John_Mc, I have no doubt that the Woods 1012 is nice loader. But, I'm really gun shy at this point and just don't feel comfortable with getting anything but a New Holland OEM FEL. Pictures would be great though, just to satisfy my curiousity and for the benefit of anyone else here at TBN.
I called the Bush Hog sales manager, Jimmy, again this morning. I told him the following:
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The main problem is that the loader itself weighs over 500 lbs more than other loaders that are mounted on a TC29D, such as the New Holland 7308 or the Woods 1012, which means I have to add an extra 500 lbs on the back of my tractor to make it useable and safe. That means my tractor would weigh an extra 1000 lbs, which is not what I wanted. I understand that a big part of that extra weight is in the mounting kit which is on the tractor, but some of it is in front of the front tires and most of it is not very far back behind the front tires, only about a foot, so it's doing very little to help balance the tractor.
I don't see how I, as the end customer, was supposed to have had any idea that this loader was going to weigh so much. Like I said, that is the main problem I have with this loader. I didn't buy this loader because it was rated to lift more than the 7308, I bought it because it was $1000 less and could still lift at least as much.
The other problem is the way the mounting kit gets in the way of servicing the engine. I went to a lot of trouble to try to research the M246 before I bought one. I called both Bush Hog and Great Bend (since the Bush Hog M246 is the same thing as the Great Bend 2130). I asked for pictures and asked about how the loader installed on the tractor. No one said anything about all the extra brackets and weight. No one could produce a picture of one on a Class II Boomer.
I found out about the farm show in Louisville, KY and at first Great Bend said they were going to have a TC29D there with a 2130 loader mounted on it, but they ended up not having it there. But, Bush Hog had a Kubota
L3130 with a M246, so I went to the show to see it. The
L3130 did not have the brackets running along side the engine compartment. There might have been some down lower that I didn't notice because they were black and the tractor frame is black. If they were there, they were completely out of the way. But, I did ask the guy at the show if there would be anything along side the engine on the TC29D and he said "No". I have found out since that the
L3130 is a significantly bigger tractor, so the frame doesn't have to be beefed up as much. The
L3130 weighs 800 lbs more and is 18" longer than a TC29D.
I also went to the Great Bend area at the show and talked to a guy there. He had a loader on a much bigger tractor, so I knew it didn't compare to the M246/2130. So, I asked him the same question, "if there would be anything along side the engine on the TC29D" and he said "No, it's a mid mount loader". When I left the show, I felt confident that the M246/2130 would be just right for my TC29D. I spent over a half a Saturday and it took me over 3 hours to drive the 70 miles back in the freezing rain, but I felt it was worth it to have actually seen a M246. Unfortunately, it was a waste of time.
If Great Bend would have had the TC29D there after all, I could have saved myself a lot of grief. Now, I'm being told (by Scott, the Bush Hog engineer) that the Class II Boomers are the #2 application of the M246. So, I don't understand why they didn't have one at the show or no one could produce any pictures when I asked for them over 2 months ago.
I don't appreciate the way Bush Hog is handling this. The fact that the end customer is not satisfied means nothing to you. All you can do is keep quoting "Bush Hog does not have a return policy". It's not my fault that this loader has been misrepresented. You should not be dumping the responsibility on the dealer where I bought the loader. It's not like I went out and bought some unknown brand, I went with Bush Hog because I know they've been around a long time a I felt that I could trust them. I'm not placing the entire blame on Bush Hog. I'm frustrated with my dealer for selling a product that he really didn't know much about. I get up in the morning and kick myself all day for not being more patient and waiting until I could actually see a M246 on a TC29D.
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At this point Jimmy interrupted and said he did not intend to do nothing. He wanted his local sales rep, Bill, to get with me and the New Holland dealer, John, and take a look at the FEL at my house and talk about what can be done. He said that Bush Hog is willing to help, but needs to have that meeting take place first. He said he would prefer that the loader not get sent all the way back to Bush Hog and wants to work something out with the dealer. I said OK, but I also told him that I don't want to solve the balance/safety problem by just adding weight to the rear end of the tractor, which is what John keeps saying is the solution.
I talked to John and the meeting with him and Bill is set up for Wednesday, the 14th.
