Is this acceptable quality on a brand new Kubota?

[Harvest Moon]

Boy sixdogs, I know in many cases like this you are right and thats the only course of action but the actual concept is awful.

Does anyone dare disagree that it's disgusting that someone who just turned over a ton of money, to buy anything, should have to go through all that just to get what they paid for? Geeze, if he's dissatisfied shouldn't they just say, heck, bring it on in and we'll exchange it? What's the big deal?

When he first noted this it was still in brand new condition. Some around here act as if... ha, you left the lot with it, halleloooyaa, we got rid of that dumpy loader!! Yey, we found a sucker!!!

If he has to do all that, lawyers and courts and fight with his time and money and Kubota fights back, resists doing what's right and making it right, they should be forced to buy him an equivalent John Deere and take their pice of tractor back. I hope they don't fight him on those welds, we all should worry if they do.

 

[ray66v]

I hope they don't fight him on those welds, we all should worry if they do.

This thread has now received over 20,000 views. With the internet, it is a much higher stakes situation for Kubota. BANDAMAN could never have had that much potential impact on Kubota otherwise. They simply can't get away clean with telling him to stick it.

Even if he was wrong, (and clearly he is right to be concerned), I would think they would do a swap on the FEL to make this go away. It would be much cheaper for them in the end.

 

[bandit67]

Bandaman,

Hurry up and post how your issue was resolved to your satisfaction so this thread can be shut down. 27 pages of posts on one badly welded loader, holy cow.

It's amazing how quickly bad PR spreads like wildfire in the internet age. I think there are a few folks out there that want Kubota to pack up shop and stop making tractors, after this one incident out of how many tens of thousands of loaders sold? Or at least want to get in on a class action suit for mental anguish over the pictures you posted.

 

[kmdigital]

It's a tractor for pete's sake! What are you going to do with it, wax and polish and drive it to church? And never use it in the dirt for fear it might get scratched or dirty?

Tractors have never pretended to have the paint quality of cars, where mfgs spend millions in the latest paint finishs with clear coats, etc. Tractors are probably sprayed in a booth, with one or two coats, and that's it. Do you want to pay another $2,000 to get an automotive quality paint finish?

As for the weld quality, so what, it looks very strong! My guess is that if you look at the other loaders on the lot, they will all be similar, so what good would another loader do? It's a piece of equipment made to work, so strength is more important then looks, and again, it's not a friggen car! And maybe American workers down south just can't weld as well as the Japanese.

Good Lord, with all the problems we have in this country and in the world, it's hard to believe the amount of time, band width and "ink" that has been wasted on such a minor issue. No wonder America isn't competitive anymore, all we care about is piddly little crap that in the long view and from the big picture don't amount to a hill of beans! The government can pretty much take over our economy, create HUGE amounts of debt for future generations, and all you guys can think about and your primary concern is some not so great welds and some scratched paint?!

Sure, sure, I understand the frustration with spending big bucks buying something, and it not being exactly the way you would like. But think about it, if this is the most important concern in your life right now, you really, really, really don't have anything to be concerned about. You don't seem to appreciate the fact that you have the money to buy something that is probably more of a toy then a real need, such as something that you would use to earn a living with, while a whole lot of Americans are losing their jobs and their homes.

Yeh, yeh, someone will tell me to butt out or go jump in the lake or whatever. I don't really care. My point is, if this is the biggest concern and grouse you have in your life, you are extremely fortunate and better off then 99.9% of the entire world population. And if these extremely minor problems are your biggest concerns in the world, it doesn't bode well for the U.S. and it's standing and competitive position in the world.

Why? Because it means we are very close to the same point Rome was at when it fell, where they were more concerned about maintaining their lifestyles, possessions, comfort and their cushy lives then they were about what was happening in the world around them. It means we as Americans are extremely self-centered, and all that really matters is our little world and being totally and 100% in control of the things around us, while completely missing the bigger picture and the things around us that just might be more important.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box now, and put on my fire suit.

 

[Cat_Driver]

...It's a tractor for pete's sake! What are you going to do with it, wax and polish and drive it to church? And never use it in the dirt for fear it might get scratched or dirty?

Why this wasn't said about a million posts earlier I'll never know. I agree 100%.

It's a T-R-A-C-T-O-R period nuff said. Drive it get it muddy and be done with it.

 

[Harvest Moon]

I guess we all have different perspectives and we all want to share them. And can. Isn't that what makes Americans great?

Heck, all this happened under Japanese management anyway, it is their company so there really is no cause to blame American welders. There are plenty of Americans that can weld better. I'd like to think I'm one of them and if I'm not well, give me a few hours, it's been a while, it won't take long.

Thing is, even the people who don't care about the quality (appearance) of the welds seem to care enough to spend their time to type about the issue.

Funny, I just read an article about a town where people drive their tractors to church. Here, I don't think it's the same town and they're a little short on Kubotas, but:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N91tJVzrOfg

 

[WaxMan]

It's a tractor for pete's sake! What are you going to do with it, wax and polish and drive it to church? And never use it in the dirt for fear it might get scratched or dirty?

Tractors have never pretended to have the paint quality of cars, where mfgs spend millions in the latest paint finishs with clear coats, etc. Tractors are probably sprayed in a booth, with one or two coats, and that's it. Do you want to pay another $2,000 to get an automotive quality paint finish?

As for the weld quality, so what, it looks very strong! My guess is that if you look at the other loaders on the lot, they will all be similar, so what good would another loader do? It's a piece of equipment made to work, so strength is more important then looks, and again, it's not a friggen car! And maybe American workers down south just can't weld as well as the Japanese.

Good Lord, with all the problems we have in this country and in the world, it's hard to believe the amount of time, band width and "ink" that has been wasted on such a minor issue. No wonder America isn't competitive anymore, all we care about is piddly little crap that in the long view and from the big picture don't amount to a hill of beans! The government can pretty much take over our economy, create HUGE amounts of debt for future generations, and all you guys can think about and your primary concern is some not so great welds and some scratched paint?!

Sure, sure, I understand the frustration with spending big bucks buying something, and it not being exactly the way you would like. But think about it, if this is the most important concern in your life right now, you really, really, really don't have anything to be concerned about. You don't seem to appreciate the fact that you have the money to buy something that is probably more of a toy then a real need, such as something that you would use to earn a living with, while a whole lot of Americans are losing their jobs and their homes.

Yeh, yeh, someone will tell me to butt out or go jump in the lake or whatever. I don't really care. My point is, if this is the biggest concern and grouse you have in your life, you are extremely fortunate and better off then 99.9% of the entire world population. And if these extremely minor problems are your biggest concerns in the world, it doesn't bode well for the U.S. and it's standing and competitive position in the world.

Why? Because it means we are very close to the same point Rome was at when it fell, where they were more concerned about maintaining their lifestyles, possessions, comfort and their cushy lives then they were about what was happening in the world around them. It means we as Americans are extremely self-centered, and all that really matters is our little world and being totally and 100% in control of the things around us, while completely missing the bigger picture and the things around us that just might be more important.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box now, and put on my fire suit.

Well it certainly must be a big deal in your life right now kmdigital
You just wrote 6 paragraphs about it and it's not even your tractor.
That's just my point it's not your tractor, why should you even care to write so much about what a tractor should mean to everyone else???? Lets beat the **** out of our tractors because sooo much is going on right now in the world cry, cry cry, sob , sob, give it a rest. You don't even own a tractor do you? Don't preach to us how we should or should not care about our stuff.
Most of us are good family people and can care for more than one thing at a time. Don't preach to us.

Hey come on now, leave waxing out of it, I wax mine all the time I have 310 hrs on it of dirt work and it looks brand new, never drove it to church though. I must be really a bad person with all the stuff going on in the world and all. and I wax my tractor, I feel like scum right now, you know with all the stuff going on.

 

[OlderToday]

kmdigital, I think (I hope) you are missing the point here. This whole thread, and for that matter, this whole forum is about sharing knowledge and, in this case, helping a brother work through some issues. I was about to waste my time on a long post with many points to show you the errors of your ways, but finally decided you might just have had one too many tonight.

 

[EddieWalker]

As for the weld quality, so what, it looks very strong! My guess is that if you look at the other loaders on the lot, they will all be similar, so what good would another loader do? It's a piece of equipment made to work, so strength is more important then looks, and again, it's not a friggen car!

While your entire post is worth of criticism, this one quote really sums up why you should learn about a topic before inserting your foot in your mouth. Many times in this thread, it has been explained why those welds are NOT very strong and of EXTREMELY POOR QUALITY. It's not even one of those maybe or gray area points. The welds are pathetic.

As a piece of equipment, the quality of the welds is a major part of what you pay for when purchasing that equipment. Telling a person to live with crap because it's good enough for your minimal standards, when you don't even know what a good weld looks like, is just bad advice.

Kubota is one of the most expensive tractor brands out there. When you pay top dollar for one, you should get welds that would at least pass a High School welding class test. He spent money for quality and received junk.

The rest of your post is just shameful.

Eddie

 

[WaxMan]

kmdigital
I have to add one more thing. You say it's not a "friggen car ", so it would be Ok with all the things, you know going on in the country and the world if it was a car?
What difference does that make other then you like cars we like tractors.
Our tractors cost more then most cars. And the paint on most tractors I have seen is pretty damm good.
I can't speak for everyone but I worked hard for what I have and no one is going to come along now because you know all the things going on in the world and try and make me feel guilty . I have nice stuff. And yes want to keep it nice. Yeah tough things are going on but I'm not going to crawl in a hole and never want anything nice again. And nether should Bandman the guy got a crappy loader has nothing to do what's going on in the world and he shouldn't be made to feel guilty just because it's not a car. My world is the BIG picture in my world. if that makes any sense to you.

The problem with these posts there're like a game we used to play in school one kid would whisper something in another kids ear and so on ,by the time it gets to the last kid it's a totally different subject . One person says it's just a tractor you pick that up and run with it without knowing what's going on.

Now for punishment you go back and read all 275 posts and then report back to us.