Hoping someone out there has some sage advice?!? About a month ago I set the parking brake on my relatively new L3901DT, walked about 25 ft to my pasture gate and opened it, turned around to see that the parking brake had failed and my tractor had rolled within just a few feet of me and was stopped by a fence corner brace post (which fortunately was a 12" utility pole post!). The right front quick disconnect of the FEL is what made contact with the post... obviously it is bent AND the dealer is telling me the FEL frame itself is bent about 1". He also informed me today after having it for 3 weeks that Kubota will not cover the repair under warranty!
I loathe the thought of legal action (sorry to any attorneys out there but pretty cynical about the whole legal system)... but not sure what to do? Have a call into Kubota service section... so far no return call. A few feet to the left and my would be widow wife would be asking these questions!! Any thoughts or help from anyone who's had success dealing with reasonably minded people within Kubota would be much appreciated... thank you.
Greetings Andiamo,
With all due respect . . before you make another phone call . . you need to establish a clearer and easier to understand story. Others posting here are being too gentle . . and I believe the best way to help you is to tell it like it is.
1. If you set the brake and left tractor running in neutral . . that would show you have not disconnected the seat safety switch. However if the tractor was turned off but left in drive . . a hydrostatic or gear drive would have held the tractor in place. Does the parking brake currently work now or is it faulty? My point is . . how could the tractor have moved even a foot . . is not explained in your post?
2. To bend a fel arm by an inch would require considerable pressure. How is that created by moving from a dead stop in 25 feet (obviously it is not moving forward under engaged power) . . so the only force available is just gravity ?????
3. What took 3 weeks? Dealers are busy . . I get that. But a bend of an inch is quite noticeable . . so ????
4. Others here are "assuming" you have KTAC insurance which is not a logical assumption. You may have paid cash or financed thru another source etc. etc. . . . so did the dealer try to get warranty coverage because you don't have ktac insurance ?
5. What did the dealer say is the cost of repair ? Will your deductible on any insurance you have make it worth a claim?
My point is this . . your story is very hard to believe because the amount of damage from a parked/stopped unit to 25 feet movement only by gravity seems unlikely. That doesn't mean it isn't true . . but it does mean your story isn't easily convincing and you need to improve the clarity of the story to be more easily understood.
And here is why. If the parking brake failed it should still be failed. But if that parking brake works fine now . . then it means you were careless or reckless . . and warranties and many insurance coverages don't cover careless or reckless behavior by the operator.
Also . . that level of damage in only 25 feet or less of movement . . implies you were under power and not gravity. So was it much more than 25 feet or was it a vety steep slope or ???? My point is . . the teller of the story has to recognize the less believable the story . . the more facts, details, and description is required for it to be believable.
If you are to be believed by Kubota (warranty) or the dealer or insurance carrier . . . you don't need to make up a story but you do need one that is clarified and reasonable in its explaination.
What you wrote so far is neither clarified or "reasonable" to undetstand in my opinion. Whether it is kubota or a lawyer or your dealer . . you win ONLY when your story explains the circumstances/damage you describe. Cool emotions and clear description and details is the key (and no assumptions on your part that they will automatically understand).
Good luck is my hope . . Better effort on your part is my opinion.
