Interesting phone call from Kubota the other day.

[Chuck K.]

My cell phone rings here at work, the gentleman identifies himself and ask what kind of problem I am having with my tractor. I explained to him I was not pleased with the smoothness of my 3 point and although its not as jerky as some I have seen it was no where near as smooth as the old 8N I owned years ago.

To give a little back ground on this I emailed Kubota asking why they continued to ignore the issues with the 3 point lift on 2800/3400 and the economy tractor excuse was not acceptable to me and could cause me to shop for a different brand if the problem could not be resolved.

The gentleman was very polite explained the earlier models did have an issue with 3 point control valve but he said looking at my serial number on my tractor it was made with the upgraded valve like that is used in the Grand series. He did go on to mention jerky 3 point control valve being discussed on Tractorbynet. and Kubota was working with folks to resolve the troubled ones. Even though it appears I have the upgraded valve I expressed to him that I thought a modern day tractors 3 point should be as smooth as tractor produced in the ~50 (My old 8N). He said something like it would cost too much to make it as smooth as the 8N on a base model tractor and would drive up the cost. He also mention the rate of fall valve can be adjusted to help improve the smoothness and if I still had a problem take it in to my dealer to let them look at it.. I thanked him for taking the time to call me and said good bye.

I was at work and wish I could have talked to him longer and could have been more attentive but we had a lot of radio traffic that I was trying to deal with while talking to him and I was caught totally off guard. It is obvious by his statement they do read some of the forums and read peoples concerns and problems I believe this is a positive action by popular manufacturers and should be beneficial to owners provided we use constructive criticism and address real problems politely and professionally as possible..
Just my 2 cents Chuck.

 

[lawn_king]

Thats great info chuck. Good to know kubota is surfing around tbn and checking on product issues with kubota owners. Good luck with your 3 pt problem. Scott.

 

[Jw5875]

It seems interesting, I have had my L3400 for almost two years, never noticed the "JUMP" when raising the 3 pt until I used a post hole digger. This flaw will eventually hurt somebody seriously and Kubota will be where Ford was in the 70's for Pinto gas tanks.

I am in Pa. and Edger Snyder Assoc. will be getting a call to represent me.

Kubota should have at least inform previous purchasers of this problem --- RE-CALL ETC.

next, class action law suit!!!!

KUBOTA AND DEALERS, ARE YOU LISTENING!!!!!!!!!!





JW5875

 

[canoetrpr]

Kubota needs to do one of two things:

1. Drive up the cost of a L3400. If thats what it takes to get a smooth 3PT valve out of the factory and save the hassle then so be it. What's it going to cost in parts - another $500 at wholesale cost for a better valve?

2. Be upfront about it in their sales literature. They do this with the B7800 which has a 1/4 inching valve compared with the B3030

Given that they have not done 2, and then go on to provide the excuse that this is a 'base model' / 'economy model' is the only thing that irritates me about this is situation.

While I have had the valve taken care of I am still unhappy at the attitude at the time of it being an 'economy model' and this being repeated to me in recent communication.

Seems like they clearly understand that the valve is inferior and go out of their way to not say anything about in the sales literature... that is misrepresentation.

Their attitude is the irritant here - not the product. Otherwise I'm very happy with the tractor. Pretty dumb thing to lose customers over because a good attitude costs nothing to provide.

 

[crazyal]

The gentleman was very polite explained the earlier models did have an issue with 3 point control valve but he said looking at my serial number on my tractor it was made with the upgraded valve like that is used in the Grand series.

Does anyone know if this is true? Do the newer 2800/3400's have the same valve as the GL series?

 

[Mahana79]

What is the serial number cutoff for the old vs new valves???

 

[john_bud]

It seems interesting, I have had my L3400 for almost two years, never noticed the "JUMP" when raising the 3 pt until I used a post hole digger. This flaw will eventually hurt somebody seriously and Kubota will be where Ford was in the 70's for Pinto gas tanks.

I am in Pa. and Edger Snyder Assoc. will be getting a call to represent me.

Kubota should have at least inform previous purchasers of this problem --- RE-CALL ETC.

next, class action law suit!!!!

KUBOTA AND DEALERS, ARE YOU LISTENING!!!!!!!!!!





JW5875

Did you read where the down fall speed control may be adjusted to help with this issue? (In first post). Have you tried that? Also what amount of jumping do you have? Have you been to the dealer with the PHD on it to let them try and correct the issue yet?

jb

 

[RobJ]

If you have his number/name....call him back!

 

[N80]

I persoanlly think it is ridiculous for him to say that putting a valve in the tractor that works properly would drive up the costs. Sure, putting a crappy valve in saves money, and sure, putting a proper one in would costy more. But the 3 pt hitch is one of the few things that makes a tractor a tractor.

I can just hear it now:

Upset customer: Sir, my economy tractor was delivered today and it has no rear wheels.

Helpful Kubota rep: That is correct. You bought an economy tractor. If we put rear wheels on them that would drive up the cost and poor people like you wouldn't be able to afford their own tractor. You wouldn't want that to happen would you?

I'm a big Kubota fan. But Kubota is ALL WRONG on this issue. They need to fess up, fix it and not make the same mistake again. And here at TBN and other places, it is generating a lot of bad press and presumably Kubota knows it.

So yes, like someone said, raise the price if that's what it takes to make the tractor a tractor.

 

[Jw5875]

The fall seed valve is just that. Controls the fall speed and secures the 3pt from dropping during transit.

I was at the dealer today and he confirmed one report of a "Customer Complaint" that Kubota authorized a repair on. Since, Kubota will no longer authorize a repair/replace to the valve and they are now saying that it will effect something else???

Perhaps next tractor will be different color if Kubota will not correct this issue.

Does anyone have the corp hdqtr's address in Japan and maybe a name with it to address to?



JW5875

 

[Mahana79]

The fall seed valve is just that. Controls the fall speed and secures the 3pt from dropping during transit.




JW5875

I have to beg to differ. adjusting this valve will affect the raise speed as well. I have a L3400 and if i go from full open to full close there is a noticable difference in the raise speed. Tried tested and seen with my own 2 eyes.

Isnt the 3 point cyl a single acting cyl?? hyd press up and gravity down?? if the valve controls the flow out of the cyl then it would also control the flow into the cyl. Yes....No.... just thinking out loud as I do not have a hyd digram of how the plumbing on the 3 point is setup.

 

[canoetrpr]

I'm no expert on hydraulics but on both the old valve and the new valve, downward movement was a heck of a lot smoother than upward movement of the 3PT.

That said, while adjusting the fall speed knob did appear to have some effect, the original valve was way too jerky for me to consider normal.

Mahana - chances are you already have the upgraded valve. Even on the new valve, I do see that you can get it to be slightly smoother by playing wiht the knob.

 

[Jw5875]

Mahana79,

When you did this "Test", what was connected to your 3 pt?

Pgs.31, 32 in manual: "3 Pt. Lowering Speed Knob"

Thanks,

JW5875

 

[Mahana79]

Mahana79,

When you did this "Test", what was connected to your 3 pt?

Pgs.31, 32 in manual: "3 Pt. Lowering Speed Knob"

Thanks,

JW5875

5 ft king kutter shredder


oh lord you're gonna make me dig out my manual????????

EDIT:
Ok found my manual. In mine it is on pg 35-36 all it says is "the lowering speed of the 3-point hitch can be controlled by adjusting the 3-point lowering speed knob"

Does anybody have the parts and flow breakdown of the 3-point system??

 

[Jw5875]

Mahana79,


I purchased my L3400 DT manual trans 3-22-05 Serial# 53910.


JW5875

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Kubota should have at least inform previous purchasers of this problem --- RE-CALL ETC.

next, class action law suit!!!!

KUBOTA AND DEALERS, ARE YOU LISTENING!!!!!!!!!!

Yawn... for real now. I think I've read about 4 threads this morning and they all talk about lawsuits. Somthing is really wrong with people.

 

[N80]

Yawn... for real now. I think I've read about 4 threads this morning and they all talk about lawsuits. Somthing is really wrong with people.

Agreed. It is posturing and chest thumping. No lawyer is going to touch something like this. It is sad that this is the way we Americans want to react to any conflict.

However, it is a sign of the ill will that Kubota is generating over a product design flaw. It is not even a QA issue, it is bad design and implementation. And letting dealers and reps pass it off as an 'economy feature' is insulting and infuriating to the customer.

Kubota has nothing to fear from a class action suit or tort happy citizens. It does need to worry about the damage to their otherwise pretty sound reputation.

 

[Kendall69]

That makes sense NOT.

So Kubota decides to put out a less than 100% quality valve in because "we the people" will think the tractor costs too much.

OK Kubota, how about you give us a choice, a second rate valve that doesn't work as well included in the base price of the tractor, and for ( X ) amount more we can BUY one that works perfect from the factory.

 

[teg]

I have had many sleepless nights over the jerky three point hitch. Been super pissed off at Kubota. Kubota fights a tough battle over saving money and leaving you with a valve that puts more of a shock & stress load on the upper linkage. (... and I guess we can assume that it's an "economy" upper linkage...)

I played around with the control valve under the seat from closed to open. No change in the jerkyness going up. I did have a stange thing happen where my FEL stopped working... until I moved the control valve the other way. Has anyone else had this happen? Hopefully, not another L2800 problem... speaking of which, I have a PTO that doesn't stop spinning. With a Posthole Digger spinning, moving from location to location was, to say the least, NOT fun!!! It stinks that I can NOT afford to get the tractor back to the dealer to let him see it.

 

[Soundguy]

I agree.. it does sound like a cop out.

For the record.. the intake/exhaust valve used on the N series was pretty primitave to todays standards. however.. in 1953 they went to an unloading valve type system, that , to me, functions just as smooth. That basic unloading valve design continued thru fords production... and worked well. i consider the lift of all my ford tractors from 1946 thru 1975 ( and a couple 90's/2000 CNH units too.. ) to be like butter...

Soundguy

I persoanlly think it is ridiculous for him to say that putting a valve in the tractor that works properly would drive up the costs. Sure, putting a crappy valve in saves money, and sure, putting a proper one in would costy more. But the 3 pt hitch is one of the few things that makes a tractor a tractor.

I can just hear it now:

Upset customer: Sir, my economy tractor was delivered today and it has no rear wheels.

Helpful Kubota rep: That is correct. You bought an economy tractor. If we put rear wheels on them that would drive up the cost and poor people like you wouldn't be able to afford their own tractor. You wouldn't want that to happen would you?

I'm a big Kubota fan. But Kubota is ALL WRONG on this issue. They need to fess up, fix it and not make the same mistake again. And here at TBN and other places, it is generating a lot of bad press and presumably Kubota knows it.

So yes, like someone said, raise the price if that's what it takes to make the tractor a tractor.