B7800 - Busted Axle at 441 hours

[Frostybear]

Wow that sucks but at least Kubota is covering the parts. I just traded my B7800 with 700 hours that I used in the woods for logging on very rough, rocky ground. I had both front axle seals leak and the rear axle seal also but that was the extent of my problems. This tractor had chains on all four wheels also. I think that you must have got a bad casting from the factory. Sounds like you have a good dealer.

 

[Ken45101]

I guess I expect the written warranty to mean what it says. That's what you agree to accept when you buy something.

IMO, any coverage beyond the warranty is "beyond and above" and good PR.

Ken

Let me be blunt and to the point - What would you expect from the company? You would drop 18K on a tractor, have a wheel fall off after a crack in the axle, and be okay with it? You wouldn't expect the company to stand behind it fully? The tractor isn't 10 or 15 years old. The crack probably occurred 6 months ago - so it would have been 6 months out of warranty.

No, I don't expect a lifetime warranty, but I think that a major issue like this should be taken care of by the company.

I am sure that I am "too close" to this to be fully objective. But I would also bet money that you wouldn't shrug your shoulders and say, "Oh well." if you were in the situation.

 

[radioman]

sorry - i have to agree with the guys here -Ken45101 and twodogs. They seemed to have a point. I agree that if I were in your shoes, I would've wished I caught that issue earlier. Getting parts paid for, it REALLY better then nothing. I am sure once you get it repaired, You will continue to love your kubota.

 

[RobJ]

Glad there wasn't a bus load of orphan kids going by when it broke.

Perfect timing!! And don't forget the Nuns were driving and taking care of the kids! Oh the pain just thinking about it.

 

[westcliffe01]

I had a 1968 land rover series II and anyone who knows anything about Rover knows how much they need to be worked on. Having said that, that vehicle never failed at a moment that was critical and could have killed me. I remember driving up the side of a mountail on a very rough trail that needed low range first and a gentle foot on the gas pedal to maintain traction on the loose surface. It got me in and back down. But the very next day while driving in town traffic, the layshaft in the 4 speed box snapped. I was able to make it home in 4th gear, but if that had happened the day before, I might not be writing this.

Having several episodes along those lines leaves you with a feeling that this was a vehicle that was not going to let you down when it mattered, not matter how my rational mind would counter that these were just statistically random incidents. Your Kubota failed at a time when it was safe to do so (or at least without dire consequences) so hope this is the pattern for the future.

If I were you, I would still write to the CEO of Kubota NA and tell him what you thought of the failure of such a safety critical component, and ask him what would be done to avoid such hazards in future.

 

[gerford]

I'm still curious if a B7800 is suppose to have rear ballast on the 3 point hitch when using the front loader. If it is, this problem is not Kubotas, but in the way the tractor was operated.
Anybody know if a B7800 is suppose to have rear ballast on the 3 point hitch? I know my BX23 needs it.

 

[twodogs]

I would agree Kubota treated you very well. I would ask do you haul your machine on a trailer and chain it down with binders? (IE over tightended the straps/chains) Then hit a big bump? Just think of the stress you put on the axle when you go over board secureing it to the trailer with over sized chains and binders, then hit a big pot hole or let the trailer hit a curb.
$500 in repairs in a year would be cheap for anything I run/own.

The tractor has only been hauled to/from the dealer. It doesn't leave my property otherwise.

 

[twodogs]

My BX 23 manual it says "rear ballast must be added to the 3 point hitch " when operating the loader. Adding ballast into the rear wheels doesn't help lower the load on the front axle when the loader bucket is full. Did this ever come up in your discussion with the dealer? Are you suppose to have rear ballast on the 3 point hitch when operating the loader? If you were suppose to, that might explain the failure.

mentioned this in another post here - dealer suggested filled tires when I bought new

 

[rScotty]

Thanks for the input guys. I guess that I expect too much from the company.

I'm not sure that's true. I'd expect more of the company myself. Bad casting and poor engineering are not typical of Kubota, and I'd bet the failure on your machine bothers them a lot. Even more so since it was also happening on the other side. But it may be that your approach of trying to limit your financial loss isn't nearly as interesting to them as the problem of what to do about other owners with the same part. After all, the financial part of the warranty is just a time versus defects gamble between yourself and Kubota and in this case you lose. So what?

From their point of view it isn't much money, they went half way with the parts, you could of course do the labor yourself and save all the money if you wished.

Rather than asking that they cover the labor, you might have a stronger case if you asked Kubota to involve you in their company's defective part evaluation, solicit your knowledge about why it failed, and ask Kubota to keep you updated on what they do to rectify the situation for other owners of the same model....Given that the failure did create a potentially dangerous situation for you they might find that to be a reasonable request.

About the only thing that I would find personally unacceptable would be for them to simply replace a defective part that had created a potential for hazard. At the very least I would want assurances that they had taken a detailed look at why it failed.
rScotty

 

[Volfandt]

About the only thing that I would find personally unacceptable would be for them to simply replace a defective part that had created a potential for hazard. At the very least I would want assurances that they had taken a detailed look at why it failed.

Lets step back and think this out objectively for a moment.

1) Design and manufacture.
The B7800 has been in production for quite a few yrs, perhaps 6 or 7 and there hasn't been many threads re. structural failures re. this model tractor. It's a safe bet that if there were, this board would reflect it. A quick search will reveal that the vast majority of owners are satisfied with this model....
Since theres not, it's also safe to assume that theres no inherent structural/mechanical deficency in the design and manufacture of the B7800.

2) Cause and effect.
Admittedly, a tractor by it's very nature is designed to operate in rough environments and even with the myriad of safety features built into it, operating a tractor in the environment it is entended to operate in is a dangerous undertaking. Unfortunately, safety features like the ROPS and seat safety switches had to be implemented due to past unfortunate deadly accidents. Some due to misoperation and others due to the inherent danger thats present when operating a tractor in it's intended environment.
Same unfortunate accidents could have been due to a part failing, i.e a crack that expanded into a break etc., but to be fair, like a prefilght check of an aircraft, a preuse inspection of a tractor may have exposed a potential catastropic failure before it happened.
Since a tractor is inherently dangerous and is intended to operate in environments that are by their very nature rougher and more dangerous than say operating an auto on pavement, at what point is in incumbant for the operator to be responsible for operating the tractor both safely and in a manner that doesn't over stress the machine?

IMHO, it appears that Kubota is actually going above and beyond it's responsibility to it's customer by providing the parts necessary to repair his tractor free of charge even though the tractor is well out of warranty.
Since there is no overwelming evidence indicating that the B7800's have structural defects in the front axle assembly's, it has not been proven that the failed axle was engineered improperly. It's possible that the assembly may have had a manufacturing defect but since it lasted well past it's warranty period, thats going to be hard to prove also.
The OP states that he operated the tractor within it's designed spec's (which is inherently dangerous and stressful), so it would probably be too expensive and time coinsuming for Kubota to try to prove that the tractor was abused, so they took the high road and offered the parts for free, which sounds like a very good compromise to me.

btw, I am not affiliated w/Kubota, any repair shop or any parts supplier.
I'm providing MHO based on the open request for it and pointing out that we are talking about tractor and not a sports car......