Kubota Dc-60 Harvesters

[Isee]

Hi Mali & Samlula and mixbreed,

Thanks for the follow-up replies, not sure if I can thank you guys any more than I have already, but thanks again - very much appreciated and definitely much to consider and compare

Samlula, I'm not 100% sure as I haven't been inside any of the dealers, but I'd be surprised if they didn't as I've seen 3 tractor places while in my travels(not counting the smaller places selling the walk behind's) . To be honest, I've only started to give this some serious thought after my last trip but next time in town I will be going inside to have a better look. If they don't (or I don't get a good vibe from the place), then Amnat will be my next port of call Was thinking too that whatever machine I end up getting, a flat bed truck may be the way to go in any event with a modified tray so I can put gates on the side etc and transport cattle etc to the market or wherever. That way too if go for the Kubota's and find later I want to add a medium size harvester, than I have the transport already.

Cheers

[steven100]

Hi, I've spent considerable time going through a lot of threads about rice harvesters and other related topics. I'm thinking of buying one (or even 2) to ease the labour burden on the extended family come harvesting time (there is a direct benefit for me in doing so). There is not enough of the immediate family's land to warrant the purchase in itself, but I feel that there won't be a problem in cutting nearby fields (all family related in same way). The goal is to start creating a revenue stream with harvesting being one part of the yearly income equation. There are 2 harvests per year.

After reading the various threads, I have some specific questions that I'm sure members on here would be kind enough to help me with.

The individual fields (in the Yasothon region) are relatively small in the area I'm looking at. I feel that a smaller combine would suit the area better than the larger ones. I saw one of the large ones harvesting last season and thought it just made a mess of everything. It seems that the census on here seems to be that the Kubota DC-60 is the way to go and if that's the case, my questions are:

1. Has anyone used or observed these machines over a period of time?

2. Anyone know about their reliability so far?

3. Any known problems?

4. How do they handle clay soils?

Discussing this with the extension of the extended family, they say that the proposal is sound but they have reservations about how these smaller combines will handle damp/wet clay conditions. I would have thought that the lighter weight of these machines would assist them in such conditions, I also realise however that other factors such as clearance and track size etc will play a part in it all.

The other thing that I have a concern about is that this model Kubota requires a 2-3 man team. Obviously a 1 man crew would be better on a labour cost issue, but then this I presume would mean buying a more expensive (and larger) combine and thus getting a headache trying to figure out which is better - larger capital outlay versus additional labour costs. The plan was to buy a second Kubota (due to their cheaper costs) after initially trialling the first one (unless I feel that they will be right). The other huge benefit is that they can be transported with a trailer as opposed to what is needed with the larger combines.

5. What sort of wages (only during harvesting) would be appropriate?

One of the "aunts" gave an indication of what would be a good breakdown which I think is way over the top – but I could be wrong and hence looking for advice here. She suggested that out of every 100 baht, the breakdown should be 30 baht for labour (not sure if this is for 2 or 3 workers) and 10 baht for any work that has been referred to me (spotters fee I would call that – but I'm guessing that would only be for the first reference?). Doing some quick calculations at 600 baht per rai (the cost of the last season, but this might go back to 500 with the lower fuel costs...maybe) I'm looking at 180 baht per rai. Let's say we only do 1 rai an hour and say we do 10 rai a day, that 1,800 baht in total and for 3 people = 600 baht per day each. That seems to me to be well and truly having a laugh considering I'm the one forking out something like 850k for the machine. While I think a per rai arrangement is the best to encourage them to get stuck into things, I'm wondering what others think.

6. What sort of income could I be looking at (per rai per day per season) to get an idea of creating a business model?

The all important crystal ball question – sorry. The reason I ask is that I could buy a condo and rent it out at around 30k a month = 360k a year on a 4.1 mil outlay that's gross, less 24k for juristic and presuming nil vacancy. With 2 harvesters (plus trailer, construct shed etc) on (say) a 2 mil outlay that would require an equivalent of 160k per year to be generated.

7. How do people collect the discarded rice straw from the harvester?

Please excuse my ignorance on this, but the collection of rice straw from the family's fields is used for cow feed. Is it just a case of manually raking it up after the harvester is gone?

hi Isee ,

I have been reading all these threads with interest as i am looking at getting a harvester much for the same sinario as you mentioned. My friend has only 4 rai but wants to contract the harvester out also.

I have looked at many options , and feel that the DC68G may be the best suited overall as the KPI machines are very expensive and not as reliable as the Kubota.

Anyway ...what did you end up purchasing ? and is there anything you would change ?

Cheers,

steven100

[slapout]

It would be very enlightening if you can show pictures and specs on John deere combine manufactured in China. Just so there is no misunderstanding I reference grain combine , not tractors.

[Isee]

Purchase price is only one consideration when buying anything.

What presence does the manufacturer have in Thailand or are they going to be private imports if someone wants a machine. Kubota might be more expensive then your machines, but then Kubota has a presence in Thailand that can't be disputed. Got any more pictures of the rice harvester thats comparable to the DC60?

[slapout]

But John Deer doesn't manufacture crawler combine harvester and thus their management group had visited our company for establishing cooperation on this kind of machine.

john deere; manufactures crawler type machinery and have for several decades. Did the management group from john deere company visit the other Chinese companies that manufacture john deere combines in China? There is a limited market for crawler type grain combines and it would appear it does not include the Americas nor Europe. The Chines built combine with 12 to 14 foot headers may have a market somewhere, but this size machine has not been widely used since the 1950's on the large grain producing farms.

[mailman]

I have read the thread and talked it over with my Thai wife. She is seriously looking at getting a rice harvestor for the family. What the family (from Buriram) is telling her is: they don't want a Kubota DC-60 bagging machine. They claim it is too small and other farmers don't want someone using it on their farms. I guess they are getting lazy and don't want to carry the bags? I can't understand why, because farms in her area are small and it makes snese to use the bagging system based upon what others have said. If you buy a model with a big belly, you need to dump the rice somewhere or have a truck to move it too, right?

The family claims that a lot of people are returning the Kubota's to the local Buriram dealer and are not happy with them, since they are not reliable, unlike what I am hearing here. Not sure if they are talking DC60 or DC68's.

The family does not think the Kubota rubber tracks are as good as the metal ones on the Tamco (KPH models?) I believe. They claim,, the metal ones work better in wet or water then the Kubota's, unlike what I think I heard here. There is a Tamco (KPH/KRT?)dealer in Satuk that they want to work with. Apparantly, the machine they looked at is 1.9 million baht and they want 1 million baht down and a monthly payment. This sounds like shit to me, too expensive and I am trying to get the wife to think this through before putting her hard earned money into this family venture and possibly getting me to help!

Anyone have any updates or comments would be appreciated. Sounds like Thais have their minds made up on what they like. Thanks

[mixedbreed]

Hello Mailman,

As you may see from previous post #23, we have both the KPH 16 and a Kubota DC60 machines. Both are bagging machines.

We use the KPH dealer in Satuk, (actually it’s a few kilometers north of Satuk), they carry all spares for their machine. They have an extensive spare parts inventory

For 1.9 million you would be looking at their “mid size” machine which can be configured to be a bagger or bulk machine. Their large machine’s are considerably more expensive, but would not be really practical for around Buri-Ram, as you point out, the paddies are too small.

The family is correct, in as much as we hear many Kubota owners complain about the wear rate and replacement cost of the rubber tracks, us included.

Whereas the steel tracks last much longer and are a fraction of the cost when it is time to overhaul. The KPH dealer at Satuk has an excellent track pin machine in their facility, they have overhauled ours for approx 6000 baht per track, along with our Komatsu excavator tracks.

Kubota rubber tracks are now 22,000 baht per track. (it makes a big hole in any profit), and due to operator in-experience they don’t last more than a couple of season’s.

The argument for and against bagging and non-bagging machines can go on indefinetely, It depends on your customers preference. We are fortuneate in that around here they want it in bags. Cause with the mid size KPH machine, if for some reason the demand should change to bags then the KPH dealer can modify it for you. Most times I have been in their shop they are modifying from bags to bulk. So it appears that bulk is the way things are going around there.

Last year we charged 600baht/rai so you will have to do your own calculations to see what you may get for return on investment. Cost of diesel can blow your calculations away big time and the KPH machines do use a lot of diesel.

Realibilty for the KPH machines is not as good as the Kubota’s, but we seem to be able to get the repairs done overnight and be back operating again next morning. Of course in a few more years I may not be able to say that about the Kubota’s as they get more operating hours on them.

Good luck on your decision, don’t be tempted to use commensense and logic, not many of us did when we made our decisions to get the wives/girl-friends into the contracting business. It is a lot of fun though.

Mixedbreed

I have read the thread and talked it over with my Thai wife. She is seriously looking at getting a rice harvestor for the family. What the family (from Buriram) is telling her is: they don't want a Kubota DC-60 bagging machine. They claim it is too small and other farmers don't want someone using it on their farms. I guess they are getting lazy and don't want to carry the bags? I can't understand why, because farms in her area are small and it makes snese to use the bagging system based upon what others have said. If you buy a model with a big belly, you need to dump the rice somewhere or have a truck to move it too, right?

The family claims that a lot of people are returning the Kubota's to the local Buriram dealer and are not happy with them, since they are not reliable, unlike what I am hearing here. Not sure if they are talking DC60 or DC68's.

The family does not think the Kubota rubber tracks are as good as the metal ones on the Tamco (KPH models?) I believe. They claim,, the metal ones work better in wet or water then the Kubota's, unlike what I think I heard here. There is a Tamco (KPH/KRT?)dealer in Satuk that they want to work with. Apparantly, the machine they looked at is 1.9 million baht and they want 1 million baht down and a monthly payment. This sounds like shit to me, too expensive and I am trying to get the wife to think this through before putting her hard earned money into this family venture and possibly getting me to help!

Anyone have any updates or comments would be appreciated. Sounds like Thais have their minds made up on what they like. Thanks

[OOTAI]

mixed breed

I was wondering if you have had any experience with what I call a "finger" harvester i.e. one that feeds the rice into the harvesters front using finger type arrangement rather that a rotating drum to feed the crop into the cutters. I have read that people consider them to be too slow and too wasteful i.e. losing grain over the back.

I was wondering if by too slow people mean too slow to make money when contracting. I don't want to go contracting I just want to be able to harvest at my leisure when I am ready. I don't want to have to rely on family to cut the rice or wait for a contractor to come.

I have seen this type of harvester go for between 50 and 100 thousand at the JSSR auction so if I could use it on my 50 rai it would pay that money back in 3-4 years. I have included a photo but I don't know if it will work or not (it didn't).

Your thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.

[slapout]

The machine you refer to are slow, they take about a 1 meter swath vs a 3+_ swath on the reel type header. The one I saw operating, the grain was bagged so it was a 3 man operation. plus the boss of course. The operator/owner told me the air to facilitate grain/straw separation, thus saving the grain was controlled by engine speed with land speed of machine controlled by gear box. If I had enough rice land to justify a combine, I would consider a land leveler on the rice land and do away with those ditches for water and do flood irrigation from the high side of land. Then get a reel type machine and get after it.

[IsaanAussie]

mixed breed

I was wondering if you have had any experience with what I call a "finger" harvester i.e. one that feeds the rice into the harvesters front using finger type arrangement rather that a rotating drum to feed the crop into the cutters. I have read that people consider them to be too slow and too wasteful i.e. losing grain over the back.

I was wondering if by too slow people mean too slow to make money when contracting. I don't want to go contracting I just want to be able to harvest at my leisure when I am ready. I don't want to have to rely on family to cut the rice or wait for a contractor to come.

I have seen this type of harvester go for between 50 and 100 thousand at the JSSR auction so if I could use it on my 50 rai it would pay that money back in 3-4 years. I have included a photo but I don't know if it will work or not (it didn't).

Your thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.

I looked at that type of harvester as secondhand machines a few years ago. They were Japanese and suitable for small holdings and Japanese style rice. Much smaller growing plants. They also featured a lot of moulded plastic parts and small metal cutting knives which I considered as too hard to maintain here.

Last season I saw one in my area. It was not operating at the time but over the course of a week didnt seem to cut much rice.

For 50 Rai, IMHO, quicker and cheaper to wait for the contractor. Get in the queue earlier and repay if necessary. More harvesters every year, cheaper every year.

Isaanaussie

[mixedbreed]

Hello OOTAI,

The finger type harvesters you describe, is the type I remember seeing while living in Japan and Korea. They seem to work reasonably enough there, as a lot of their rice is transplanted by machine and is in nice orderly rows, it is also a shorter stronger variety of rice, not prone to falling down.

It is critical that the harvest is done exactly on time, to late and as the rice is transported along the little clamp type rail to the drum, it will drop large amounts of rice to the ground.

As we plant rice by the broadcast system and a late wind storm tends to drop our crop over, the finger type is almost useless. About 5 years ago when I first started looking at purchasing a machine, the imports, where only the finger type. I ended up purchasing a Thai manufactured machine. Since then I purchased a Kubota DC60 as well, if I should decide to purchase a 3rd machine it will be another Thai machine.

Incidentally, just a couple of days ago, on a trip back up from Bangkok, I passed several truck loads of Kubota DC harvesting machines, both model 60 and 68’s, it would appear to me that within a couple more years there will be many second hand machines coming back onto the market, as supply starts to exceed demand and machines are repossessed. There seem to be many available now for contract in our area.

Mixedbreed

mixed breed

I was wondering if you have had any experience with what I call a "finger" harvester i.e. one that feeds the rice into the harvesters front using finger type arrangement rather that a rotating drum to feed the crop into the cutters. I have read that people consider them to be too slow and too wasteful i.e. losing grain over the back.

I was wondering if by too slow people mean too slow to make money when contracting. I don't want to go contracting I just want to be able to harvest at my leisure when I am ready. I don't want to have to rely on family to cut the rice or wait for a contractor to come.

I have seen this type of harvester go for between 50 and 100 thousand at the JSSR auction so if I could use it on my 50 rai it would pay that money back in 3-4 years. I have included a photo but I don't know if it will work or not (it didn't).

Your thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.

[OOTAI]

to mailman

If I have jumped in on your post before you got an answer I am sorry, just jump back in.

to slapout, Isaanaussie and mailman

Thanks for the responses. You have answered my questions for me thank you.

I don't have an issue if the machines are slow as I have enough time however if they lose (too much) grain that is unacceptable.

It is my intention to try the SRI system of growing rice which I think would solve the issue of the rice being in nice uniform rows, it should also produce stronger plants which may reduce the bending over issue. I also intend to turn as much small lots in the paddies into bigger lots to facilitate the use of mechanised means of cultivating and harvesting. One plot we have that comes to mind is currently about 20 small paddies and I think it could be easily made into 3.

mixed breed your comment about waiting for a secondhand DC-60, I have been watching closely to see them start to appear for sale but I haven't seen one yet. I don't want to pay a million plus for a new one and then have to find work to pay for it. The only secondhand drum harvestor I have seen was (I think) on Bahtsold and it was a KPH Thai machine for 1.15 million. So it seems like I will need to book a harvester in the short term and wait for people to start flogging their unaffordable (to them) DC-60's

once again thanks for the replies

[IsaanAussie]

OOTAI,

Just a note on your comment: ....which may reduce the bending over issue

My problem here is a combination of wind and the poor soil which means we suffer lodging of the near ripen rice. I grow HM105 which is a strong plant but they basically just fall over in the local "mud"

Isaanaussie

[OOTAI]

Isaanaussie

My problem here is a combination of wind and the poor soil which means we suffer lodging of the near ripen rice. I grow HM105 which is a strong plant but they basically just fall over in the local "mud"

Isaanaussie

I'm not sure what you mean by the highlighted and underlined bit in your reply. Also when the plants fall over in the mud is it because they fall over roots and all or is it the stalks that bend over. The main point of difference with SRI system is that because the paddy is not kept flooded the plants suposedly develop a much larger, deeper root system. Don't get me wrong at this point I really don't know as I am not there growing rice and am only going on theory but you gotta start somewhere. That's why at the moment I'm only dreaming not "living the dream".

[pnustedt]

I once had a "finger type" reaper on a Yanmar harvester. It could only approach fallen rice from one direction (which can be impossible) and was slow and inefficient. We sent it back to Yanmar within a few days.

I am interested in selling my oldest machine, a Generli stainless steel harvester, for sack loading. I had several offers of Bt1mill but the interested parties are all local and want to pay me in instalments, i.e. I would be financing them to compete with me! The machine has an extended neck to the reaper which makes it ideal for harvesting fallen rice. I would use the proceeds to buy a new machine, same make, they are now Bt2.5mill.

[IsaanAussie]

OOTAI,

Both problems, roots and all and also bent. It the rice is harvested quickly enough there isn't much of a problem. But if it lays in the water for too long then it has too much water content and that leads to broken rice after thrashing. Homi Mali is a tall relatively heavy plant.

I would love to be able to control water levels on our 12 Rai. It is low laying and basically under water until after harvest. Even if I could pump out the excess, there is no where to put it.

Isaanaussie

[mailman]

Mixedbreed and everyone, thanks for the responses and keeping the thread going. My wife and I looked at many different rice harvestors while in Buriram in July.

Kubota has a new model out, DC-95GM I think. It seemed to be their biggest model, but Kubota's seem smaller then the Thai models we saw later.

We traveled up to the Satuk area and looked at a place that had one TSY harvestor in the window. Big machine, but you had to wonder if you would get any support if something went wrong. Another place was selling KM53, Sakpattana and had a few newer and used ones.

The best place we found with a decent inventory was TAMCO (Thai Agricultural Machinery Company, I think), KT08,KT09 and KT11 models for 1.5 to 0ver 2 million baht.

I don't know if this is the same place that others refer to as selling KPH models? Anyway, prices varied due to all the options. It seems if you get different parts that are stainless steel, instead of the painted metal (auger, thresher, storage tank), you will be better off down the road (no rust).

The wife ended up getting a medium sized one for the family to make some money?! We shall see, as long as she contines to work back here, to pay for it, I am happy!

I'll have to see if I can figure out how to post some pictures.

Now, the new questions for those that are in the business are:

OK, you have a rice harvestor, wife said they will rent a trailor to transport the rice harvestor to jobs. Anybody else do that and is it feasable? The family says they know someone that has a trailor and will use him. Trailor's seem to cost over 600K baht for a used one. The family doesn't have truck to offload the rice to, but say that who ever's field they are going to work on will supply their own. Is that your experience? Last one, when a farmer says they have 100 rai to harvest, how do you verify that or do you just take his word for it?

These are some questions I asked, but the family doesn't seem too concerned, which makes me wonder.

How is the rice crop doing this year in the Buriram, Surin area? Is it on time to start harvesting in Novemeber or later?

[IsaanAussie]

I am not in the harvesting business but have seen enough of it to offer the following advice. You will need to run the machine as close to 24 7 as you can during the limited 6 week season to maximise return. So apart from mechanical issues with the machine, anything that can prevent the machine working must be fully planned for. Moving the machine between jobs by truck or trailer, that transport must be always on hand. If a trailer is used then there are two issues, firstly the towing vehicle capacity and trailer ground clearance. Most pickups are rated to pull a towed total of under 2 tonnes. If the machine fills bags then there is no issue with the customer handling those. However of the machine fills a hopper and then transfers in bulk to a truck, that is a different matter. Most farmers can organise a 4 or 6 wheel truck but will it be there when needed and can one truck keep up with the harvester?

[mailman]

Thanks IsaanAussie. What you said makes sense. My Thai wife's family is looking into the trailor. I hope it is one of those big rigs, not the tow behind the truck kind. The family is supposed to be checking out a friend who has a trailor AND dump truck. My understanding is the family would pay to transport the harvestor and the guy would drive his dump truck along and offer his services seperately to the farmer to collect the rice from the harvestor.

As you pointed out, there are a lot of potential pitfalls, short harvesting season, being able to run the machine 24X7, transport available when needed, offload truck ready at all times, quick harvestor repairs. It's sounding less appealing all the time, but the family wants to do it.

[pnustedt]

Now, the new questions for those that are in the business are:

OK, you have a rice harvestor, wife said they will rent a trailor to transport the rice harvestor to jobs. Anybody else do that and is it feasable? The family says they know someone that has a trailor and will use him. Trailor's seem to cost over 600K baht for a used one. The family doesn't have truck to offload the rice to, but say that who ever's field they are going to work on will supply their own. Is that your experience? Last one, when a farmer says they have 100 rai to harvest, how do you verify that or do you just take his word for it?

These are some questions I asked, but the family doesn't seem too concerned, which makes me wonder.

How is the rice crop doing this year in the Buriram, Surin area? Is it on time to start harvesting in Novemeber or later?

A lot depends on your location. If your depot is in the middle of the paddies you plan to harvest you should be OK renting for the first year. Have a look at the truck rebuilders at Rassi Sala for next year.

Sounds like you (ur family) are planning to not use sacks? Can be a problem when moving from one customer to another and expect delays - advantage is only one person on the combine.

For verification of paddy size get a Garmin GPS60 or similar.

The rice crop seems OK at the moment, maybe a bit behind. Hope for no storms when the weight of the grain develops.

[mailman]

I'm trying to post a few pictures of Rice Harvestors, hope this works.

A few pictures from the TAMCO harvestors north of Satuk

One of the Sak Pattana machines

The lone TSY harvestor - a big machine

Used trailor at a shop north of Satuk. Can't remember exactly how much they asked for, think it was 600,000 baht

[Dario]

This is an old thread but certainly worth to continue.

My wife's family has always commissioned someone with a heavy 225HP Thai Harvester Combine from Pathum Thani for the past 6 years. For the first time my wife and I watched how they were doing during the last harvesting season in November 2011. We then decided to buy a combine ourselves, so in December we booked a Thai Sengyont 10 HT195HP turbo for 1'590'000 Baht. The price has already gone up in January to 1'650K. It's a big machine but not too heavy as to get stuck in the mud. We will be buying a Hino trailor and know where we can get a nice reconditioned one for about 550'000 Baht. Last season the going price per rai here was 590 Baht. I wonder with the diesel price shooting through the roof right now how prices will settle for this coming season. We're located in northern Surin province.

Would be nice to hear from others how things are coming along for the coming harvesting season.

[tingtong]

dam_n, at our place they charged 700 THB/Rai last season!

[Dario]

dam_n, at our place they charged 700 THB/Rai last season!

It really depends. 590 Baht was the average price, but some places which are far from a road sometimes more than 700 Baht is charged. Small plots also pay more than large lots as it is difficult to maneuver in small lots. We still see some Kubotas around but for larger lots thee farmers over here definitely prefer the large powerful Thai combines. We have received already lots of bookings for the coming season, which is still about 7 months away. I guess for the farmers here to know that we're coming with a brand new machine is very attractive for them.

[Dario]

Looks like we're the only farang couple left with a Thai rice combine. Great!

[Isee]

We have received already lots of bookings for the coming season, which is still about 7 months away. I guess for the farmers here to know that we're coming with a brand new machine is very attractive for them.

Yes, they like to use the new machines for a number of practical reasons. There was a rumor going around we were getting another machine and a few people came around wanting to book the new machine.

Price will to some degree be dictated by three factors, the number of machines in the area, the price they are cutting at and what you will cut at. We are currently cutting at 600 and 700 for rice lying down (both up 100 from last season). The first season you will be guided by the average price being charged as you won't know exactly your per rai expenses. My tip to you is don't necessarily believe what farmers are telling you what other machines are cutting per rai. Most thai operators will either state a per rai price and then change it for any number of reasons to do with the land or they will want to see the land and give a price. Don't try to get in a price war or meeting rates which are too low. A lot of thais don't allow maintenance costs in their prices and will jack up their prices after a major breakdown to recover the money.

I've seen the odd farmer say our per rai rate is too expensive and then agree with another machine at a fixed fee which worked out more on a per rai basis (and then I've heard a machine last season cutting the odd land at 320 a rai on a fixed price = crazy). Loyal customers are few and far in thailand, work on the concept that if they use you again, its because you are at the time a better proposition than other operators and NOT because you did them some favour on the last cut you did for them. We tried at the start to have a flat rate (for rice standing up and lying down) to introduce loyalty and it was a waste of time and money. We now just concentrate on doing a clean cut and looking after those who do book our machine in advance. We've lost about 80 rai this season because we wee too busy.

For the next season (7 months) will be be going 650 and 750. We spent too many previous seasons matching other machines cutting rate costing us a lot of profit. Don't let (as we did) fear concern you that no one will use you because you are priced higher. We put the price up this season and everyone followed it. I expect the same in 7 months.

[Cashboy]

I am new to this forum and am considering farming in Kumphawapi; near UdonThani.

Thank you for the very interesting posts of people's experience of Harversters.

After reading all the comments I am considering the Kubota DC-60 Harverter:

(1) It can be used for rice; but what other crops can it be used for in Thailand?

(2) Is the machine easy to repair for someone that is very practical with repairing cars and has a degree in engineering?

(3) Realistically how many Rai of rice should you have to make this machine viable to buy for your own farm?

(4) If I buy a Kubota Tractor L4708 47HP Tractor and trailer; will this be powerful enough to transport the Kubota DC-60 Harvester?

(5) Anyone have experience of buying one of these machines second hand and if so was it a good proposition or is it better to spend the money and buy new if you can afford it?

[meand]

I am new to this forum and am considering farming in Kumphawapi; near UdonThani.

Thank you for the very interesting posts of people's experience of Harversters.

After reading all the comments I am considering the Kubota DC-60 Harverter:

(1) It can be used for rice; but what other crops can it be used for in Thailand?

(2) Is the machine easy to repair for someone that is very practical with repairing cars and has a degree in engineering?

(3) Realistically how many Rai of rice should you have to make this machine viable to buy for your own farm?

(4) If I buy a Kubota Tractor L4708 47HP Tractor and trailer; will this be powerful enough to transport the Kubota DC-60 Harvester?

(5) Anyone have experience of buying one of these machines second hand and if so was it a good proposition or is it better to spend the money and buy new if you can afford it?

I am also interested in your question 4, and how much HP would be required to pull the dc60 out of tough spots when stuck, and what are some of the best tractors for harvesting work (the questions just keep coming ). Also, what are some dc60 driving tips? I have done a lot of off roading, do the same principles apply.... if you don't want to get stuck in the soft spots, don't slow down and definitely don't stop. Ha, probably not that simple when you are harvesting rice.

I know I have always loved working on Japanese machines, I don't have experience with any farm equipment, but at the very least the all important maintenance looked very doable from their video. Japanese engineers seem to always really focus on making most maintenance easy and accessible. The dc60 also seems relatively safe as far as I can tell.

With the less than ideal rice harvesting season (I assume with the rains??) last season maybe the answer to your question 5 could be that there are some great deals to be had on harvesters from people that didn't make the grade due to the season. Just a guess.

One last question... what is the closest Kubota dealer to Bangkok? I tried to find this from their website, but it wasn't very user friendly in this respect. Thanks

[Cashboy]

I am new to this forum and am considering farming in Kumphawapi; near UdonThani.

Thank you for the very interesting posts of people's experience of Harversters.

After reading all the comments I am considering the Kubota DC-60 Harverter:

(1) It can be used for rice; but what other crops can it be used for in Thailand?

(2) Is the machine easy to repair for someone that is very practical with repairing cars and has a degree in engineering?

(3) Realistically how many Rai of rice should you have to make this machine viable to buy for your own farm?

(4) If I buy a Kubota Tractor L4708 47HP Tractor and trailer; will this be powerful enough to transport the Kubota DC-60 Harvester?

(5) Anyone have experience of buying one of these machines second hand and if so was it a good proposition or is it better to spend the money and buy new if you can afford it?

I thought I would refresh this topic to see if I could get an answer to the above questions.

I also have some more questions.

(6) What else can the Kubota DC60 harvest that might be worth growing in the Udon Thani province.

(7) What are the average (difficult one) repair costs per season for this machine. i am basing this on 1 crop a year only.

I did try to do some calculations (typical of accountant that I am).

Perhaps some of you can have a look at my spread sheet and criticise it and give your opinions.

Basically, break even is about 500 rai a year.

Thankyou

Kubota_2003.xls

[pnustedt]

I did try to do some calculations (typical of accountant that I am).

Perhaps some of you can have a look at my spread sheet and criticise it and give your opinions.

Basically, break even is about 500 rai a year.

Thankyou

You have a diesel price at Bt50/litre, around here (Sisaket) the price is about Bt30/litre. I was also surprised how much diesel/rai is used. I have full size harvesters and they don't use as much diesel as on the sheet.

I know quite a few Kubota users and have never met one that can claim to harvest 500 rai/season. 300 is optomistic around here most years, although, as this year is exceptionally dry, that may improve.

The Kubotas normally get Bt550/rai around here, full size harvesters get Bt600. Another cost is the village guy (often the headman) who allocates the work/collects the money, organises food for crew, etc - cost about Bt20/rai.