Deere reliability?

F350Lawman · Jul 9, 2003

As others have said...

Ahh... don't get all wrapped around the axle about the use of plastic.

It is pretty tough stuff and is prevalent (sp) everywhere today. Cars, trucks, tractors, you name it.

The saving grace is that it is durable and easy to replace.

I have Ford F350 dually and the rear wheel wells are made out of a plastic/rubberlike compound that doesn't break(withn reason), dent ,crack or rust. I wish the entire body was like that!
Then I would have zero dings.

I was loading shavings on my truck when a very strong wind blew the the door from the 18 wheeler trailer closed striking the rear wheel well...nothing but a minor scratch. The thing flexed like mad and bounced back, if it were steel the body shop guy would have had me over the coals. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Kinda like the Saturn cars I guess.

Dahammer · Jul 10, 2003

When I first got my 4300 I loved it but now things on it seem so cheap. I think all the people who have the 4000 TEN series will grow to hate all the plastic on there tractors. 

I bought a JD 4600 w/backhoe and loader brand new in 1999. Sold it Memorial day weekend /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif to the first person that called on it. All the plastic, especially around the hood looked brand new. Fenders were perfect, not even a scratch. Sat outside for two of the four years I had it. The only ugly rust spots were of course on the metal. I wish there was a way to make plastic loader arms and buckets that are colored through, then even those would have looked new. Plastic (like metal) has some advantages. The great thing is that if you like the old school, yesterday's tractor style with chunky, blocky metal edges you can still by a Kubota /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif or even a 70 or 90 series Deere to satisfy that urge for an olde tyme tractor style.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

F350Lawman · Jul 10, 2003

The great thing is that if you like the old school, yesterday's tractor style with chunky, blocky metal edges you can still by a Kubota or even a 70 or 90 series Deere to satisfy that urge for an olde tyme tractor style....

Exactly...my wife made a strong pitch for the 790's "classic' /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif styling. That gave it the edge on the competition.

5string · Jul 10, 2003

GreenMtnMan - It was not my intent to insinuate that you were hypersensitive; perhaps, it is me that owes you a apology.

As far as the plastic thing goes on the fenders and hood, I kind of like it. It certainly appears to be forgiving. Also, it is lighter which lowers the center of gravity on the tractor.

CountryBoy · Jul 10, 2003

Kubota will Fedex anything from a seal to a fender for a flat $5 charge, directly to you. 

John Deere will do the same without the $5.00 fee,if my dealer does not have the part I need they order it from the warehouse and usually the next day UPS has it on my front porch.

yellowsocks93 · Jul 10, 2003

Sorry guys did not mean for this whole plastic thing to get out of hand and make people upset. I just hate when I see the quality of JD going downhill by the use of cheap plastic. Some plastic is good I'll admit that and I am not saying to use up all of the Earth's resources but I just think some of the plastic on the new deeres is cheap like the hood and dash. The fenders are nice composite and they should make the hood out of that then it would be nice. I just like the 70/90 series cause they are reliable and built very well. And not to mention the classic styling! But the JD dealer I work for we get a lot of damaged plastic pieces on front mowers, gators hoods scratch real easily and we use compressed air to dry them off after we wash them. Plastic is good and so is metal. JD should offer plastic or metal on the 4000 TEN series then all of us would be happy! LOL. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Nick
990 4x4 turf, 430 FEL, 272 RFM, 25A flail

cowboydoc · Jul 10, 2003

Just FYI. According to deere the plastic costs more than the metal. If you look at deere's lower end tractors they all have metal fenders. It is the higher end tractors that have the plastic fenders. I talked to one of the engineers about that last week. He said it costs them more to produce a plastic fender than a metal fender. He said most people want the plastic fenders in the surverys they've done as they don't dent, rust, or have to be painted. Talk that for what it's worth.

yellowsocks93 · Jul 10, 2003

Hi Coyboydoc I also talked to a deere rep. online and he told me that same thing. I just like metal not trying to pic a fight or nothin. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

frankv · Jul 10, 2003

Not to add insult to injury but I visited my Deere dealer today to give the 4210 a second look and drive it around again. And sitting underneath the left side of the loader was a nice puddle of hydraulic fluid. I tested out the loader a little and could see it was coming out pretty good from the left side half way down the upper arm of a brand new 4210.

Probably an easy repair, but, adds alot of confidence for a would be buyer to plunk down $20k. 0% or not it's still alot of money. The dealer should really fix this before showing it to customers.

Other than that it was a nice machine...but my gut says no, not yet.

bigpete · Jul 10, 2003

To the poster's original question, it would be unscientific to form any conclusions about reliability based on the number of discussions about problems with one brand or the other. I suppose the only reliable information would come from reports of dealer warranty service, and then you would have to drill down to tractor class and size. All this info just isn't available here.

As with countless other such discussions on TBN in the past, it alway seems to level off with a general acknowledgement that:

1) all brands have their problems and idiosyncrasies;

2) all tractors will have some form of debilitating failure at some point in their life;

3) most new models--or design changes to new models--will result in a high incidence of vocalized problems;

4) and chaos theory applies on any given day, week, or month, if you are looking for trends in brand problems on TBN.

I, for one, have always subscribed to the theory that people who are not posting at TBN are either out working on fixing their tractors, or just working with their tractors for too long because they didn't buy the right one, or a big enough model, in the first place.

In other words, there's quite a lot to be learned from the posts that are not made on TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

rockyridgefarm · Jul 11, 2003

I recently purchased my tractor and had some issues with it. Did I make a mistake buying a Deere? I don't think so.

When I was shopping, I went to a number of dealers representing various brands. Here is what I noticed:

The Kubota dealers all had CUTs. They also had a few riding mowers. I didn't see any front mowers, or heavy ag equiment.

My Deere dealer had push mowers, riders of several styles. He had chainsaws, and gators. There were CUTs, Utility tractors, and huge AG machines (complete with satelite guided operation). He had Harvesting and seeding equipment and plenty of forage stuff. He had Deere weedeaters and 15ft batwings, with MXs, LXs and finish mowers of all sizes. I didn't see any skidsteers, but wouldn't be surprised to see them nest to a telehandler and 110TLB.

While we were there, my friend picked up parts for his 1954 Deere, with help from friendly, knowledgable parts girls, who handle parts for all that stuff.

We talked to their techs who handle all that stuff, all from John Deere.

My salesman handles all that range.

So, if there is a little issue setting up my CUT, and many problems can be traced back to dealer prep, then I understand. I know my product pretty well; but it is hard to imagine supporting that deep of product mix. And I was pretty explicit that my needs came behind the farmers that were depending on them, for their livelyhood.

varmint · Jul 11, 2003

This has proved interesting, but I don't think we've really learned anything? But then, maybe it was a dead-end orange vs' green issue that I should have foreseen. From my personal experience, with both Kubota and Deere products, limited but growing, this seems to be like most everything else: there's good and bad to be said about all aspects of the whole mess. Perhaps what would be worthwhile would be for the moderators to conduct a broad survey, where owners could respond to what tractors they have, and whether they've had problems... The survey would have to ask the right questions to be useful- that'd be the hard part. The concept of going with brand that is represented by a dealer you like could be important. Then again...

F350Lawman · Jul 11, 2003

I think this is one of those no win situations. It reminds me of the political accusations that the more you deny, the more you raise the publics suspicion. Now the original issue may have been bogus but once you respond it now has legs. The harder you fight the more guilty it makes you.

I don't think that this was the original intent of the poster but you're right this is where it goes. Some people like orange and they will say their more reliable and otheres like green and will say the opposite. Both sides are equally convinced they're right, after all that's why they bought orange or green. Not likely to see someone post about what a knucklehead they were buying the wrong color /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Sort of reminds me of something I once saw in a movie the therapist asks "how much alcohol do you drink a day?" if the answer is:

(1) 15 drinks
the response is-"gee, you're an alcoholic"

(2) I don't drink
the response is-"gee, you're in denial and obviously an alcoholic"

YOU CAN"T WIN

bigpete · Jul 11, 2003

LOL...kinda' like the old comedian's line about being asked in court how often he beats his spouse and his dog.

Bird · Jul 11, 2003

( "how much alcohol do you drink a day?" )

I never knew how doctors determine whether you drink too much until recently when my own doctor told me. True story. He said a guy who drinks too much is a guy who drinks more than his doctor does. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

5030 · Jul 11, 2003

I am reall glad we live in America, here, as long as you have the proper amount of money and good credit, you can buy ANY BRAND YOU WANT . As far as I am concerned, they are all good. I just happen to like Kubota's better, but this is America, so we are entitled to our personal opinion. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

CountryBoy · Jul 11, 2003

:grin
LOL

Whiskey · Jul 11, 2003

Bird:

I'll drink to that....... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Whiskey

rockyridgefarm · Jul 11, 2003

That's right, 5030! Real glad to hear you got your A/C fixed- are you gonna help me with mine?

Actually, its been real nice, here... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

glennmac · Jul 11, 2003

This post is only for Varmint. The rest of you please avert your eyes.

Varmint, you ask a simple question about reliability and request opinions. Having read tractor forums for almost four years and having spent a significant amount of time in tractor service bays, here are my opinions:

1. People here try hard to be diplomatic. The site has grown so large there is now almost a PC culture.

2. People are naturally defensive about the brand of tractor in which they have invested their time, money and psyche.

3. There are no available public data about the reliability of different brands. Monitoring tractor forum complaints is probably the best metric possible--along with talking to service people who work on multiple brands.

4. There were significant problems reported with the first two years of the JD 4X00 series. The 790 seemed relatively problem free.

5. My impression is overwhelmingly consistent with yours: far fewer problems have been reported by Kubota owners on these forums than any other brand in the four years I have been reading them.

6. My continuing opinion, which I cannot prove, is that, on average, Kubota's compact (and now subcompact) tractors have been, for at least the past 10 years, significantly more reliable and problem free than JD's.