3-Point Hitch Do you know Brian Faulkner at Kioti - or his manager(s) ?

[oosik]

If I ever decide to purchase another tractor - I will remember your dealings with Kioti Corporate. Your situation has certainly soured me on ever considering KIOTI. Your situation and the surrounding circumstances are almost beyond belief.

 

[TractorGuy]

Erik,

I believe the dealer is referring to the MLS. That's the only valve that's under the seat that I'm aware of. Should be similar to (but not exactly like) what's in this video. Kioti CK2S Tractor MLS Valve Adjustment on 3 PT Hitch - YouTube

Note the MLS controls the flow of hydraulic fluid to the three point. With the valve fully closed, I believe it locks the three point into position. I would hope a dealer tech is familiar with how the MLS operates, but you never know...

This video makes you wonder if the whole problem couldn't have been fixed with this simple adjustment.

 

[Diggin It]

When I walked in to dealer this afternoon I got to overhear what escalated in to a screaming match between Brian Faulkner at Kioti HQ and the Service Mgr here at Profile Powersports. Kioti HQ/Brian is saying the group of linkages need ot be replaced in order to get the adjustment back in spec at 115 mm. Dealer won't pay for linkage assembly, Kioti won't ay for linkage assembly, in fact Kioti thinks I should pay for linkage assembly and Brian is willing to overnight it in order "to help Erik out"

Screaming match escalated to point where Brian refused to continue conversation in elevated mode....

Makes me wonder if they're gonna get their ticket (and signs and inventory) yanked.

 

[rademamj1]

This video makes you wonder if the whole problem couldn't have been fixed with this simple adjustment.

Yes, that is the ludicrous side to all this MLS valve problem experienced by Erik, as many previous posts on this tractor forum, highlight the very same problem and have resolved it by a simple adjustment or a cleaning of the MLS. Apparently, a single pinhole within the MLS is prone to blockage.

 

[fried1765]

Yes, that is the ludicrous side to all this MLS valve problem experienced by Erik, as many previous posts on this tractor forum, highlight the very same problem and have resolved it by a simple adjustment or a cleaning of the MLS. Apparently, a single pinhole within the MLS is prone to blockage.

Shouldn't the Kioti factory rep person already be familiar with this problem?

 

[justman777]

Shouldn't the Kioti factory rep person already be familiar with this problem?

Yes, they should be. But...they typically learn this from customers. If they don't read what issues are being reported (especially in this well attended forum) and work to address them, they have no business sense. I suspect that's the case here. Or.....they could be reading what we're posting and not really caring.

 

[k0ua]

This reminds me of what I went thru with Kubota's jerky hitch on my L3400hst many years ago. and all the dealer run around I got and tried to get help from Kubota Corporate. Finally got a call from Kubota Regional rep, but by then, I had enough, and swapped the Kubota in for my current Kioti. I haven't looked back. The difference is the Kubota L3400 is not easily repairable. There was a Grand L valve that could go in and solve the problem. That is how some solved it. There are several old threads referencing all of this and how many here tried to solve it with no complete success. A fella in Canada came pretty close, but there were drawbacks to his solution. The long and short of the conversation from the Regional rep was if you wanted a non jerky 3pt hitch you should have bought a Grand L not a "standard" L. Lesson learned.

 

[k0ua]

I learned during the Kubota fiasco, that referring to TBN to many dealers, and Kubota rep, that they have zero interest in ANYTHING that is discussed here or any other tractor forum. They just consider it all noise and opinion and won't even look at it when provided with links.

 

[PetersenRockFarm]

Update: August 6, 2020 9:55 AM

Ahhh it's a beautiful day here in mountains of NH. I got a call at 5 pm last night from local service manager, "your tractor is all set, can you come in and test drive it in the morning" ? Absolutely I said Went in at 9 am this morning.

But, at 8 am this morning I get a text: "Your tractor is Ready for pickup. Your total bill is $5,247.50 Thank You"

Ahhh Serenity Now! That certainly set a tone and rampant scenarios blazing through my head !

Went up there, he told me to go drive it and check it out. I did, it runs as it should (in parking lot, we'll see when I get to mowing my field later today)

The general mgr was also in svc mgr office, both apologized a few times, said dealing with Kioti HQ has never been like this... awful this and terrible that.

Final bill was presented at it was what we agreed upon when MLS valve issue was discovered back in June, $1435.xx I paid that not the $5200, and I did not mention the text. I asked for the broken valve, they're putting it in tractor as it's getting delivered back to me in next couple hours.

I asked for warranty on the MLS Valve, he did not know and said he would have to ask Brian Faulkner at Kioti HQ that question (seeing that already it is a 50% failure rate, got 2 in and first one was bad, supposedly).

So, 7 weeks and 1 day later I am getting my tractor back. If it breaks again I will go to one of the dealers recommended in this post (thank you!). If I ever decide to sell or change tractors I could not in good conscience go with Kioti again. Another OEM could be worse, but it would be worth it after this experience. The combination of dealer lacking adequate aptitude and Kioti lacking support for the dealer, and support for customers calling in, just made for a perfect storm.

I learned that showing up multiple times a day at dealer will get you progress. I learned that you should really research where you are going to bring your tractor for service BEFORE you bring it in...think about not getting it back for weeks and weeks, is this the BEST place I could take it for this problem? I learned to use social media to my advantage, it gets attention.

A huge shout out to all of you who replied or didn't and were there with me in spirit ! I really appreciated your support, ideas, recommendations and comments.

Tractor should be back on farm this morning and then I'm off to mow the field and put this machine (MLS Valve lol) to work !

Tractor just rolled in on trailer, gotta go !
thank you
Erik

 

[TractorGuy]

Glad to hear your at a close,,,, maybe. I guess you won't know until it has weight on the 3pt. Good luck with all future dealings.

 

[PetersenRockFarm]

Glad to hear your at a close,,,, maybe. I guess you won't know until it has weight on the 3pt. Good luck with all future dealings.

Hi TractorGuy,
Just mowed my field for about 45 minutes, put 3 pt through it's paces, working great. No jumping and it is holding the Woods BB720 Brush Bull at all heights. Pausing now and will mow again later today or tomorrow to make sure still working. Good for now. Phew . I got a lot of chores to catch up on .
thanks,
Erik

 

[fried1765]

Update: August 6, 2020 9:55 AM

Ahhh it's a beautiful day here in mountains of NH. I got a call at 5 pm last night from local service manager, "your tractor is all set, can you come in and test drive it in the morning" ? Absolutely I said Went in at 9 am this morning.

But, at 8 am this morning I get a text: "Your tractor is Ready for pickup. Your total bill is $5,247.50 Thank You"

Ahhh Serenity Now! That certainly set a tone and rampant scenarios blazing through my head !

Went up there, he told me to go drive it and check it out. I did, it runs as it should (in parking lot, we'll see when I get to mowing my field later today)

The general mgr was also in svc mgr office, both apologized a few times, said dealing with Kioti HQ has never been like this... awful this and terrible that.

Final bill was presented at it was what we agreed upon when MLS valve issue was discovered back in June, $1435.xx I paid that not the $5200, and I did not mention the text. I asked for the broken valve, they're putting it in tractor as it's getting delivered back to me in next couple hours.

I asked for warranty on the MLS Valve, he did not know and said he would have to ask Brian Faulkner at Kioti HQ that question (seeing that already it is a 50% failure rate, got 2 in and first one was bad, supposedly).

So, 7 weeks and 1 day later I am getting my tractor back. If it breaks again I will go to one of the dealers recommended in this post (thank you!). If I ever decide to sell or change tractors I could not in good conscience go with Kioti again. Another OEM could be worse, but it would be worth it after this experience. The combination of dealer lacking adequate aptitude and Kioti lacking support for the dealer, and support for customers calling in, just made for a perfect storm.

I learned that showing up multiple times a day at dealer will get you progress. I learned that you should really research where you are going to bring your tractor for service BEFORE you bring it in...think about not getting it back for weeks and weeks, is this the BEST place I could take it for this problem? I learned to use social media to my advantage, it gets attention.

A huge shout out to all of you who replied or didn't and were there with me in spirit ! I really appreciated your support, ideas, recommendations and comments.

Tractor should be back on farm this morning and then I'm off to mow the field and put this machine (MLS Valve lol) to work !

Tractor just rolled in on trailer, gotta go !
thank you
Erik

What a HORROR story !!!

 

[k0ua]

I am going to take a wild guess here, and guess that the dealer in question, was not a 5-paw dealer?

 

[PetersenRockFarm]

I am going to take a wild guess here, and guess that the dealer in question, was not a 5-paw dealer?

Profile Powersports, Conway NH claims to be a TOP 20 dealer in USA..... I have not looked that up .... back to chores

 

[rScotty]

What a HORROR story !!!

I don't know if I find it so horrible. Everyone seems to have had good reasons for what they did. Or if not good reasons, at least reasons that made sense to them at the time. It's certainly didn't go forward in a way that anyone would choose; how to avoid that is what I've learned from this thread. But the outcome seems OK.

There sure are a lot of of good lessons to be learned through Erik's experience.
rScotty

 

[k0ua]

Profile Powersports, Conway NH claims to be a TOP 20 dealer in USA..... I have not looked that up .... back to chores

They make no mention of a 5-paw rating on their website. In fact the website seems to be more centered on their other product lines.

Each year KIOTI dealers are evaluated against stringent qualifications in regards to service, sales, operations and parts. Dealers who meet or exceed these qualifications are named 5-Paw Dealers and earn the ability to display KIOTI’s exclusive 5-Paw logo at their dealership. The program was developed to ensure that KIOTI Tractor Customers receive a top quality buying experience and premier service when purchasing a KIOTI tractor or UTV.

I looked them up on the Kioti website, and it says they are a 5-paw dealer as well as Batchelder Sales and Concord Tractor, LLC.

I wonder if they will keep their 5-paw accreditation after this shameful incident.

 

[justman777]

I've come to think of the 5 Paw rating as something the dealer simply pays for. We have a local 5 Paw dealer that has one technician. That's it. Tell me how that equates to the stringent qualifications in regards to service, sales, operations, and parts. Oh...and the service is poor. I won't go back there after a few interactions with the dealer.

 

[grsthegreat]

i just visited that guys website...more about jet skis than anything else. the places that service my tractors sell.......tractors and mowers. not jet skis and side by sides. That might have alot to do with it.

 

[Thomas]

Dang glad your up and running again Erik :thumbsup: for you indeed show tribal test of courage.

 

[bullbreaker]

Erik glad to hear your up and running . One thing I would do ASAP before I attacked my work since your tractor has been so long there and away from its home is to check and " RE - TORQ MY LUG NUTS " on the rims front and back of course according to specs !!! ..................