Opps, I broke it again..............

[LAGEORGE]

Yellowsocks93,
My salesperson set me up with one very heavy box blade with rippers. I can tell you the quality and weight of this unit I have not seen short of a construction site. It is a Gearmore unit built right here in the good old CA OF USA. The unit is very heavy and often if not always use it with the FEL. I also have all four wheel filled with water to 70% capacity. The box blade provides for very good ballast when moving heavy dirt. At times I do not have the box blade attached when moving mulch but that is only due to me trying to maneuver in tight places and the overhang can cause lots of damage to trees and terraces. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

George

 

[jinman]

George, I don't think you are abusing your tractor. If you were, you'd know it and quit doing it. I think all you want is a good reliable tractor to do work with. I hope your next tractor is that reliable tractor you deserve, and I'm sure most TBNers who are familiar with your problems feel exactly the same as I do. Maybe Santa will bring you a better deal. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[LAGEORGE]

Gee, I feel better now /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thank you.

May Santa bring you another 100 acres!

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

George.....I'm glad to see you're finally getting your new tractor. I currently own 4 pieces of NH equipment ( 3 of which I bought New) . I haven't had as much trouble with all 4 in 8 years as you've had with your tractor. I don't feel you are abusing your tractor, and as other people on this board will concur, we aren't all tractor experts either. If it was me using your 24 when the wheel locked up, after all the other problems, I may have been tempted to lift the front wheels with the loader and drive in reverse all the way to the dealers !!! The reason we buy NEW tractors is so we don't have PROBLEMS. The warranty is secondary..........Ideally I would never need the warranty..........But since the money was spent, it's nice to have the factory cover our investment at least till it's partailly paid for. I applaud you for your patience and hope your replacement tractor gives you as good of service as my NH's have. Tom

 

[SacandagaBrad]

George,

Glad to hear a new machine is being packaged for you. I don't think you're asking too much out of a tractor, moving mulch and dirt, that's what they're designed for. I just passed 40 hours on my TC24 with one bolt coming loose on the seat. I've worked it pretty hard moving stone and heavy fill, burying it in the mud over the front axle, plowing and grading gravel roads, and snow blowing. Assuming it is the right size for you, I think the new machine will work out fine. Here's wishing you a trouble-free machine and Happy Holidays.

Good luck

Brad

 

[LAGEORGE]

Seasons Greetings to you too, received a very nice letter from the President of CHN Agricultural in yesterday’s mail. He acknowledged that they are working on replacing the tractor and thanked me for taking the time to bring this matter to his attention. I was starting to get a little worried that the top did not want to deal with the customer but I was relived that I was indeed dealing with a company that cares about their product. So not only am I getting a new tractor I have new confidence in New Holland and CHN. So today I am going to buy some CHN stock and get rid of the crap AOL stuff.
One thing that I have learned and realized from reading TBN posts and my life’s experiences is, things will break and break often at times. New Holland offers a 5-year warranty extension for what I was told around $1,000. I would highly recommend and religiously preach that everyone should do that no matter what. We all know 2 years goes by very quickly and when the warranty is up and we have problems it can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars to fix. We are not dealing with the same quality of machines that our father and grandfathers had back then. Today we have a lot more cost cutting and plastic in our tractors. So it would be a wise mans move to protect the pocket book from foreseen problems.
I don’t have my new tractor yet and my old one is out for the count so I am taking a break from orchard duties that require heavy work and just doing it the old fashioned way, walking and moving material one bucket at a time.

George

 

[Bob_Skurka]

George, it sounds like the President of CNH gave you the Christmas present of confidence in their integrity as a company. That is a nice present to get. As for my TC24D and the extended 5 year warrenty, I think that may be a Christmas present that I give to my tractor. While it has performed flawlessly SO FAR, the piece of mind of 5 years of extended service sounds like it will be well worth the investment.

 

[SacandagaBrad]

That's great that they got back to you. I was one of those recommending going to the top with my example of the faulty rifle (not a safety issue), having the pres take of things. More often than not, those big companies will take care of things from the top, they just don't very often hear from the consumer. Most complaints get handled or filtered before they ever reach the CEO. I'm glad everything is working out.

Brad

 

[jlong]

George,

Glad to hear that you seem to have a handle on your problems. I just wanted to let you know that I also have experienced more problems with my 35D in the last two years than I have ever had with my previous Ford 1520, a much smaller tractor that I used quite hard over 10 years. I have had just about every issue that has been listed in TBN over the last two years, plus a few. Most issues were minor, but a couple were major enough to cause the splitting of the case etc... Unlike you, I feel that the dealer could have been much better at handling the problems. Many of my problems were once the dealer addressed one problem they caused a different one. My most recent failure has been the steering shock, which gave out right after the warranty period. It makes me sick to think that I traded my 1520 machine and paid alot of $ for a tractor that I now have the steering wheel adjusted using a racquetball stuffed between the steering column and the body. The almost $200 cost of the part and 8 hours labor for the replacement is not worth it to me.

I have contacted the regional NH rep on numerous occasions, and they have worked with me to some degree, but now with the warranty expired, I feel very much on my own and have ordered the factory repair manual anticipating the next failure. Not a pleasant feeling.

From my experience of a problematic tractor and unsatisfactory service, I may be looking at Orange sometime down the road. Even though I liked the NH machine better, it is not much good to me if not working and lacking good dealer support.

 

[LAGEORGE]

Jlong,
Sorry to hear about you having problems with your New Holland TC 35D. I Unfortunately can concur with you as to how frustrating it can be to take something to the dealer and have 2 other problems crop up as a result. My dealer was tired of seeing the tractor and soon the whole office would try to ignore me. I think it is human nature not to want to confront tension and distress. Something that really shocks me is how difficult it is to replace what should be simple wear parts. The drive shaft for example cannot be removed with out splitting the tractor on my TC 24D. Now that is just dumb design. To replace the oil pan requires the removal of the front end (splitting) to get to it. And the truth be told we Americans are nowhere near as good at putting it back together as the Japanese are at making it. To them it is a puzzle but they know where all the pieces go. Americans are much more logical and question why and “what the @$#% did they do that” kind of thinking. Which in my opinion is OK with me.
You hear a lot about the old tractors and how they were built, well they were built right. Tractors should be rugged and built to the highest standards of durability in vehicle construction. Unfortunately we have entered an age that is blurring the lines between tractor and SUV. Manufactures get the idea that we want more and more features like cup holders and 12 volt outlets but forget that it is still way more important to have metal and steel in the construction of a tractor. Screw the cup holder give me a heavy axle that was designed to hold 4 times what is expected not just meet the specs.
I would urge you to get the extended warranty that is offered by New Holland to protect yourself from dumb design. Sooner or later your going to have another of those 9-hour labor $2 buck part issues and you will be wishing you would have mounted a three point hitch on your wife’s car than to have to deal with another $800 repair.
The going was not easy with the dealer or New Holland but maintain your composure and work your way thorough the process. You should call the New Holland Help number and get them involved if they are not already. Dealer that care about their reputation seem to fear the New Holland 800 number. But the most important thing to do first is get that extended warrantee if you plan on keeping the tractor other wise get rid of it and start a new. Wait, I am not saying quit but I at times know when to walk away and if your tractor does not shape up then it might be a good option for you.

George