Mowing Bent 60” Mower deck

[07 LMM LTZ]

Has anyone ever bent there 60” mower deck? Was pulling back into the garage and the deck wheel caught the lip of my concrete floor and bent the deck pretty bad.

 

[Diggin It]

Did the same thing on a root. I forget all the steps now, but they involved chaining the deck to a tree and using a come-a-long or winch to pull the bent section back out. I might have even used the tractor itself to pull. Takes some care though not to over do it, or let the chains slip.

 

[07 LMM LTZ]

Fortunately I have the KTAC insurance they will cover it but was surprised that the deck bent that easy it seems to be pretty heavy gauge metal it been in and out of the garage 50 times or better must have caught it just right there is only about a 3/4” lip on the floor so water can not get into the garage floor when it rains

 

[JWR]

You already know to leave it alone and have your KTAC do it. Supervise and make sure they get it done right.

However, that's about the most common mode of bending one of those generally tough decks. Any good fabrication/welding shop can straighten it (and so could a body shop equipped with frame straightening machines.) I have noted that these Kubota decks which are suspension decks are not as stout in the anti-scraping wheel support areas as the ground-following types. I own both. The suspension ones are much more likely to rust out at the wheel support areas too. (My daughter's did.)

 

[07 LMM LTZ]

I agree I have a L3940 with a 72” mid mount deck and it’s a tank there is no way you could bend it doing what happened to my 2380 deck.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Block of wood and 2 large (18"-24") pipe wrenches. Bend it right back into place.

 

[DonaldP]

You already know to leave it alone and have your KTAC do it. Supervise and make sure they get it done right.

However, that's about the most common mode of bending one of those generally tough decks. Any good fabrication/welding shop can straighten it (and so could a body shop equipped with frame straightening machines.) I have noted that these Kubota decks which are suspension decks are not as stout in the anti-scraping wheel support areas as the ground-following types. I own both. The suspension ones are much more likely to rust out at the wheel support areas too. (My daughter's did.)

JWR,

Your comments are awesome, I agree wholeheartedly on Supervising your Service shop/Dealership.

I left a few comments in the past on the dealership I purchased my $52,000 Kubota L3560HSTC cab with Backhoe from Last July (White's Farm Supply Company in Canastota NY), that I was unhappy with both their work and work ethic. (The pink slip Ii received from them is attached).

I wholeheartedly agree (from personal experience) that consumers need to "supervise and make sure they (the Dealer or KTAC) get it done right". Just because a dealer has a "Kubota Authorized" sign attached to their building does not mean that what they do is covered by the Kubota Customer Care umbrella. It's not ... as I found out.

Per Kubota, in a one-on-one conversation via phone about the poor quality and work ethic of this Dealership, I received the following comment from Kubota:

"Workmanship or its quality, completed by the dealer is not covered under the warranty or by Kubota. The Dealership is responsible for any and all workmanship or damage issues and the owner is responsible for managing that with the Dealership, not Kubota. Any parts that need to be replaced under warranty will be replaced through the warranty period by an authorized Kubota Dealer"

That statement seems to be a circular reference as such... meaning that if the pseudo authorized Dealer installs a part incorrectly and that part or another part that they touch fails during the warranty period, Kubota will replace or repair that/those part(s) via that or some other "Authorized Dealer".

Which leads me to ask several questions:

First, what if the shoddy workmanship causes a/some part(s) to go bad outside of the warranty period? Who covers that?

(i.e. improperly torqued bolts on a head, improperly serviced or assembled parts that make other parts wear out prematurely or require at the least, labor to correct the shoddy workmanship)

The answer is an easy one... the customer pays. So, a warranty repair that causes premature failure on a part outside of the warranty will be at the expense of the customer.

Just because you don't pay for Warranty repair work (whether it's really required or not!), doesn't mean you won't have unintended consequences from shoddy workmanship or work by unskilled or incapable service departments that cause additional issues - inside or outside of the warranty period.

Second, what does "Authorized Dealer" really mean in any field or practice?

Is it that the Dealership simply has purchased and has onsite the special tools/training and resources required to facilitate warranty work under the Kubota name? That would be well and good but not quite the Full Monty of what I might expect.

Maybe I'm different, maybe I'm, picky, maybe I'm an Engineer that really understands the product I've purchased and can't simply be patted on the head and pushed out the door like a little school kid, especially when I have a concern that there is something specific that's been pointed out to the dealer that's very very different about my equipment than when I brought it into them.

What I would think should happen is that an "Authorized Kubota Dealer and Service Center" would have knowledgeable Technicians that care about the work they perform and Parts and service managers, that work with their customers along with Kubota to provide the kind of exemplary service that I thought the brand "Kubota" represented. But that's in a perfect world.

What I got in return was a Dealership that wanted to take the easy way out of a situation that was outside of my control or responsibility, a Dealership that didn't want to work with their customer, a dealership that would rather lose the customer, or better yet a dealership that actually fired the Customer instead of attempting to resolve an issue because they didn't want to face any liability or other issues with their service department. (see attachment)

What I got in return was a Manufacturer (Kubota Inc.) that is standing behind their product, but that is not directing the process or means by which that is to be achieved. Now this seems to be a sticky issue for Kubota, and one that yet is to be tested either via tort or personally. I believe there is more to come in the future in that story not just for Kubota, but for all "Authorized Service Agents". I have never once up to this point been given a negative response from Kubota other than the fact that they would not be responsible for any damages to my equipment while it was in for warranty service at an "Authorized Kubota Service Center or Dealership".

This is still very unclear to me how then, an authorized dealership from any manufacturer manages that relationship.

In this particular situation, I trusted what the Dealership was telling me through 2 consecutive issues even though I had concerns with service or other issues that I brought to the attention of the Service Dept. AT THE TIME I PICKED UP THE EQUIP, while I was still onsite. When the 3rd issue occurred and I followed-up with them on that, they failed massively.

Not only did they not want to hear about it, but said if I had any additional issues I would need to take it up with the Kubota Service Rep. They gave me his number and the service manager walked away from me. Three weeks later the Dealership wrote me a letter stating Kubota told them to release me from their dealership and that I should find another Kubota Authorized Dealer for Service (the Kubota Service Rep helped me resolve that issue and find another Dealership).

It seems to be a standard business practice with mostly unscrupulous dealers that choose to not turn in Liability based damages to their Insurance companies for damage to customer equipment while in their possession for warranty or errors/omissions issues (which is generally covered under standard business Insurance policies).

All of that eventually ended up costing me in downtime and general maintenance. As for any dealership not charging for maintenance work that was requested, and reported as done but that wasn't actually done, isn't my idea of quality work or proper customer satisfaction.

I did receive some feedback here from a member that offered some extremely "relevant to this area" input stating (and I paraphrase) : "the day of reckoning will come to many dealers across the breadth of this arena that are substandard to the needs of the manufacturer. Their day will come".

In the meantime, to anyone that owns any piece of equipment like this that has invested hard earned $$ in it expecting a relationship that is symbiotic to both parties - be careful out there. It's not what it seems. I was with this Dealership for 15 years. Whatever happened was bigger than my experience with them.

DO follow-up on your dealership or Authorized Service agent.

If they find that disruptive to the status quo, then there must be a reason why. If they seem to think you're asking too many questions, or are too concerned about YOUR equipment and their service, if they react as if you're rocking the boat, maybe you are.

 

[number two]

OK,but your problem should be another thread-not his bent mower problem.

 

[cathy liebchen]

JWR,

Your comments are awesome, I agree wholeheartedly on Supervising your Service shop/Dealership.

I left a few comments in the past on the dealership I purchased my $52,000 Kubota L3560HSTC cab with Backhoe from Last July (White's Farm Supply Company in Canastota NY), that I was unhappy with both their work and work ethic. (The pink slip Ii received from them is attached).

I wholeheartedly agree (from personal experience) that consumers need to "supervise and make sure they (the Dealer or KTAC) get it done right". Just because a dealer has a "Kubota Authorized" sign attached to their building does not mean that what they do is covered by the Kubota Customer Care umbrella. It's not ... as I found out.

Per Kubota, in a one-on-one conversation via phone about the poor quality and work ethic of this Dealership, I received the following comment from Kubota:

"Workmanship or its quality, completed by the dealer is not covered under the warranty or by Kubota. The Dealership is responsible for any and all workmanship or damage issues and the owner is responsible for managing that with the Dealership, not Kubota. Any parts that need to be replaced under warranty will be replaced through the warranty period by an authorized Kubota Dealer"

That statement seems to be a circular reference as such... meaning that if the pseudo authorized Dealer installs a part incorrectly and that part or another part that they touch fails during the warranty period, Kubota will replace or repair that/those part(s) via that or some other "Authorized Dealer".

Which leads me to ask several questions:

First, what if the shoddy workmanship causes a/some part(s) to go bad outside of the warranty period? Who covers that?

(i.e. improperly torqued bolts on a head, improperly serviced or assembled parts that make other parts wear out prematurely or require at the least, labor to correct the shoddy workmanship)

The answer is an easy one... the customer pays. So, a warranty repair that causes premature failure on a part outside of the warranty will be at the expense of the customer.

Just because you don't pay for Warranty repair work (whether it's really required or not!), doesn't mean you won't have unintended consequences from shoddy workmanship or work by unskilled or incapable service departments that cause additional issues - inside or outside of the warranty period.

Second, what does "Authorized Dealer" really mean in any field or practice?

Is it that the Dealership simply has purchased and has onsite the special tools/training and resources required to facilitate warranty work under the Kubota name? That would be well and good but not quite the Full Monty of what I might expect.

Maybe I'm different, maybe I'm, picky, maybe I'm an Engineer that really understands the product I've purchased and can't simply be patted on the head and pushed out the door like a little school kid, especially when I have a concern that there is something specific that's been pointed out to the dealer that's very very different about my equipment than when I brought it into them.

What I would think should happen is that an "Authorized Kubota Dealer and Service Center" would have knowledgeable Technicians that care about the work they perform and Parts and service managers, that work with their customers along with Kubota to provide the kind of exemplary service that I thought the brand "Kubota" represented. But that's in a perfect world.

What I got in return was a Dealership that wanted to take the easy way out of a situation that was outside of my control or responsibility, a Dealership that didn't want to work with their customer, a dealership that would rather lose the customer, or better yet a dealership that actually fired the Customer instead of attempting to resolve an issue because they didn't want to face any liability or other issues with their service department. (see attachment)

What I got in return was a Manufacturer (Kubota Inc.) that is standing behind their product, but that is not directing the process or means by which that is to be achieved. Now this seems to be a sticky issue for Kubota, and one that yet is to be tested either via tort or personally. I believe there is more to come in the future in that story not just for Kubota, but for all "Authorized Service Agents". I have never once up to this point been given a negative response from Kubota other than the fact that they would not be responsible for any damages to my equipment while it was in for warranty service at an "Authorized Kubota Service Center or Dealership".

This is still very unclear to me how then, an authorized dealership from any manufacturer manages that relationship.

In this particular situation, I trusted what the Dealership was telling me through 2 consecutive issues even though I had concerns with service or other issues that I brought to the attention of the Service Dept. AT THE TIME I PICKED UP THE EQUIP, while I was still onsite. When the 3rd issue occurred and I followed-up with them on that, they failed massively.

Not only did they not want to hear about it, but said if I had any additional issues I would need to take it up with the Kubota Service Rep. They gave me his number and the service manager walked away from me. Three weeks later the Dealership wrote me a letter stating Kubota told them to release me from their dealership and that I should find another Kubota Authorized Dealer for Service (the Kubota Service Rep helped me resolve that issue and find another Dealership).

It seems to be a standard business practice with mostly unscrupulous dealers that choose to not turn in Liability based damages to their Insurance companies for damage to customer equipment while in their possession for warranty or errors/omissions issues (which is generally covered under standard business Insurance policies).

All of that eventually ended up costing me in downtime and general maintenance. As for any dealership not charging for maintenance work that was requested, and reported as done but that wasn't actually done, isn't my idea of quality work or proper customer satisfaction.

I did receive some feedback here from a member that offered some extremely "relevant to this area" input stating (and I paraphrase) : "the day of reckoning will come to many dealers across the breadth of this arena that are substandard to the needs of the manufacturer. Their day will come".

In the meantime, to anyone that owns any piece of equipment like this that has invested hard earned $$ in it expecting a relationship that is symbiotic to both parties - be careful out there. It's not what it seems. I was with this Dealership for 15 years. Whatever happened was bigger than my experience with them.

DO follow-up on your dealership or Authorized Service agent.

If they find that disruptive to the status quo, then there must be a reason why. If they seem to think you're asking too many questions, or are too concerned about YOUR equipment and their service, if they react as if you're rocking the boat, maybe you are.

Every dealer knows the customer not worth dealing with

 

[Midniteoyl]

OK,but your problem should be another thread-not his bent mower problem.

Every dealer knows the customer not worth dealing with

Yep.