3040 Hour Meter

[Woodsman30350]

My hour meter stopped working. My tach cable broke at the same time. Is the hour meter dependent upon the tach cable?
Montana is ordering me a new cable. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[xxxsandman]

Yes the hour meter and the tach are tied together. If the cable is broke, no hours will be put on your hour meter until fixed.

Mine broke a week ago. Good luck getting them to send you a new one. One week and still waiting on mine. Hasn't even shipped yet! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Maka]

Re: 3040 Hour Meter *DELETED* *DELETED*

Post deleted by Maka

 

[xxxsandman]

Maka, I appreciate your efforts in providing warrantee parts for me. In my opinion you are going beyond the call of duty. I think Montana better step back and re-evaluate their position. They aren't Kobata, John Deere, or any of the other big boys with HUGE dealer networks, YET. When I bought my tractor the nearest dealer was hours away. But I wanted a Montana. I found a dealer in TN via his website that offered the best price on the tractor I wanted. I sent him the money and drove to the Montana factory and picked it up. I was happy, he was happy, everyone was happy. I realized that dealer wouldn't be able to provide me with any service, being in TN, but I figured if I had a major problem, I could take it to a dealer, even though it may be over a 3 or 4 hour round trip. Most minor things, like the tach cable, I could handle myself with parts.

1. Montana should be greatful I bought one of their tractors without a local dealer.

2. Montana should be greatful I'm willing to do minor warrantee repairs for free, NO LABOR COST TO THEM.

3. Montana should be accomadating for customers that buy tractors and don't have a local dealer by supplying warrantee parts and help when needed. They have been to this point, but now they think they are too big to provide this level of service apparently.

Currently the nearest dealer is a 2 hour round trip. Is that considered local? Doesn't matter, I'm not driving 2 hours to pick a tach cable up, when it could be shipped to my door at no extra cost to Montana. I'm not going to find a trailer to borrow, load my tractor up and drive 2 hours to fix a tach cable that will take 10 mins to replace.

I'd love to have a local Montana dealer to deal with, but until I do what do I do? If it wasn't for MAKA, I guess I'd be SOL. Montana putting this responsibilty on a dealer thousands of miles away, that didn't sell me the tractor, and has not even met me is NOT right.

James

 

[montanaman]

Just curious where you are located?? I was shocked to read that you actually picked up your tractor from Montana but bought it from a dealer?

I've done some warranty work on tractors sold by that dealer that gave you the great price and I've been forced to charge the customers transportation charges in order to do so.

As you may or may not know, no dealer has to perform warranty work on any unit they didn't sell. A few repairs I have done, I wasn't paid for by Montana but I did them anyway because they needed done and it helps to spread the word in my area that I am a servicing dealer.

It's easy to sell a product at a low profit that you don't have in stock, aren't paying interest or inventory insurance on, and know you will never have to do warranty work on but in doing so, you run the risk of a situation like this.

If you would have bought a tractor from any of the stocking dealers that I know, they would have gladly taken a cable off of a tractor in stock and sent it to you and I suggest you call the nice dealer in TN and ask him to do that for you. You may want to ask him to send you the labor money for the repair too!!

Ken

 

[Woodsman30350]

I bought if from the nearest dealer to me in south Texas. I did not say I bought it from Montana. I was inferring that I bought it from a dealer. I am changing it out myself because it is a pain in the **** to load it up and drive 50 miles and then go back and get it.

 

[xxxsandman]

I'm in Oklahoma.

That's exactly what I did, bought the tractor from a dealer that gave me the best price. I don't have a local dealer, so I called several across the US, including several closer ones. I found the best deal, sent the money, then went to the Montana factory and picked my new tractor up. It worked really well for everyone... We didn't have to pay to have the tractor shipped to the dealer, then shipped again to me. That alone saved a LOT of $$$.

-------------

So are you required to do warrantee work on tractors you do sell? Keyword, REQUIRED..

What if a dealer goes out of the business? I guess whoever bought a tractor there can forget about any guarentee, as no one is REQUIRED to fix their tractor. Is that what you are saying?

What if someone moves and takes their tractor with them? I guess all bets are off for them too?

I would think Montana would have some polices in place to make sure ANYONE that bought a Montana tractor could get their warrantee work done. But maybe not.....

I don't understand why I should have to go back to the dealer I bought my tractor from for warrantee work. Does New Holland and John Deere make their customers go back to the purchasing dealer in another state for warrantee repairs?

I must say, the more I read and hear, the more I'm starting to think I should have bought a different brand of tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

James

 

[montanaman]

I think you bought a very nice tractor that is built as good as any out there. And no, I am not required to do warranty work on a tractor that I didn't sell but I always do. Again, I'm not required to do this, but I do.

I was really shocked to hear that you picked up the tractor from Montana and here is why. Fist off, that tells me you have a tractor that never had a proper pre-delivery inspection. Secondly, how is a stocking and repairing dealer going to compete in price with a dealer that is taking your money and telling you where to go to get your tractor?? I'd have sold you a tractor for less than you bought it for I can promise you with that kind of deal but a big part of my sale is that I provide service.

I really think you should have called the dealer that you bought the tractor from and told him you needed a tach cable rather than dealing with Montana on the phone. The dealer made the profit, let him do SOMETHING to earn it like most dealers do!!

As far as getting work done, you will never have a problem finding a dealer that will fix your tractor if you move or if the dealer goes out of business even though a non-selling dealer isn't required to service your tractor. Most dealers are good dealers that welcome your service needs and figure if they treat you well during warranty when they are lucky to break even with the warranty pay, they will gain your trust to service the tractor as long as you own it and may get a chance to sell you the next one.

That being said, if a gave a customer a price on a tractor and they never called me again but came back three weeks later with a warranty problem on a tractor they bought from another dealer, I do have the right to tell them to take it back where they bought it. I could sell a tractor a lot cheaper if I knew I would never see it again or have to pick it up and deliver it for early warranty work which I generally do for free. It's not the same as a car where I might be 1,000 miles from home when it quits and the local dealer of that brand HAS to fix it for me. I bought my truck from a dealer far from me because they had what I wanted in stock and when I need work done, I take it the extra distance back to them as I feel the service will be better where I bought it. I sort of feel that they got to make some money when I bought it , so they owe me good service.

You may not know this but there are some things not covered by warranty that the selling dealer is expected to absorb like any lost fluids. If you sold the tractor then you made some profit so you just do what's needed and keep the customer happy but if you didn't sell the tractor, you have no choice but to charge what won't be covered to the customer.

Like I said before, Montana is a very good company and they sell a very nice product but the dealer you buy it from and services it can have a lot to do with how happy you are with the tractor.

I don't feel it is right to sell a tractor outside the area in which my territory is especially if there is another Montana dealer there. Montana gives me a protected territory as long as I can service it and I would expect other dealers to respect that area as well as I should respect their territory.

Ken

 

[xxxsandman]

My tractor did have the "proper pre-delivery inspection". At least I was required to pay Montana Tractors themselves $50 for this when I picked it up. I would hope the factory could perform the "pre-delivery inspection" as well as anyone.

Sounds like you Montana dealers really don't like competing with each other. Having your own territory will pretty much just have you competing with the other brands. From a dealer stand point, I can understand you wanting it this way.

Why wouldn't a consumer "me" or a dealer "you" want to cut unecessary overhead from the cost of a tractor? No shipping cost, no floor plan interest, etc. It's WIN WIN! I'm sure he still made a nice profit. I'm not complaining, I saved by not paying unecessary overhead. You guys keep talking about selling your tractors for higher prices to make up for the service your going to have to do.??? Doesn't Montana pay YOU the dealer for warrantee repairs? And if you have a good service department, I'm sure people will bring their routine service and non-warrantee repairs too. I guess I don't understand tractor selling. I'm in the computer industry, it's probably a little different.

Anyway, I STILL don't have a local Montana dealer, which is the main reason I bought my tractor from afar. Sounds like if I do ever get one, it may not matter as he won't be obligated to do warrantee work on my tractor anyway, since I didn't buy it from him. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

God, I hope it's a great tractor, if it has anything serious break it sounds like I'm SOL...

James

 

[jc7622]

Sandman,

I'm in Oklahoma also. When I bought my 5740C I contacted the two closest dealers to me. Both quoted me prices that were comparable. The closer dealer was actually just slightly cheaper. I almost went to the further dealer because he was a real tractor dealer and I knew that he would more than likely have a better service department, but he was about 30-45 minutes further. The dealer I bought from was a trailer manufacturing company in OKC that also sold tractors. I did go to the back and talk to their mechanic and felt him out to make sure that they would be able to handle the repairs. The first couple repairs they did a good job on, but now they have decided to get out of the tractor business. Now I will have to take mt tractor to a dealer that I did not purchase it from. The gentleman that owns the second closest dealership has graciously offered on this board to do work warranty work for anyone in the same situation as me.