BigPete - great advice and certainly the next step. Just before coming home this afternoon and reading your post this is what transpired:
The service manager had called while I was out so I went by the dealership. Let me paraphrase my conversation with him.
SM: You can take your tractor home now. Everything checks out. I added 250 lbs to the box blade to bring the ballast up to spec and it steers fine.
Me: Did you put any weight in the bucket? The capacity of the bucket is 781 lbs.
SM: No. The front axle is already over capacity with just the loader on it.
Me: That is the specified loader for this tractor.
SM: (silence)
I suspect he knows there is no way he can steer that tractor in its current condition with the bucket anywhere near capacity. (Maybe if I put enough weight on the 3pt hitch the front wheels will come right off the ground and steering can be accomplished with the brakes.)
So up the hall to see the dealership's owner. I explained the fallacy in the SM's test and asked what he thought I should do next. He didn't think I should contact Deere directly as it would raise a red flag. The owner admitted that the RM was already involved and was not at all helpful.
I impressed on the owner that I have a substantial investment in this tractor and need to protect that investment. I also suggested that if his SM had spent as much time and energy fixing the problem as he has trying to explain it away, we would be done by now. I also reminded him that I am a long time Deere customer and there were others following this story through an Internet forum. I then asked if it is really worth it to Deere to loose a good customer, a fair amount of goodwill and possibly some other future customers just to avoid the expense of fixing this one little problem?
I left it at that and asked that he give me a call in a few days to let me know what to do next. So the dealer has one more chance before I call the CCC. So far everything is still on a friendly but serious tone and I hope to keep it that way.
Tomorrow I will pay a visit to the previous owner of this dealership and get his input. When he owned it a few years ago didn't have anymore talent back in the service department than the current owner but he always worked hard to get problems resolved. (Someday I should tell the bushhog chain guard story.) He is a good guy and will tell me it straight.
JSDK55 - I will pass on your experience to the dealer. Maybe there is a TSB on this issure sitting somewhere under a 5 year old Playboy magazine and a pile of Big Mac wrappers.
The service manager had called while I was out so I went by the dealership. Let me paraphrase my conversation with him.
SM: You can take your tractor home now. Everything checks out. I added 250 lbs to the box blade to bring the ballast up to spec and it steers fine.
Me: Did you put any weight in the bucket? The capacity of the bucket is 781 lbs.
SM: No. The front axle is already over capacity with just the loader on it.
Me: That is the specified loader for this tractor.
SM: (silence)
I suspect he knows there is no way he can steer that tractor in its current condition with the bucket anywhere near capacity. (Maybe if I put enough weight on the 3pt hitch the front wheels will come right off the ground and steering can be accomplished with the brakes.)
So up the hall to see the dealership's owner. I explained the fallacy in the SM's test and asked what he thought I should do next. He didn't think I should contact Deere directly as it would raise a red flag. The owner admitted that the RM was already involved and was not at all helpful.
I impressed on the owner that I have a substantial investment in this tractor and need to protect that investment. I also suggested that if his SM had spent as much time and energy fixing the problem as he has trying to explain it away, we would be done by now. I also reminded him that I am a long time Deere customer and there were others following this story through an Internet forum. I then asked if it is really worth it to Deere to loose a good customer, a fair amount of goodwill and possibly some other future customers just to avoid the expense of fixing this one little problem?
I left it at that and asked that he give me a call in a few days to let me know what to do next. So the dealer has one more chance before I call the CCC. So far everything is still on a friendly but serious tone and I hope to keep it that way.
Tomorrow I will pay a visit to the previous owner of this dealership and get his input. When he owned it a few years ago didn't have anymore talent back in the service department than the current owner but he always worked hard to get problems resolved. (Someday I should tell the bushhog chain guard story.) He is a good guy and will tell me it straight.
JSDK55 - I will pass on your experience to the dealer. Maybe there is a TSB on this issure sitting somewhere under a 5 year old Playboy magazine and a pile of Big Mac wrappers.
