Is joystick/valve wear normal? Dealership says it is?

[brsox88]

I have a 2012 B3300 that has only 80 hours on it, always kept in a dedicated enclosed trailer, and used mostly for snow removal. I regularly wash it too, so its always very clean. I recently had issues with the joystick being able to go fully to the left and therefore not able to curl. It would pop and stick going to the right, almost like its a float valve. Brought it into {DEALER} where I bought it since its under warranty. They said this is normal and just needed cleaning. I got the tractor back, used it for less than 30 minutes and the whole curl stopped working and the joystick would go all the way to the right and hit the fender. Brought it in again and they said the valve shaft and end of the piston wore out or something like that.

How is that possible on a tractor that stays incredibly clean, has less than 80 hours and used mostly in the snow? How is it possible for these valves to get dirty so easily and wear out so easily? Or is the dealership just feeding me a bunch of crap?

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

With THAT company I'd suspect your last sentence is correct...
I owned that same tractor for about 350hrs (maybe 2/3rds loader work without any FEL control stick "wear."

 

[kennyd]

That dealer is BSing you, wow!
Most likely the caps on the end of the valve need removing and some grease placed inside, the detents and springs in there can get corroded.
There are a few older threads on this issue, I can try to search some out later for you.

 

[oldnslo]

If you are using a pressure washer there is a good possibility that the detents are corroded like Kenny stated. If valve spool wore this quickly what did farmers do with the old tractors that were in the dirt for years & years.

Does your B3300 have a direct operated joystick I.e. handle directly operates the valves or is there some push pull cables between the valve and joystick?

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

If you are using a pressure washer there is a good possibility that the detents are corroded like Kenny stated. If valve spool wore this quickly what did farmers do with the old tractors that were in the dirt for years & years.

Does your B3300 have a direct operated joystick I.e. handle directly operates the valves or is there some push pull cables between the valve and joystick?

It is direct

 

[Industrial Toys]

I thought we only had bad service like that in Canada.

Aside from the BS, then why did they not notice the (apparent) worn out condition the first time around?
Maybe the guy looking at it was working at Burger King the week before. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer , skilled, experienced, (thinking) mechanics working on our stuff anymore.

 

[roadhunter]

LOL. Wow. That is bad. Plum wore out at this point.

That should be just getting broke in, not broken.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

My guess is death by cleanliness.

 

[sandyc]

Had a similar issue and the valve was covered by Kubota even though it was out of warranty. Tells me that they had a known problem. Good luck.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Do you think some dealers double dip? Charge a customer for repairs then put in a warranty claim. For a small outfit, it could be quite the temptation.

A friend knew a guy that worked for a BIG tranny repair chain franchise . Boss was out, customer comes in and pays cash for a tranny job. He takes cash, and puts repair through as warranty on some other customers tranny on file.

Things went great, until a customer comes back with a warranty issue and there is no record of them ever having been there.