We are the dealer involved with this repair. We are a satellite dealer with the main dealer in Nova Scotia. We are authorized through Agco/MF to do repair work, sales and parts sales. We have been in the industry since 1985 and originally sold the MF line in the 80's.
We have had a strong welding shop with significant projects from complete forestry packages to building complete front sweeper units for the largest construction company in the Maritimes.
We have licensed welders and get advice from a very well reputed welding shop in the Annapolis Valley when we have questions. They specialize in all kinds of basic fabrication to full steel building construction, truck frames, snow blades, etc etc etc. Whatever is needed, they can do.
A bit more info on the complete repair and the time frame of the issues. The customer called as he had a problem with his rear differential lock. It would not engage. We were told that he was going up a hill, the tractor was spinning. He engaged the differential lock (was told with the wheels not turning). He heard a loud clunk or smash and than no longer had differential lock in the tractor. He drove it down his driveway and parked it. Called us to come pick it up and asked if it would be covered by warranty.
Agco/MF requested for pictures of the issues before they would approve the warranty repair. A differential lock regularly does not just break. It 99% of the time breaks from being engaged while the wheels are turning. If this is the case, than the repair would not be covered by warranty as it is not a fault of the part or tractor. It would be up to the customer to pay for the repair as it was their wrong-doing in operation that caused the issue.
At this point, the customer was a bit stressed, wondering if it would be covered or not. It was impossible for us or the original selling dealer to know if it would be covered as we could not see the internal parts without it apart. We discussed this with the customer and came to a decision to take the tractor apart as it would need to be fixed either way.
When looking at the repair, the rear end, transmission, and engine are all bolted to a 6" piece of steel that runs from the rear hitch to the front of the tractor than is bent 90 degrees and crosses the front of the tractor, bent in another 90 degrees and goes to the rear of the other side. It is one piece of steel about 20 feet long in total. In order to remove the different lock mechanism, and inspect the rear end, the lower right housing needed to be removed. It is bolted to the long frame by 7 or 8 bolts. In order to remove this without cutting the frame, the operator platform, seat, fuel tank and top cover would need to be removed. The rear hitch and all pieces of the rear frame would need to be removed. The rear end would need to be split from the transmission. Possibly split at the transmission first. All linkages and pieces would need to be removed from the rear end and transmission as well. Basically all components and links are part of this 20 foot plate frame. Our estimation would be at least 2 days labour to disassemble. By cutting the frame roughly 20" from the rear right side, we were able to remove the rear axle housing, differential lock mechanism and rear differential within two hours.
Keep in mind to this point, we still did not know if it would be covered by warranty or not. We made the decision based on the customer stress of what the bill "could have been" to do the repair this way. We asked our local welding shop what their opinion was, and their owner and foreman suggested cutting it and with the proper weld it would be just as strong as it was from factory. We hired a licensed welder to come and weld the piece. It was v'd out so that proper penetration into the factory frame would occur. The weld went through to the rear of the frame and was ground down flush on the outside.
After disassembling the rear end we found obvious issues with the engagement mechanism and most components of the diff lock. We priced the parts to cost about $975 Canadian. This includes exchange and freight. We went to battle for the customer to Agco, enforcing that the customer claimed to not have engaged the diff lock while the wheels were moving and maybe the issue was something that had been ongoing for some time. In all rights, it is quite obvious that the rear diff lock had been engaged while the wheels were moving. The holes that the diff lock pins engage in would not be oblonged and ovalized if it was always engaged with the wheels stopped. The four pins would not be broke off. Two of the pins would not be jammed in the differential. The opposite side gear would not have the holes in it oblonged and ovalized either. It was quite clear to us what had happened to the tractor but we went to battle for the customer and Agco agreed to order the parts needed, repair the unit and it would be covered.
Once we received this news, we repaired the unit with the new $975 worth of parts. The unit was in the closest bay to the window and the frame was not covered or hidden. The customer saw the tractor through the window after hours the day that it had been welded and ground down. If we were going to be secretive than why would we use that bay for the customer to possibly see? Why didn't we cover it up or paint the weld as soon as done? The following morning he stopped in and asked me about it. I did not lie or try to hide anything. I explained our method, our thoughts, the welding shops thoughts and gave our reasoning behind the repair. I reinforced that we would stand behind our work and if the customer wanted a second plate made than we would do so with no charge. The only charge to the customer was $100 for picking the unit up for him and returning it to him. He lives approximately 25 minutes from our location. So that is $50 each way. Keep in mind we did not sell this tractor originally. We walked into the situation and attempted to help the customer out. In fact, the morning that the customer stopped by, him and I sat in my office and talked pricing on the new MF 1700E series and taking his unit on trade. I told him I would have no issue taking his tractor on trade and would offer the best I could for the unit. He seemed to be interested and left with what seemed to be a smile. I guess not...
Our simple math at the time of making the decision to cut the frame was the following: 2 hours to disassemble vs maybe 17 hours. 2-3 hours to reassemble vs 20 plus hours to reassemble. Again, at this time we took into consideration the customer's stress about a possible large bill and the fact that it was a repair which was more a customer operation issue than a faulty part issue (in our opinion). We decided to go with our method and possibly save the customer 30 plus hours of labour. Maybe it was a gamble, maybe not. We still stand by our decision to do the repair this way. The original dealer has seen the pictures of our repair, and is standing on our side with our method. They do not feel that we did anything wrong in doing it this way and have told us numerous times that they do not need to be spying over our shoulder. We are two separate companies with separate shops. We both have good service recognition. We are linked as a subdealer or secondary location for Agco product. We send all of our warranty claims to Agco through the original dealer. We talk with them daily.
As far as the last few comments from the owner regarding "not keeping the tractor and staying with Massey line to prevent any future dealings with the dealerships involved, i am lucky to have a few other good dealerships close by...". We personally stand by our service and our shops decisions. The unit is repaired and has a stronger frame now than factory. If you prefer to buy a JD/Kubota/Mahindra/NewHolland/Case/Kioti/Branson, than that is fine with us. If you want to move into a MF 1700E tractor, which you should of had in the first place, than I suggest checking with a dealer in NB or Quebec. Maybe they have better service since ours isn't adequate in your mind. We will deliver your tractor back to your yard tomorrow or Wednesday after we run it and flush the hydraulic system with a new filter. PS, there will be no charge for the oil or filter (usually not something covered by warranty).
Feel free to comment as you please. I can upload multiple close up pictures of the damage, frame cutting, frame repair and tractor. We have it all filed.
from the start of this thread my purpose was to gather others opinion on the situation, IT WAS NOT to slander any particular dealer involved,
as you can tell from my post , i said you were honest and up front with me , i said you were not trying to hide it,but part of me can not help feeling that i would of never been told if i never asked, mostly due to the fact i wasnt gave the option BEFORE hand,i also said i went in to talk to you about it , but after i was still un easy about the weld and the procedure and was simply gathering others opinions while leaving all parties names out,
people often assume they understand others motives, but most of the time they do not...
i called the dealer i bought the tractor from, basically trying to get him to say it was fine, a second opinion, some one to make me feel better about it,which all day he never really offered one ,he kept telling me your (kings) standing by your work and to which i would reply ,yes i know i have talked to you personally, basically i was looking for a second opinion.
frustrated with this i asked if the field rep could contact me and let him solve it , why ..... because it seems to be the easiest solution, have a third party who can possible look at it and give me that opinion i was looking for.
when i talked to you in person you told me you had a certified welder "from the city" perform the work on my tractor, so why not just offer up his credentials or the company he is employed by, to me that isnt a big deal,and would of solved this in minutes , maybe i should of asked and in turn that was my mistake ,
as a consumer i have the right to be informed and to inform myself , i was seeking out opinions and asking for the parties involved to take the time, even if you felt it wasn't necessary,to educate me on the repair
based on the response you made on behalf of the Massey Ferguson dealers in Nova Scotia (which is a limited amount), i now have additional concerns about keeping my tractor and being treated fairly unless i travel 5 plus hours away , which makes it very difficult to keep or ever own another Massey Ferguson, so now im forced in to a decision regardless of what the rep from Massey tells me about your repair..
i would like to end this all by saying i will no longer reply to this tread,i will not answer any of your questions if asked any, but if you would like to discuss this further your welcome to contact me via phone
