Dealer Service

[MHarryE]

Is there a trick to get a dealer to work on a tractor. My nephew forgot to enable auto regen when his electricity went out. Tractor driving emergency gen for 20 hours, was near 99% at start, was at 160% in the morning, wouldn’t regen, so in a week dealer picked it up. It’s his main feeding tractor and FIP on his old IH backup - replacement can’t be made to run. So my new M5-111 is his chore tractor, except when I need to cut or bale (every day) so it’s in shuttle mode. Meantime blower failed in cab of my M7. It’s buried under the seat and blocked by side panels. I’ve torn it apart, 8 hour job, found problem is wire connector pinched under AC unit. Cab needs to be removed. Dealer hasn’t even responded to my calls. I’ve spent over $500,000 at the dealer since 2013 including 3 tractors between $100k and $200k each . Is this todays service? Every time I run the M7, a warning light come on saying the hydraulic oil is bypassing due to heat - sometimes within 2 minutes of start. Kubota says likely a switch failure, done worry. I worry that it’s been a year and they don’t have time to fix. Also the software is to be updated under warranty but Kubota won’t let them come out to my farm to update - I need to pay $1000 hauling to get it done, but the other problems keep cropping up. Kubota should be proud of my $18 12v fan in my cab as a crutch. Are all dealers getting this was or is my WI dealer an outlier? No promise yet when nephews M111GX gets back - it has 4,200 hours no problem but one slip on his part and he’s screwed.

 

[tacticalturnip]

You have a lot of patience not to be absolutely up their ass.

 

[jaydee325]

Perhaps contact Kubota corporate customer support center?

888-458-2682

 

[dieselbob69]

unfortunately that's the way it is nowadays with lack of qualified help and equipment sitting waiting for parts....

 

[MHarryE]

Kubota Customer’s answer is to talk to your dealer rep. They have no personal involvement in my area - it must be at the dealer. I’m embarrassed to think that a year ago I intended to deal with my local Caterpillar dealer who although this branch is mining oriented, also sells the Ziegler ag line - Massey-Ferguson, Challenger, Fendt. Cat has always been super on my lone piece of Cat equipment, an excavator. If I need a part by 5:00 pm one day and not in stock at my branch, it is always on the 7:00 am truck the next morning. And although it might cost, they will have a field mechanic out quickly instead of always into the shop.

 

[Citydude]

Is there a trick to get a dealer to work on a tractor. My nephew forgot to enable auto regen when his electricity went out. Tractor driving emergency gen for 20 hours, was near 99% at start, was at 160% in the morning, wouldn’t regen, so in a week dealer picked it up. It’s his main feeding tractor and FIP on his old IH backup - replacement can’t be made to run. So my new M5-111 is his chore tractor, except when I need to cut or bale (every day) so it’s in shuttle mode. Meantime blower failed in cab of my M7. It’s buried under the seat and blocked by side panels. I’ve torn it apart, 8 hour job, found problem is wire connector pinched under AC unit. Cab needs to be removed. Dealer hasn’t even responded to my calls. I’ve spent over $500,000 at the dealer since 2013 including 3 tractors between $100k and $200k each . Is this todays service? Every time I run the M7, a warning light come on saying the hydraulic oil is bypassing due to heat - sometimes within 2 minutes of start. Kubota says likely a switch failure, done worry. I worry that it’s been a year and they don’t have time to fix. Also the software is to be updated under warranty but Kubota won’t let them come out to my farm to update - I need to pay $1000 hauling to get it done, but the other problems keep cropping up. Kubota should be proud of my $18 12v fan in my cab as a crutch. Are all dealers getting this was or is my WI dealer an outlier? No promise yet when nephews M111GX gets back - it has 4,200 hours no problem but one slip on his part and he’s screwed.

If a customer had spent 500K at my business I'd be at their place twisting wrenches myself.

The unreturned phone calls is the absolute worst thing any business can do to a customer. I hope things work out for you.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm a nobody with only one old CAT dozer but customer service is the best I've found.

First question is always is machine down at job site...

All the other shops really have almost no one on the service side... older guys retired and younger not that many.

What about the old Certified Letter to Dealer copied to Kubota?

 

[rScotty]

THank you for bringing this subject up.

I think we got into this position because we bought so many products which we knew were not designed to be repaired. Even a casual glance would show us that today's dealerships - whether tractors, cars, appliances, tools, or you name it... do not have the facilities, parts, education, personnel, or backing to repair their own products. Nor do they feel a responsibility to do so. There has been a major shift in our manufacturing philosophy.
Manufacturers are now selling goods designed to be replaced rather than repaired.

And knowing all this, we are still voting with our dollars to buy unrepairable produts.
The inescapable conclusion is that we have done this to ourselves - and we continue to do so.

If we continue to mortgage our land to buy newer tools to farm it, then eventually our land will belong to those corporations. A lot of it does now. And we will be working for them. Is that what we want?

It's not too late to change things around, but the later it gets the harder it becomes to make changes.

rScotty

 

[5030]

Interesting comments. I have zero issues with my dealer but then all his employees are long duration and everyone that works full time there are related to the owner which can be good or can be bad but in their case it works out fine. I work there too, part time however, I'm not related but I've dealt with them for decades and no complaints.

Also interesting comment about the Kubota regional rep. I had a net tail extension issue with my new Kubota BV round baler and the Kubota regional rep came to the farm and reprogrammed the computer for an additional net tail extension. I didn't request that, they (dealer) decided on that course of action.

Kubota is having (and has been having parts delivery issues), I know that, get to see it.

I suspect a lot of dealers are having employment issues over and above that. Pretty much everywhere today.

Good friend is the plant manager of a steel processing outfit in NE Indiana and was talking to him last week and I asked him if the employee issues had improved over the last year, to which he replied NO. he said he cannot keep a full crew in the plant, said it's like a revolving door. No one wants to work and if they do, cannot pass a drug screen and if they do make it and get hired, they last a couple days and never come back and they (company pays a good wage and have excellent benefits.

If you cannot get employees, you are basically screwed and working at any tractor dealership requires some experience from the get go, especially with the new emissions compliant machines. You just cannot hire someone off the street and expect them to be able to repair them. Don't happen that way.

Guess I'm fortunate in that respect as employee turnover at my dealer is basically non-existent. I'm the newbie there but I don't work on machines, all I do is pick up units and deliver them, I drive their roll back truck, have a CDL. Takes that responsibility away from the owner and allows him to be at the dealership selling units.

Don't want to help them work on machines anyway, especially the new ones. Electronics have always intimidated me. Mechanical stuff no issue but electronic stuff, I'll pass every time.

I sure am glad both my units have very limited electronics.

The shop seems to always have one or two in for repair lately.

 

[WM75Guy]

I would have already found me a new dealer.

 

[MHarryE]

Phone call to dealer service manager this morning. Things have been moving behind the scenes but have not kept nephew and me informed. His tractor is ready to return tomorrow, and can I do without my M7-171 for 3 weeks? Glad I replaced my L6060 with a M5-111 last December because this is haying season and the M5, now a replacement for nephews tractor, will be what I need. So truck will return nephew's tractor which is ready to roll and return with my M7. Summers are hectic and good labor hard to find so I know it is a problem. My backup backup tractor is a 1960's Allis-Chalmers D10. It has one single acting remote but I don't want to mix its transmission oil with my good tractors. The PTO has one position - on whenever engine is running. Air ride seat of my Kubota's - this is plywood, weathered plywood, splinters in butt. Can pull a tire off something and use the inner tube for an air ride. 4 gears instead of 24 or infinite. No ROPS and I have one steep hill - that is the real stopper. Things may come together yet. Better communication from dealer would help things like this.

 

[rScotty]

Phone call to dealer service manager this morning. Things have been moving behind the scenes but have not kept nephew and me informed. His tractor is ready to return tomorrow, and can I do without my M7-171 for 3 weeks? Glad I replaced my L6060 with a M5-111 last December because this is haying season and the M5, now a replacement for nephews tractor, will be what I need. So truck will return nephew's tractor which is ready to roll and return with my M7. Summers are hectic and good labor hard to find so I know it is a problem. My backup backup tractor is a 1960's Allis-Chalmers D10. It has one single acting remote but I don't want to mix its transmission oil with my good tractors. The PTO has one position - on whenever engine is running. Air ride seat of my Kubota's - this is plywood, weathered plywood, splinters in butt. Can pull a tire off something and use the inner tube for an air ride. 4 gears instead of 24 or infinite. No ROPS and I have one steep hill - that is the real stopper. Things may come together yet. Better communication from dealer would help things like this.

Seriously? You have half a million dollars in equipment that you can't repair yourself, making you totally depending on the dealer - and your back up plan is a 1960 vintage D10?
I guess that makes me wonder if this might be a good time to look at a somewhat newer backup tractor?
But keep that AC D10. Harvest & hay won't wait.
rScotty

 

[MHarryE]

No, earlier I said my backup is a M5-111 I bought in January. However, my nephew's main loader tractor went down and the FIP on his backup loader tractor, an old IH 666, went down and they can't get the replacement working. So he has my M5 due to his dairy/beef herd and daily feeding. As soon as nephew's tractor is returned the same truck is taking my M7, and I will get my M5 back from my nephew. But this dual mainline tractor failure at the same time put us in a bind, especially with no indication from our dealer until this morning that they had a plan to get us going again. I should have been able to fix my M7 by myself but the blower motor connector they say to check in trouble shooting is not where it is shown in the picture. The wiring harness is there but the connector is wedged where I cannot see nor reach. It should have been a user repair but was apparently assembled wrong so the connector can't be reached without removing the AC unit - evacuating AC, disconnecting, repairing, and recharging. I can't handle that part.

 

[oldballs]

Since I'm coming up on 90 YO, I guess I'm out of touch with business today. But I hear the same stories from my kids about getting new employees.....even for unskilled positions. It sounds like they make more money from unemployement and all the other govt hand outs. than for a working job.

I've wondered if the actual working people are overworked now, since they can't get reliable help. Customer service is bound to lag behind. 0.02 cents.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Citydude]

The contractor that's installing my septic system can not find anyone willing to work and learn a trade. I offered to help him for nothing but he refused and said he's paying me $20.00 an hour.

 

[MHarryE]

Since I'm coming up on 90 YO, I guess I'm out of touch with business today. But I hear the same stories from my kids about getting new employees.....even for unskilled positions. It sounds like they make more money from unemployement and all the other govt hand outs. than for a working job.

I've wondered if the actual working people are overworked now, since they can't get reliable help. Customer service is bound to lag behind. 0.02 cents.

Cheers,
Mike

We don't have that kind of a problem here. Unemployment the lowest since they began recorded. Mines here desperate for people but younger generations move to the cities where there are more opportunities. I grew up on the farm of which I now own a very small portion. Friends and relatives who continued farming are now crippled due to heavy lifting - replacement hips, knees. Today's tractors are much more reliable (I have the experience here with my nephews 16 or so old tractors of which its lucky to get 50% running - his farm depends on 4 newer tractors). His loader tractor had its first problem after 4,200 hours, a problem of his own making but needed more expertise. Mine has been super reliable but now needs more expertise. I'm 75 - one of my great nieces just began a job in the deli of a local convenience store - 14 years old and 50 hours her first week. Older population retired, not as many younger ones to fill their positions.

 

[5030]

I was just at my dealer today (had to pay my bill) and interestingly, he had no new tractors to speak of. Last time I was there (a week ago) the lot was pretty full. Not so today. He's been doping the pickups and deliveries himself because he has nothing to sell.

I'm good with that. It is a part time gig after all. I asked him what the deal was (he sells a ton of tractors, always has) and he told me he's having issues getting Tractors from Georgia presently. He attributes it to the labor shortage everyone in manufacturing is dealing with today. No one wants to work unless the pay is top tier and even then it's hard to find responsible employees that actually come to work on time, every day.

No work ethic left today sadly.

 

[5030]

...and that shows by the amount of screw up's I've fixed on new Kubota equipment, not the tractors themselves, but the add on stuff, back hoes and loaders have been suspect lately. Last week did a front loader upper arm they shipped as complete but had no stringer weld on the gusset that is on top of the loader arm. All painted real nice, but no weld ever laid. Did that one at the shop with my gas driven Lincoln.

Considering how difficult it is to get equipment today, you don't send that stuff back, you fix it and move on. If you returned it, who knows how long it would be before a replacement showed up.

 

[5030]

We don't have that kind of a problem here.

I bet you do, you just aren't aware of it because it's not part of your wheelhouse. It's everywhere today. The days of good work ethic are mostly gone.

 

[MHarryE]

Having been in the business my whole career, I have kept following marketing trends even after retiring. Sales have been absolutely out of site. Here is a summary of 2021 tractor sales. 40 to 100 HP up 10%; 100+ up 24%. This only shows comparison between 2021 and 2020. Go to AEM (Association of Equipment Manufacturers) and you will see that 2020 blew 2019 out of the water despite the pandemic, and 2019 was better than 2018. The 2021 sales were such it was easy to see why inventory was depleted and is still catching up. The plant with which I was associated has 50% more assemblers than they did when I retired in 2009. They expanded the assembly plant by 50%. They still can't keep up with demand. Demand exceeding supply by so much = inflation. Believe it or not, the US is much better than most of the countries. I'm glad I live in an area with a good work ethic but the workers might not last. Voluntary overtime went out the window several years ago.