I must say that all 3 pages of this thread were very interesting reading in as much as I was following Highbeams initial request for the repair of his loader and the resulting cobbled up mess. I also observed the alternate heating and cooling of the threads temperment, the rant and raves of the posters and the final outcome (maybe) from Kioti Corporate and the resultant repair whether just cosmetically or structurally, I'm not sure because I own 2 Kubota's, not Kioti's. Having said that and following the threads (as I assume literally hundreds, maybe thousands of prospective Kioti buyers have), I would not consider a Kioti in lieu of a Kubota, JD, NH or whatever. Considering the base of readership on TBYNet, this ongoing problem has had to injure Kioti to a great extent.
Hopefully, Kioti has researched the repair well and isn't just trying to mitigate their liability until the warranty period ends, I guess on that score, I'll follow the posts.
Couple of things though. I've owned over 7 Kubota's and any Kubota I've owned, including my M9000 and my 105SA, if, in need of warranty work (or otherwise) are always picked up, repaired and returned by either dealer I deal with and both dealers are over 30 miles from the farm. Contrary to Bird (I hate to disagree with him) (and I reviewed my past and present contracts), in no case was I liable for transportation either to or from the dealer. My present tractors are actually too large for me to transport anyway, other than driving them to the dealer though I would if I had a JCB Fastrak.
The other thing is that I just had an engine failure on my Cub Cadet 60" ZTR mower. An internal magnet that excites the under the flywheel alternator let go and uckered the stator, at 23 hours. I called Cub, they gave me the number of my closest servicing dealer (not where I bought it) and I stopped at the dealer, explained what happened, showed them the remains of the magnet (faulty epoxy), they told me they were backed up 3 weeks. I asked if I could install a new flywheel and stator myself. They said no problem and ordered the parts. They even told me the air gap on the ignition coils. No muss, no fuss, I'll have a flywheel in a week...........Just goes to show you that even a Japanese (Kawasaki) engine isn't immune to quality problems.
Good luck and hopefully closure on your loader problems. Like many others, I'll be lurking, reading and watching the eventual outcome.
I've just owned two Kubotas and the "warranty" (as printed in the Operator's Manual, not the sales contract) stated that you had to take them to a dealer. Now of course, some dealers offer free pickup and delivery service (within some limited distance, I would assume) while others do not. And in one case, when I had a problem, a Kubota factory service rep came to my home and worked on the tractor. And that was when I lived 20 miles out in the boondocks and 50 miles from my dealer.
