Last week I took delivery of a brand new 3016 Gear.
It came with the 115 FEL and I added a brush mower, a finish mower and a tiller. I have wanted something like this for years and was excited when it came.
I have never owned a tractor of my own, but I have used several over the years for various jobs. I either rented them or borrowed them. I have driven Kubota's, Deere, and an old Case. Although i consider myself a newbie, I am not a virgin.
The tractor was everything I hoped it would be. Rather small, but my property requires something small. It seems to have adequate power to accomplish almost everything I need to do. Mostly intend to use it for a large garden, clearing old logging trails and hauling wood to the house from my 25 acres.
I bought the gear model because I got a good price on it, and I guess I am old fashioned in that I like gears on heavy equipment.
I do have to figure out good ways to carry around the other tools that I routinely need, and I've gotten several great ideas from the threads on this forum. I never realized how many chains and saws and shovels I could use to make jobs easier.
The first week I guess I was like a kid at Christmas. I had all these jobs listed that I could do that I have been thinking about for years in some cases. I bounced from one job to another as the mood moved me.
Last thursday, I had used a chain and pulled out a row of old hedges that were in an area my wife has thought about building a gazebo. It was a simple job. I used a little trick that I read about in one of the forums about threading a chain through a length of pipe to grip small trees and shrubs.
I was amazed that I could pull up the root balls so easily. I barely was above an idle and they just came up slick as a whistle.
Then I would tie a group of them together with a 20' length of 3/8 chain, and drag them to a burn pile. About 100 yards from the house. Then I could use the FEL to stack them for burning at a later date.
On the second trip, I pulled up, unhooked the chain and swung around to put the FEL in position. But the tractor would not move. I fooled around, thinking I had shifted into neutral or done some other silly thing. Nothing. I finally put it I 2WD and got it to move but it was making a very bad sound coming from under my feet.
I drove it slowly to the garage and parked it. I climbed under it and couldn't see any issues. I reached up and turned the propeller shaft to the front differential. I could turn it easily. Too easily. The shaft rotated, but the universal joint did not. It seemed that the splines were torn out. I was very surprised. I had not done a single thing with this tractor that could possibly have put that kind of strain on it.
I got hold of the dealer and he said he would pick it up on Tuesday. the holiday, the 4TH, was Monday. So,,,, I just talked with him, and he said the entire front pinion was gone. Totally stripped out and cracked. We talked for a while, and he seemed totally stumped about what could have caused this.
He has ordered a new set of pinion gears and they will be in next week.
The National Service Rep for Mahindra seemed like he wasn't at all surprised. He did however tell us that the problem has occurred before, but only on tractors that have not filled the tire. I had asked about filling the tires when I bought it and it was recommenced that I don't. Very few people fill the tires on tractors of this size around here. I have talked to several local people with smaller tractors, and they all said it was unnecessary. the dealer, Holiday's in Laurens,SC, said they WILL fill the tires before I get it back.
Even with this little glitch, I am very pleased with my new toy. I just retired after a lifetime in maintenance. I know that things like this can happen. NASA has issues sometimes. My dealer has been very concerned and gone out of his way to help. I could not ask for more.
