My letter to Kioti, loader rerepair, long

[TractorLegend]

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As for transportation of the loader for repair, I do not believe that it is necessary for the tractor to be present for the repair, so please don’t forget that the loader detaches from the tractor rather easily and could be transported in the bed of a pickup truck or small utility trailer.

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Then theres the "I welded it, it used to fit, now it's warped" possibility-depending on how gung-ho one gets with beefing/welding

 

[TractorLegend]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( .

As for transportation of the loader for repair, I do not believe that it is necessary for the tractor to be present for the repair, so please don’t forget that the loader detaches from the tractor rather easily and could be transported in the bed of a pickup truck or small utility trailer.

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Then theres the "I welded it, it used to fit, now it's warped" possibility-depending on how gung-ho one gets with beefing/welding

 

[Highbeam]

When I first dropped off my loader for the hack job I kept the tractor and left them with the loader. The loader went back on despite 15 lbs of rod being added to the frame.

The loader attachment adds nearly 1000 lbs to the tractor which includes the bucket and subframe probably but I would bet the frame itself is heavy and would not want to be alone when trying to load the loader into a pickup bed for transport.

Sorry Steve about the cracks, but welcome to the crack club. I also underestimated the thickness of the crossbrace sheet metal. It looks to be a healthy 1/8" or maybe even more.

For all you folks waiting for a Kioti fix- Be sure to get your dealer in contact with Kioti or contact Kioti yourself. Just waiting quietly does not alert Kioti to the urgency of our problem.

 

[Highbeam]

When I first dropped off my loader for the hack job I kept the tractor and left them with the loader. The loader went back on despite 15 lbs of rod being added to the frame.

The loader attachment adds nearly 1000 lbs to the tractor which includes the bucket and subframe probably but I would bet the frame itself is heavy and would not want to be alone when trying to load the loader into a pickup bed for transport.

Sorry Steve about the cracks, but welcome to the crack club. I also underestimated the thickness of the crossbrace sheet metal. It looks to be a healthy 1/8" or maybe even more.

For all you folks waiting for a Kioti fix- Be sure to get your dealer in contact with Kioti or contact Kioti yourself. Just waiting quietly does not alert Kioti to the urgency of our problem.

 

[Steverino]

Island tractor states:
“Then theres the "I welded it, it used to fit, now it's warped" possibility-depending on how gung-ho one gets with beefing/welding”

I agree it could be a disaster if done by an amateur, e.g. Highbeams rig. But as we both agree that the only acceptable repair would be a Kioti certified repair accompanied by a service bulletin. I would hope that the bulletin would address that issue as well as contain the original drawings and specifications used construct the arms originally as they were mass-produced at the factory.

As far as loading the arms, sans bucket, onto a pickup. My approach is this: I call up a couple of buddies and invite them to stop by for pizza and beer. After a the usual festivities I casually mention that I might have forgotten to mention that I am in need of help loading a SMALL /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif piece of metal into my truck, well you get the picture. My pals know I’m a snake /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif but the allure of free pizza and beer overwhelms their sensibilities every time. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Here is another suggestion for Kioti. If there is a sufficient quantity of defective loaders they may want to consider putting together a traveling road show with a specialized team of welders travel to regional deals and conduct repair clinics.

 

[Steverino]

Island tractor states:
“Then theres the "I welded it, it used to fit, now it's warped" possibility-depending on how gung-ho one gets with beefing/welding”

I agree it could be a disaster if done by an amateur, e.g. Highbeams rig. But as we both agree that the only acceptable repair would be a Kioti certified repair accompanied by a service bulletin. I would hope that the bulletin would address that issue as well as contain the original drawings and specifications used construct the arms originally as they were mass-produced at the factory.

As far as loading the arms, sans bucket, onto a pickup. My approach is this: I call up a couple of buddies and invite them to stop by for pizza and beer. After a the usual festivities I casually mention that I might have forgotten to mention that I am in need of help loading a SMALL /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif piece of metal into my truck, well you get the picture. My pals know I’m a snake /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif but the allure of free pizza and beer overwhelms their sensibilities every time. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Here is another suggestion for Kioti. If there is a sufficient quantity of defective loaders they may want to consider putting together a traveling road show with a specialized team of welders travel to regional deals and conduct repair clinics.

 

[IslandTractor]

I reported my loader cracks to my dealer last week and provided photos today. He quickly called Kioti to ask about a service bulletin. Believe it or not he was told that (paraphrased) "there have been a few of these cracks reported but not enough to issue a service bulletin".

Way to go Kioti. Let's change the brand mascot to an ostrich.

The dealer is very helpful and plans to stay in touch with Kioti but my concern now is that months after this problem was originally reported there is still no sanctioned repair or reengineering to prevent the cracks from reoccuring. I'm going to hold off bringing the FEL in for a while (there is an element of eternal optomist in me) hoping that Kioti finally gets it s*** together but at this point it is not looking good.

So, we were a pack of Kiotis, what is the collective noun for ostriches??

 

[IslandTractor]

I reported my loader cracks to my dealer last week and provided photos today. He quickly called Kioti to ask about a service bulletin. Believe it or not he was told that (paraphrased) "there have been a few of these cracks reported but not enough to issue a service bulletin".

Way to go Kioti. Let's change the brand mascot to an ostrich.

The dealer is very helpful and plans to stay in touch with Kioti but my concern now is that months after this problem was originally reported there is still no sanctioned repair or reengineering to prevent the cracks from reoccuring. I'm going to hold off bringing the FEL in for a while (there is an element of eternal optomist in me) hoping that Kioti finally gets it s*** together but at this point it is not looking good.

So, we were a pack of Kiotis, what is the collective noun for ostriches??

 

[Highbeam]

How many reports does it take? There was a service bulletin for the DK55 tractors after only the one failure from what I understand.

A few! Heck, my dealer has two of the few and your tractor makes three.

I hope all the folks on this board with the cracks have made a call by now. There is also a very easy to use complaint type form to fill out on the Kioti website. It only takes a minute and the entire brand will be better off.

 

[Highbeam]

How many reports does it take? There was a service bulletin for the DK55 tractors after only the one failure from what I understand.

A few! Heck, my dealer has two of the few and your tractor makes three.

I hope all the folks on this board with the cracks have made a call by now. There is also a very easy to use complaint type form to fill out on the Kioti website. It only takes a minute and the entire brand will be better off.