CB85 Backhoe boom arm split

[Snobdds]

I know it sucks, but that weld was not right from the word go. If you have the time and will, I think going through the dealer to try and get it fixed it the correct path.

For me growing up on a ranch where equipment is constantly welded on...It would have been sanded, straightened, welded, and reinforced in an hour.

The backhoe will be fine which ever path you take. At the end of the day it's just metal.

Good luck.

 

[BCLoco]

Got the backhoe back! Man, this dealership is head and shoulders above the rest.

Service manager called yesterday just after noon, says AGCO gave the go-ahead to order whatever was needed, and to do whatever was needed to get the hoe useable in the meantime. He called while the boom was being welded, to give me a heads-up in case I wanted to pick it up that afternoon, which I did. Amazing. That's as good as it gets!

The welder didn't quite get the side plate back to straight, and he definitely put priority on making sure those two pieces were never coming back apart, rather than whether or not it looked pretty. On a piece that's getting replaced anyways, that's perfect. But that is exactly why I went through the hoops to try and get AGCO to replace rather than just repair. There was little-to-no chance that the boom would come out looking good. Does that change how it works? No. But it definitely changes how it would sell, if I ever want to do that. Someone coming in looking at a big chunky weld on the boom arm is going to think I beat the tar out of this machine, no matter what I tell them. And even if they don't walk away, they'd want a significant discount over what the backhoe would otherwise be worth.

From the kick-in-the-gut realization last Friday of what I was looking at, to getting it loaded back on the tractor this morning, the dealership and AGCO really came through on this one. If it hadn't broke on a Friday, and if I hadn't lost another couple days before getting it down there, I'd have been without it for less than 48 hours.

The boom could take six days or six months to come in, no way to know. In the meantime, I'm going to call this situation resolved. I'll post an update once the new one has arrived, and everything is finalized. Thanks to everyone who took the time to look and share your thoughts! And if someone else finds themselves stuck in the same situation, but with a less helpful dealer, I hope this thread gives you the ammo you need to get some results.

 

[Mud2Money]

Awesome outcome so far. That weld for sure was poor. I come from automation and robotics world. More often then not. Only select amount of parts are pulled from a run for QC inspection daily. As of lately though I see a lot of bad welds on things and little prep. Trailers being the worst offenders lately that I have seen.

 

[LittleBill21]

I hope they let you keep the welded one, no telling if the new one has the same "feature"

 

[BCLoco]

I know it sucks, but that weld was not right from the word go. If you have the time and will, I think going through the dealer to try and get it fixed it the correct path.

For me growing up on a ranch where equipment is constantly welded on...It would have been sanded, straightened, welded, and reinforced in an hour.

The backhoe will be fine which ever path you take. At the end of the day it's just metal.

Good luck.

Thank you! Same here. Three dairy farms in the family. We're currently working on reviving my wife's long-retired family farmstead.

I'm a mechanic by trade, with enough experience in welding and machining to be able to generally manage that type of work myself. We get pretty much all of our equipment in not running/not working condition. For the right price, I take the gamble. So far, it's worked out very well for us. It never fails to surprise me how many people today apparently have more money than time, because a lot of machinery ends up on the sale block for relatively minor issues.

The backhoe is a different story. We needed a loader tractor, and had a fair amount of earthwork to do around the buildings, including a fair amount of young trees that had moved in in recent years. At the time I was looking for a loader tractor or backhoe, used equipment prices were absolutely ridiculous. Massey was offering 0% financing and a 10 year powertrain warranty, and they had this tractor in stock at a time when most dealers couldn't get tractors. So we said ok.

To make buying new equipment on a tight budget make sense, you have to retain as much resale value as possible. That's why welding this boom was always going to be the absolutely last resort. And even then, I'd have taken it to the professionals to make sure it looked as good as possible, while being strong. I don't care how good a welder anyone thinks they are, those are thin plates with not a lot of room for fill. Getting that strong, and looking good, is a tall order. Then there's the paintwork. Nuts to that!

 

[BCLoco]

Awesome outcome so far. That weld for sure was poor. I come from automation and robotics world. More often then not. Only select amount of parts are pulled from a run for QC inspection daily. As of lately though I see a lot of bad welds on things and little prep. Trailers being the worst offenders lately that I have seen.

So this one might not have even been inspected! That makes sense, especially considering these backhoes were backlogged. I imagine they were shipping them as soon as the paint could dry.

 

[Mud2Money]

So this one might not have even been inspected! That makes sense, especially considering these backhoes were backlogged. I imagine they were shipping them as soon as the paint could dry.

I installed CNC machining lines for 7 years. Most lines are either automated for a part kick out or a person pulls one. Depends on the part type , tolerances etc to determine frequency. Rougher not so critical tolerance parts usually have way less qc attention. Could have been a slip through QC or even surface prep issue. The robotics weld guys usually fight surface prep issues. Many parts came coated from a tier 2-3 mfg with oil or coolant films from previous steps of the building process.

 

[BCLoco]

I hope they let you keep the welded one, no telling if the new one has the same "feature"

He might have hinted that maybe I had a better place to store the old one than they do. Wink wink.

I'm telling ya, what an awesome guy!

 

[LittleBill21]

He might have hinted that maybe I had a better place to store the old one than they do. Wink wink.

I'm telling ya, what an awesome guy!

if your that concerned about resell, your better off putting the new one in storage, backhoe's get beat up, better to put the new one if you sell it later, especially if your happy with the weld job on the current one

 

[BCLoco]

if your that concerned about resell, your better off putting the new one in storage, backhoe's get beat up, better to put the new one if you sell it later, especially if your happy with the weld job on the current one

The thought had occurred to me. We were just kidding about the storage thing. Ultimately, the old one belongs to AGCO. If they decide they don't want it back, then I get to keep both booms. If that's the case, I may run the old one until it splits open again, or until it's time to sell it. It's a handy little machine, but there will come a time where the money tied up in it could be put to better use elsewhere.