How do I Get Crankshaft Nut off Kubota?

[Suburban Plowboy]

When people talk about splitting tractors, they usually mean dividing them behind the engine, which is a huge job. That's not what's happening here. They have to remove a few bolts and pull the front section free of the frame.

The engine and the transmission will not be separated.

 

[Gator6x4]

When people talk about splitting tractors, they usually mean dividing them behind the engine, which is a huge job. That's not what's happening here. They have to remove a few bolts and pull the front section free of the frame.

The engine and the transmission will not be separated.

Here is basically what the OP is facing. Does not appear a be a easy repair to remove the front cover. Look for the large nut the poster of the video did not explain how he removed.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

The tractor is ready. Estimate: $1325. Reality: $1580. Reason: "shop fees." Also, "supplies." What supplies are involved in removing bolts, cleaning off mating surfaces, and installing a front cover? Perhaps someone here knows.

Now I have to get it here and install the radiator and sheet metal, and then I get to change the oil and replace the hydraulic fluid.

 

[daryelcorran]

These engines are used for many different things. Cutting it off might make life easier now, but I wonder if it could cause a balance issue.

Speed Test​

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Sadly it would cost me more to drive to pawnshop than I could save. I do find the occasional deal with pawn shops selling on line.

Its near bout 100 mi for me, so I make sure to hit all of them when I'm there.

 

[rScotty]

The tractor is ready. Estimate: $1325. Reality: $1580. Reason: "shop fees." Also, "supplies." What supplies are involved in removing bolts, cleaning off mating surfaces, and installing a front cover? Perhaps someone here knows.

Now I have to get it here and install the radiator and sheet metal, and then I get to change the oil and replace the hydraulic fluid.

I had a shop, so can clue you in on shop fees. It will usually be a set percentage of labor & parts.
ten percent is common - but not actually enough these days. Most shops are reluctant to charge what it really costs because customers complain.

And just like you suspect, it is just a way for the shop owner to make money for expenses that he should have been smart enough to know about to start with. But they are real costs to the owner...he just didn't realize quite what they would amount to when getting into the repair shop business. At least I sure didn't.

One is real materials - There's the weekly charge for services: Like the red rag laundry pickup and dropoff. There' a charge for the truck that comes around and changes the cleaning fluid in the parts cleaning tubs each week - surprisingly expensive. And a charge by the guy for hauling away all the old fluids and parts to the scrap yard. The shop pays for all that.

As well as the various cleaners, lubes, greases, tubes of gasket sealer, bottles of loctite, mechanic bitching because battery acid ate holes in his jeans, laundry again - with a surcharge for grease on uniforms. And then boxes of nuts and bolts because some were trashed but you need a selection to have the right one... wire brushes, solvent brushes....Someone to clean up the shop each night, busted, lost, broken, and worn out tools... Air compressor motor went down because it ran all night after the idiot new hire ran the forklift over the hose.... OK you get the idea but the list goes on forever.

Two is the financial aspect - many mechanics get a percentage of the charge for the labor. That percentage represents most of their paycheck. Listing Shop fees and Supplies as part of the bill means that amount all to the shop for operating cost items above and the mechanic doesn't get a cut. It really simplifies book-keeping.

rScotty

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Thanks for the info. It's a counterproductive and unethical way to do business, and it offends customers, which is a very bad idea. I would never do it.

When I worked as a lawyer, I quoted an hourly rate, and that's what I got. I didn't say, "Oh, the air conditioning was on all month, so here's a 10% power surcharge. Oh, I had to buy printer toner, so there's another $90. Oh, my paralegal had a toothache, so chip in $30 toward the dentist's bill. Oh, your memorandum used 18 sheets of paper, so that will be $18.00." Certain incidental charges had to be added to bills, but they made sense. You wouldn't hire a private detective for a client and pay the bill yourself, but you also wouldn't make him pay for gas money to get you to the courthouse. You would never dream of adding an "office fee" to a bill.

When I go to the doctor, they don't give me a separate bill for gloves, swabs, needles, tongue depressors, medical waste disposal, or anything else. And doctors love money more than just about anyone.

"The cost of doing business." That's a phrase ethical businessmen understand. You don't charge a customer for stamps when you mail him a bill. You don't charge him for parking in your lot. Things like that are understood to be included in the term "quote."

If these people had given me an estimate for $1580, I would not be all that annoyed, because I fully expected to be charged for much more time than they actually spent. Quoting me $1325 and then making up an excuse to charge more is bad business. If you want your customers to come back, you quote high and charge low, not the other way around.

Before I moved here, other garages always charged me what they quoted unless additional work was needed, and if that happened, they called for approval. They could still do that.

My buddy made the horrible mistake of buying a Mercedes. It had a coolant leak, and he couldn't fix it, so he took it to a shop. They charged him for disposing of the old hose! No lie. He could have taken it home and put it in the trash for nothing. There is no garbage collection here, so people go to county dumps, and they have hazardous waste disposal. They also nailed him for some other things that were clearly not justified or expected. He left them a pretty bad review before he got off their property. He sat in his car in their driveway and typed it on his phone.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I have to pay a bill today for part of a condo remodeling. It's around $4500. I have remodeled three places in the past two years, spending tens of thousands of dollars. The current bill is for the second part of a quote. They quoted me a price. I paid part up front. Now I'm paying the second part. No weaseling. No truck charges or tool charges or sandpaper charges. This is how it always works, with honorable contractors.

Bought a new air conditioning unit for my house last month. They quoted about $7500. They put the unit in. While I was waiting for the new unit, they put old, expensive refrigerant in the old one to keep me from suffering. The refrigerant runs $1500 for a container about like a propane tank, only smaller. No extra charge.

I paid exactly what they quoted me. No changes. No excuses. They hauled off a huge load of plywood, sheet metal, and AC parts, including toxic stuff. They took away the old concrete pad. No extra fees. They used a lot of paint, tape, and other materials. All included. And their bid was very competitive, for a 16 SEER Carrier, which is not a cheap machine. Way less expensive than the other estimate I got.

This practice of added charges is necessary for businesses that work on vehicles and machinery, but other companies thrive without it. A mystery.

Businesses can always find a way to BS you. I hired a guy to look at my chimney cap, and he wanted almost $400 just to go up on the roof for 15 minutes. Then he quoted me a ridiculous price for a new cap. I hired a competitor, and even though I had to eat the $400, I still came out way ahead.

I left a Google review, and the first guy got all mad and said the second guy didn't have workers comp., and he said working on roofs was expensive because it was dangerous. I came back with the story of a roofer I hired in 2020. It's a huge company, not a guy working out of his car trunk. They went up on my dangerous roof for nothing, gave me an estimate, came back, and replaced a large section of plywood and shingles. They also removed an old dish and patched the roof. Total cost was less than the estimate for the chimney cap, which takes half an hour to install.

Somehow, it's dangerous to go on a roof to fix a chimney cap, but fixing a roof is totally safe. And replacing a chimney cap should cost more than replacing a whole sheet of sheathing plus shingles.

 

[rScotty]

Thanks for the info. It's a counterproductive and unethical way to do business, and it offends customers, which is a very bad idea. I would never do it.

When I worked as a lawyer, I quoted an hourly rate, and that's what I got. I didn't say, "Oh, the air conditioning was on all month, so here's a 10% power surcharge. Oh, I had to buy printer toner, so there's another $90. Oh, my paralegal had a toothache, so chip in $30 toward the dentist's bill. Oh, your memorandum used 18 sheets of paper, so that will be $18.00." Certain incidental charges had to be added to bills, but they made sense. You wouldn't hire a private detective for a client and pay the bill yourself, but you also wouldn't make him pay for gas money to get you to the courthouse. You would never dream of adding an "office fee" to a bill.

When I go to the doctor, they don't give me a separate bill for gloves, swabs, needles, tongue depressors, medical waste disposal, or anything else. And doctors love money more than just about anyone.

"The cost of doing business." That's a phrase ethical businessmen understand. You don't charge a customer for stamps when you mail him a bill. You don't charge him for parking in your lot. Things like that are understood to be included in the term "quote."

If these people had given me an estimate for $1580, I would not be all that annoyed, because I fully expected to be charged for much more time than they actually spent. Quoting me $1325 and then making up an excuse to charge more is bad business. If you want your customers to come back, you quote high and charge low, not the other way around.

Before I moved here, other garages always charged me what they quoted unless additional work was needed, and if that happened, they called for approval. They could still do that.

My buddy made the horrible mistake of buying a Mercedes. It had a coolant leak, and he couldn't fix it, so he took it to a shop. They charged him for disposing of the old hose! No lie. He could have taken it home and put it in the trash for nothing. There is no garbage collection here, so people go to county dumps, and they have hazardous waste disposal. They also nailed him for some other things that were clearly not justified or expected. He left them a pretty bad review before he got off their property. He sat in his car in their driveway and typed it on his phone.

Sometimes ethical standards are not standard at all - they vary from place to place. The US is a large and diverse country. Distance becomes difference.

From your description of a mechanical business whose ethics would make you comfortable, you would get along just fine with the shops I worked for in Pittsburgh and on up into the Boston area. They worked and billed just as you describe. They considered themselves ethical.

The farther West you go across the USA, the more that "standard of practice" changes. By the time you get to the arid southwestern states you'll find that the mechanical estimate is just that - an estimate of the mechanical part of the repair. In the more rural western USA any mechanical shop still has to take into consideration that a customer might just do the job himself. That is why parts and labor are always separated. Disposal and supply charges are listed when they cost extra to dispose of - things like AC, coolant, battery, tires.

So around here it isn't considered rude at all to ask if a shop has an added charge for for shop supplies & sundry - it varies a lot being sometimes included & sometimes not. But it's a charge that isn't related to the actual repair - so you do have to ask. Like I say, it's considered polite to do so. In fact, not asking questions like that sort of brands a person as either being "not from around here" or rich - or both.

Every bill I see is written out that way. It makes comparisons shopping and book-keeping easier on both ends. And yes, these shops also consider themselves ethical. After all, it is still common to be born, work, and retire all in the same small rural community.

rScotty

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

A quote that isn't reliable isn't a quote. Unless all the potential charges are mentioned up front, it's fraudulent, regardless of whether people are used to it.

I don't buy the suggestion that it depends on where you are. The vast majority of tradesmen I've used where I live right now have given me real quotes and lived up to them, but three shops in the same area jacked up their compensation without warning.