Kubota parts and supplies are RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE

[tjkubota93]

I had a Kubota M4900 for about 14 years. It was a very good tractor and served me well. I usually relied on Wix to supply my filters but had a weak moment and went to my Kubota dealer for 2 hydraulic filters and 1 oil filter. The Wix filters were usually around $40. I have done a lot of research on Wix and they are proven to have excellent filtration qualities. I don't know who makes the Kubota filters but the 3 filters for my M4900 were a few pennies short of $100. I'm sure they were no better than the Wix and I suspect they were not as good.

Anyway, I sold most of my land, sold the M4900 and bought a smaller tractor. I took delivery of a L2501 HST about two weeks ago. It is a nimble little tractor, the fel is a wonderful device (my old tractor didn't have one) and it mows my 12 acres pretty good, although very slowly. I bought the L2501 because it falls below the requirements for a DPF filter. Although the new DPF systems are working pretty well right now, I was concerned about having to keep them going years down the road, after the warranty is gone.

After about 15 hours on the little L2501 I ran over a stick (about 1" diameter) that kicked up and went into my fan. Thank goodness it didn't go into the radiator. It did break one of the blades off the fan. I finished what I was working on (after I got the stick out) and it worked fine for a couple of hours. I called my Kubota dealer and inquired about a new fan. They didn't have one in stock but they offered to order me one for $144, plus tax. This little fan is about 4 ounces of PLASTIC. If I can't find an aftermarket part, then the one I have will just have to do. I don't know who is making a ridiculous profit on this "genuine Kubota" stuff but somebody is laughing all the way to the bank.

If anybody out there knows where I can find aftermarket parts for this little jewel, please let me know.

THANKS

I'm not reading 13 pages, but maybe you could adapt some sort of electric fan?

Edit,

I read 13 pages. I guess you dont want electric fan.

 

[radios1]

Thanks, If my cousin's husband will pull it off, I may try to weld and machine it myself.

if cast iron, it needs to be properly pre heated, welded, then cooled slowly in an oven.. else, it'll crack.. if it's aluminum, just a TIG welder with Argon is needed. I think it's cast iron though..

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

if cast iron, it needs to be properly pre heated, welded, then cooled slowly in an oven.. else, it'll crack.. if it's aluminum, just a TIG welder with Argon is needed. I think it's cast iron though..

It is cast iron. I have an oven to bring it up and back down.

 

[radios1]

It is cast iron. I have an oven to bring it up and back down.

excellent, keep us posted, there may be others here that have that tractor, and would benefit from anything learned in the rebuild..

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

excellent, keep us posted, there may be others here that have that tractor, and would benefit from anything learned in the rebuild..

I have also considered cnc milling a new one from scratch, depending on the porting.

 

[tjkubota93]

I don't think the explanation in post #54 is lame. It's probably accurate. But if the parts handling process at the dealer level is so labor intensive that it makes the parts unafordable then why don't the dealers simply get together and fix that outdated process? Because if they don't, someone else will.

I wonder how long it will be before Amazon gets into the OEM parts business?
rScotty

That's where I buy all my acdelco and mopar stuff. Usually half price of the local jobber who is cheaper than the dealer.

Third party sellers on Amazon mark up to cover listing fees, amazon sells dirt cheap to run off all the competition.

My brother sells on amazon. He says he steers clear of anything they sell. He thinks they undercut third party sellers and places like wal mart on purpose. They watch what people list and will go to the source to eek out the middle man on high volume movers.

 

[Threepoint]

It is cast iron. I have an oven to bring it up and back down.

Kyle, as radios1 said, please keep us posted if you do this. Better yet, start a dedicated thread, with pics as you go through the process! I'm sure there are a lot of members who would be interested. :thumbsup:

 

[rScotty]

Back to the parts price problem. I don't think it is a Kubota problem as much as it is a dealer problem for all mechanical repairs. Messick's pointed out that dealers charge what they do for their parts because of the way the parts are distributed and handled. To me that sounds like all the parts departments are inefficient. It isn't limited to any one make, it's an industry problem.

But I think the parts system is about to fix itself because of alternative online parts. For example, I just got my car back from the toyota dealer for some emissions work. The parts are all listed so I looked them up. The dealer charged me 3x what I can buy the same part for online. That is with me paying retail OEM online.
The dealer also charges an hourly labor charge and a roughly equal separate diagnostic charge. That's not a knock on Toyota, it's a knock on a system that serves the dealer more than the customer.

Anytime a system gets so far out of balance, I believe it's just a matter of time before someone steps in to fix it. In this case it looks like it will be the internet parts sellers. Maybe some genius will combine parts with online diagnostics. If someone does that - mixes online faullt diagnosis with OEM parts I'd bet they could make a billion $$ while fixing this parts and repair rip.
rScotty

 

[D2Cat]

Somebody has to pay for the donuts, coffee and the lights being on all night!

 

[Travelover]

Here is what you do. Buy a new Kubota and completely disassemble it. Tag and inventory every part then advertise them on eBay for, say, 80% of dealer prices. Once you cover the cost of the tractor, it is all profit from there on. I'd imagine a complete Kubota is good for $100K :laughing: