Kubota BX2690 Premium vs. John Deere 1025R: The Closest Horsepower Match in Sub-Compact Tractors

It's rare to find two competing tractors from two different manufacturers that land on the exact same horsepower number, but that's exactly what happens at the top of the sub-compact class: Kubota's upcoming BX2690 Premium, the flagship of its all-new BX90 lineup, and John Deere's long-established 1025R are both rated at 23.9 gross horsepower. Same number, two completely different machines underneath it — which makes this one of the purest head-to-head comparisons in the whole compact-equipment category, because horsepower can't be the deciding factor when it's identical on both spec sheets.

Real Specs, Side by Side

The Kubota BX2690 Premium sits at the top of the loader-only BX90 trims, built on Kubota's own diesel platform with 23.9 gross horsepower, electronic engine controls, and a full-color LCD display in the cab — the only BX90 trim that gets that display. It pairs with the redesigned LA405 loader, rated at 904 lbs of lift capacity, with dual bucket cylinders and an improved rollback angle Kubota added specifically to stop material spilling off the back of the bucket on the way up. Kubota also redesigned the HST foot controls into a side-by-side pedal layout for a more intuitive forward-reverse motion. The BX90 Series is expected at dealers starting early 2027.

John Deere's 1025R, already an established, widely-sold platform, is rated at 23.9 gross horsepower and 17.2 PTO horsepower, powered by a Yanmar 3TNV80F-NCJT three-cylinder diesel (1.267 liters). It runs a two-range hydrostatic transmission with standard cruise control, and its three-point hitch — a Limited Category 1 setup — lifts 758 lbs measured 24 inches behind the link arms. The open-station configuration weighs 1,556 lbs; the cab version weighs 1,996 lbs.

The Same Engine Story, One Size Class Down

The Kubota-versus-Deere engine-sourcing pattern we've written about at the construction-equipment level and at the mid-size compact-tractor level shows up again here, at the very bottom of Deere's tractor lineup: the 1025R runs a Yanmar engine, not a Deere-built one. That makes three separate tiers of Deere's lineup — the sub-compact 1 Series, the compact utility 4M Series, and several of its compact track loaders and wheel loaders — where the company sources its diesel from Yanmar rather than building in-house. Kubota, true to form, builds the BX2690 Premium's engine itself, the same way it builds nearly everything else in its range.

At this size class specifically, it's worth noting the irony: Yanmar built much of its reputation making exactly this class of small diesel, so Deere sourcing a sub-26-horsepower three-cylinder from Yanmar isn't a compromise, it's arguably playing to Yanmar's single greatest strength. Kubota, meanwhile, is competing directly against the company that effectively defined the category it's building in-house — and has done so successfully enough, for decades, that most buyers never think to ask who actually built the block.

Transmission and Controls: Two-Range HST vs. Side-by-Side Pedals

The 1025R's two-range hydrostatic transmission with standard cruise control is a proven, simple setup that's been in the field long enough that most Deere dealers and a huge share of experienced operators already know it cold. The BX2690 Premium's redesigned side-by-side HST pedal layout is the newer idea: Kubota moved away from the older heel-toe pedal arrangement specifically because it's a more intuitive forward-reverse motion for anyone who has driven literally any other piece of equipment — a real advantage when you're training a new hire and don't want to explain why this particular tractor's pedals work backward from everything else on the lot.

Neither approach is wrong. The 1025R's simplicity is a real asset on a tractor this size, where some buyers genuinely want fewer things to think about, not more. The BX2690 Premium's electronic engine controls and color LCD display push it toward a more modern, information-dense operator experience — arguably more than a sub-compact tractor strictly needs, but a real comfort upgrade for an operator running it eight hours a day.

Lift Capacity and What It Actually Means on the Job

The 1025R's 758-lb three-point hitch lift and the BX2690 Premium's 904-lb loader bucket capacity aren't directly comparable numbers — one measures a rear hitch implement, the other a front loader bucket — but both point to the same conclusion: this is genuinely small-scale equipment, built for residential and light commercial property work rather than a full construction site. The trades that actually buy machines in this class: small landscaping and property-maintenance operations doing mowing, light grading, and material moving on finished or near-finished properties; fence and small-utility contractors who need enough lift to move post material and light fill without a full-size loader; and hobby-farm or acreage owners who happen to also run a small side business out of the same property.

If your work regularly calls for digging — fence post holes, small drainage runs, a footing excavation — it's worth knowing Kubota also sells the BX2390S and BX2690S Premium with a BT604 backhoe attachment bolted on, something Deere doesn't offer in a directly equivalent sub-compact package at this exact horsepower tier. That backhoe option is a genuine differentiator if digging is a regular part of your work rather than an occasional job.

Dealer Support: An Established Network vs. a Fresh Launch

At this size class, dealer proximity and parts turnaround arguably matter more than the spec sheet, because a sub-compact tractor doing light residential or property-maintenance work is often the only machine a small operation owns — if it's down for a week, the whole crew's schedule slips. The 1025R benefits here from years of field history: Deere dealers that carry the 1 Series have deep parts stock and technicians who've serviced dozens of them, because the platform has been selling steadily for years. The BX90 line, including the BX2690 Premium, is an unknown quantity by comparison simply because it hasn't shipped yet — early adopters of any brand-new platform are, by definition, the first ones finding out how fast a given dealer can actually source a part for a machine nobody's seen in the shop before.

That's not a reason to avoid the BX2690 Premium — Kubota's compact-tractor dealer network is one of the deepest in the industry, built specifically around this product category over decades, and that institutional strength doesn't reset to zero just because one model generation is new. But it is a reason to ask your local Kubota dealer directly how they're staffing up for the BX90 transition, rather than assuming day-one parts support will match what the outgoing BX80 platform enjoyed after 26 years in the field.

Timing Matters Here More Than Usual

This comparison has an unusual wrinkle: the 1025R is a mature, thoroughly field-proven platform you can walk onto a Deere lot and buy today, while the BX2690 Premium isn't expected at Kubota dealers until early 2027. A contractor who needs a machine now has a real, practical reason to lean 1025R regardless of how the spec sheets compare on paper. A contractor who can wait, and who specifically wants the electronic controls, color display, and optional backhoe capability, has a real reason to plan ahead for the BX90 instead — but that's a bet on a brand-new platform's early-production reliability, which is always a little less of a known quantity than a tractor that's already been through several years of real-world duty cycles.

Resale Value at This Size Class

Sub-compact tractors see a surprisingly active used market, mostly because so many of them are bought by homeowners and small operators who upgrade or exit the business entirely within a few years. The 1025R's long production run and sheer volume in the field work in its favor on resale — there's a deep, established pool of buyers who specifically search for this exact model, which tends to support steadier resale pricing. A brand-new platform like the BX2690 Premium doesn't have that resale history yet; its eventual used-market value will depend heavily on how the first few years of real-world ownership go, which is one more reason some buyers will reasonably choose the known quantity today and let early BX90 adopters write that resale history for everyone else.

Rent or Own at This Size Class?

A sub-compact tractor is small enough that some contractors assume it's not worth financing versus just renting one when the need comes up. In practice, a landscaping or property-maintenance crew that needs this class of machine regularly is throwing away equity every time it goes back on the rental trailer at the end of the week. Financing a 1025R or a BX2690 Premium through BFC, structured around your actual credit profile and job pipeline, gets you a machine that keeps building value on your balance sheet instead of someone else's. Equipment financing is available nationwide, with approval paths for both established operations and newer businesses still building credit history.

For the full breakdown of everything else that changed across the new BX90 lineup, our standalone BX90 Series spotlight covers all five models and trim levels in detail, and our look at Kubota's in-house diesel strategy against John Deere's Yanmar-sourced exceptions covers the pattern that shows up again on the 1025R.

Ready to finance either brand? Start with our Kubota equipment financing or John Deere equipment financing pages to see program details for each brand.

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