I was considering an LS tractor package until.......

[LS Tractor Owner]

In the future my tractor needs will be changing, requiring a larger tractor than my SCUT now. LS will be the forerunner in that upgrade. I have had 0 mechanical issues with my tractor, no warranty issues whatsoever. It has been worked hard for over 170 hours so far. Overall, a satisfied customer.

 

[atsah]

Such as?

Throughout this whole thread you have been looking for a brand fight. You don't due video's, "ever". From the get go you wanted someone to decipher what the video entailed and then type it all out for you on there keyboard.

If you don't do video's and you don't want to get the information for yourself why post at all..

Not willing to make the effort and trying to defend any brand tractor you have doesn't make a whole lot of sense..

 

[LouNY]

Well it was a slow morning for me,
so I watched all of his LS videos.
The little LS that he had at first had low rpm vibrations, so yes if he had run the rpm up higher that may have been taken care of.
Also the cooling fan for the hydrostatic transmission was blowing hot air up around the seat, not something desirable in the summer.
I don't recall in his video were he had mentioned the oil leaks in his first little tractor till it got returned to him as a loaner, with frame reinforcement added to it.

His larger one and the one with the most video footage has a lot of different issues.
One of which is regeneration issues were the computer takes over all the throttle control for regeneration issues but doesn't seem to ever get the regeneration done.
Yes, he does run the rpm a bit low when videotaping, yes the fuel gauge is around a quarter in many of the videos if either of those two issues are the cause then the fuel pickup is designed exceedingly poor, when the computer controls the rpm it should have done the regeneration completely and properly.
When it is starting and stopping every few feet with no error codes that is pure D ridiculous. If it was caused by low fuel it would not have restarted as quickly as it did with no bleeding required.
Is his dealer taking good care of him I would say not, I don't recall in the videos anywhere being mentioned that he had had any direct contact with LS, he does list a contact us from their website (LS).

Does LS make a good tractor I think overall they do, but his is not one of them. If the dealer can't handle the repairs and troubleshooting it is a problem.
I had looked at a couple of LS's before I bought my Branson 8050.
I liked them they had the power shuttles and similar equipment, they did not have a local dealer that inspired any confidence at that time. And the main reason I quite looking at them was I knew that I'd be using chains in the winter and the models that I was looking at didn't in my mind have adequate clearance for chains. One dealership about 4 hours away was talking that they had lifted the cabs in order to fit chains. I didn't really want to go that way and it was going to be a long haul if it needed to go back for any reason. My Branson dealer is only 18 miles away but that is still a 35 minute drive or 45 -50 minutes if towing which to me is considerable, especially as JD is only 2 miles away and NH is 10 miles, and IH is 12 miles one way or 15 miles to other way.

 

[Diggin It]

Throughout this whole thread you have been looking for a brand fight.

Pretty much the opposite. I've been trying to figure out why people that don't have them and have never even seen them are attacking them based on one disgruntled person's taped opinions. A few have posted details about what he said and why they do or don't agree. Others have just ranted.

I don't even watch commercial, professional TV anymore, so why would I watch amateur TV? I prefer printed words that can be read, referred back to and quoted.

We've seen a few threads about LS engine issues. At least one case seems to be operator error or misunderstanding. Some are still unresolved and we don't know what happened. We've also seen threads on orange and green problems, some of which turned out to be bad dealer practices.

Whether or not this guy has a bad machine, bad dealer, or just doesn't understand the machine and how it operates doesn't seem to have been determined by those who have watched it.

 

[Diggin It]

he does list a contact us from their website (LS).

I've sent two or three messages to them that way without reply so I'm not too impressed there. My dealer says he gets responses and information quickly though.

 

[4570Man]

There’s much more useful information in amateur tv aka YouTube than professional tv. Writing off the whole thing as whole is pretty dumb. YouTube is a valuable source for problem solving. But like I said earlier, Your loss.

 

[Ford850]

I agree the tractor or the dealer is a lemon, and since we'll never know the whole story or all the details we won't be able to determine which is the lemon. Not knowing the cause of a problem and throwing new parts on it in hopes it gets corrected is not a good dealer.

Out of curiosity, I looked for a dealer close the OP's location. I won't name names, but the 2 dealers I found close were not dealers I would consider. One was indeed a larger dealer but had no LS inventory. The other was small and listed nothing on their website about service. That's a flag when I look for a dealer. Maybe I'm spoiled, but all dealers I frequent are proud of their service departments. They have at least one web page dedicated to service, listing techs and their years of experience, and certifications at a minimum. Some dealers list 24 hour emergency numbers to talk to a tech. When I see websites like the LS sites close to this OP that don't mention a single word about service, forget about it.

 

[Diggin It]

^^ My dealer doesn't even have a website. I found them from a Tractorhouse listing. When I got there, I found a decent sized operation for the area and a number of larger LS machines in there for sale and other brands and implements to be serviced.

The TYM dealer near me has a fancy flashy website with all kinds of bells and whistles listing their brands, contact, service and so on. But when I went there, I found I was less than impressed with how they operated.

 

[MaineGuy1]

As stated in a previous post, the owner definitely does some things that contribute to the problem. Who knows about the dealer? Are they truely doing the part replacement they say? Is the tractor a lemon? Maybe. He refers to "the company".... Never the "dealer" or "LS rep" .....who specifically is he talking to...he mentions "the mechanic".

This is also his second LS tractor. Apparently he had "issues" with the other model too. That one DID NOT have emissions on it. ....but he still had problems with it and then "upgraded" to this one. Almost sounds like owner induced issues. As far as vibration...my small little Yanmar motor shakes like all get out at idle...purrs like a kitten at 2K rpm...So does the JD 1025... Same motor.... So does the JD 2025... Same motor... Just sayin... He's running / working it at 800-1000rpm....??

As to making a decision to buy an LS or not, based on these videos....well ..... Thats not being realistic. Talking about plastic...anyone go to a JD dealer recently? There's more metal on my little LS than on the JD's 2-3 sizes bigger. All manufacturers try to make the profits by "cutting corners" or using cheaper materials.

There are 1000's of happy, satisfied LS customers out there...along with 1000's of satisfied owners of other brands.

You only hear about that "one bad apple", not the 1000's of good ones

I agree. I have friends that have LS's and they love them, no issues so far. I almost bought one but the Massey dealer gave me a good price and he was a much more established dealer. The point is though, this XR3135 that he has is a POS. The XR3135 sitting next to it on the lot probably would have been a great tractor. Looks like he got a lemon. All OEM's have had lemons. Someone working on that tractor at the factory might have been having a bad day, who knows.

 

[Tennsawdust]

Basically, you get what you pay for. Cheaper lines of tractors are cheaper because they cut corners. They use things like a zip tied tight bend hose instead of a pipe or proper 90 degree fittings. Lower link shafts that spin instead of fixed ones with proper ball joints on the arms and so on. More plastic than steel. Buying on price point alone means that you may have to make sacrifices that aren't readily apparent. That is not to say that paying top dollar is going to get you the best machine, it is just to say that you need to compare carefully between tractors to make sure you are getting the exact same build quality in a lower priced or more expensive machine.

I suppose you are right. They should go to New Holland and buy the same tractor for a higher price. As for plastic, it depends on the LS model as to how much it has. It's worth pointing out that companies like John Deere seem to have no aversion to plastic either. I would agree with you that price point alone is not a good reason to buy anything. However, in some cases you can buy a better equipped tractor for less money and that isn't a bad thing. It does require that one do their homework though.