FEL repair kit

[P.L.]

At least a rebuilt transmission does not add unwanted parts. I understand that there is growing pains and that we all make mistakes. Its how we fix those mistakes and solve those problems that dictates who we are. How come the consumer has to pay for Kiotis mistakes. I don't care what it cost them they should fix what they screwed up. If this means going belly up, to bad they should have figured these things out sooner. In my opinion any change in performance, exaggerated or not is not acceptable. A rebuilt transmission may be rebuilt but it does the same thing as new one, sometimes better. In this case there is nothing better about this kit and if anything it takes away from the performance and value from the tractor which is simply unacceptable in my eyes. I don't care about there problems all I know is that I don't want some mickey mouse repair kit to be part of mine.

 

[IslandTractor]

At least a rebuilt transmission does not add unwanted parts. I understand that there is growing pains and that we all make mistakes. Its how we fix those mistakes and solve those problems that dictates who we are. How come the consumer has to pay for Kiotis mistakes. I don't care what it cost them they should fix what they screwed up. If this means going belly up, to bad they should have figured these things out sooner. In my opinion any change in performance, exaggerated or not is not acceptable. A rebuilt transmission may be rebuilt but it does the same thing as new one, sometimes better. In this case there is nothing better about this kit and if anything it takes away from the performance and value from the tractor which is simply unacceptable in my eyes. I don't care about there problems all I know is that I don't want some mickey mouse repair kit to be part of mine.

Asking them to do a recall that could (no evidence of this) put them out of business is surely wishing to cut off your nose to spite your face. What good is it to have an orphan tractor? I do agree that they should have offered some choice for the customer with perhaps a deeply discounted price for replacement arms and spliting the cost of having the dealer install them for example as an alternative for those like yourself who find the kit unacceptable for whatever reason.

The "repair" kit is supposed to increase the strength of the loader so there is some positive element to what we all agree is a negative cosmetic result. If you really don't want the repair kit then don't use it and custom weld a reinforcement around the cutout. There are features in every piece of equipment we buy that are not ideal, you either learn to live with that or get rid of it and move on.

 

[ERE]

I just had mine installed today by the fine people at Tractor Hill. I took the loader arms down to them in my pickup, and they turned me around in about an hour. Tractor has about 245 hours on it and when they removed the plates there were no cracks yet. As to the looks, it is about 1/2 inch wider that the tube under it so unless you knew it before, you wouldn't even notice it. As an engineer, I'm ok with the fix. It adds a margin of strength, will make the loader more ridged, looks ok, and probably only takes 30-40 pounds off of the total lift ability.

 

[Gittyup]

I'm with you P.L. The kit is a bandaid and reduces the value of all CK's with the KL130s, both new design and old. ....And my loader did fail.

 

[P.L.]

Gitty up I encourage you and anyone else who is unhappy with Kioti's band aid to complain. Go on Kioti's web site and write a complaint. I have written several complaints and have gotten phone calls in response. Although right now they won't do any thing for me, if more people let them know they are not satisfied with their fix, maybe Kioti will take responsibility for their mistake and solve the problem with new loader arms or a credit for a new loader. Also tell your dealer you are not happy with the fix, if the dealer knows you are not satisfied than they can put pressure on Kioti too. The more people that voice their opinions the more chance of getting a response.

 

[Dmace]

I'm with you P.L. The kit is a bandaid and reduces the value of all CK's with the KL130s, both new design and old. ....And my loader did fail.

How exactly did your loader fail? We have not heard of any failures yet. My loader had 4 small 1" cracks at the four bolt holes. The reinforcement plate was added about 100 hrs ago and after moving many many loads that are heavier than any tractor in it's class could ever think of lifting, the cracks have not moved at all. Obviously the plate is working and I don't see any problem with it at all.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm with you P.L. The kit is a bandaid and reduces the value of all CK's with the KL130s, both new design and old. ....And my loader did fail.

That is the first claim of failure I have heard. If you are going to make a statement like that you'd better back it up. We don't need exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims made just to stir the pot. You previously stated your loader "twisted". We don't know what that means as many loaders are not perfectly level and a slight "twist" doesn't affect function. Furthermore there is no evidence I know of that twist is associated with the cracks. Kubota B3030 loaders are reported as being unlevel or twisted too but there are no cracking issues with that loader. We know you are pissed off you are with Kioti, but exaggeration doesn't help. If you want to maintain your credibility back up your statement with photos and a clear description of how your "failed" loader functions.

 

[P.L.]

It seems to me that most Kioti owners are happy with the fact that they own a tractor with higher performance ratings than the rest of the major compact tractor manufactures. Why don't you also encourage Kioti to have better costumer support and service to and once again raise the bar for other manufactures. I don' care how my trator out performs other tractors in it's class, if it's a ticking time bomb without the manufacture to back it up (2+ years for a poor solution at best), I'll go with less lifting and more reliability.

 

[TBDonnelly]

New rule.... noone can try and hush the numerous FEL threads unless they in fact own an effected loader. I know I can't set rules but try and consider that it is hard to understand the frustration unless you are one of the owners of these defective loaders.

IT.......

'If' Kioti would have taken the position of replacing the cracked loaders from the gitgo and explained it was going to take 2 1/2years for Taesung to build and absorb the expense it would be much smoother sailing now.
But that did not happen and what it is, it is.

Don

 

[Gittyup]

That is the first claim of failure I have heard. If you are going to make a statement like that you'd better back it up. We don't need exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims made just to stir the pot. You previously stated your loader "twisted". We don't know what that means as many loaders are not perfectly level and a slight "twist" doesn't affect function. Furthermore there is no evidence I know of that twist is associated with the cracks. Kubota B3030 loaders are reported as being unlevel or twisted too but there are no cracking issues with that loader. We know you are pissed off you are with Kioti, but exaggeration doesn't help. If you want to maintain your credibility back up your statement with photos and a clear description of how your "failed" loader functions.

For reasons I cannot go into, I cannot provide more details. Let's just say that, in my case, Kioti agrees with me. It is my opinion that my loader failed, and that the kit cheapens the tractor. I'm not exaggerating anything. I'm not pissed off that I own a Kioti either (at least not yet). In fact, many of my recent posts have praised my tractor. I'm coming from the point of view that the kit reduces the value of my tractor and all other owners of CK's, whether they have the original loader, with or without the kit, or a new KL130B and I'd like to see that corrected.

Other than this I don't have to justify nothing to you. I don't really care if you agree or not. How can you say that none have failed? You don't know squat about my loader, nor hundreds of others out there.

What I'm lobbying for is that all users with cracked loaders get new loader arms, and I will continue to do this.

 

[SPYDERLK]

It seems as if you take it personal like you are the president of Kioti or something. I own over $200,000 of equipment from many different companies and I really don't care what name is on the equipment as long as it functions the way it should. Bottom line is this kit takes away from the original function and operation from the loader from the day I bought it. Further more I don't care if it ten minutes or all day, I already have enough equipment to maintain and don't need added steps and more junk to take off the tractor because they screwed up, this only waste more of my limited time. Lastly it took over a year an a half for them to develop a mickey mouse fix and now because of there improvements my brush guard hits the hood of my tractor when I open it. It took them a year and a half to screw up a screw up. I don't feel the need to defend the manufacture of any equipment I own, the only vested interest I have in any equipment company is the equipment it self. If that equipment fails or stops functioning the way it should and they offer a band aid at best I feel no need to stand by them because as far as I'm considered the already left me out to hang. I don't care what color tractor I own this kit is not acceptable, and if more people who just spent 16,000+ of there money held Kioti accountable, instead of forgiving them for there mistake we would have new loaders. I did not make the mistake but I certainly have to live and deal with it. I look at my equipment as an investment. I've purchased much of my equipment used and only increased it's value through restoration and maintenance. Try to explain to a potential buyer what the big thing is bolted on the front of the tractor and that the cracks are only cosmetic. I'll guarantee that the buyer will walk away and buy a tractor with nothing bolted to I or offer you way less than it's worth, at least that would be my reaction. I stand by my work 100% and when I do have a warranty issues I fix it back to, or better than new, no questions asked. Because of this I've been in business for 6 yrs with no advertising and no shortage of work. Obviously Kioti does not care about there consumer offering a cheap below grade fix at best, and if thats all there willing to do than the next tractor I by will definitely not be a Kioti.

I agree with you completely. I hate hassles. A hassle was not in the purchase agreement. You didnt invest in some kind of a club when you purchased the tractor. You bought a tool with a guarantee of a known level of competence. You are stuck with less than you bought. Youve every right to be insulted by the situation.
larry

 

[P.L.]

Gitty up I agree with you 100% and don't intend on stopping with my complaints until the problem is resolved in an acceptable manor. It's nice to hear another opinion from spyderlk backing us in with a realistic point of view. I'm sure there are other people out there that are unhappy with Kioti's approach to this entire situation. I encourage you to complain to Kioti and your dealer until we get a real fix to a real problem. Until this occurs I won't be happy being a Kioti owner and as long as I am one (probably after) I'm not going to just accept the band aid and let it go.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'd like to clarify that I concur that Kioti has done an atrocious job of customer service with this loader business. I had one of the earliest cracked KL120 loaders and spent quality time ranting about how slow and stupid Kioti's response was during the spring and fall of 2006 when this all came to light. I understand the frustration and annoyance associated with havng one of the affected loaders. Been there, done that.

My point recently has been that despite it's frumpiness, the loader repair kit does seem to accomplish the primary mission of strengthening the loader. For those who are primarily interested in the tractor as a tool that should be good news. I don't think we know to what degree the repair kit affects resale value but it's fair to say it won't add anything. That is a separate issue from functionality however.

I still think Kioti should offer an alternative to the repair kit for those who are dissatisfied. Again, as I think I posted earlier, it seems reasonable to me to have a two tiered approach. Free repair kit and installation with a second option of a deeply discounted replacement set of arms along with perhaps splitting the cost of dealer installation. I don't think that is unreasonable for either party. The other thing Kioti could do is to subsidize a bonus on trade in of any tractor with kit equipped KL120/KL130 to offset any kit related extra depreciation. A model for this is VW's current $1000 off any new VW for the owner of any Passat (to make up for the hit Passat owners have taken due to bad publicity regarding an oil sludging problem in some of their engines a few years ago.)

Having now owned two of their tractors, I am convinced that Kioti makes fine tractors that are an excellent value but that their corporate philosophy regarding customer service is right out of the Ford Pinto book. It makes you wonder if any of the executives at Kioti have studied business case studies on handling product defects in the past twenty years. They are truly awful on customer relations (lack of clear and prompt communication) and they don't seem to show any flexibility in adapting whatever strategy they come up with once they get customer feedback. I don't blame the poor customer service reps as they are simply forced to execute the corporate policy. I inadvertently got one poor guy in customer service in trouble a couple of years ago simply by reporting accurately on TBN what he'd told me about the delays and difficulties Kioti was having getting their loader manufacturer to come up with the repair kits. That was news that the Kioti bigwigs should have openly and promptly reported to all concerned but they hid the information even from most of their dealers. That is the type of baloney that they really need to put an end to if they want their brand name to be associated with quality rather than grumpy customers.

 

[P.L.]

Unfortunately for Kioti owners your tractor is only as good as customer service that comes with it. If a manufacture is not willing to back there own product, than that product is destined for failure in the long run. I have had several problems with my tractor many small and two big. Small things like replacing ignition switches, paint peeling and flaking off of (the loader, roll bar and other painted items) having to replace the bucket control lever and other minor things. These small things are annoying and unacceptable, but in this day in age with most items we purchase par for the course and easier if just dealt with and ignored. However at 200 hrs when the engine blew on my tractor it left me with a little bit of an uneasy feeling. Although Kioti fixed the problem I still lost money because my tractor was not in use and I was left with a new tractor that had already been taken apart. Next the loader another major component of the tractor starts to crack and show signs of stress, and Kioti takes for ever to give a solution and does not even make an attempt to make unhappy costumers happy. After these problems and the lack of concern Kioti has shown me about giving me a more adequate fix, I would never even consider Kioti for my next tractor. Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me. Until I found this site all I new about was my own bad experience and unhappiness with Kioti, now I realize I'm not alone. Knowing that there are many other people in the same boat as I am does not make me feel good, rather it makes me question if I made the right decision when I bought my Kioti and maybe it's time to start looking at some different tractors. I rely on my equipment every day and thats hard to do if you don't have a manufacture you can rely on.

 

[rcrcomputing]

Let's stir up the pot..

Who else is still waiting on the "kit"?

 

[450EXC]

My dealer recently told me Kioti has extended the FEL Program Indefinatly (sp?).

The 1-22-09 date no longer applies. I can have it done anytime. No offers of cheap, new style loader arms though.

 

[IslandTractor]

My dealer recently told me Kioti has extended the FEL Program Indefinatly (sp?).

The 1-22-09 date no longer applies. I can have it done anytime. No offers of cheap, new style loader arms though.

Good to hear. They would have been awfully dumb to have really shut the program down. There are undoubtedly quite a few KL120/KL130 owners out there who don't even know about the problem yet and will be trickling in over years. I don't blame Kioti for wanting to put this episode behind them but it would be foolish to do so at the expense of their customers.

 

[rcrcomputing]

My dealer says he's waiting on the kits. Reckon I should try to get one from another dealer? Been waiting quite some time...

 

[TBDonnelly]

The cracked loader issue continues to haunt Kioti Korporate because they failed miserably to fix the problem right the first time around and chose to go, what they thought would be, the cheap way out, alienating many of the early core group of purchasers that helped put Kioti on the map.

Don

 

[Gittyup]

Amen, Don! Over in the buying forum, there is a guy considering Kioti. And the loader issue has raised its ugly head. I'm sure it has made him pause at the very least.

This loader debacle will haunt all of us who own Kiotis that may want to sell someday.