At the risk of being flamed, I would like to post a follow up from a post that was deleted last week, but I read before it was deleted. Regardless of the posts by CW and the rather derogatory remarks by other Kubota owners, this research is self serving as I was torn between the John Deere and the Kubota tractors.
I did some calling around and finally contacted the Western Regional Manager for Kubota and asked him point blank about the issues that CW posted on this board. His name is Phil Ingram and his phone number is 209.931.5051.
His response essentially tells me I should go with a John Deere. His response was point blank that the backhoe was abused. I asked him in what way? He stated that because it had a non-Kubota thumb installed, it is considered abuse. Kubota will not warranty the installation of any non-Kubota accessory or attachment and any failure that may be related to said installation. I stated that it is common to install a thumb on a backhoe and that both Kubota and John Deere dealers usually have them in stock and are more than willing to install them. He said that a thumb is not on the Kubota price list and therefore, it is an unauthorized accessory and it voids the warranty.
Further, he added that CW had misused the backhoe. I asked in what way? He stated that he used to dig up tree stumps and the backhoe is not intended for that purpose. Therefore, Kubota will not warranty the backhoe.
I then discussed this with the John Deere dealership and they said that most likely John Deere would replace it because it is a new piece of equipment with less than 100 hours on it. That John Deere wants to have “customers for life” and any time a customer thinks of equipment, they want them to think “John Deere”.
So, there you have it. I think in my personal opinion that Kubota gave CW a raw deal and, if anyone has non-Kubota accessories or attachments and you have a PTO go out or some other warranty issue – don’t tell them you used a non-Kubota product.
has anyone else had issues? I think everyone should be aware of this just to avoid any warranty problems in the future.
So, off to the JD dealer to buy my new tractor tomorrow!
Mike --
I did some calling around and finally contacted the Western Regional Manager for Kubota and asked him point blank about the issues that CW posted on this board. His name is Phil Ingram and his phone number is 209.931.5051.
His response essentially tells me I should go with a John Deere. His response was point blank that the backhoe was abused. I asked him in what way? He stated that because it had a non-Kubota thumb installed, it is considered abuse. Kubota will not warranty the installation of any non-Kubota accessory or attachment and any failure that may be related to said installation. I stated that it is common to install a thumb on a backhoe and that both Kubota and John Deere dealers usually have them in stock and are more than willing to install them. He said that a thumb is not on the Kubota price list and therefore, it is an unauthorized accessory and it voids the warranty.
Further, he added that CW had misused the backhoe. I asked in what way? He stated that he used to dig up tree stumps and the backhoe is not intended for that purpose. Therefore, Kubota will not warranty the backhoe.
I then discussed this with the John Deere dealership and they said that most likely John Deere would replace it because it is a new piece of equipment with less than 100 hours on it. That John Deere wants to have “customers for life” and any time a customer thinks of equipment, they want them to think “John Deere”.
So, there you have it. I think in my personal opinion that Kubota gave CW a raw deal and, if anyone has non-Kubota accessories or attachments and you have a PTO go out or some other warranty issue – don’t tell them you used a non-Kubota product.
has anyone else had issues? I think everyone should be aware of this just to avoid any warranty problems in the future.
So, off to the JD dealer to buy my new tractor tomorrow!
Mike --
