Backhoe bucket under warranty?

DavesTractor · Nov 24, 2015

It doesn't take long to wear down the edges of those little teeth in the right sort of conditions, so I am not doubting the OP.

The cutting edge to which the teeth holders are welded is by nature a harder material. It needs to be hard enough to not wear out quickly. But a real hard piece of metal is generally more brittle. A piece of regular (unhardened) mild steel would not have snapped, but might have bent. But pretty much all buckets use a cutting edge at that place in the bucket. I think ideally that edge would have had a little support on the backside instead of just being welded to the bucket material. Just a piece of flat bar welded across would have probably given it enough support to have not snapped.

But I will state again in Mahindra's defense, we have sold of ton of these buckets and issues are rare indeed.

rback33 · Nov 24, 2015

I have messaged the OP. I will make sure this is covered one way or another.

burzynsr · Nov 25, 2015

Who made the back hoe? Contacting them would be a good idea also.

rback33 · Nov 25, 2015

burzynsr said:
Who made the back hoe? Contacting them would be a good idea also.

I think we (KMW) did. That's why I contacted him.

DavesTractor · Nov 25, 2015

rback33 said:
I think we (KMW) did. That's why I contacted him.

Awesome. BTW, that backhoe is a really well sorted out backhoe. Powerful, well designed, great reach/depth and a nice balance on that tractor. It may be my favorite TLB in the Mahindra lineup.

prichard · Nov 25, 2015

I have to say I am very impressed with rback and Dave for being such stand up guys and helping to resolve this.

TomSeller · Nov 25, 2015

rback33 said:
I think we (KMW) did. That's why I contacted him.

Thank you. Standing behind your product is more important than the initial build/sale in my book. Good job!

moparrob · Nov 26, 2015

I finally heard from Mahindra and the rep I spoke to had a wait and see attitude. I told him I had already welded it as I had no idea when I would hear from them, so he told me to let him know if it breaks again and he'd see what he could do then.

This was not what I was hoping for.....

Then, I got a PM from KMW, as mentioned above. Their rep said the bucket shouldn't have broken and he'll make it right. This was completely unexpected and I had not yet contacted KMW as I wanted to let Mahindra try to make it right.

This was above and beyond what I expected....:thumbsup:

I have to say I am very impressed with KMW for seeking me out and offering to help before I even asked them to! The users on this forum are incredibly helpful, and even more so when they are manufacturers monitoring how their products are performing.

Bravo, KMW!!

AchingBack · Nov 26, 2015

I just had to take a closer look at the back side of the 12" bucket on my KMW 3710 back hoe. It is an impressively made, sturdy piece of work which has served me well for many hours. I wonder if a metallurgist could determine the cause of the broken bucket on the OP's bucket.

moparrob · Nov 26, 2015

I'd guess that maybe the hardened cutting edge got a crack or was otherwise compromised when the tooth mount was welded onto it. Who knows. Im glad to hear that its a rare occurrence and the manufacturer is willing to handle it.

TomSeller · Nov 27, 2015

Every brand will have a few of these issues. Manufacturers that step up, as is the case here, benefit both themselves and consumers in the long run. Those that don't will tend to repeat product problems. I think the Mahindra dealer could have worked harder for their direct customer. KMW is the star of the show here and the OP is their indirect customer.

tracydj · Oct 24, 2016

I had a weld break on my 2538 backhoe bucket which in turn pushed the supports on the back side through the metal on the inside of the bucket. I took the bucket to a friend that is a metallurgists with a large local steel fabricator. He said the if the weld wouldn't have broke then none of the other damage would have happened. He said that it was defiantly a manufactures defect and that it should be covered under warranty. You can see in the attached pics where the 10" of a weld pulled away. From what I have read the tractors backhoe should never have enough power to break a weld on a bucket. Have any of you experienced any issues like this and were you able to get the dealer to cover under warranty? Thanks in advance for the input.

dickfoster · Oct 24, 2016

tracydj said:
I had a weld break on my 2538 backhoe bucket which in turn pushed the supports on the back side through the metal on the inside of the bucket. I took the bucket to a friend that is a metallurgists with a large local steel fabricator. He said the if the weld wouldn't have broke then none of the other damage would have happened. He said that it was defiantly a manufactures defect and that it should be covered under warranty. You can see in the attached pics where the 10" of a weld pulled away. From what I have read the tractors backhoe should never have enough power to break a weld on a bucket. Have any of you experienced any issues like this and were you able to get the dealer to cover under warranty? Thanks in advance for the input.

I busted a tooth on mine right off the bat, the middle one of course, but the dealer gave me a couple of replacements. I run a ripper tooth on mine most of the time for digging stumps. Haven't used the 12" bucket that much. Mine is a KMW made hoe. Other than a crappy install by the distributor, the KMW hoe and loader have held up well so far but it doesn't take much to hit the pressure limit with the hoe.

LD1 · Oct 24, 2016

tracydj said:
I had a weld break on my 2538 backhoe bucket which in turn pushed the supports on the back side through the metal on the inside of the bucket. I took the bucket to a friend that is a metallurgists with a large local steel fabricator. He said the if the weld wouldn't have broke then none of the other damage would have happened. He said that it was defiantly a manufactures defect and that it should be covered under warranty. You can see in the attached pics where the 10" of a weld pulled away. From what I have read the tractors backhoe should never have enough power to break a weld on a bucket. Have any of you experienced any issues like this and were you able to get the dealer to cover under warranty? Thanks in advance for the input.

How long is your warranty?
Perhaps starting a new thread is in order?

tracydj · Oct 24, 2016

Still under warranty. Less than 50 hours on the machine and only 2 months old. It looks like the loader and backhoe have a 1 year warranty. I assumed adding to this thread would get more attention than starting a new one.

LD1 · Oct 24, 2016

tracydj said:
. I assumed adding to this thread would get more attention than starting a new one.

Many members did not even see the thread the first time around. So by reviving an old thread, you will get many comments related to previous posts, and not directed at your post or problem. A new post....responses would have been directed solely at you.

Given the age and warranty, I would be inclined to think it should be covered. I didn't see anything revealing by viewing the pics on my small phone screen. But absent any evidence of neglect or abuse....it should be covered.

DavesTractor · Oct 24, 2016

I guess this is the age of the Internet and all, but it is interesting to take pictures and pose the question on a forum instead of just asking the dealer if it is covered under warranty. Send the pictures to the dealer and ask him to cover it. I suspect he will say yes.

There are ways to abuse a backhoe bucket, but it looks to me like this just had some welds that were not proper.

rback33 · Oct 25, 2016

DavesTractor said:
I guess this is the age of the Internet and all, but it is interesting to take pictures and pose the question on a forum instead of just asking the dealer if it is covered under warranty. Send the pictures to the dealer and ask him to cover it. I suspect he will say yes.

There are ways to abuse a backhoe bucket, but it looks to me like this just had some welds that were not proper.

To be fair, I know he has already talked to his dealer, as the service manager sent me pics yesterday morning. This is absolutely going to be covered by warranty.

And you are right Dave, this is just a bad weld situation. We don't have many issues, but we do have one from time to time.

DavesTractor · Oct 25, 2016

rback33 said:
To be fair, I know he has already talked to his dealer, as the service manager sent me pics yesterday morning. This is absolutely going to be covered by warranty.

And you are right Dave, this is just a bad weld situation. We don't have many issues, but we do have one from time to time.

OK, that makes sense, thanks Jeremy.

We have sold hundreds of KMW made Mahindra backhoes over the years. I can count on one hand the buckets that have failed due to a defect. Not common. But if it does happen, it happens in the first few hours of hard usage.