Kubota M4 Problems, anyone?

[dirtroadrambler]

My new Kubota M4 has been in the shop with some issues as soon as it was delivered. the biggest issue being a bad de-clutch switch which caused it to frequently fail to go into gear when shifting (not cool when on a road). Anyone else having issues with M4's out of the box?

Kubota customer satisfaction line won't say anything except "We have no campaigns open on M4s"--seems as though a campaign equates to a recall in orange talk. They push me off to the dealer who is fixing my issues, but I am interested in experiences from other M4 owners. I think the dealer is now doing his best to help, but Kubota will not give out any information and even told me that the Kubota rep who works with the dealer is not customer facing.

Appreciate any thoughts/experiences. I am a bit concerned as it seemed that Kubota stopped making M7060's last spring with the M4's coming out soon and they have only been trickling out and new M7060's have been showing up again in the last few months. Is this a roll out problem or am I too paranoid?

 

[SDT]

My new Kubota M4 has been in the shop with some issues as soon as it was delivered. the biggest issue being a bad de-clutch switch which caused it to frequently fail to go into gear when shifting (not cool when on a road). Anyone else having issues with M4's out of the box?

Kubota customer satisfaction line won't say anything except "We have no campaigns open on M4s"--seems as though a campaign equates to a recall in orange talk. They push me off to the dealer who is fixing my issues, but I am interested in experiences from other M4 owners. I think the dealer is now doing his best to help, but Kubota will not give out any information and even told me that the Kubota rep who works with the dealer is not customer facing.

Appreciate any thoughts/experiences. I am a bit concerned as it seemed that Kubota stopped making M7060's last spring with the M4's coming out soon and they have only been trickling out and new M7060's have been showing up again in the last few months. Is this a roll out problem or am I too paranoid?

Kubota does shield service reps from the public but they are not alone in this regard. That said, I have spoken to my Kubota service rep on several occasions but such is not normal practice.

Campaign and recall are not equivalent. A "recall" is an situation wherein Kubota decides that something must be done to all machines in the field and both dealers and owners are notified to have the work done. A "campaign" is situation wherein Kubota has decided that something may be done on a case by case basis. Though dealers are notified, owners are not so those who have no issues and/or do not complain will likely never know.

Caveat: Kubota may or may not use the identical terms to describe the situations.

It is not uncommon for Kubota to continue to manufacture an earlier, replaced model for some time after introduction of the replacement model regardless of the acceptance of the replacing model.

SDT

 

[dirtroadrambler]

SDT: good info/insight--thanks.

On campaign vs recall. I did ask the Kubota customer satisfaction service rep specifically if they were equivalent and did not get a disagreement. Is there a web site that Kubota posts "campaigns"?-would be good to find acknowledged potential issues to keep from needlessly banging one's head against the engine block. After thinking about it, it seems it would be difficult to do a recall after the original owner without a registration sale requirement (which I am not endorsing).

I understand that older models are produced after the intro of new one, but started wondering after my new M4 issues and the M4 was announced a fairly long time ago. There seemed to be a fairly long period last spring and summer with short supply of M7060 and M4s and then M7060s starting showing up in a much greater quantity than M4s. Might be incorrect perception on my part.

Putting above aside, I would appreciate feedback on experiences from any on M4s since there doesn't seem to be any in forums that I have found.

 

[SDT]

SDT: good info/insight--thanks.

On campaign vs recall. I did ask the Kubota customer satisfaction service rep specifically if they were equivalent and did not get a disagreement. Is there a web site that Kubota posts "campaigns"?-would be good to find acknowledged potential issues to keep from needlessly banging one's head against the engine block. After thinking about it, it seems it would be difficult to do a recall after the original owner without a registration sale requirement (which I am not endorsing).

I understand that older models are produced after the intro of new one, but started wondering after my new M4 issues and the M4 was announced a fairly long time ago. There seemed to be a fairly long period last spring and summer with short supply of M7060 and M4s and then M7060s starting showing up in a much greater quantity than M4s. Might be incorrect perception on my part.

Putting above aside, I would appreciate feedback on experiences from any on M4s since there doesn't seem to be any in forums that I have found.

I expect it's too early for much feedback regarding issues with the new M4s as few of us have even seen one.

I saw one at the Louisville show last February but my dealer has yet to receive his first.

SDT

 

[jonsstihl]

messicks has a video about the situation. I think they are keeping the 7060 around as a cheaper bare bones alternative to the decked out fancier larger cab M4's

 

[RickB]

Kubota does not use the term recall. Campaigns are issued in two forms. Mandatory Campaigns are required to be completed by the selling dealer. Service Actions are a class of campaign that is recommended to be completed by the selling dealer when the machine is available to the dealer for any reason or especially when the relevant concern is manifested which in many cases never happens. The terminology differs between manufacturers but campaigns, pips and recalls are managed similarly across the industry. Kubota dealers are incentivized to perform mandatory campaigns and strongly encouraged to complete service actions. I manage campaigns, pips (product improvement program) and recalls for the dealership I work for which sells Kubota among other brands.

What you see on any Kubota dealers lot is a function of specific model availability and equally important, what the dealer chooses to order for stock. We usually have M6060 and M6070 tractors on hand but have only had a very few M4 tractors. Along the same lines we typically have several dozen economy L series tractors but if we have two Grand L tractors that would be about the maximum.

 

[dirtroadrambler]

RickB: Thanks for the details on Kubota campaign terminology. Is there a way that an owner can look up what campaigns are out there or do we have to ask the dealer. There are times when I would be interested in searching issues of different models. I can understand that competition might use this information against Kubota by calling out numbers of alerts, etc., but could be beneficial to owners.

e.g. Another of my issues is minor, but from day one, the parking brake was not releasing (top button not depressing without a fairly hard pop, even with gentle pull back on handle, etc.) and have been told that there is a Kubota notice (campaign?) on M5s for this issue, but there is not yet one out on M4s--or would this be some sort of service advisory to the dealership to alert them how to handle issues that come up? Really nice to be able to search this out without thinking it is operator error or hauling it into the dealership for analysis with the concern that it could be something major on a new series tractor.

Thanks to all for guidance on understanding Kubota campaigns.

I like many of the new features (de-clutch button on shifter, sunroof (for high FEL work, but surprised how pleasant it is to have extra light on cloudy days), better located controls, etc.). I also had the external 3-pt controller kit added (M7385) added which is really handy when changing out rear equipment alone.

Back to my original reason for posting. Anyone else have any issues with M4's? As stated above, I love the tractor, but am looking for experiences from the forum to give me confidence in reliability once I get it back from dealer repair.

 

[RickB]

There is no comprehensive list of Kubota campaigns available to the general public. To date our experience with M4 complaints and problems is extremely limited and not relevant to your questions or symptoms.

 

[TexasBoy]

We looked at the M4, but the main reason I got the 7060 is I just have not had good luck in the past buying a 'first issue' model of something. Ive always had better luck buying machines/vehicles that are near the end of their model life - and most bugs/glitches are ironed out.

Hope you get your new M4 fixed soon !

 

[dirtroadrambler]

You'll enjoy the M7060HDC12 as I had one for over three years with no serious problems until it disappeared--I had the air ride seat on it and I'll never be without that again. I would have just gone with another 7060, but the supply seemed to dry up for several months starting last summer.

Eventually, the extra features on the M4 including the de-clutch swithch, the buddy seat (if I'm ever blessed with a grandson), sunroof for high FEL work and the remote 3 point lift control additions sold me for essentially the same money. Not sure if the remote 3 point lift control can be added to the M7060, but I was happy to pay the $250 for that option on the M4.