Ok whats wrong with this pic

[MikeD74T]

Yes it was a new unit when he bought it. Yes I offered him the extended warranty but he declined it. I did check the front dif and it apears to have new fluid in it. He has already stated if we didn't fix it he was going to badmouth us. Ill wait and see what my rep says monday and go from there. If he says fix it then that willl be good although I don't see that happening. I will try to help the customer as much as I can but I wont eat the cost due to his negligence.

Having read 5 pages of this post I don't see how calling a customer a liar on a public forum is 'helping him as much as possible'. If the tractor has a sealed clutch housing it shouldn't matter if it was submerged, it should be dry. As for water intrusion, I've seen tractors that sit outside since manufacture in the 40's or 50's without problems and others stored under cover with accumulations of water in supposedly sealed transmissions etc. Anywhere air goes water also goes. The comment about pressure washing is very valid, sealing against rain or shallow submersion is one thing, sealing against a 2500psi stream is another. Does the manufacturer prohibit using a pressure washer in their warranty? Under what circumstance do you have to "eat the cost" ? Gathering a consensus of third party opinion on TBN doesn't prove fault by the owner. MikeD74T

 

[KWentling]

If it was a design flaw then wouldn't every tractor, or a number of them also be having clutch issues at 120hrs? As i said before I don't think this was sitting in water but just driven through or left for a short time. As to why some things having more rust than others, I would expect things that are hot or turning to dry out very quickly where things the housings that'll cool off quicker will collect the water.

Yes, you would think there would be more cases of this if it were a design problem. Still, if there is no drain there (is there one?), how does condensation get out? Is there a path from above that water can get in? Is this a high humidity area of Texas? As far as getting hot enough to dry it out, I doubt that happens often, especially if it only run about 10 minutes a day which is what 120 hours in 2 1/2 years equates.

I think his only claim for help in this repair is if it were determined that there is a design flaw. The tractor is out of warrantee and no extended warrantee taken out.

Kim

 

[tlbuser]

Its a MF1532. There are shipped from Japan but as soon as they reach port and are unload Massey goes threw them and finishes assembling them. When I receive them I have my guys go over with a fine tooth comb which involves pulling the plug on the bell housing and checking for water.

Something fishy here. You know from experience to pull the plug and check for water, clearly indicating a known problem area. A customer with a previous accumulation of water in that known problem area is having issues and he is the one that is guilty

While 2.5 years of ownership works out to something like 7.6 minutes a day, that also is not impossible. My uncle used his instead of a power wheelchair to get the mail everyday.

 

[MarkV]

The tractor is out of warrantee and no extended warrantee taken out.

That seems like the end of the story to me regardless of what caused the rust. This is a case of "I want a new clutch for free".

MarkV

 

[Big Wave D]

This thread is better than watching 48 Hours Mystery on CBS.

Just the time I've/you've decided the person is 'guilty as sin', the TV show keeps going and you start to waiver and think, "... maybe they aren't guilty?" Same for me here about this topic.

It seems like this 'court' of public opinion is leaning towards guilt, guy submerged tractor somehow; however, I think some people have laid out some very good counter points as to how it's possible this is a result of other cause(s).

Since I have nothing at stake in this other than curiosity, it will be interesting to see how this eventually works out.

One fact we know for sure, the gentleman declined the extended warranty. There are signed papers to prove that. Because of this fact, I don't see that he has much to hang his hat on for getting this repaired on some else's nickle.

Now, the waters really begin to get murky, if he is claiming that this was a manufacturing or assembly defect and that due to it's 'unseeable' nature, not something that could be easily known - except that when the symptoms finally made known the original defect. Then maybe, I can see MF stepping up and saying, "okay, this is a special exception", and they'll cover this, even though it's outside of the normal warranty period.

As George Costanza's father said on an Episode of Seinfeld, "Million to one shot doc....million to one." and maybe it is.

 

[jake98]

I'm trying to think of the last time I drained my bell housing.. Oh, that's right, it was last Neburary.. Guess it's time to check.

 

[Argosy]

Different metals rust at different rates.
bill

I don't disagree. But the engine adapter and bell housing should be similar metal. The rust on the flywheel looks like it is worse on one side than the other, roughly 1/3 to 1/2 was wetter than the rest. If it was assembled, submerged and partially filled with water there should be a level of more severe rust on both the bell housing and adapter, there isn't.

I still don't see any drain in the bell housing. I see RTV, but no rust on the mating surfaces of the bell housing and adapter. If you're going to deny service because the customer submerged the tractor deep enough and long enough for water to fill the bell housing roughly 1/3 of the way you better also have an explanation where the water went.

 

[jlsmith]

wow alot of great responses here. First i would like to say i never called the customer a liar. I just dont believe he is being totaly upfront with me. Yes there is a drain plug in the bell housing and the customer was told to check two to three times a year. We check it when it gets here to just make shure there is no leaks of hyd fluid or any water due from being shipped over seas. Yes it is out of warranty and the customer want me to eat the cost of repairs if MF declines the warranty issue. The customer has taken poorly care of this until. He had the Steering colume torn apart and the throtal cable was completly gone, and the tach cable was loose at the housing. While this is not a regular customer ( ive seen him 4 times in 2.5 yrs and that is the only piece if equipment he has bought from me) but hes still a customer and i do try to please all customers. Good points pointed out on here about going and looking at his place. I do know he has a large creek he said he had to cross to get to the back of his place, i dont know how deep that is but i might take a trip to see and visit face to face. I have asked him to come to the shop and look at the clutch which was rusted together and had to chiseled off. The reason the had us bring it in is becused the clutch wouldnt ingauge, and in my opinion thats not going to happen over night. In my thought this tractor had to have been setting for a while, and if that is the case the customer should have used the clutch pedal disengauge latch. Hopefully MF will do a "good will warranty" and make the customer happy but if not the customer will have to pay to get the clutch fixed, I will discount some of the labor if this happens.

 

[blueriver]

. Hopefully MF will do a "good will warranty" and make the customer happy but if not the customer will have to pay to get the clutch fixed, I will discount some of the labor if this happens.

I don't believe this should be done ... no matter how hard you try this type of customer will bad mouth you no matter what.

Tell him straight up and to his face, it is out of warranty. There is no extended Warranty. It will cost X amount to fix. When do you want us to start?

If he bulks ... charge him for the already done work and advise him to take it back home.

 

[jlsmith]

I did go back and look the tractor over ths morning. There is no way to know what happened. There is mud in some spots that is questionable but no way to say that it wasnt just drivin threw a real muddy spot and not stuck. My MF rep will be here monday morning and ill let him decied where to go from here. I did talk to MF and they are not aware of any other tractor having this problem. I went one step further and called several of the MF dealers that i deal with and they also have not seen this happen. (not to say that it couldnt and didnt this time) I thank all of you for your input. Thats why i like this site one might be looking at a problem one way and after posting and listening to what others have to say they might see another possibilty. As for the drain plug in the bell housing there is one and it appears not to have been check for along time (customer says he checks it quite often) it was full of rust and a muck. I have sold several of these units and have not had any problems with them so far. Hopefully we will get the situation resolved peacefully and the customer will end up happy.