Ok all, heres an update. I spoke with Jake Brown, a JD regional rep who is covering for our regional rep since there was a death in her family. I explained my situation to Jake, including all contact I have had with Deere, my dealer, etc. He was very receptive to my concerns, and I explained how I felt the hitch design was flawed, and certainly not up to the quality standard that the premium 5M series utility tractors should exude. His reply to that was that Deere trys to find middle ground when building tractors so that they can meet demands of different buyers. My rebutle to that was, if a serious tractor operator was looking to buy a tractor he or she could USE, they would go with the 5M line, expecting heavy duty. Standard duty on the top of the line tractor doesnt cut it. If I wanted to cheap`n up the tractor, allow me to spec in a lighter hitch, but standard equipment should be heavy enough to meet the demands. If I wanted a lighter, and cheaper tractor, I would have went with an E series. (Not that they are bad, but they arent on the same level as the M)
In terms of selling me ONLY the lower HD arms, he said "those parts are available through certain channels, but he would not make them available to me because he didnt want the HD arms coupled with standard duty upper components and cylinders for fear of future trouble)
After about 45 minutes of polite and fair talk, he asked what we wanted in order to "make things right". My response was: To allow us to purchase the entire HD hitch upgrade kit at the original price that would have been charged if we would have spec`d the tractor from new. He said that sounded fair and would research the price and get back to me. He called me back after about ten minutes, and explained that the price his books show for the original spec cost on that kit was approx. $1,500. (Basically the same price as what they retail for now through JD Parts, which makes very little sense to me). After seeing that price, Jake said my "dealer was already working pretty well with me, having offered me the kit for their cost $1,100, having a $400 savings." I explained I felt that price was still out of line, and that I shouldnt have to fork out another $1,100 for a problem that I neither wanted nor created on a tractor with under 20hrs operating time, and now going on 3 weeks of down-time. Jake said he "doesnt want us walking away unhappy over this, so we could (im assuming here) make a reasonable counter offer on the kit, and he would take it in to consideration and see what he could do, but there "werent a whole lot of options at this point"
So I have to make a decision and get back to him this week. After discussing it with the other guy I farm with, we feel the offer is NOT reasonable, and Deere needs to do better by us.
This is where you guys come in. What do you think? What would you do? Should we all get together and push the issue?, as it seems I`m not the only one who is dissatisfied with the hitch.
Im curious to hear your thoughts and input...needless to say I am far from satisified how things went today. I kinda feel like Im getting the big Green and Yellow shaft at this point. AK I agree completely with what you said, the more I go through this, the more I feel Deere is WELL AWARE of the shortfall in this standard duty hitch design, but doesnt want to own up to it.
