Well, the deal is this: A piece of equipment that is supposed to be designed for a few thousand hours of operation without failure of major components fails with with a few hundred hours on it and dealers are bailing out because of a product that they can't stand behind. Not good for a manufacturers reputation. They probably have identified and corrected the flaw in the design of the earlier HST models like mine but that still leaves me with a tractor that I can either spend thousands of dollars fixing, or trade it in at a loss of thousands of dollars, or pass it on to some poor schmuck which I will not do, or get injured one day driving it in it's present condition. We need a legal remedy for dangerous off-road equipment designs. Kioti should simply recognize that they have a responsibility to protect their customers from their design flaws when safety issues are a result of those poor designs. On a positive note I was able to fix the electrical problems over the weekend with contact cleaner, De-oxit, and dielectric grease (many connectors and much time). But it is time to put a new battery in it. Kioti is still the only compact tractor I know of that has serious weight to power which means it won't just sit there and spin the wheels like the many others. Balancing weight and power is fundamental to good design in earth moving equipment. I still like the brand but Kioti seems to be willing to take the hit to their reputation that goes with not standing behind their product in this case. Too bad, glad that the Cat equipment I work around on job sites has the continued support of the company or I'd be dead already.
Here's what I don't get with your machine. Why didn't you get the transmission replaced while it was under warranty? I get that the dealers don't want to do or discourage the replacement, or are generally difficult to deal with on this issue, but as the owner of the machine I'd want a satisfactory remedy. That is what we pushed KK to get from his dealer. It became clear in his situation that a fix wasn't going to fix his tractor woes, and another size/series of Kioti was a better solution for all concerned.
I have no emotional tie to Kioti, especially the CK series that I know little about, except for their common issues, like sticking pedals. I'm in it for finding solutions for each tractor owner so others can benefit from whatever solution 'we' Kioti members can bring to bear.
Having owned and run a foreign auto repair/sales shop for over 10 years I know both sides of frustration as a car owner and as a technician/owner dealing with customer's issues around their cars.
CUTs are a somewhat different breed, in between commercial ag/construction equipment and hobby farm homeowner use equipment.
Sure, Kioti ought to replace every bad transmission, AND each owner should demand no less but reality says if they don't have to, they won't. Just ask GM-ignition switches, VW diesels, Jeep gas tanks, etc. Do people die as a result of companies greed and lack of responsibility? Yes, all too often. I say each consumer is part of the solution in demanding the manufacturer stand behind their products.
Unfortunately for you, time has run out on your warranty for remedy of this issue. We've seen Kioti do out of warranty good will repairs in some situations, though I doubt it will happen in your case. I'm not saying don't ask for it, just that it's a slim to none proposition with this particular issue, IMHO.
