Well, the Kioti finally has a name – Annie. She is named after two redheads (which of course everybody knows means orange hair) – Raggedy Ann and Anne of Green Gables. We have now spent about 30 hours working together, so I figured I would share a few thoughts.

As hoped for, this machine is quite the beast. The loader is very strong and it can pull like crazy as well. I actually need to build a ballast box to attach to the rear so it isn’t quite so tippy. Even with the rear tires filled I have lifted the rear end regularly. The loader is nice and tall too. I am thankful that the bucket clears the sides of the 30 yard dumpster that I have been loading.

Unfortunately it has been a wet few weeks since I got Annie. I have made a real mess with the heavy tractor, but such is the price of progress. I will level everything out eventually. Fortunately this coming week is supposed to be pretty dry.

The pallet forks that I bought have been incredible. They have stayed on about 95% of the time and have really made moving things a breeze. The A/C unit, lumber, blocks, stone, shingles, and more, have all been easily handled. Having the skid steer style quick attach on the loader has been great. I would like a couple more attachments – mainly a stump bucket and in my dreams, a grapple.

I need to repair the three point hitch so that I can run i implements off the rear. I would like a box blade and the aforementioned ballast box. Eventually a finish mower would be nice as well.

I bought a grease gun and lubed up all of the zerks. I need to look into oil and filter changes, probably sooner rather than later.

So far I haven’t had any issues. I have worked this machine really hard and it has kept up. Hopefully it will keep going strong for many years!