Kubota Rear Wheels not round

[RickB]

Jim;


You might want to ask the dealer why he sold you defective wheels when

he should have sold you cast rims instead? You did not get an answer period.


leon

Nobody uses cast iron rims; haven't for decades. Cast centers, yes, cast rims, no.
Flat spotted tires cause more ride complaints than new rims ever did. Any tire will flat spot when parked, some more than others.

I can't believe this poor dead horse is still getting beaten.

 

[Fromjim]

I am posting this here for those who have been helpful on this thread, it is also posted under "Kubota complaint contacts", thanks to all for your help.

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while but things are just starting to roll, Kubota Canada contacted my dealer and he contacted me, they want my tractor in their shop so they can see if they can fix my problem, so far we all agree that there is a problem with the rear wheels, I didn't want to let them take it at this time since it was all setup for winter and we can get huge amounts at any time, I asked to wait for spring and the dealer said Kubota wanted this fixed now!! Well my tractor was supposed to be there for one day that is now extended to 7 or 8 days. So far they have replaced the right rim and cast weight, which was not as bad as the right so I don't know why. They asked me to come down and try it out, 50 mile drive, I went down and said I would not accept just having the right wheel replaced since the left was the one that had a flat spot. I said if they were done that I would buy a wheel myself and have it installed at home. The manager said he would not let me leave if I was not satisfied and he agreed to order a new rim for the left side, this is supposed to arrive Monday.
Please say a prayer for them and me, I want this to be a good experience for all of us.

God bless
I'll keep you posted
Jim

 

[leonz]

Hello Jim,

I am glad they are doing this for you finally I hope the new wheels are better than the originals.

 

[Fromjim]

Merry Christmas Everyone,


Well I have my tractor back and as I said a few days ago I didn't want to comment on what they did in repairing the wheels until I had re-tested the roundness. When I got the tractor I took it for a ride and was disappointed in the ride, it seemed as bad as ever, I even drove to our local tire dealer who has a very good reputation and long service with all types of tires, I wanted his opinion. I must admit my ride was not good but not the same as before, the tires hit hard for the first mile or so and then became a little smoother, but the tractor seemed more stable,and did not wobble from side to side, which I believe was caused by flat spots on the rims. I explained this to him and he said bias ply tires do become flat spotted after sitting for a long while and are worst in the cold, radial tires he said are more flexable and usually smoother although he did not reccomend the expense of changing since there was no guarantee I would be satisfied. I thanked him for the advice and went home to check the tires/wheels with a laser. The laser verified that the wheel rims had been changed or worked on and were very good, the laser never went off the width of the lip on the wheel rim. This also proves what many in this forum said, tires are most often the deciding factor in a smooth ride. My dealer has in the past exchanged bias tires for radial at no cost, the reason is that some people working in the forest prefer the toughness and lower price of bias ply tires since they eventually cut the side walls on sharp rocks while hauling logs and will ask the dealer at time of purchase to exchange them for bias ply tires, the dealer simply asks someone, like me, if they are interested in exchanging tires, so I am going to ask them to keep a set of radials for me if they have such a deal in the future, even if I have to pay an exchange fee.
You can see the rims (after repair) on YouTube here,

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Thank you everyone,

God bless
Jim

 

[Gale Hawkins]

In top gear I never had a tractor that would not throw you from side to side some but since I do fewer than 10,000 miles a year on the road on the tractor I just never gave it much thought and take the position that it is normal.:thumbsup:

 

[MarkV]

Like Gale says, both of my Kubota's seem to have a rough ride and especially after setting or cold. I also don't go on the road much so I am not a good example. I find it interesting that some Kubota's come with radial tires in Canada. I am not aware of that happening in the states at all and have always considered it an expensive up grade. Radials are considered great for mud and ride, from what I hear, with the down side being you can't use liquid ballast in them which is something I would not give up.

MarkV

 

[rdsaustintx]

Can't believe this thread is still alive.

Jim, your ride quality is an obsessive point (esp. relative to most user opinions on this board). But you have been measured, consistent and polite in relating your concerns. Absent such diplomatic skills, you might have been flamed for trolling. I hope you are on the right side of this line with your dealer as well, who sound like good people to do business with.

I hope you have a happy New Year and things smooth out, figuratively and literally.

Russell in BubbaLand

 

[Fromjim]

I just came across this thread and thought I should fill in those interested, This is October 2014, I am completely amazed and pleased with the effort my dealer, the Firestone company and Kubota. After contacting Firestone they came to the conclusion that my tires had been mounted improperly and no amount of work would right it, they therefore offered me new replacement tires for all 4 wheels, the invoice for the tires alone was $8000.00, plus transporting my tractor to the installer (50 miles) plus all labor, they even upgraded the tires from bias ply to radials at absolutely no cost to me. I got the tractor back and to this day I still have the exact same problem, I just don't have the heart to tell them, I have read a lot of bad things about dealers, Kubota and other problems people have but I believe they went to the extreme trying to help me. My own curiosity would like to know and solve this problem, I'll keep praying, who knows. What brings this back to life is last week I was helping my son and used my tractor, the drive to his home is on new, smooth pavement and the rocking and bouncing just about drove me crazy, the tractor was used for about 4 hours before the drive back home and the drive did not improve. I am going to leave this with you guys, and someone said my email address did not work, well here it is should you like to write me, fromjim@yahoo.com . God bless all Jim

 

[Reg]

I just came across this thread and thought I should fill in those interested, This is October 2014, I am completely amazed and pleased with the effort my dealer, the Firestone company and Kubota. After contacting Firestone they came to the conclusion that my tires had been mounted improperly and no amount of work would right it, they therefore offered me new replacement tires for all 4 wheels, the invoice for the tires alone was $8000.00, plus transporting my tractor to the installer (50 miles) plus all labor, they even upgraded the tires from bias ply to radials at absolutely no cost to me. I got the tractor back and to this day I still have the exact same problem, I just don't have the heart to tell them, I have read a lot of bad things about dealers, Kubota and other problems people have but I believe they went to the extreme trying to help me. My own curiosity would like to know and solve this problem, I'll keep praying, who knows. What brings this back to life is last week I was helping my son and used my tractor, the drive to his home is on new, smooth pavement and the rocking and bouncing just about drove me crazy, the tractor was used for about 4 hours before the drive back home and the drive did not improve. I am going to leave this with you guys, and someone said my email address did not work, well here it is should you like to write me, fromjim@yahoo.com . God bless all Jim

I see that as GROSS INCOMPETENCE !
Bottom line;; you STILL have a defective tractor and STILL nobody knows why - err,,, and you seem to be PLEASED with that ?

So, somebody blew >$8K out of a warranty budget, so what ?
Just throwing MONEY at problems might impress some people, I'm not one of them.
Applying some troubleshooting skills just MIGHT have saved most of that money - and just by the way FIXED the original issue.
Guessing and swapping parts is NOT a troubleshooting skill.

I suppose the next step would be to replace hubs, then axles, then ??? I don't now, but that is the way that speculative parts swapping seems to go.

 

[Fromjim]

I see that as GROSS INCOMPETENCE !
Bottom line;; you STILL have a defective tractor and STILL nobody knows why - err,,, and you seem to be PLEASED with that ?

So, somebody blew >$8K out of a warranty budget, so what ?
Just throwing MONEY at problems might impress some people, I'm not one of them.
Applying some troubleshooting skills just MIGHT have saved most of that money - and just by the way FIXED the original issue.
Guessing and swapping parts is NOT a troubleshooting skill.

I suppose the next step would be to replace hubs, then axles, then ??? I don't now, but that is the way that speculative parts swapping seems to go.

I suppose you are right, I guess I'm getting too old to fight, you sound like I did 30 years ago. My goal today is simply to try and get some advice that could lead to a satisfactory repair. My opinion is that the wheels are out of round and that is compounded by the fact that these wheels are probably too weak for the weight of the tractor plus wheel weights, I noticed the bouncing became worst after hitting a huge gopher hole while mowing hay at 7 or 8 MPH, I think the wheels bend out of round easily, I would have bought new wheels but Kubota doesn't have stronger wheels as far as I know. The other part of the problem is communications, I had selected one wheel that I had checked with a laser on a tripod and was not round, I asked them to replace the wheel, they did, but they changed the wrong side of the tractor, the problem actually became worst. This is a very difficult problem to remedy since most people will never know about it if they don't have smooth roads to drive on, the first year I had the tractor our main road was covered with patched pot holes and I never noticed the bouncing until the road was repaved to a very smooth surface. If you never leave the farm or only drive to blow snow you will never know the difference, plus some people think and expect a tractor to bounce around, I find it hard to believe they expect $100,000.00 tractor with all these automation, technology and options should drive this rough on a perfectly smooth road. Some people don't even want this pursued, all I can say is, that's your opinion, thank you, I have paid for this tractor, it's mine, and I like the tractor, my goal is the get it to ride reasonably and get a very good tractor running smoothly.
Some one out there has a solution and I want to have that knowledge available to others, owners and dealers. Someone may have a logical way of getting Kubota to pay attention, I am sure this company wants satisfied customers, that's how they stay in business. Anyone who wants to communicate with me directly is welcome. Thank you for any help, God bless you, Jim email: fromjim@yahoo.com

 

[Reg]

It is my "opinion" that leonz has the needed knowledge and skills.
That he can't help you DIRECTLY is unfortunate - that Kubota (appear to) use flimsy/fragile wheels is also unfortunate.
One POSSIBLE path would be to get more substantial wheels for it... If you wanted to go that far, at YOUR expense, since upgrading to non-Kubota parts would not be covered under warranty - or dealer good will.

The bolt size and bolt hole circle diameter are standard, so you COULD find aftermarket wheels/rims.
I no longer have the bookmark, but somewhere in this forum is a pointer to a QUALITY wheel/rim manufacturer.
(I'll post that if I come across it later)

BTW, I have no Kubota loyalties so I can say the following;
Size for size Kubota tractors are generally lighter construction than some of the other brands.
For "MOWING" this is regarded by some as a FEATURE. For ground engagement tasks (field work), not so much.
I don't now how/where they "achieve the weight savings" (sic) but it is one of the reasons that I have always avoided the brand.

The only tractor that I run at any sort of speed on hard surfaces is the little Kukje (Branson/Century).
It can do about 17 MPH, but the rear tires are filled, so it becomes incredibly uncomfortable as it goes through about 14 or 15.
I tend to keep it at around 10 MPH just to avoid going through the resonant speed.

I wish you luck with this, but I doubt that the manufacturer will agree that the wheels/rims are flimsy/fragile, so you are probably at the end of THEIR road.

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

I did not read entire thread but jack up tractor with wheels off ground and then spin them to see if out of round could be tires but since they were changed un likely how about wheels not centered or axle bent. just some ideas I would want it fix any case.

 

[Grandad4]

Jim, your tractor is much larger than mine, so take this suggestion with a grain of salt, but have you tried inflating the tires to different pressures to see if that changes their behavior on the road? With mine, I've found that having less air pressure in the rear tires, such as would give the maximum contact patch and field traction, will set up a bouncing vibration on the pavement at road speeds. Airing up the rears solves the bouncing immediately on my tractor. Since my tractor is a short wheelbase CUT, having weight in front and back amplifies the bouncing. I agree a tractor shouldn't bounce during road travel for safety reasons alone.