Kubota tractors and riding lawnmowers are manufactured with both gasoline and diesel engines, depending on the use of the machine. Kubota has been around since 1890, a fact few people realize, and they have been making engines for a solid century. But are Kubota diesel engines good?
Kubota’s diesel engines are long-running, industrial-level engines. They manufacture their own liquid-cooled diesel and gasoline engines in their Chinese factory established in 2013. There, they manufacture their own engines for Kubota tractors and combine harvesters.
In addition to manufacturing their own engines for use on their products. They also produce engines for outside companies and construction companies stateside.
According to Kubota’s performance analysis, they can produce nearly 100,000 units per year, including diesel and gasoline engines.
Are Kubota Diesel Engines Quality Engines?
Kubota diesel engines are some of the highest-rated engines in the world, with an expected operation rate of 5000 gauged hours.
If you properly maintain your Kubota engine by keeping the liquids topped off and regularly changing the oil, these engines are known to last well over 10,000 hours.
That level of premium quality is sustained across a broad array of applications. For example, diesel engines in Kubota tractors last as long as diesel engines in their combine harvesters. There is no known disparity between the two.
Kubota has a lot of experience manufacturing their engines, and it’s something that they don’t outsource to other companies. The company started manufacturing engines in 1922, 32 years after its inception. In the hundred years since then, Kubota still manufactures their engines.
That’s a lot of history, and it also means that Kubota has significantly refined and streamlined the process. As a result, it is much easier to keep everything in-house, attracting innovators and inventors to your company where their contributions remain.
Kubota manufactures many of its engines in China since they moved their heaviest production operations to Wuxi City, Jiangsu, China. However, they still produce a number of their engines in Georgia and Illinois, where Kubota has two production facilities.
Regardless of the choice of manufacturing location, the level of quality of Kubota diesel engines remains the same.
Kubota diesel engines, indeed all of their engines, remain some of the most trusted engines in the agriculture business and lawn care.
Are Kubota Diesel Engines Better than John Deere Diesel Engines?
This is a difficult comparison that is thrown up all of the time. That’s because Kubota and John Deere each have their own hardcore enthusiasts and will forever play the comparison game when it comes to these two companies.
It’s a difficult comparison because, while John Deere manufactures the bulk of the tractor, mower, or combine, they often outsource the building of their engines to other companies. For instance, John Deere’s 3025E is a three-cylinder engine manufactured by Yanmar.
In John Deere’s defense, however, Yanmar has to build the diesel engine according to John Deere’s design and specifications. One of the better comparisons is the John Deere 3025E and the Kubota L2501. Both of these engines are three-cylinder engines for agricultural-level tractors.
In this instance, the John Deere 3025E has higher torque and features a wet clutch, unlike the Kubota L2501’s dry clutch. However, outside of the clutch differences, the engines are almost exquisitely identical in terms of operational capability, longevity, and durability.
The John Deere has a bit more in terms of speed, topping out at 14mph versus the Kubota’s 10.5mph. However, no one is tuning into CBS to watch the next great tractor race, so the upper-speed limits (both of which amount to a fast jog and a fast walk) are irrelevant.
There are many more diesel engines to compare between Kubota and John Deere. However, Yanmar is considered the gold standard in diesel engine manufacturing, and Kubota makes engines that are right there with the best that Yanmar offers.
How Long Do Kubota Diesel Engines Last?
That largely depends on which engine we are talking about. For the most part, Kubota diesel engines last around 5,000 hours.
Most farmers are only going to operate a Kubota Diesel for an average of 150 hours per year. If you do the math, it comes to 33 years of operation.
That means your Kubota tractor is a generational machine. If you take good care of it, keep it lubricated, fluids flowing and topped off, and your oil changed on time every time, it’s a tractor worthy of passing down to your kids and, perhaps, perhaps, your grandkids.
As we did so above, Kubota engines are often compared to Yanmar engines, simply because Yanmar is held on a pedestal when it comes to engine manufacturing.
On average, Kubota engines last every bit as long as Yanmar engines, with the average reports, in terms of issues, relatively the same in both categories.
Many blogs and articles on the matter will throw a “safe” number out there—something like 20 years’ worth of longevity. However, if that were the case with well-maintained engines, you wouldn’t see Farmall manufactured in 1958 still tilling the fields.
Of course, Farmall tractors were built very differently back then. But that doesn’t mean that Kubota is over here cutting corners. If you practice routine preventative and standard maintenance on your Kubota diesel engine, there’s no reason it can’t be out there tilling a field in 2075.
How Many Types of Diesel Engines Does Kubota Manufacture?
Kubota makes a lot of different diesel engines for a wide variety of applications. In addition, some of their lines include both gasoline and diesel engines in the same series.
- Kubota Super Mini Series: Includes two diesel engines with the Z482-E and the D722-E
- Kubota Super Five Series: The entire Super 5 series uses diesel engines from .9 liter to 1.5 liters with several turbocharged varieties.
- Kubota Super Three Series: This is another Kubota series that only includes diesel engines with up to four cylinders and 2.20L
- Kubota V3300: These are the largest of the Kubota diesel engine applications with two 3.32L diesel engines in the series of two, one of which is turbocharged
All of these applications include diesel engines that are long-lasting, highly dependable engines.
Do Kubota Diesel Engines Hold Their Value?
Since we know that Kubota manufactures their own diesel engines, which are heralded as some of the best and long-lasting in the industry, does their value hold up as well?
For the most part, when you drive a new car off the lot, its value starts to depreciate pretty rapidly. The same is true of tractors. However, Kubota tractors with diesel engines hold up relatively well in terms of depreciation.
If you have a Kubota Diesel tractor with under 5,000 hours, their resale value remains pretty high.
Conclusion
Kubota manufactures their own diesel engines, and most experts consider them to be some of the best and long-lasting diesel engines around.
They are comparable to most of what Yanmar has to offer as well, which means that Kubota diesel engines maintain their durability and longevity even when compared to one of the best engine manufacturers around.
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