jlong
Bronze Member
I am the owner of a New Holland TC35D hydrostatic drive with a 16LA FEL. I purchased it in June of 2001and have put about 300 hours on it so far. I traded in a Ford 1520 with about 1300 hours on it when I had a major failure in the rear gearing of that tractor. I had been working it pretty hard and decided it was time to move up. I use the machine around my 18 acres, mowing about 9 acres and also take care of the roads in a near by development along with a 1,000 foot driveway during the winter.
Although I have had one major repair, (PTO brake failure) along with some minor problems, I am impressed with the tractor overall. If I needed to make the decision again, I am not sure that I would purchase anything from New Holland again. My main problem is not so much with the tractor as I know all machines will break, but with the service or lack of from the Dealer and so far, New Holland.
When I purchased the tractor it was explained to me that I was responsible for delivering and picking up the machine to and from the dealer for warranty repairs. At the time, I thought that seemed reasonable. My dealer is over an hour away, making it a 2 hour plus roundtrip. Regardless, when the time came, I loaded up the tractor and delivered it to the dealer. After they said it was finished, I picked it up and back to work we went. I soon learned that a couple of the minor repairs that was to be done, ( minor leak of Hydraulic fluid and instrument panel fogging) was still a problem. I learned to live with it for the time being and put it on the list for the next trip to the dealer.
I started having trouble shifting from 2wd to 4wd. Sometimes moving the hydrostatic drive pedals slightly enabled the shift, and when I asked the dealer, they said that was just a characteristic of the hydrostatic transmission. Since this was my first Hydrostatic drive machine, I took their word on it. Sometime later, I was stuck in 4wd, unable to shift to 2wd. I called to make a service appointment, and was told that they were pretty busy, call back in about a month. Since I usually used it in 4wd, I agreed. After about a month, I called and was able to make an appointment for the following week. I explained that I relied heavily on the tractor and needed it fixed as soon as possible. When the time arrived, I delivered the tractor to the dealer with a list of what needed to be fixed. Four days later, I called to find out the status of the repair. I was told that they had not yet looked at it, but are just getting to it. I called a couple day later and was told that the repair that we thought was minor, was really major, (PTO BRAKE failure), and they had to order parts. Three days later I called and was told that parts were still on order. Once the tractor was repaired, the dealer stated that I needed to install a PTO slip clutch to prevent this from happening again. I still don’t understand how a tractor designed to use implements can’t handle the forces of these implements without a modification. All in all, the repair took two weeks. Although the major repair had been completed, the hydraulic leak was still there along with the instrument panel fogging.
One item on my list pertained to an article on TBN detailing problems with some welds on the hydraulic pedals. Along with the article, were some responses from NH dealers stating that although there was no recall from NH, they were fixing the welds as they came across them. I had hoped that my dealer would have the same positive attitude, but no such luck. Their position was; no recall-no problem. They refused to address it.
One other item on the list was that the tractor under heavy load or grade had a tendency to keep traveling forward a couple seconds after I took my foot off of the pedal. Once again, I was told that this was another characteristic of the Hydrostatic drive. Sometime later, I started seeing similar complaints on the TBN site and was surprised that there was a simple fix. After reading the material, I performed a simple adjustment and to my amazement, that was the fix. I couldn’t believe the dealer did not know how to correct such a minor repair. Worse yet, I had needlessly been tolerating a very unsafe condition for over a year!!!
As you can probably detect, I have no faith in the dealer that I bought from. This is where the lack of service from NH comes in. After receiving a post card from NH asking for feedback regarding my recent service, I sent in my negative response. About a month later, I received another card in the mail reporting that NH had tried to contact me and wanted me to contact them to resolve any problems. I called an 800 number and reached Customer Service. They seemed very understanding and promised to get back to me within 5 business days. I waited a month- then called them again. Although I had a file number, I re-explained all the issues again to the new representative. Once again, she promised to contact me within a week with some options. She did contact me later and suggested that I take the tractor to another dealer. I explained that I already took the tractor TWICE for the repairs that were not done correctly and that I did not feel that I should have to take the tractor anywhere again. All of the remaining issues are minor and could be done on site.
After nearly another month, I sent a registered letter to NH credit with whom I financed the tractor. I informed them that I was not sending another payment until I had these outstanding issues resolved. I am still awaiting their response.
In summary, purchasing a tractor or anything is only half of the picture. Service is the other half. When making the purchase, I thought that I was getting the most for my money, but didn’t know what I was losing on the service end. In retrospect, I would try my luck with another brand. I don’t know their service is any better, but I do know that it can’t be any worse!!
Although I have had one major repair, (PTO brake failure) along with some minor problems, I am impressed with the tractor overall. If I needed to make the decision again, I am not sure that I would purchase anything from New Holland again. My main problem is not so much with the tractor as I know all machines will break, but with the service or lack of from the Dealer and so far, New Holland.
When I purchased the tractor it was explained to me that I was responsible for delivering and picking up the machine to and from the dealer for warranty repairs. At the time, I thought that seemed reasonable. My dealer is over an hour away, making it a 2 hour plus roundtrip. Regardless, when the time came, I loaded up the tractor and delivered it to the dealer. After they said it was finished, I picked it up and back to work we went. I soon learned that a couple of the minor repairs that was to be done, ( minor leak of Hydraulic fluid and instrument panel fogging) was still a problem. I learned to live with it for the time being and put it on the list for the next trip to the dealer.
I started having trouble shifting from 2wd to 4wd. Sometimes moving the hydrostatic drive pedals slightly enabled the shift, and when I asked the dealer, they said that was just a characteristic of the hydrostatic transmission. Since this was my first Hydrostatic drive machine, I took their word on it. Sometime later, I was stuck in 4wd, unable to shift to 2wd. I called to make a service appointment, and was told that they were pretty busy, call back in about a month. Since I usually used it in 4wd, I agreed. After about a month, I called and was able to make an appointment for the following week. I explained that I relied heavily on the tractor and needed it fixed as soon as possible. When the time arrived, I delivered the tractor to the dealer with a list of what needed to be fixed. Four days later, I called to find out the status of the repair. I was told that they had not yet looked at it, but are just getting to it. I called a couple day later and was told that the repair that we thought was minor, was really major, (PTO BRAKE failure), and they had to order parts. Three days later I called and was told that parts were still on order. Once the tractor was repaired, the dealer stated that I needed to install a PTO slip clutch to prevent this from happening again. I still don’t understand how a tractor designed to use implements can’t handle the forces of these implements without a modification. All in all, the repair took two weeks. Although the major repair had been completed, the hydraulic leak was still there along with the instrument panel fogging.
One item on my list pertained to an article on TBN detailing problems with some welds on the hydraulic pedals. Along with the article, were some responses from NH dealers stating that although there was no recall from NH, they were fixing the welds as they came across them. I had hoped that my dealer would have the same positive attitude, but no such luck. Their position was; no recall-no problem. They refused to address it.
One other item on the list was that the tractor under heavy load or grade had a tendency to keep traveling forward a couple seconds after I took my foot off of the pedal. Once again, I was told that this was another characteristic of the Hydrostatic drive. Sometime later, I started seeing similar complaints on the TBN site and was surprised that there was a simple fix. After reading the material, I performed a simple adjustment and to my amazement, that was the fix. I couldn’t believe the dealer did not know how to correct such a minor repair. Worse yet, I had needlessly been tolerating a very unsafe condition for over a year!!!
As you can probably detect, I have no faith in the dealer that I bought from. This is where the lack of service from NH comes in. After receiving a post card from NH asking for feedback regarding my recent service, I sent in my negative response. About a month later, I received another card in the mail reporting that NH had tried to contact me and wanted me to contact them to resolve any problems. I called an 800 number and reached Customer Service. They seemed very understanding and promised to get back to me within 5 business days. I waited a month- then called them again. Although I had a file number, I re-explained all the issues again to the new representative. Once again, she promised to contact me within a week with some options. She did contact me later and suggested that I take the tractor to another dealer. I explained that I already took the tractor TWICE for the repairs that were not done correctly and that I did not feel that I should have to take the tractor anywhere again. All of the remaining issues are minor and could be done on site.
After nearly another month, I sent a registered letter to NH credit with whom I financed the tractor. I informed them that I was not sending another payment until I had these outstanding issues resolved. I am still awaiting their response.
In summary, purchasing a tractor or anything is only half of the picture. Service is the other half. When making the purchase, I thought that I was getting the most for my money, but didn’t know what I was losing on the service end. In retrospect, I would try my luck with another brand. I don’t know their service is any better, but I do know that it can’t be any worse!!
