Bobcat · Compact

Bobcat CT4045

~$34,400

MSRP, base build

Bobcat CT4045
Compact
44.9 hp engine · 32.8 PTO−27% to the shaft

The 4000 platform is where Bobcat's tractors finally get a turbocharger, 16.5 gpm of hydraulics and a 2,716 lb hitch - a real jump in capability rather than another engine swap into the same frame. Base hydrostatic build starts at $34,400.

Engine
44.9 hp
PTO
32.8 hp
Loader lift
1,795 lbs
3-pt lift
2,716 lbs

0.95 PTO hp per $1,000 of list price

As published by the maker

Specifications

Size class
Compact
Transmission
Hydrostatic
Engine
Daedong
Engine hp
44.9 hp
PTO hp
32.8 hp
Drive
4WD
Loader lift
1,795 lbs
Three-point lift
2,716 lbs
Hydraulic flow
16.5 GPM
Fuel tank
12.7 gal
Weight
3,745 lbs
4WD
Yes
Cab
Open station
Turbo
Yes
Cruise control
No

On the price: The maker's own published starting figure for the base build. A dealer adds a loader, a deck and freight on top.

Lift figures are the maker's and are quoted at whichever point the maker chose; the about page explains why two loaders with the same number do not lift the same pallet.

Comes with

4WDHydrostaticFront LoaderPower SteeringDieselTurbo

From owner discussion and long-term write-ups

What owners say

What they like

  • 2,716 lb of hitch capacity at 24 in behind the lift point is a 1,085 lb jump over the 2000 platform and opens up box blades and heavier rotary cutters
  • 16.5 gpm total flow - 9.6 implement plus 6.9 steering on the hydrostatic build - is half again what the 2000 platform offers
  • 1,795 lb of loader lift at max height finally makes pallet forks a sensible attachment
  • A turbocharged 111 cu in Daedong three-cylinder at 2,750 rpm rather than a bigger naturally aspirated block
  • An 8x8 synchro shuttle is available if you would rather change direction without a hydrostatic pedal
  • 18.5 mph top speed with a 71.2 in wheelbase makes it usable for moving between fields, not just around a yard
  • Optional mid-PTO at 2,119 rpm on the hydrostatic build

What they complain about

  • PTO output drops to 32.8 hp on the hydrostatic build from 41.6 hp on the manual - an 8.8 hp penalty, the largest transmission trade-off in the Bobcat line
  • Bobcat's own pages disagree on the fuel tank, 12.7 gal on the CT4045 page against 11.9 gal on its siblings
  • The CT4545 cab version costs $11,014 more
  • Emissions hardware is unstated on the model page, so any particulate filter and its regeneration cycle need confirming at the dealer
  • No warranty term is published

Gathered from owner reports

What owners report

Almost every buyer who ends up on a CT4045 got there by pricing it against a Kubota and finding a large gap - figures like $27,900 with a loader against $36,900 for an L3560 are quoted directly, with Bobcat running loader giveaway promotions on top. What is striking about the owner reports is where the worry sits: nobody describes the machine breaking, and the reservations are all about the dealer behind it and whether Bobcat stays in the tractor business.

What comes up favourably

  • The price gap is the reason people buy it and buyers quote it precisely - one shopper had a CT4045 with loader at $27,900 against a Kubota L3560 at $36,900, another put the comparable Kubota roughly $10,000 higher, and Bobcat has run promotions that include the front end loader outright.
  • Owners running a root grapple report it makes short work of neglected land. One clearing 16 acres of field and woods says it has handled felled trees and thorn scrub well as a first tractor, and another with even rougher ground describes the same combination getting through everything he has met.
  • A buyer who itemized the comparison found equipment on the Bobcat that the Kubota wanted extra for or did not offer: filled tires included, a lever at the rear for raising and lowering the three-point while standing beside the tractor, a bucket already prepared for a cutting edge, plus the suspension seat and adjustable steering wheel from the Kubota's premium line.
  • Financing terms have swung deals toward it independently of sticker price - more than one buyer went Bobcat because Kubota's rates beyond 36 months were expensive at the time they were shopping.

What comes up as a complaint

  • The dealer behind it is the deciding variable and it cuts both ways. Two owners chose Bobcat specifically because their local dealer was close and gave them support beyond what they expected, while another rated his nearest Bobcat dealership small and poorly resourced and was leaning to Kubota because of it. The tractor is the same either way; the ownership experience is not.
  • Buyers raise a question about the brand that they do not raise about Kubota or Deere: what happens to parts and service if Bobcat decides to stop building compact tractors. That is speculation rather than a reported failure, but it is a real hesitation for people keeping a machine twenty years.
  • Expect the competing dealer to attack it. One shopper reports his Kubota dealer dismissing the Bobcat as a lesser tractor without the features, then trying to reframe the comparison against the cheaper L3902 - when on the buyer's own numbers the CT4045 had around ten more horsepower and about 100 lb more loader lift than the L3560 it was originally being compared with.

Questions worth asking

How does the CT4045 really price against a Kubota L3560 or L3902?
The gap buyers report is large: $27,900 with loader against $36,900 for an L3560 in one direct comparison, and about $10,000 between a CT4045 and an L3902 in another. Be ready for the Kubota dealer to argue the L3560 is not the right comparison and push the cheaper L3902 instead. On the specs buyers actually collected, the CT4045 carried more horsepower and more loader lift than the L3560, so judge the reframing on the numbers rather than the pitch.
Is it enough tractor for clearing overgrown land?
Owners doing exactly that say yes, with the important caveat that they are all running a root grapple rather than a bucket. One first-time owner clearing 16 acres of field and woods reports it dealing with felled trees and thorn bushes well, and another on similarly neglected ground says the same pairing makes short work of what he meets. Budget for the grapple as part of the purchase, not as a later upgrade.
What is the actual risk in buying the Bobcat rather than the Kubota?
On the evidence of owner reports it is not mechanical - none of them describes a breakdown, and owners call the maintenance schedule straightforward. The risk buyers name is structural: a thinner and more variable dealer network, and uncertainty about whether Bobcat stays in compact tractors long enough to support one for its whole life. If your local Bobcat dealer is strong, that risk shrinks considerably, and several owners bought on precisely that basis.

Summarised from public owner discussion, not from testing. Nothing here was measured by this site, and a report that recurs is not the same as a defect rate.

Cross-shopped against

Line the Bobcat CT4045 up

vs Bobcat CT4050vs Bobcat CT4058vs Kubota L3970

Same brand or same size, nearest in price

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