Buying Advice LS Warranty

[DOlwert]

The warranty I do for LS tractors is vague at best. This is from their website:

“Some companies make you pay extra for an extended warranty. We offer a six-year limited powertrain warranty, including parts and labor, on most of the tractors we sell—along with the two-year bumper to bumper* protection that comes with every LS. There’s no deductible, and not a lot of exclusions. Compare our short, easy to understand, no-nonsense warranty to the others and see for yourself that LS Tractor has you covered.”

Are the 3 point hitch parts bumper to bumper? I have around 55 hours and do relatively light work overall. I’ve used my brush hog once just to try it out but it was before a lot of growth so haven’t had the chance to use it. I was out yesterday using my grapple to haul some brush from one part of my yard to another and had the brush hog connected and lifted for some counter balance weight. About an hour in I heard a snap and immediately stopped. I look out and find the right top link and stabilizer sway have both snapped off.

My dealer says it isn’t covered under warrranty because LS will say I broke it. Is this true? If so, it’s pretty crazy to think that after roughly 50 hours it’s not sturdy enough to hold up a brush hog.

 

[Bearsixty7]

I could see them covering it or not, Depends.
What size brush hog? How rough was the terrain and what was your speed? Did you bounce it too hard with too heavy an attachment?
The manual states what size implements to use.

Now, It would be awesome of them to just cover it regardless as it shouldn't be too expensive (for them) for a 3pt arm and stabilizer, <$1K?

 

[DOlwert]

Thanks for the reply and great questions! Brush hog is a Modern Ag Super Sunshine 6’. The dealer said it would handle it no problem and sold it to me as part of buying the tractor (no package deals, just paid cash for the tractor, land leveler, brush hog, 3rd function kit and a 5’ grapple from Modern Ag as well).

Terrain is loamy sand so fairly soft. It wasn’t very bumpy but wasn’t super smooth either.

Speed-wise, I typically keep in in 2nd range and 1st gear when doing most work but will occasionally go into 3rd to cross the acreage. I don’t really go higher than 1st gear due to the sand and avoid spin outs.

I do agree it would have been nice for them to cover it. It’s $64 for the stabilizer sway and $84 for the side link. After spending $40-43k cash for everything, you’d think they would help out. I’ve emailed LS for clarification as well but will certainly not be buying from my local dealer unless this gets resolved satisfactorily.
I do appreciate your reply.

 

[tacticalturnip]

It's interesting that the best summary of the LS warranty comes from a dealer, and that's still vague.

You can find it on the website for Bruce's Tractor Sales, in Maine; I would upload the PDF but I can't figure out how and there is some rule about links that I don't remember the details of.

 

[jaydee325]

The tractor has a warranty. The attachments, even though painted blue, have a separate warranty. It's no more complicated than that.

I have never understood why people get so wound around the axle over warranty's. I made one warranty claim on mine and it was a minor issue (R3039H, bought in July 2013). LS is a quality tractor in my experience.

 

[tacticalturnip]

The tractor has a warranty. The attachments, even though painted blue, have a separate warranty. It's no more complicated than that.

I have never understood why people get so wound around the axle over warranty's. I made one warranty claim on mine and it was a minor issue (R3039H, bought in July 2013). LS is a quality tractor in my experience.

It wasn't an attachment that broke, as I understand it was one of the 3-point lift arms. That seems a rather important piece of the tractor itself.

All manufacturers will have issue from time to time, it is what it is, and that's why warranties exist.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I mean, the SCV lever on my 1025R broke off in my hands, that's not a common issue for any of the major tractor manufacturers.

 

[sd455dan]

I would check the side to side free play when you get the new lift arm.

Some tractor 3 points arm pivots are not on the same plane (axis) as the sway control links.

On my tractor the side to side free play diminishes as the implement is lifted to full height.
That has caused me to "Always" set the side to side play loose, Then lift to max height and then finally secure the setting.
If done the other way ... Setting free play at the lowest setting it becomes possible to lose all free play and then being Hydraulic something has to give, either the system will go into relief
Or something will bend or break.

Your tractor may not be this way- but It does not cost anything to confirm.

Just something to check and eliminate as a possible cause of broken parts.


Also bars are designed to be used in tension only so it pulls never tries to "compress' the assembly. With chains, well they obviously also only work in tension but they just go slack where a bar will bend or break.

 

[DOlwert]

It's interesting that the best summary of the LS warranty comes from a dealer, and that's still vague.

You can find it on the website for Bruce's Tractor Sales, in Maine; I would upload the PDF but I can't figure out how and there is some rule about links that I don't remember the details of.

Thank you for the guidance…I will check them out. I agree that the warranty from the manufacturer appears to claim more than they do in reality.

 

[DOlwert]

The tractor has a warranty. The attachments, even though painted blue, have a separate warranty. It's no more complicated than that.

I have never understood why people get so wound around the axle over warranty's. I made one warranty claim on mine and it was a minor issue (R3039H, bought in July 2013). LS is a quality tractor in my experience.

Just to clarify, this isn’t an attachment and completely understand they are separate. The question is if the side links are covered and if not, why do they break so easy. The tractor only has 50 hours on it. I’m glad you have not had any issues and hope that continues but I have not experienced the same and now concerned over quality due to lighter usage and breakage for a low amount of hours. My experience so far is not turning out well for LS or my dealer.

 

[DOlwert]

I mean, the SCV lever on my 1025R broke off in my hands, that's not a common issue for any of the major tractor manufacturers.

Exactly!!

 

[DOlwert]

I would check the side to side free play when you get the new lift arm.

Some tractor 3 points arm pivots are not on the same plane (axis) as the sway control links.

On my tractor the side to side free play diminishes as the implement is lifted to full height.
That has caused me to "Always" set the side to side play lose, Then lift to max height and then finally secure the setting.
If done the other way ... Setting free play at the lowest setting it becomes possible to lose all free play and then being Hydraulic something has to give, either the system will go into relief
Or something will bend or break.

Your tractor may not be this way- but It does not cost anything to confirm.

Just something to check and eliminate as a possible cause of broken parts.


Also bars are designed to be used in tension only so it pulls never tries to "compress' the assembly. With chains, well they obviously also only work in tension but they just go slack where a bar will bend or break.

Interesting and I can see where that makes a ton of sense. I will certainly check that when I get it fixed. Thank you!

 

[tacticalturnip]

Thank you for the guidance…I will check them out. I agree that the warranty from the manufacturer appears to claim more than they do in reality.

Just for clarification, I was referring to linking to their website, not the link arms lol. I should have clarified given the problem you're having, lol.

 

[DOlwert]

Just for clarification, I was referring to linking to their website, not the link arms lol. I should have clarified given the problem you're having, lol.

Haha…I understood and was able to download and send to my dealer. The only thing that’s excluded are tires, rims and a few other things but only because they’re covered by those manufacturers. I did get clarification from the dealer on why they told me out of warranty. They said “They’ll just say you broke them”. To me, that isn’t a very good reason. They can come out to my property and see that I don’t have anything or doing anything that would cause that on my own.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Haha…I understood and was able to download and send to my dealer. The only thing that’s excluded are tires, rims and a few other things but only because they’re covered by those manufacturers. I did get clarification from the dealer on why they told me out of warranty. They said “They’ll just say you broke them”. To me, that isn’t a very good reason. They can come out to my property and see that I don’t have anything or doing anything that would cause that on my own.

To think they wouldn't even make an attempt says a lot about your dealer; the only reason for them to not bat for you is if they feel you broke it. A good dealer can get a lot done on behalf of their customers.

 

[steig]

Try a different dealer. That should be covered

 

[Avenger]

This is going to be hit or miss and is up to the dealership. They will need to make the case to corporate if they wish to cover it. At John Deere, it was extremely hard to cover 3pt links under any warranty, why? Negligence.
3pt links are designed to lift and pull forwards. They are not designed for backhoes, or for pushing heavy loads in reverse (think pushing a rear blade in reverse dosing a pile of mud), but people do it. And a break is a break. "I'm sorry dear tractor owner." says the dealership mechanic, "But I just don't believe that they simply snapped. You did something you were not supposed to." Thats what they are thinking. When in fact, you could be absolutely correct, and have never abused them in the slightest. In the eyes of corporate (and some dealers), the burden of proof lies with you, and you must prove that its not negligence. Unfortunately, good luck with that.

Some might even consider the links to be separate from the tractor, as in an attachment, like the FEL. Even though the FEL is almost always connected to the tractor, its still separate. In fact, the links are easier to remove (on mine) than the FEL! I have even heard of a dealer calling the links (in this case it was the top link) a consumable, like your wiper blades!

But, a good dealer with a good reputation and in good standing with corporate could get them covered. But I wouldn't expect them to.
The warranty is a sales pitch, for everything. It's icing on the cake and is intentionally vague. It's to give you that warm fuzzy feeling that if anything goes wrong, its covered. Well, thats not completely accurate.