Driving impression: Kubota M105S tractor A big name in the compact tractor market, Kubota has been making a concerted push into agriculture of late with its new ME series of 50hp+. With an innovative gearbox among other refinements, the M105S now takes the firm into 100hp+ territory. Martin Rickatson assesses its stock farm suitability

Its reputation in compact tractors and excavators is unquestioned, as countless building contractors and groundsmen will testify, but Kubota, it would be fair to say, has its work cut out to fully establish itself in the ag industry. Over the past decade or so, the Japanese firm has dipped an exploratory toe in the sector with the likes of the 45hp L4150, but has never really found a strong foothold in the market.

Two developments could be about to change that, though. First is the ongoing dealer franchise merry-goround and contraction in number of the distinct marques available to dealers and their customers. Then there is the ‘orange’ firm’s recent push into 50-100hp territory. While Kubota has participated within this segment in markets like the USA for a number of years, only recently has it extended its offering over here. The firm made its intentions clear with the launch of the three-model 62-94hp ME series back in 2003, and now its new 105hp M105S takes it into the 100hp mainstream.

While the new unit propels Kubota into ‘big’ territory, it’s more than likely most ag buyers at this power level will be stock farmers looking for a simple, no-frills package. So we gave our test tractor a workout on outdoor pig unit duty, figuring that trailer and front loader applications are likely to feature highly on many M105S job descriptions.

And it’s with the LA loader that we should perhaps start. Built entirely by Kubota itself at its US factory, our 1.3t/3.6m-rated LA1301S test unit was simple to attach and detach via lower hooks, upper pins and a pair of swivel legs just behind the headstock. It looks strongly built and well designed, although perhaps a little more room to access and couple up its spools would help avoid skinned knuckles. The LA has a convenient bucket-level indicator along with an effective joystick.

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