CLANGING in the front diff of brand new T494....what the heck

[5030]

Buying a tractor 5 hours away, advise not doing that again unless used.

Amazing how we are back to my often used premise that you SHOULD ALWAYS BUY ANY TRACTOR FROM A LOCAL DEALER. Don't matter what brand it is, when you buy a complex machine from a far away dealer on price alone, the chances of getting hosed are much greater.

Guess I'm lucky in that respect, if one of my Kubota's needs to go in for some kind of service, I just go get the roll off and haul it in myself. Having said that, I change my own fluids and filters but anything mechanical like an overhead adjustment, it goes in and Dennis takes care of it. Just had the open station M9 in for an overhead adjustment (6000 hours) and Dennis did put it on the dyno because he shimmed the pump as well. It's delivering 91 pto horsepower. I'm good with that actually as the VTE Kubota engine in my M9's is arguably the best engine Kubota built. Just put 4 new shoes on it as well. 4 radial Titans to the tune of 5 grand. Only money right?

 

[5030]

And this being a cabbed tractor, it gets driven to the shipping containers using small diameter steel wheels versus being shipped in a crate like the ROPS tractors do.

Interestingly, that is EXACTLY how Kubota has their round bailers shipped. They deliver with tiny, stamped steel wheels attached and the dealer mounts the actual tires and rims. My dealer has a couple BV round bailers sitting on the lot with them still attached and they sure do look strange. Must have to do with the overall height of the shipping container.

 

[5030]

I looked at the parts breakdown PDF for kicks and grins and I see they employ the same splined coupling (and not a U joint) that both my Kubota M9's have and I have replaced the couplers on both one time actually, simply because the couplers are made from a softer steel than the splined shafts they mate to. That makes them a wear point and not the shafts themselves but on my Kubota's both of the splined couplers are retained by a roll pin and don't 'free float' on the prop shaft or the input shaft. When they wear excessively, they get noisy but they don't 'bang and clang'...

Technically, the front drive axle cannot move back and forth, only rotate side to side so no U joint is required anyway, so long as the trunnions that the axle pivots on are set within specification (and greased of course).

 

[sea2summit]

so far we gave just been driving it around the property getting used to it...have only put 4 hours on it.

Has 13 hrs on it but only four by you? There's some red flags to me there. New tractors off the lot should be less than six hours on the tac....much less.

 

[5030]

EXACTLY. To a unit, all the tractors and side by sides and zero turn mowers I deliver, to a unit, none have more that a couple total hours on them and the actual meter hours is always noted on the bill of sale as well as the paperwork I give the customer.

I still maintain there is a screwing going on.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

You know you have to get it to a dealership, so hire someone and get it back to the dealer you bought it from.

Tell them you want your money back because they gave you a model that was not brand new. If they object to that then you get corporate involved.

Actually, they will have to call corporate to authorize but that is their problem.

As for TYM being junk, every tractor maker cranks out a lemon on occasion, every one.

Plenty of very satisfied TYM guys. Buying a tractor 5 hours away, advise not doing that again unless used.

This.

Pay out of your own pocket (yes, I know) to have it shipped back to your selling dealer. Tell them you don't want it back.

I think there is nothing that selling dealer would like more than for you to get another local dealer tangled up in this mess. It would give them a chance to dodge the responsibility of making you whole again.

*Since you're in South Dakota, go to RDO Equipment in either Sioux Falls, Rapid City, or Aberdeen. Buy a John Deere. You will have to deal with sales guys that will completely ignore you when you walk in. I suggest bringing in kindling and firewood and look like you're going to make a campfire inside their lobby. That may help, lord knows I've tried all the "normal" ways to get waited on. Get ready to be prison-gang-raped on price. Bring your own vaseline in case they don't have any.

They won't have the tractor you want in stock, but they'll let you drive another 200 miles away to see one at one of the other branches if they have it (we have them up here). Or they'll let you order one from a shiny brochure (if they have any of those). By the way, you'll pay full MSRP, and you'll have to kiss their hiney to get them to do the sale at all, because "work is hard".

Once you finally get your tractor home, enjoy.*

*Some of this has sarcasm in it.

 

[5030]

Pay out of your own pocket (yes, I know) to have it shipped back to your selling dealer. Tell them you don't want it back.

I think there is nothing that selling dealer would like more than for you to get another local dealer tangled up in this mess. It would give them a chance to dodge the responsibility of making you whole again.

I agree with your comment 100%. If the OP gets another dealer involved, the chances of 'passing the buck' becomes far greater. Why I only have dealt with a local dealer forever.

 

[sea2summit]

I would worry about it being a demo model driven in 4 wheel drive on Pavement in circles by a previous inexperienced "prospective" buyer when the dealer was not watching, and sold as new


This is the only thing that's plausable. When I got my M4 I drove several tractors around the kubota dealership putting probably ~20 minutes on each...but if I saw something significant on the tac at purchase time we'd be having a talk about it because the first service is due at 50 which ain't cheap.

 

[sea2summit]

Probably should reach out to our attorney and see if we have grounds to ask for our money back as suggested earlier in the thread.

We bought the tractor on July 11, but it was not delivered until Aug 26...yeah, they were pretty slow. Took 6 weeks for TYM to get around to shipping the 3rd function kit.

Speaking of TYM...guys, I'm sorry but lets get real...they build really cheap stuff.

Here is the list of other issues this POS has with only 13 hours. 1. The seat tension knob is completely worthless. Cranked all the way up to max, when you sit on the seat you go to the floor, and I only weigh 200lb. At hour 8, it held me a little bit...now, 5 hours later, nothing. 2. The cab lights are not mounted level, they are all skewed. 3. The electronic displays shows half the info in English and half in metric. 4. The light "pod" in the console is so loose it is about to fall out of the console. You don't dare try to use it to turn on any lights for fear it will fall out...and there is no way to tighten it without ripping the entire console apart.

And now for the icing on the cake that I haven't even mentioned. The first time they tried to deliver it, the left door BLEW OFF on the interstate and went flying down the highway, totally disintegrating on impact. Very lucky no one was injured. Yes they had the door locked (found the still locked handle on the road) but my goodness....a tractor that loses a LOCKED door going down the highway?

If it wasn't so sad to have a $40,000 paperweight sitting in the barn I would actually be laughing about this tractor. It's like some toddlers put it together or something. It has to be some kind of sick joke.

Every color and model has some issues...but that does sound pretty excessive in addition to your main issues. Sorry Fly.

 

[flyinghigh]

Thanks for all the input guys. OK, will keep the attorney out of it for the moment. Will start looking for transport. Will NEVER do business with RDO...you talk about crooked and arrogant. I was a vendor for them 2 years ago at a previous job and they were absolutely horrible to work with. Unfortunately most all the JD dealers around here are the same. They have you over a barrel and they know it.

5030...very interesting the super expensive kubotas have the same parts and design in that front diff area.

I started looking at kubota last night as a possible replacement if we can get our $ back on this one somehow. We would have to drop down from 47hp to 25 hp to the lowest price cab model they have would still be $5000 more...to get the same HP and features in kubota is literally 2x as much...so, do you have a TYM or a Kubota yourself and what are your thoughts on 1 vs the other? Sounds like they are built the same.