retrieverman
New member
I've had my Kubota skid steer and Ground Shark for about 15 months now and have been dealing with my local dealer for the last 2 months on why all the welds are breaking. I finally went straight to Bradco on the issue and found out my dealer was in fact trying to screw me, but Bradco hasn't been any help either.
Long story short, I used my machine from May until September (140 hrs max) last year and parked it due to being too busy at work, and I knew then that some welds on the deck had cracked but didn't really think much about it. I didn't use the Ground Shark at all until May, and while I was using it in June to underbrush a small patch of woods on my place, I had a piece come off the bottom of the stump jumper. It was a piece of the "lip" that the bolts that hold the blades go through on the bottom. The piece was about 14" long and 5" wide, and without it, the deck was totally out of balance. A couple weeks later, I was back in the woods checking cows and found the piece that came off. I took the machine to a welding shop to get it fixed, and the owner advised me to take it back to my dealer. When he looked at all the cracked welds, he said the welds weren't hot enough and didn't penetrate, and that's why they were all cracking. The piece that came off the stump jumper only had two 2" beads on one side of the piece. The dealer said since I was 2 months out of warranty that I was basically out of luck but would check with Bradco. They kept it for 2 weeks and called to tell me it would cost a $1000 to fix it and Bradco would pay half. I asked who would be doing the work and was told it would be one of their tractor mechanics. I asked if I could take it to a professional welder and was told "no, they wouldn't pay unless it was done in house". I finally got to talk to the Bradco salesman for my area, and first off, he admitted that my local dealer was in fact trying to screw me on the repair. Then, he basically told me I'm just out of luck as far as Bradco helping me. When I mentioned the piece that came off the bottom of the stump jumper, the salesman's whole attitude changed. Evidently, the dealer didn't mention that part to him, and he asked me for pictures but still didn't offer any help from Bradco.
Since the expense is evidently going to be on me anyway, I took the Ground Shark to the welding shop of MY choice last week and now just have to wait. The welder did tell me that he didn't see over about $300 in work to get the machine fixed.
Now I wait.
Long story short, I used my machine from May until September (140 hrs max) last year and parked it due to being too busy at work, and I knew then that some welds on the deck had cracked but didn't really think much about it. I didn't use the Ground Shark at all until May, and while I was using it in June to underbrush a small patch of woods on my place, I had a piece come off the bottom of the stump jumper. It was a piece of the "lip" that the bolts that hold the blades go through on the bottom. The piece was about 14" long and 5" wide, and without it, the deck was totally out of balance. A couple weeks later, I was back in the woods checking cows and found the piece that came off. I took the machine to a welding shop to get it fixed, and the owner advised me to take it back to my dealer. When he looked at all the cracked welds, he said the welds weren't hot enough and didn't penetrate, and that's why they were all cracking. The piece that came off the stump jumper only had two 2" beads on one side of the piece. The dealer said since I was 2 months out of warranty that I was basically out of luck but would check with Bradco. They kept it for 2 weeks and called to tell me it would cost a $1000 to fix it and Bradco would pay half. I asked who would be doing the work and was told it would be one of their tractor mechanics. I asked if I could take it to a professional welder and was told "no, they wouldn't pay unless it was done in house". I finally got to talk to the Bradco salesman for my area, and first off, he admitted that my local dealer was in fact trying to screw me on the repair. Then, he basically told me I'm just out of luck as far as Bradco helping me. When I mentioned the piece that came off the bottom of the stump jumper, the salesman's whole attitude changed. Evidently, the dealer didn't mention that part to him, and he asked me for pictures but still didn't offer any help from Bradco.
Since the expense is evidently going to be on me anyway, I took the Ground Shark to the welding shop of MY choice last week and now just have to wait. The welder did tell me that he didn't see over about $300 in work to get the machine fixed.
Now I wait.
