or Gehl.
Originally, Thomas did supply skids to Kubota. Since then, however, I think Kubota is planning to develop/has been developing its own line -- CTL and SSL alike. They've managed to keep a pretty good lid on what's coming, but I imagine it'll be a no-frills, highly-productive unit. I've also heard the two CTLs rumor (rather than SSLs and CTLs at the same time), but I suppose we'll find out for certain soon.
This pretty much describes the unit I saw. I couldnt get up close becuase I work for a different dealership. I wasn't really impressed seeing it work from a distance, it was a small unit my guess was 1300lbs ROC. It looked to have a radial lift. The geometry of the lift cylinder linkage did look different however.
Kubota has some catching up to do in their parts network. It won't matter much how good the machine is if repair parts are not available in short order. I wait a week most times for repair parts for my Kubota mower.
Hi Every body Kubota are bringing out Skid Steer Loader they are of the belle make i have a picture of one while at Kubota dealership
I wonder what engines will be in the new Bobcats rumored to be due out in the next 3 months. Anyone see the new work saver? A whole paged dedicated to the tier 3, interim tier 4, and tier 4 info on the kubota engines. In a side note, the specs were wrong for the engines unless they switched all the large frame loaders to 230 cu in.
Ingersol R. no longer owns the Bobcat line , Doosan of Korea does
specs were wrong. My dealer said the kubota engines will stay. We'll have to see if they are direct driven or belt driven to the new pumps.
This is the machine i saw at my local kubota dealer. it is of italian build. chain driven with pilot controls
That is a rebranded Thomas. Kubota and Thomas had an agreement that allowed Kubota to brand the Thomas skid in Europe. This was before Thomas went bankrupt.
Yuck! Even the Volvo's look more attactive than that!
I agree what an ugly duckling.
I may need to pull this picture if the person who posted it originally didn't want it posted here... http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/xwang22/Public/Kubota CTL.jpg
Thats kinda sexy!