Backhoe New Backhoe problems, need advice

[bigballer]

After much deliberation and deep thought trying to decide between a woods bh-80x and the bh-75, i decided to go with the kubota. many reason swayed me in this direction but mostly fit, dealer relationship, and price. on friday, the dealer dropped off the tractor with the new hoe attached. this was a very exciting and i was like a kid on christmas. so after the driver left i decided to try my hand at digging a simple hole, no roots, no rocks, no stumps, just a hole. i am not new to bh's but this was the first time with a brand new one so i wanted to be cautious. i backed up to a spot and extended the hoe all the way out and on the 3rd bucket curl i noticed hydraulic fluid shooting out from the bucket cylinder fitting (where it attaches to the boom). huh?? so I stop everthing and go have a look. from what i could tell the fitting was loose, figured the installer forgot to tighten properly, no big deal, i start wrenching it tight and realize the nut is scored pretty badly. hmm.. so i started looking closer and realized the dipper bracket was hitting the fitting when i extended the dipper all the way out.. on the left hand side there was over 1/2" of clearance but the right side was rubbing. there is a bracket that holds the fittings, so i figured they must have not centered it correctly so in an attempt to align it i loosened the bolts and moved it over as far as i could. the dipper bracket now clears the fitting but by less than 2mm.. then i start looking the unit over and realized when retracted the dipper is not perfectly in line with the boom. it seems to be slightly skewed to the left. the left hand ear on the pivot pin is bent out a bit more than the right hand ear and it appears this is the source. now i am not sure this has anything to do with the fitting issue but this doesn't look right. so i call the dealer to explain the situation and they are sending someone out in the AM to pick it up and bring it back to the shop.



Here are some pics to show what i mean.

Dipper hitting the right hand hose fitting:







clearance on left hand hose fitting:





Damage to fitting:


Dipper skewed left compared to boom - picture taken dead center behind tractor:





left pivot ear looks bent out a bit, i think this is the cause of the "skew"



so my question is has anyone else experienced this "problem"? Do you see it as a real problem or am i being paranoid? i know the hose fitting is messed up and obviously needs to be replaced but what about the dipper?? i am just wondering if the dealer is going to tell me this is within the normal thresholds a proper "fit".

btw, i can hear it now.. dieznuts is going to say "i told you, you should have bought the woods".. ;-)

Thanks!

 

[DiezNutz]

btw, i can hear it now.. dieznuts is going to say "i told you, you should have bought the woods".. ;-)Thanks!

Dang! How'd you know?!
Kidding aside, I hope this isn't somehow related to the infamous dipper rod problem. Either way, I'm sure they'll make it right.

 

[Taiser]

Looks like the wrong hoses. They should have a shorter steel sleeve or have one that curves in a bit and travels towards the middle. Maybe they have them reversed and the other end of the hose should be on that side? Hard to say, but they will fix it. Either way it's no big deal, but I know it's no fun when a new machine is not working right.

 

[Singlecoil]

That thing does look bent. I would say it got damaged in shipment somewhere.

 

[dfkrug]

Bigballer:

It looks like Kubota has put a shim or shims on the pin that
holds the dipper to the main boom. Is it on only one side?
That could cause the skew. My BT751 has shims like that.
I was wondering if those were from the factory. I just made
my own dipper pin shim for my Prairie Dog.

 

[bigballer]

the mounting plate for the hose fittings was replaced with one that holds the lines closer together, this gives it the correct amount of clearance. dealer said it was a bad part. hoses replaced as well.

they say the alignment of the hoe looks fine (sitting level on their shop floor). i am not sure about this, i did look at the alignment before they picked it up yesterday and it didn't look as skewed as the pics i posted show so we'll see, i'll have to get it out on level pavement and see for myself. maybe i am overreacting here or expecting too much but it seems like it should line up perfectly.

 

[wushaw]

I looked at mine this morning and it is straight, it also has shims on both sides of the dipper boom although it does come real close to the fittings but it does not hit them, there is not much clearance on either side of them.

I would say the hoe was not set up and tested correctly by whoever was suppose to.

 

[Kendall69]

That’s why I went with WOODS, Woods makes backhoes, Kubota makes tractors.

Tell your dealer to take that one off and give you a NEW Woods.

 

[hill]

A quick run to look at mine and I don't have that hose bracket at all, unless it's installed inside the boom. Both hoses emerge from the boom evenly spaced well away from the opening and run to the dipper ram without contact anywhere. I think I might add a plastic tie above the ram to prevent their movement toward metal if it looks like they might bind or rub but overall mine isn't like what you've shown.

I can't detect any misalignment either, but will have to hold final say a few days as I just had left eye cataract removed and I'm seeing things kinda' screwy right now.

Bad form on your dealer for releasing a tractor to a customer without checking it over for goodness in all ways. Very bad. I'd be PO'd.

 

[DiezNutz]

That’s why I went with WOODS, Woods makes backhoes, Kubota makes tractors. Tell your dealer to take that one off and give you a NEW Woods.

Kindof extreme statements, even for me. Constructive advice, please.