Thanks for you replies... I bought the tractor to maintain 5 acres I live on. Most use is for running the 5' brush cutter and moving dirt around the property. When the clutch went out the first time I noticed (over time) that the tractor began moving slower & slower from a stopped postion. I repeatedly checked to make sure I had I was using proper gears. ...(I'm NOT an expert operator by any means, BUT I have been using tractors since 12 years old for hay bailing,cutting,etc.)
Anyhow, the lk3054 continued getting slower and slower to move forward or in reverse while cutting (no heavy grass) then would not move at all. My 1st thought was maybe a filter was clogged. It was getting close to service time anyway so When I went back to the Dealer I bought it from to buy filters and supplies. I found he no longer handled KIOTI , did not and would not have KIOTI parts. It took months for me to find filters through other suppliers.
After some research I found KIOTI dealers with the closest being 3 to 4 hours away. I did not have the resources nor time available to take the tractor to those dealers. No local tractor dealers here wanted to mess with it because most had never heard of a KIOTI tractor. So I had a mechanic friend agree to replace the clutch in exchange for using it at his place to spread dirt in his drive. We took the clutch assembly to a Houston area shop that rebuilds clutched,transmissions, drive trains on everything from cars , tractors, heavy equipment & semi's. They looked at it and said it looked very similar to the KUBOTA clutch assembley and that they could recondition it with new pads, springs, etc. cost under $200.00.
After installing the new clutch and getting it back from my friend, I used it to mow my weed, brush covered pastures about 2 to 3 hours (wrist watch time)
each time. I used the tractor in this manner maybe 3 or 4 times a month for probably a year. I drive a manual and have done so most of my life, but nonetheless a consciencely and purposely made sure I kept my foot off the clutch pedal at all times except to change gears or to start/stop the PTO.
Shortly before Hurricane IKE came in my son & I were using the tractor to prepare the property for landfall when I noticed the tractor was getting sluggish on take off again. During this use I was using the brush hog as a platform to move stuff like horse feeders, dog houses and other junk laying around. Nothing really heavy, but large enough that I could not just carry. During all this the 3 Point hitch began (fairly rapidly) getting sluggish about lifting the brush cutter, then would not raise at all. I turned the adjustment knob multiple times both directions..with no movement.
After about 1 1/2 hours of using the tractor, while in forward motion, (low range 2nd gear) without applying the brakes or clutch the tractor slowed to a stop and would not move. Forward or backwards in any gear.
I tried to move the tractor once forward and once in reverse without success. I then parked it and haven't messed with it (other than starting the engine to run for 20 or 30 minutes at least once a week)
A few days ago I mentioned the tractor delima to another mechanic friend I know to be very,very experience in heavy equipment (dozer,trackhoe,etc) repair. I know he is a certified techinican in many areas of diesel, heavy equipment & automotive repair. In other words, he's not a shade tree mechanic. He also wants to use the tractor to move dirt so He offered to look at it for me. He came over and checked the tractor out. He made some adjustments to the clutch linkage and we were able to get the tractor to move, but he believed the clutch was like nearly DOA and needed to be replaced. He briefely looked at the 3 point hitch, but due to being unfamiliar with KIOTI's hydrolic system was hesitant to say much about it until he could learn something about its set up. He asked that I check out forums to see if anyone new about diagnosing the pump system for the hitch.
We now have a new KIOTI dealer in our area. I have asked them about it. They tell me the standard " bring it in & let us look at it".
The problem I have with that is I don't know these people, or their business practices. I'm in the Auto service industry business and know how a great deal of mechanic shops operate. The standard response is bring in to "look at it". I understand the priciple behind say that , but "to look at it " in most cases (NOT ALL) means "to tear it down" . Once its apart...I have no options but to pay whatever they charge to get it back together. I know this because I ususally end up with their customers at my business. I'm not saying this dealer would do this...I just don't know enough about them to risk the kind of money that could be involved.
I have repair OPTIONS available and now that the new KIOTI dealer has opened near me, I have parts availability. Which I will gladly use to purchase parts from. What I'm in need of is suggestions to complete the process of elimination for repair solutions.
I apologize for the length but I couldn't sum it up much shorter....Thanks again for the replies
