Is this acceptable quality on a brand new Kubota?

[ray66v]

I discussed they ugly welds with a veteran certified welder I know, last night.

He is about as high up the ladder as you can go as far a certifications and experience. i.e. nuclear plants, high pressure hot taps, etc.

He said that, I believe it was, the American Welding Society, has established widely accepted standards for welds. These standards not only cover the strength of the welds, but also their appearance. According to theses standards, a weld does not have to be structurally deficient, to be defective. And that based solely on my descriptions of these welds, they did not sound like they would meet these standards. And therefore, at least some, are considered defective welds.

 

[BANDAMAN]

I discussed they ugly welds with a veteran certified welder I know, last night.

He is about as high up the ladder as you can go as far a certifications and experience. i.e. nuclear plants, high pressure hot taps, etc.

He said that, I believe it was, the American Welding Society, has established widely accepted standards for welds. These standards not only cover the strength of the welds, but also their appearance. According to theses standards, a weld does not have to be structurally deficient, to be defective. And that based solely on my descriptions of these welds, they did not sound like they would meet these standards. And therefore, at least some, are considered defective welds.

Ray66v and Mith, thank you, exactly my point. We also build industrial equipment where I work. Our welds are beautiful and strong, it can be done. I think our guys have real pride in craftsmanship. We do alot of welding here and outsource some to a few local contractors, who also do very nice work and are held to tight standards. I know quite a few professional welders to consult on this with.

I was informed by my dealer this morning that he is going to bat for me on this loader issue and will keep me informed how things go.

That's all I'm asking for. In the meantime, I'm scraping ice and snow with my back blade.

 

[coobie]

I think you have every right to be a little upset with your new tractor.I have a few kubota products as well,2007 326 ZTR mower,2006 kubota RTV 900.I had some intial problems with my RTV 900 drive shaft rattle that drove me nuts.After two drive shafts(warrenty) still no fix.I finally found a fix someone had listed on there website,My rtv was out of warrenty,but kubota still picked up the tab $80 bucks(thanks Kubota).I fully agree with you on the shoddy welds.Good luck to you.coobie

 

[bandit67]

I haven't read through this entire 16 page thread, so my point may have been made already. As for the scratches, well, they happen. Not sure how bad they are, but as far as what I've seen with the way these machines are crated, I'd say the scratched up machine happened while in your dealer's hands. My machine was uncrated, assembled, and shipped on a flatbed from a dealer 1200 miles away, and arrived at my door looking brand new and unscratched.

Now, as for the loader welds. Those look like crap, and are not indicative of what I've seen on Kubotas over the years. I had crappy looking welds on my CNH subcompact's loader, and some of them failed in under 200 hours. I was able to compare the CNH welds to a buddy's Kubota welds, and the Kubota welds were far superior. The welds on my current 2008 Kubota are also far superior to what I had on my CNH.

The welds on my 2008 B3030 are also far superior to what I saw in the pics of your BX. I'd at least request a new loader. Kubota welds were actually a pretty big selling point for me, after dealing with issues that arose from lousy welds on my CNH product.

 

[pintodeluxe]

Hey Bandaman,
As a Bx2230 owner I was wondering, why did you decide to trade up for a new one? My dealer mentioned that he likes the old steel hoods better than the new plastic ones. I've also heard that the old style baggers are easier to use and work better. I love the short length of the Bx2230. Really maneuverable.
Any advantages to the new tractor? The Bx2230 was 22 h.p., is the 1850 18 horse, and if so do you notice any difference?

Thanks for the postings, and best of luck to you,
Pintodeluxe

 

[rdsaustintx]

I don't think anybody is worried that weld will brake they just look like s**t.

Yeah I been thinking you could just dress the welds up. You could grind, bondo, prime and paint in the time it takes to read this thread.

 

[Harvest Moon]

Yeah I been thinking you could just dress the welds up. You could grind, bondo, prime and paint in the time it takes to read this thread.

Oh boy, I hope his dealer isn't reading this. All of the sudden he'll get a grinding wheel and a dollop of bondo in the mail to compliment his new can of paint.

Don't they power coat these loaders? I'm not sure he could "just dress the welds up" with out making the paint job look like junk.

 

[ultrarunner]

I discussed they ugly welds with a veteran certified welder I know, last night.

He is about as high up the ladder as you can go as far a certifications and experience. i.e. nuclear plants, high pressure hot taps, etc.

He said that, I believe it was, the American Welding Society, has established widely accepted standards for welds. These standards not only cover the strength of the welds, but also their appearance. According to theses standards, a weld does not have to be structurally deficient, to be defective. And that based solely on my descriptions of these welds, they did not sound like they would meet these standards. And therefore, at least some, are considered defective welds.

As a certified welder... inspectors are quick to tag cold beads and beads that allow moisture and or salt to infiltrate... So while weld spatter may be cosmetic... any bead that provides a path for moisture to get underneath the weld is a corrosion point down the road.

 

[actionaj]

I have been following this post for couple of days and I looked at my loader today. All the welds are nice and smooth even the bucket and grill guard to. It looks to me that it was welded by machine or robot. Only one spot on the bucket showed a little spatter. I agree the welds on BANDAMANs loader are unacceptable in appearance. I wonder if the welding robot was broke down and they had to weld it by hand that day? Or the loader had been out of square or something and in stead of scraping it the repaired at the factory and rewelded by hand. I would be disappointed to and would want it made right from Kubota. After all thats a lot money to spend and not be 100% satisfied. As for the scratches I think dealer could easily make right.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I think NEIL went into hiding.

Hey man its Christmas! I don't spend the Holidays checking TBN!

Personaly I don't think its much of an issue. It has no bearing upon the functional use the of the tractor, and its not an eyesore. If years down the road you find some structural problem, you'll probably find yourself with a Japaneese engineer at your door to see what happened. I've seen that happen before. It won't happen though, its a BX... on an M59 I might worry.

I think what we're seeing in this thread is the difference between people who take pride in their tractors, almost like showpieces, and those who think of them as tools... no different than a drill that you toss on your work bench. That would be me. As someone who looks at used tractors all day, every day... I could care less if its scratched, I care more if it was greased and the oil was changed.

That said, I understand where your comming from. What you got was not the norm, is in a way substandard, and you did not pay for that. As a dealership we'd probably end up swapping you for a different loader, but thats up to your dealer. This is a dealer issue in my mind as that loader will work perfectly fine and if offered to another customer for a $200 savings they would probably jump at it.