New Tractor - Items fixed in first 3 years??

[jpierce]

Still looking and researching items!!

This will be a scout's honor thread...

After buying a new tractor, what have you had repaired since then and did you pay out-of-pocket for repair?? Just looking for the first three years after purchase.

How many hours was on the tractor at point of repair.
Also, what did you buy new??

Again, my internal debate of buy new vs used has me trying to justify new and the potential cost savings. Also, the "value" of having a dealer 30 minutes from you vs 3 hours

Thanks for the input!!

 

[bczoom]

I'll use my JD 770 for this thread since I owned since new.

What broke:
The High/low range selecter lever. Probably within 10 hours. A different dealer (since I purchased from a dealer at least 3 hours away) took tractor in and re-welded on warrantee. That weld lasted another 3 hours. I now have a set of vice-grips on it (several years now) and it works fine. (No cost to me). I didn't ask them to fix again since the vice grips work fine and I know they had to take apart a lot of the rear end of the tractor to fix it.

I blew 2 or 3 hyd. hoses on the FEL. Don't recall if the first happened within the first 3 years, but probably only $20 over the years.

Although you didn't ask, I've no other issues with the tractor in years 4-9 unless they're normal (new battery at year 6) or self-inflicted (oops /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif)

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Current tractors:
Kubota - 4 years, no repairs at all. However, fluids & filters have been replaced on a regular basis. Dealership is 4 miles east of me.

New Holland - almost 2 years, 1 factory recall to replace some hydraulic fittings (30 minute job). Fluid & filters replaced on a regular basis. Dealership is 8 miles west of me.

In reality, I never have needed the Kubota dealer. I only needed the NH dealer for the factory recall. I could live without a dealer. However, I would not do that. I want them, I want them fairly close, and I want them to be responsive. There are lots of little things that pop up, and for those things you can use a generic tractor store (TSC) or auto parts store, or you can go to your dealer. I always go to my dealer. There is Kubota brand oil and Kubota brand filters on the Kubota. The NH has NH oil and NH filters.

TSC and NAPA both sell them too.

But when I want something, my dealers take care of me. I wanted a MMM deck my local New Holland dealership quoted me a price that included pick-up, installation, & delivery that was HUNDREDS of dollars cheaper than a long distance dealer known for low prices quoted me for just the deck alone. And then he gave me a very generous trade in on a decade old Befco RFM after we settled on all the other details.

I needed stuff for one of my Cub Cadets (same dealer as Kubota) and I also needed some misc parts for an implement I was modifying. The dealer sold me the Cub parts, but he gave me the other stuff for free. The free parts easily would have cost more than the Cub parts. And when I need a tune up on my Ventrac or a Cub, my Cub Cadet dealer comes and picks it up (free) tunes it up at reasonable prices and then delivers it back to me (free).

Paid for out of pocket: belts, fluid, filters
Dealer gave me as free: (other than advice, tips & tricks) pick up/delievery multiple times, top link pins, cotter pins, lynch pins, a couple t-shirts, some pens, but I am still waiting for a hat /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[rdln]

I bought my jd 970 new in 1993 in the first three years I had to retighten the rear rim to disk bolts I think twice. This was probably due to not torqing them down correctly after I widened the track.
When I had to tighten them down the second time, I turned some spacers to go between the unused part of the rim tabs and the disc and added 4bolts to each side doubling the clamping power, no more loose bolts.

In the next 9 years, I did not need to fix anything that wasn't a result of my abuse except the injection rail rubber lines that dry rotted and that might even be considered regular maintenance.

Though you cant buy the exact tractor now, the JD 990 is pretty close.

 

[Bird]

In 1995, I bought a new Kubota B7100 with a B1630C FEL. After awhile (and I don't remember how long) the FEL would gradually lower leak down even with the engine running. The dealer tried replacing seals in the cylinders, which didn't help, and they finally replaced all 4 cylinders and that fixed the problem. No cost to me except that I did haul it on my trailer 50 miles to the dealer twice. The seat belt on that tractor was not a retractable type and it simply wore the belt in two rubbing on the edge of the seat. The dealer gave me a new belt under warranty and I installed it, along with a piece of leather to reinforce it where it touched the edge of the seat. I put something over 400 hours on it in 4 years.

In 1999, I bought a new Kubota B2710 with an L401 FEL. After a year or so, I would sometimes hear a rattle coming from underneath and I decided it was something to do with the driveshaft for the front wheel drive. So I took it to the dealer, they disassembled the front driveline and re-assembled it without finding any problem, but it did stop the rattle. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Again no cost to me except hauling it to the dealer. I also had the fan belt break. I didn't even try to get that fixed under warranty; just went to town and bought a fan belt. My Kubota dealer didn't have one in stock, so I got one at Pep Boys and put it on myself. I put a little over 400 hours on that tractor in a little less than 3 years.

That's the only "repairs" I can think of, unless you count tearing a valve stem out of one front tubeless tire once and plugging one front tire when a mesquite thorn punctured it. I did change the hydraulic oil & filter on each of them once (about 50 hours) and the engine oil & filters at about 50 hours and every 100 hours after that. And I even changed the air filters and fuel filters on both.

 

[rlcowder]

The JD 425 that I traded last month had only 1 repair in my 4 years of ownership. I was pushing some logs over to split and one slipped by and it smashed the hydro fluid filter. My fault, other than that regular maintenence and fuel. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Jim_Fisher]

I purchased a new John Deere 4300 in September of 2000. Deere replaced the battery and oil cooler in October 2002. The tractor currently has just under 1200 hours on it. I've done routine maintenance - fluid and filters, valve adjustment, ... - on a regular basis and tightened the friction discs on the throttle when it started to creep on me. The boots on the tie rod ends will need to be replaced this spring.

I purchased a 430 loader and 4in1 bucket with the tractor - I rebuilt all four cylinders on the loader in 2003 at roughly $20.00 parts per cylinder. I also welded some 3/16" plate to the right hand loader mount to remedy a sloppy fit. The 4in1 bucket has had two hydraulic hoses replaced. The first one was pinched - not properly secured - Deere bought the hose. The second failed when the machine was about three years old. The local hydraulic shop made a (heavier) replacement hose while I waited. They charged me less than $10.00.

 

[DK35vince]

I've owned my Kioti DK 35 for a little over 3 years . Around 440 hours.
Had 1 bucket tilt cylinder leak just after purchase- warrenty/dealer repaired
Stripped 1 front wheel stud when I tryed to overtighten . Cost to me- about $3.50 for stud and nut.
Broke 1 bolt on a 3 point sway bar when my backblade caught a rock- cost to me- around $2

Almost forgot, the original grease fittings in my front loader were pulling out -replaced most of the grease fittings with new fittings with longer threads- cost to me 8 to $10 .

 

[Henro]

I have a B2910 Kubota TLB that will be three this July. 535 hours on it.

The plastic shield that covers the front driveshaft got damaged and the dealer repaired it under warranty. I may have caused the damage myself, but it was a coin toss, so he fixed it.

I had a rubber cover on the steering drag link split. I replaced that myself, thinking it was probably caused by a stick poking it.

One of the hoses on my backhoe developed a hole in it. I replaced it myself as it was out of warranty anyway, and I had used the hoe a lot the two years before the hose failed.

Got a flat on the front tire the day after it was delivered. Had the front tires foam filled...no more front flats!

Oh, almost forgot. Fuel filter was scheduled for replacement at 400 hours. At 390 hours it clogged up and needed replaced...

BX2200...nothing much to report. Had to lube the HST directional pedal as it was not returning to center fast enough.

Also now that you mentioned this, I think the fuel level indicator may be erratic sometimes...

 

[44trxfun]

1.5 years; about 300 hours and nothing to report outside routine maintenance. My dealer has been very supportive. Even though they're a little farther away than I would like (~45 minutes), I appreciate the way they treat me. I think dealer support is just as / more important than which manufacturer you end up going with.