You knew it couldn't last

[LoneCowboy]

the new TC45 (that replaced the lemon TC45) broke at 81 hours.
Saw some markings on the inside of the rear tire.
Umm, honey, what have you been doing? (it's her tractor most of the time and we've been working HARD this week)
Uhhh, nothing.

Look closer, Oh, I see what's wrong, the rod (stabilizer bar?) that keeps the lower 3 point arms from swinging is well, BUSTED IN HALF. and the other one (with too much stress on it from the one side breaking I'm sure) is bent in a nice half moon shape.
Obviously made at the Chinese lead toy factory. Cheap crappy pot metal, huge flaws at the break point. I call it in, the "dealer" says "oh, those are 51 dollars each"

Super, feel free to bill NH, that's why it's called a warranty. They reluctantly agreed after I gently and kindly pointed that whole 1 year warranty thing. (remember this when a dealer tells you "oh, we'll take care of you if you buy it here" yeah, right .)

Luckily not only could we finish out the jobs today (an hour away when we discovered it) but they were small and she went slow (er?) and the parts aren't in stock (Ohh, what a shock, anyone actually ever get something that is in stock?) and won't be in til Monday, but we need the other 2 tractors tomorrow and monday, so that works out. (finally)

 

[johnk]

I can't help but feel your pain. Maybe it's just rotten luck. The dealers can take care of the problems to a certain extent but it's the inconvience that makes the difference. I think ALL tractors have their distinct problems but if the companies want to stay reputable and sell their products they should go above and beyond to stay in the rat race. Quality control is the Number1 in all aspects of manufaturing. Good luck with your issues. All brands have them.

 

[AndyMA]

Look closer, Oh, I see what's wrong, the rod (stabilizer bar?) that keeps the lower 3 point arms from swinging is well, BUSTED IN HALF. and the other one (with too much stress on it from the one side breaking I'm sure) is bent in a nice half moon shape.
Obviously made at the Chinese lead toy factory. Cheap crappy pot metal, huge flaws at the break point. I call it in, the "dealer" says "oh, those are 51 dollars each"

)

I'm not saying that the metal was bad or not, just saying that you can't tell by just looking at it. Once it stretches and breaks you will almost always see what looks like metal flaws. The part may have been just fine and just over stressed by the mower hitting something that caused excessive side stress. These links are designed to break to protect the other parts of the implement and 3 pt hitch assembly. It just may have failed as designed to protect the rest of your equipment.
Andy

 

[Soundguy]

From my experience with ford products, rigid stabilizer arms break most often when the tractor backs into something. Many people break them with mowers or rear blades.. thinking they are driving a bulldozer / piece of land clearing equipment.. which they are not.

That's why many people have went to collapsable chain stabilizers.. etc.

Maybee you need a bulldozer with a pto?? seriously here.. you are breaking an awfull LOT of machines.. perhaps you are just trying to do too much / wrong kind of work for a CUT / farm tractor wheny uo really need land clearing equipment / heavy equipment???

no offense intended.. just my 2 cents...


soundguy

 

[jinman]

Dealers tend to keep normal maintenance parts and common parts that fail in stock. I've had my TC45D since February 2001 and never bent or broke a pinned stabilizer arm. I don't think it makes sense for a dealer to keep one of those in stock when they can get them within a couple of days via UPS.

Side forces on a long mower are extreme. It is so easy to run a mower up against an obstacle and cause very high stress from side-to-side. I think I'd be glad the stabilizer collapsed instead of the casting it is attached to. I also think you have to gently and discreetly discuss operational technique with your wife. I'm glad your dealer replaced the part under warranty.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Heck my wife is greatly improved, she hasn't broken anything (Of someone else's) since june. (really, there was one job, just one job, where she ran over a tree, broke a fence rail, and hit the mirror on the truck. We had a long painful talk)

While I agree they take some forces. My MF seems to take the same forces without breaking. It's cheap piece of crappy metal. It's not even steel, it's pot metal of course it's going to break.

On the plus side, I helped my neighbor get his JD 55hp tractor hooked up. He paid more for this open platform compact (don't ask me the number I don't know) and it doesn't even have extensible link arms. 35k for an open platform compact and no extensible link arms? Man, he has no idea what he's missing.

Look, I like this tractor, it does mostly what I need it to do, adn things are going to break. I'm a little disappointed that a "big solid piece of metal" broke this early, but it happens. Think about how many hours are on this and I only got it in late July. And it's one of 3 tractors. I put a LOT of hours on my machines, many more than most. (and I agree that compacts aren't really well suited for that, but that's what fits in the jobs)

 

[BigMac]

Super, feel free to bill NH, that's why it's called a warranty. They reluctantly agreed after I gently and kindly pointed that whole 1 year warranty thing. (remember this when a dealer tells you "oh, we'll take care of you if you buy it here" yeah, right .)

Still at it Brian. Maybe your local dealer reads your posts and feels the same way when you walk through his doors. I wouldn't expect alot of smiles if he has been reading your posts that are bashing him.

 

[MossRoad]

I agree that compacts aren't really well suited for that, but that's what fits in the jobs

If they keep breaking, they apparently don't fit the job. It appears you need a bigger hammer, so to speak, or at least a stronger one.

 

[PineRidge]

Don't you just hate when that happens!

Sorry, I feel your pain. In my case when something breaks usually it's my fault. Look at your application closely and see if a little finesse might eliminate your problems in the future.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Don't you just hate when that happens!

Sorry, I feel your pain. In my case when something breaks usually it's my fault. Look at your application closely and see if a little finesse might eliminate your problems in the future.

I don't complain (publicly) about the ones that are my fault.
some breakage is always to be expected (it's a tractor, it's a tough environment for anything to run). but things that should stay together that don't, or things that break that shouldn't, especially early in a tractor/implement's life cycle. No, that's not acceptable, to anyone.

BTW, on the note above about not being good for a compact. My MF 1433 (33hp, lot cheaper, lot less HP) has had exactly one problem in 400 hours. (PTO switch died, took 10 minutes to replace), and it's a smaller class compact than the TC45.

I'm thinking that compacts should go 4000 hours before major work is needed, where a utility should go 8000+ hours. But, there are jobs where a utility just won't get in and do it effectively.