John Deere Responded

[Branch]

I sent a nasty gram to John Deere via their website. I told them that I was very unhappy, disappointed, and disillusioned with the quality of tractor that was delivered to me. The problems as I see it is not with the design of the tractor, on the contrary I'm very happy with the capabilities of my 4300. What I'm so upset about is the fact that my tractor has already gone back to the dealer with only 18-19 hours on it to fix a list of minor problems, and 1 major problem with the clutch. My dealer, who I've been very happy with, offered the loan of a 4500 until my tractor has been repaired. Unfortunately it's physically too big to go where the work is around here. Not having my new toy makes me mad.
Being without a tractor leaves me with only this and one other website to be near tractors. When I read about other peoples disappointment with their JD's it only makes me question my decision, and I hate second guessing myself.
Well I received 2 calls from JD today. I was assured that JD is aware of the quality control problems, and that they are seriously doing something about it. I also gave them this website address as well as the compact tractor board address. I informed them that there are a lot of bad JD posts located at these sights and that they better respond. Hopefully I made it clear that somebody from JD has to start logging on and posting here.
I feel that I made the right choice in buying from John Deere for a myriad of personal reasons. As I stated earlier, the problems with my tractor are minor and once fixed I will be able to pass this tractor on to my kids many years from now along with the property. What I'm upset about is how my tractor, with some very obvious problems, slipped passed their quality control people.
All this being said I pray that JD responds to all of the rest of you, publicly, on this and the other site. They are an American institution and they need to maintain their heritage of building equipment that lasts forever.
Now I'll step down and open this discussion up to the rest of you. I'm sure your responses will be read by JD, then we'll see if they're responded to.

 

[BobT]

Hi Branch,

It is always disappointing to have "problems" with a new tractor. This is the first I have heard of your troubles on this board.

First off, I think ALL of the major compact tractor manufacturers take issues such as you have described very seriously. It is a bit of a puzzle to all of us, why NO manufacturer ever posts here, or at least not in any way that would ID their corp.

It used to be that every tractor sold, was sold to a farmer, or construction company, landscaper, etc. Today, however, the "boomer boys" are getting into delayed childhood fantasies, and getting themselves a tractor. I have read a LOT of comments about early days problems with trying to figure out all of the things the tractor can do, plus, learning how to operate the equipment safely. The consumer/retail type of customers who are buying a tractor for the first time, often expect the machine to work just like a motorbike, or car, or whatever. However, a tractor is a specialized piece of machinery, and it takes some time to figure it all out. A farmer who has owned, operated and "fixed his own" for 30 years, will undoubtedly do small adjustments and repairs himself.

Many of the dealers are of the "old timer" mentality, and I am even shocked that all of the dealers around me CLOSE at noon on Saturday, and all day Sunday. I have stood around and waited for 1 1/2 hours, for a service rep to get done jabbering about some obscure part, before I was even asked if I could be helped. But, that's just they way these guys are.

The manufacturers, as I understand it, want to use their dealer network to not only sell the tractors, but also to provide the service. They HAVE to have those dealers, since there is no alternative for service and repairs on tractors.

Even if a company rep were to post here, there is little if anything he or she could do, except to refer you to a dealer for service (and to follow up to make sure the problem was resolved to your satisfaction).

Having said all that, I believe you have been treated quite fairly, so far, by both your John Deere dealer and the JD corporate contact.

You said:

1) The dealer (who you've been very happy with) offered the loan of a 4500 until your tractor has been repaired. Darn decent, in my book. Nice he had one on hand to loan.

2) You received 2 personal phone calls from JD today. That's pretty responsive.

3) You were assured that JD is aware of the quality control problems.

4) He informed you that they are seriously doing something about it.

As you have said, you are overall satisfied with the tractor. Despite your frustrations, I believe you do have the right attitude, and in the coming months you will look back at this aggravation with less disappointment.

Keep us posted!

BobT.

A Indiana Boy

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Every company has ups and downs. Some things just slip by (I'm an optimist!) If the dealer is helpful and the manufacturer is also responsive you're most of the way there.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I guess I fall under the boomer category... Having admitted that, I confess wandering all around these sites trying to make up my mind on which tractor is right for me. I thought the CubCadet 7305 would be right but have been bombarded by those telling me no resale value.
Question, what will the longterm resale value be on these 4xxx class JD's which seem to be starting out with a bad streak of luck (or quality)... ??
So, once I decide on the size tractor, I moved on to bang for the buck but now am totally confused regarding these JD's...
(I have a 12 acre horse farm and plan to use the compact tractor for everything from mucking to landscaping to stump work to outbuilding prep work, etc)

 

[Anonymous Poster]

David, I'll relate to you what I was told by the dealership where I bought my tractor. By 50 hrs my tractor was in the shop for 10 days, torn down, chassis split. Just like the first poster expressed, my initial dealings weren't the most pleasant experiences so there was alot of discussion about trade-in. Basically their position was that if I traded then(less than 2 mo. old) I'd lose money but that if I kept it for 10 yrs it would be worth all that I paid for it. For sure certain things in demand do. Good used compacts are tough to find especially around here(I'm in VT too). Just look at the value HARLEY-DAVIDSON'S carry. 20 years ago after all the problems during the 70's very few people wanted to buy one, let alone own one. Lots of people wanted Honda. Honda gained for its reliability at the time (kinda like an orange /green thing thing.)/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Any way the resale value of a Honda or any of the big 4 imports doesn't even come close to an H-D after ten years.
BTW What part of VT are you in? I'm in the southwest corner of the state. DFB

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Branch--when the 4200+ series first appeared, there were problems with front ends, hydro trannys, brakes, fogging dash glass, PTOs, etc. and my 4400 had all of these ills. My tractor was manufactured over 18 months ago and has finally been fully healed (I HOPE). My point here is that JD was aware of quality control issues 18 months ago and if, as JD told you, they are STILL aware of quality control issues with newly manufactured tractors in this same line of tractors--have they not learned anything in 18 months?? WHY are they STILL having QC problems after this length of time?? Thank goodness for caring JD dealers and quality JD service technicians.

 

[Branch]

Because of all the negatives that I'd read on this and another website about Deere's 4XXX series of tractors I posted my thoughts and experience with Deere. I'd read other peoples posts about how Deere didn't care, their dealer didn't care, and Green sucked.
When I sent the nasty gram to Deere I expected the same negative results. On the contrary, they responded, and seemed genuinely concerned. It seemed odd to me that my luck was so good when others was so poor. Interestingly, since I posted I've noticed that the number of complaints about this series of tractors has changed considerably. I'm not seeing the number of posts that I used to about how problems are falling on deaf ears. Hmmm.
My tractor came back and works just fine. Shortly after that, a neighbor asked my opinion of the tractor since they were weighing Kubota vs Deere. I told them that I was satisfied with both the tractor , Deere, and the dealer. They bought a 4400 with hydro, now have about 100 hours on it and seem quite pleased. The only negative comment he's made is that sometimes he wished he'd bought a bigger more powerful tractor since he has lots of work to do. With the stumping I have to do I wish I had a 500hp ground pounding track layer, I just don't know what I'd do with it after about 3 hours of work. It'll take me 20 times as long with the 4300 but I don't consider that a bad thing. Once the heavy stuff is done my 4300 will be a pleasure when it comes to maintaing the property.
I guess the conclusion to all this is that I'm happy with my tractor choice. I was frustrated that the best toy I've ever had needed servicing so quickly. But the problem was solved by a good dealer and a good manufacturer. Both apologized for putting me through the trouble. JD was not the arrogant cold company that others had posted about. Go Green Machine.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Branch

I think there tends to be more negative posts then positive posts because the people who are happy with their tractors simply have no reason to post. These people don't have any problems to solve so they spend their time enjoying their tractors instead of spending their time composing posts. So, Branch, you don't get the whole picture of reality by reading posts in forums like this.

I have a JD 4300 HST and have nothing but praise for the tractor and dealer. Now please excuse me while I go outside and fireup my green toy!

Chuck in Indiana

 

[RobertN]

Chuck,
Yes, people these days tend to dwell on the negative.

But... I have seen mostly positive notes, or "how do I" notes on the Kubota side of this board, and in the New Holland section for that matter. I followed the JD problems on the Compact Tractor board for a while. It seemed the same; Kubota and New Holland had mostly positive or how-to posts.

I tend to be mostly color blind about this stuff. If I were to replace my Kubota, I would lean towards a JD4300HST. I AM very partial to Farmall Red though/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif


RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif