Is this acceptable quality on a brand new Kubota?

[FullBucket]

Bandaman,

Hang in there buddy, I still have faith that Kubota will recognize the error of their ways and own up to a shoddy welding job that they let slip thru the QC cracks. It takes a man to own up to a mistake, and I expect Kubota to be big enough to be able to says "oops my bad" and fix this. You obviously have the support of a large group of Kubota owners who acknowledge that this is beneath their expectations. As for the group of naysayers that think they deserve this kind of workmanship, don't let them get you down. The majority of Kubota buyers support you and don't feel you should have any trouble resolving this because we have faith in Kubota doing the right thing. So don't apologize for expecting to get as good a product as the rest of us.

 

[mswlogo]

I'm not an expert on welds but those don't look that bad. They do look strong. I'll have to compare your picks to my BX24. You may have a valid gripe on the welds but I doubt they would do anything as long as they are strong.

As far as little scratches, I think you are way out of line.

These things may be chained down a couple times by the time they get to you. It's gonna get scratched. And you'll scratch a lot more after the the first real work day with it. Dealer might touch it up.

And the grease left on fittings, oh come on.

They may have actually listened on the welds, but you lost credibility griping about the stupid stuff. When they started to read the silly stuff they probably started to roll their eyes and said we got our selfs a squeaker here and laughed it off.

 

[Volfandt]

I'm no expert nor have I stayed in a Holiday Inn lately but the cause of those "un-professional" welds looks to be either the settings being to high or the adjustments on the welder (if robotic) weren't dialed in exactly right.
The uneven edges of the steel around the majority if the welds are jagged and look eaten away, as if the settings were set too high. It looks as if in the course of welding the actual steel framing was melted away leaving that VERY jagged appearance. I'd hate to think the metal framing pieces were that jagged and uneven BEFORE being welded.
I also don't know if Kubota uses MIG or TIG or even stick but from the appearance of those welds it looks as if the welding media ran out in mid bead and the subsequent restart wasn't in line or at the same angle. Again, I'm no welder by trade but if I were I'd be ashamed of letting that piece of work leave my work station and if I were in QC it wouldn't have left the factory as brand new....... In other words, being the novie welder that I am, I would NOT won't to do that bad of a job on anything I owned and definitely not for someone else.....

I went out and checked the welds on my Georgia made FEL, BH, MMM and Gerogia assembled BX23 tractor and all the welds are neat and have a consistant flow. All welded metal joints and edges are smooth and not jagged so this indicates to me that what the OP has posted here is not the norm. And also considering that he had a prior version of the same model tractor that also didn't have this shoddy craftmanship thats on his newer version (it really doesn't qualify as craftmanship IMHO) he definitely had the means to compare the workmanship on nis new model against that of the older model, and even to me, via internet pictures, its a very GLARING difference when compared to my BX23.

To me it's no question that the workmanship is pizz-poor. But does it effect the structural strength of the FEL? I dunno. Back in the day we'd use infared imaging to detect structural weakness in aged aircraft components which most times was triggered by visual inspections. The welds on that FEL would definitely triggered further inspection.......

Put me in the dealer should swap that FEL out camp........

 

[Harvest Moon]

I know that BANDAMAN has since recanted on the grease on zerks and pivots but lubrication is always a priority for me.

I always grease till it squeezes out a little and leave grease on the zerks to prevent corrosion. The dirt and dust collects on the grease but it wipes off and leaves a shiny, like new zerk, perfect for re-greasing. And there is no risk of forcing dirt into zerk because non ever collected on the zerk it's self.

Keeping the tractor looking like new is important to some, keeping it working like new is more important to me.

The welds... are ridiculous and I'm really wondering how many of the nay sayers would really accept that quality when shelling out their hard earned money.

 

[Mustangous]

I know that BANDAMAN has since recanted on the grease on zerks and pivots but lubrication is always a priority for me.

I always grease till it squeezes out a little and leave grease on the zerks to prevent corrosion. The dirt and dust collects on the grease but it wipes off and leaves a shiny, like new zerk, perfect for re-greasing. And there is no risk of forcing dirt into zerk because non ever collected on the zerk it's self.

Keeping the tractor looking like new is important to some, keeping it working like new is more important to me.

I am not exactly sure what his greese looked like on the zerks, but I think I understand what he meant. I couldnt even see my fittings because of all the greese in the area. Over greesing is ok with me, but did any of it get where it was supposed to, in the fitting? there is no greese needed on the outside of the zerk and filling the hole so i cant see the zerk fitting. Either you have to wipe the zerk off before you greece it again so you dont push dirt through everything and make things worst. Short cut now, pay later.

I didnt complain about mine, but thought it. They get carried away with these pneumatic greese guns. Like i said, more greese in the the greese fitting is fine by me, but i could of pulled out a finger full by wiping around my fittings.

Keeping tools clean and lubricated is a great way of making things last forever. I have a 1965 cub cadet 70 that cut my lawn til the end of the season of 2006 and i plan on my kubota lasting that long too. I still runs good too, just time for retirement... lol

 

[Danno1]

.

I have a 1973 Ariens snow blower that starts on the first pull. And plan on keeping it for many more years.

And yes, those welds are completely unaccepable.

.

 

[Harvest Moon]

Good point Mustangous, I wasn't thinking it could have been that bad. The photo he posted barely looks greased at all but he noted that he wiped it off at one point, I'm not sure if he meant before the picture.

 

[IH3444]

Thanks for reminding me why I bought a New Holland.
So the Kubotas that you looked at before buying blue had these same horrible welds and you paid $2000 more for a comparable tractor with pretty welds? Blue was $2000 more than Kubota and Green was $3000 more for me and I believe they are the same for most people around the country.

The New Hollands were priced lower at the dealer I bought from....go figure. The kubota just didn't have the ergonomics either that fit me well. Like they were built around a 10" shorter person. The dealer also made me an offer on a TC48DA that I just couldn't walk away from. 4WD, 12/12SS, LA18 Loader, QA, heavy duty bucket, 1 rear remote, R4s, loaded tires, block heater, rear ballast box, delivered, $22.6K. The 18LA loader in my opinon is about the best designed loader for a large compact tractor. In fact most of the others are now going to, or have gone to a sloped down loader design. And the welds were perfect, and smooth. The Kubotas, struck me as the same design tractors that were offered in the 70's. To each his own.

 

[7th Angel]

...The Kubotas, struck me as the same design tractors that were offered in the 70's. To each his own.

I've been trying to find pictures of a 70's B2x20 series Kubota but I must be looking in the wrong places. I'd like to compare that 70's design to that of my 2008. Can you help me with any links... you know, just for comparison?

7th Angel

 

[KubotainNH]

Any update from the dealer?