kioti DK55

[bub18gt]

This is the story on this tractor. I got this tractor( brand new) from a dealer that was about 10 miles from where I live. After putting about 47hrs on it, the injection pump went out on it and the dealer came and got it , replaced the pump. Ran fine , then a cylinder went out on the loader called the dealer for service and was told that he had went under. Called Kioti and the nearest dealer was 100 miles away. They would not let me take the cylinder off. Had to take the tractor to the dealer because if I worked on it ,the warranty would not be honored.Had to buy a trailer to haul the tractor to the nearest dealer. It had a little over 100hrs on it by then. They kept it 2 wks and I went back and got it. This cost me about 1800.00(trailer, gas and the charge for the 100 hr service. Kioti did replace the cylinder.
Now if the clutch is slipping, who is to work on it, if I did ,warranty would be voided. New dealer comes to town and I take it to him and he tells me that clutch was my job to adjust. Now the dealer that I got it from said not to work on it ,Kioti said not to work on it, so now I have clutch that has not got anymore adjustment left and Kioti will not fix it.

 

[Coyote machine]

This is the story on this tractor. I got this tractor( brand new) from a dealer that was about 10 miles from where I live. After putting about 47hrs on it, the injection pump went out on it and the dealer came and got it , replaced the pump. Ran fine , then a cylinder went out on the loader called the dealer for service and was told that he had went under. Called Kioti and the nearest dealer was 100 miles away. They would not let me take the cylinder off. Had to take the tractor to the dealer because if I worked on it ,the warranty would not be honored.Had to buy a trailer to haul the tractor to the nearest dealer. It had a little over 100hrs on it by then. They kept it 2 wks and I went back and got it. This cost me about 1800.00(trailer, gas and the charge for the 100 hr service. Kioti did replace the cylinder.
Now if the clutch is slipping, who is to work on it, if I did ,warranty would be voided. New dealer comes to town and I take it to him and he tells me that clutch was my job to adjust. Now the dealer that I got it from said not to work on it ,Kioti said not to work on it, so now I have clutch that has not got anymore adjustment left and Kioti will not fix it.

Let me get my head around the sequence: Your selling dealer fixed some injection pump problems, but had gone out of business before you could get the loader cylinder replaced? What year are we talking about?
Then you had to haul it to a new dealer 100 miles away to fix a loader cylinder. When?
Now, what dealer is telling you not to work on it (clutch?). When, recently?
And now? Kioti HQ is telling you not to work on it, (clutch?) even though you have no adjustment remaining...
Is this correct?
Has anyone, new dealer or Kioti HQ told you what a clutch disc replacement would cost?
Have you asked them to replace the disc if you pay the labor?

 

[bub18gt]

Tractor was purchased in June 2010 and the dealer that we got it from went out 5 months later. This was a dealer that I had brought tractors from before. I am not a fool on tractors, I have 1985 massey that I got new and it has had only one clutch put on it after all these years. Also have a massy 1135 used to pull a 15ft bushhog. The purchase dealer told me that I would not be able to work on tractor because of warranty and Kioti said the same thing about me taking the cylinder off and just taking it to the dealer 100 miles away. The new dealer gets 85.00 an hr for labor and said that it would take 26 hrs to fix that clutch plus 700.00 for parts. I am looking at 3000.00 on this. The warranty will be out on it in June of this yr. I will do the clutch work on this tractor when it finally goes out. I feel that the clutch on these tractors are not strong enough for a loader. I use round bales to feed and wanted one with a cab on it for the winter. We had a dealer just across state line that would have been closer for me on the cylinder but he told me that I didn't buy the tractor from him and he would not work on it. Had it been the dealer that I got it from,I feel that he would have done something about the clutch for me.

 

[ON84]

We might have the same clutch. We have a DK45S (gear) with 350 hours, with a lot of clutch use, but I baby it. We have not adjusted the clutch, and it still feels like new.

Please keep us posted, and if there is any information on why the clutch failed prematurely, please let us know.

Thanks.

 

[grsthegreat]

Replacing a clutch on a tractor is a huge issue. The quote on my old JD870 was in the $2,000 range; however the second dealer i took it to was able to adjust the old one enough so that 3 years later there was still a good amount of clutch play remaining. The first dealer told me it was all adjusted out and was time to split the tractor ...the rat *******.

Anyways, I dont believe a clutch plate is covered under anyone's warranties. But i would still call Kioti corporate and lodge a complaint. Ask to talk with area rep. Cant hurt.

Alot of times a rep can do alot more than a dealer can. Start off nice and build to angry American over time.

Personally, if it was me, and they told me that there was no warranty coverage, id do the work myself anyways. whos to know.

I know the company wouldn't want you to crack the hydraulic lines to replace the cylinder as this can lead to contamination...but really. this sure sounded like a load of **** to have to trailer in for a cylinder repair.

I always hauled my own tractor in for any repairs i could not do myself, but my new tractor is too heavy for my flatbed. Im going to have to bite the bullet and find a new trailer soon. the purchases never end do they.

 

[Coyote machine]

bub18gt,
Thanks for the further details. And for the record no one is suggesting you're a fool of any kind regarding tractors, or anything else for that matter.
What seems possible and most likely to me is you may have some defective part(s),perhaps the clutch disc itself that has failed prematurely. Its highly unlikely that you cooked a disc given the low hours and this not being your first clutch tractor.
BTW, it is absurd that you weren't allowed to remove the loader cylinder for repair; then why not just the loader?
I would contact Kioti HQ, if you haven't already done so, and ask for a senior service rep and an escalation of your woes, detailing everything from day one with your selling dealer having gone under to now and your dis-satisfaction with your tractor. A cabbed DK-55 is no small chunk of change and Kioti ought to take your case seriously, warrantied parts or not. I'd also send them a complete description of what has happened by certified mail to the person you speak with at HQ to create a chain of custody for your issues.
Be firm, but beg for mercy due to your continued woes about this particular machine. Kioti has to want to care about their customers, without us they have nothing.
Good luck, and don't give up.:thumbsup:

 

[Martian]

Even 318 hours of riding a clutch doesn't seem like it should go already! I'd be getting into contact with Kioti and see what they will do - hopefully a split at the least.

Edit: just saw there was two pages... Kind of a screwy situation, but I would stand by what I said that even riding a clutch for 318 hours should not happen, get in contact with Kioti and hope for a split of the repairs.

 

[DK35vince]

I know the company wouldn't want you to crack the hydraulic lines to replace the cylinder as this can lead to contamination...but really. this sure sounded like a load of **** to have to trailer in for a cylinder repair.

Must have been a dealer thing, I didn't have any problem taking in just a cylinder.
The only warrenty issue I ever had on my DK was a leaking bucket tilt cylinder on the loader when it was new.
I called the dealer and he ordered a seal kit. When the parts came in I took the cylinder to the dealer (90 miles away). He installed the new seal kit while I walked the lot looking at the new tractors.
30 minutes later I was on my way home with a repaired cylinder. Quick and easy.

 

[bub18gt]

Kioti is going to fix my clutch. The second dealer that I used for my 100 hrs service got them to put the bill. Your warranty is only has good as a dealership. The clutch was a bad one and this dealer had saw this before. Had to take it over one hundred miles to this one, but it was well worth it.

 

[250quality]

I just finished splitting mine to put a clutch in it as there was no more adjustment and way to much freeplay. When I removed the old clutch plate I noticed very little wear on it but ordered a new one anyway.When I compared the 2 plates I could see no difference in width by eye so I put in a new release bearing and the old clutch. I got this tractor at 250hrs used and the clevis on the clutch adjustment rod was wound to the end then with no more adjustment left and now has 1250 hours on it. I strongly believe there clutch linkage rod with with the clevis on it was to long right from the factory. Maybe it was for a different tractor and mixed up upon assembly? Today I'm shortening the rod for gain adjustment as the clutch plate still looks like new but I cant engage it far enough to use the rest of the lining up.
It was alot easier then I thought to split this tractor if anyone is thinking about doing there own. Also doing the head gasket as the rear cylinder fail but that's common on the older 55`s.