CK20 HST tranny issues

KiotiJohn · Feb 3, 2006

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think the question is-How many hours are on these tractors? KJ, I know you have a few hours, but is there a CK20HST out there with 1000 hours? 1500 hours?
I would expect them not to have many troubles with less than 200 hours, but do we really know the long term reliability in that part?
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You're right. I don't know anyone with that many hours. I have less than 400 hours now on mine, but I sure have put it through the ringer with some of the jobs I've been doing. I have a feeling if it were going to go, it would have, but I can't be sure of course.
John

unhappykioti · Feb 23, 2006

Did you get your tractor back? Is so what was the outcome?

mathey · Feb 23, 2006

nope, details to follow

mathey · Mar 7, 2006

OK, I just got my tractor back after just over 2 months.

It was the splined coupler between the engine and hydro unit, completely stripped and took the hydro unit with it.

To those of you just joining the story, I was in my 2-1/2 year of ownership, so only parts were covered. In my opinion this was part defect, and should have been covered in full, warranty or not.

I ended up paying just under $1000 for labor to diagnose the problem, replace the hydro unit, replace the hour meter unit (oil leak at front of engine block) and 2 new filters.

In my opinion, Kioti kinda left me standing out in the cold with this whole situation. They did offer to help with some labor costs due to "loss of use" amounting to $390. I'm one of the original CK owners here and have never said a negative thing online here about any of the issues I've had with mine (this is my 4th issue), for fear that the "haters" would just have fuel to feed their fire. I guess loyalty has no benefits.

I've pretty much lost faith in my tractor...since mine only sees light duty usage at best, and this issue was not of my doing, what happens when I really need to do something that requires some oomph? What happens if this occurs again in another 400 hours and I have to foot the entire repair cost?

Another thing that irks me...Kioti has never attemped to contact me about this. Several TBN'ers went to bat for me, as did my dealer, and I even sent an email to Kioti, but never so much as a reply was ever offered. Seems so simple...perhaps my fault that I didn't bug them about this more.

To those of you with units with less hours and who did not get in on the new warranty program, I sincerely hope that you will never have to go through this, and that my issue was a simply a "two in a million" type deal.

I'm seriously considering trading this unit in on another brand tractor...not that they don't have their issues as well, but i'm not a happy camper with Kioti right now.

I would like to personally thank the several TBN members who gave me advice and support throughout this whole ordeal, and I'll apologize now for this reply, since I know it won't be taken very well by most.

5030 · Mar 7, 2006

Mathey:

It took 2 months for them to repair it. In my case if my tractor was gone 2 months, I'd expect and demand a loaner. I must have my tractor every week for feeding the stock.

Sounds to me like it's time to cut your loss and get another brand, any brand with an extended warranty. I think I'd trade it though. I'd not be comfortable selling a tractor like that outright.

Good luck.

MotorSeven · Mar 7, 2006

Mathey,

Wow, 2 months? Why did it taks so long? I think i would be gun shy too. I wonder how many of these splined shafts have to go before a recall?

RD

mathey · Mar 7, 2006

I had the use of a NH TC25 for most of the time, thanks to my FIL...luckily this is a downtime for both him and I

the delay was in getting parts from Kioti, pieces trickled in one at at time, until finally they just sent a whole new hydro unit.

RedRocker · Mar 7, 2006

I hate to hear all that, I sure hope it was a one in a million deal, but only time will tell. I sure don't blame you for jumping ship either. Good luck with which ever way you go.

lcisled · Mar 7, 2006

I have the other one of the "two-in-a-million" CK-20s with this problem.

I certainly understand where Mathey is coming from. If you go back and read my posts about when it happened to me, it was my dealer that saved the day, not Kioti customer service. In fact, after talking to them for a little while, I was yelling at them and my dealer.

For me, this was my only warranty issue with the tractor. The dealer also sold NH, and when I told him to figure up what it would cost to trade for a NH he said,"they break too". I believe that the tractor is better now than before the coupler broke. We were awful gunshy at first, but have since put it through its paces and it has past all of our tests. My confidence is back.

I am glad that mine went out when it did. If this coupler is an issue, there will be a number of CK20 owners that will be paying for the whole repair themselves. It seems to happen after a couple of hundred hours, and it also seems like it takes most owners over 3 years to get over 250 hours. I wish them all luck.

coasterez · Mar 7, 2006

I would first suggest that you reflect on the performance of the dealer who serviced your CK20 before completely writing of your Kioti. Should it have really taken so many hours? Your past posts reflected that you were really high on your tractor. Things will break. Should it have broken? No. Kioti did stand by its parts. Should it cost so much in labor to fix? Absolutely not. Should kioti stand by you or the dealer? This is a tough call. Both deserve Kioti's support.

All-in-all it's just a rotten deal for you. Just remember that this happens with all makes and models. I have a JD425 HST and she has been an incredibly reliable machine. Along about the same time frame as your problems (2.5 years), I had a thermal problem with the ignition system. I was strongly suspicious of the control module, but wasn't sure. So rather than simply buying and installing the $80 control module myself, I let the dealer troubleshoot and fix it. It was not covered by any warranty. Total cost was $585. What did they do? Replaced the $80 part. This was 1996 dollars, too. They'd probably charge me over $800 today. Bottom line is that repair costs in this area are astronomical, especially from experienced, highly qualified shops.

Unfortunately, if something big breaks on mine, I may have to use the same dealer. If it happens, maybe I'll spend the money on a trailer so I can take it to any dealer I choose. I hope you keep your CK20 and get many years of service from it, and I pray that neither of us has to visit the local repair shop anytime soon.

Tom