Loader letter arrived!

jwease · Apr 12, 2007

I got my letter about a week ago. States that, "your authorized KIOTI Dealer must perform this modification and it is available at no charge for parts or labor, regardless of your FEL warranty status." Just got to get it there now.

John

rback33 · Apr 12, 2007

Got to be loader w/ bucket. Otherwise most of your capacity would be gone when u put the bucket on.

IslandTractor · Apr 12, 2007

Dmace said:
Anyone know how much it weighs?
The website says Approximate Weight /bucket - 650 lbs but is that the bucket alone or loader with the bucket?

The bucket weighs about 200lbs. I don't know if the 650lb figure is the bucket and loader or loader alone. I'm reasonably sure that the BH could lift 650lbs if you could figure out how to do it at less than full extension.

Steverino · Apr 12, 2007

IslandTractor said:
The bucket weighs about 200lbs. I don't know if the 650lb figure is the bucket and loader or loader alone. I'm reasonably sure that the BH could lift 650lbs if you could figure out how to do it at less than full extension.

IslandTractor, if your truck bed has a plastic liner or you put something down that will slide, you could juts raise one end back the truck under it so you can let it rest on the bed. Then reposition your tractor and raise the other end and slowly back the truck under it sliding the loader along the bed. You could also rig up a gantry crane with some 2x4s and a block-n-tackle and do it in a similar fashion.

IslandTractor · Apr 12, 2007

Steverino said:
IslandTractor, if your truck bed has a plastic liner or you put something down that will slide, you could juts raise one end back the truck under it so you can let it rest on the bed. Then reposition your tractor and raise the other end and slowly back the truck under it sliding the loader along the bed. You could also rig up a gantry crane with some 2x4s and a block-n-tackle and do it in a similar fashion.

Better yet I intend to convince some dealer, mine or otherwise, to give me the kit so I can install it myself. Moving even the FEL to the dealer for this repair is a waste of time and money. I can turn nuts onto bolts just fine thank you.

malk315 · Apr 12, 2007

For the record, I got my loader letter today.

I need 50 hour service (hour meter says 60!) so it will go in for hopefully both 50 hour service and loader torque box kit installation at the same time to avoid bringing the machine up there twice.

Hoping to have my trailer set to go tomorrow -- that's another thread.

Steverino · Apr 12, 2007

IslandTractor said:
Better yet I intend to convince some dealer, mine or otherwise, to give me the kit so I can install it myself. Moving even the FEL to the dealer for this repair is a waste of time and money. I can turn nuts onto bolts just fine thank you.

Ops,

sorry IslandTractor, I had a senior moment and merged yours and Demac’s post into one. I’ve got to start drinking more coffee.

sodamo · Apr 13, 2007

Well I sure hope there is an User Installed option when they get to the KL130. There is no Kioti dealer on the island and it would be cost prohibitive (for me) to transport it to Maui for such a simple fix.

David

RedRocker · Apr 13, 2007

I'm with you guys, it's a one way 45 mile trip to my dealer, time consuming and expensive to go out to the property, pick it up and haul it back for something like that.

IslandTractor · Apr 13, 2007

I'm afraid this whole "only the dealer can do it" thing is just further evidence of Korporate Kioti's lack of customer focus. What are they thinking? Do they really expect customers to shell out hundreds of dollars and in many cases a couple days of customer time necessary to transport our tractors to dealers so some guy at the dealer can tighten ten or twelve bolts? We've seen photos of this repair kit and it just doesn't look like something that requires a diesel mechanic to handle. I think I could talk my 4 yo daughter through the process (she loves tightening bolts).

Undoubtedly this anti consumer policy is related to liability concerns by some Kioti lawyer. Fine, then let them prepare a waiver certificate that I would be delighted to sign and return before having the kit shipped to me.

I don't doubt that some of the customer friendly dealers will circumvent this stupid Kioti policy but it ticks me off that Kioti is essentially putting the burden on the dealer to do that rather than doing the right thing and legitimizing the option of customer installation.

Kioti has screwed up this loader repair thing for over a year now and they seem determined to continue screwing it up. Maybe the company needs a new motto: Kioti: Nice Tractors, Dumb Management. Or perhaps just a slight modification of their current motto: Kioti- Ahead of the pack despite lame management.

I for one am definitely not spending the two full days and over $500 necessary to get my tractor back to the dealer for this "voluntary" repair. If Kioti fails to satisfy me by providing a repair kit, I will simply make the repair myself and continue to point out to anyone who ever asks about these tractors how poor the company's customer support policies have been.