UPDATE on new tractor which broke

[RCL]

Hi Everyone,
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...85-bought-new-tractor-broke-disappointed.html

I had bought a brand new New Holland Tractor and 4 attachments. Please see the link above explaining how my new tractor broke.
A lot of you were nice enough to give me some insights. Thank you.

Now I am going to fill in the rest of the gory details that transpired since then. My hope is that maybe someone will see this and not make the same mistakes I did and choose to buy a New Holland.

Klem's tractor in Massachusetts suposedly did the repairs. After fighting with them and by- passing them I got New Holland to reimburse me for some parts.
45 hours later the tractor broke in the exact same way on the same rear wheel. I took my reciept to Klem.s tractor and complained. They wanted me to bring it in and after my complaining they said they might pay for the parts if I paid the labor!!!!! My question among many was why should I pay anything as apparently they either did not fix it right or it has something terribly wrong right from the factory. After 45 minutes of complaining Klem's agreed to approach New Holland about my problem.

I was notified by Klem's that New Holland said they had heard of no problems like mine on any tractors so they would not help me. Klem's then said I could bring it in and they would repair it again and try to give me a break on the parts. I asked why I should pay to repair something which was apparently not fixed the first time. Klem's then told me it was all they could do. I asked if Klem's could give me a phone number and a name of someone in New Holland I could talk to. Klem's response was they cannot give out thier New Holland numbers to the public!!!!!!! Then I asked again for a name of a person. Klem's stated they could not give me the name of the rep as he doesnt talk to the public!!!!!

I could go on ranting and raveing here about the awful way New Holland and Klem's is and has treated me. But in the end I am stuck with a tractor which is flawed, broken and a piss poor dealer and a useless company called New Holland who doesnt deal with the public they intend to sell thier junk too.

Stay warm everyone,
RCL

 

[kwolfe]

I am not a mechanic, however it sounds like the bearings might not be the issue here. My first thought is that there is something else wrong that is causing the bearings to be destroyed.

In either case, I think that the dealership is giving you the short end of the stick. I would speak to the manager at the dealership and alert him to the fact that you will be reporting this incident to the Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Protection Agency.

Unless you are outwright ABUSING that machine (and even then), those bearings should last a very, very long time. The dealer should know this too.

 

[Keith_B]

The odds of two sets of bearings going bad seem to be pretty slim to me. Is there a third party you can take it to and have them take a look at it? If the bearings weren't put in correctly it should be something they will be able to tell when the disassemble the tractor. I would be there for every step of the disassembly and have a digital camera handy so that I could document any problems they find. If it is something that is the fault of NH or the dealer then you should be able to get at least a portion of your money back, or perhaps all of it.

 

[art]

I think it's time for someone to get to work on the tractor. I'd lay odds on it that a housing was machined out of alignment. One time, I'll go with the bearings, twice, shame on us let's dig a little deeper. I've thought I've seen the Monday or Friday tractors before but found out they were built in the middle of the week! So the nite's celebration of the win in softball on Tuesday nite or that 300 bowling score on Wednesday nite was a hit at the plant too! It needs to be taken apart very carefully looking for wear patterns and checking aleignment.

 

[DieselPower]

Have you tried the New Holland 1-800 number? It's 1-888-290-7377. Maybe someone there can help you out. Their email is comments@newholland.com

 

[johnk]

RCL,

And as I sent that email off to New Holland I would let them know a carbon copy was sent to the Att. General of your state. I would also state that on the phone call if you ever get in contact with someone that might be able to assist you... just my opinion..........Then I'd have a few beers and go to bed depressed.....

 

[RCL]

Thanks again everyone. I did not know about the email so I will keep that and the phone #. I never even thought about things like the Better Business Bureau.



I will calm down for a week or so and think before I make my next decisions which reading these messages has and will help me decide what I will do. At least now I have more options than I thought I had.
RCL

 

[Soundguy]

I agree with the others.

Your dealer sounds like he is marginal at best.

CNH may not be at fault directly.. after all. they did help you out on the first repair.

I agree that it sounds like an axle trumped ( or axle ) may be machined wrong for the bearings to fail like that.. twice.


I know you are mad.. -but- To rant and say all NH tractors are bad period.. because you found a defect.. well.. it does't help your case any.. just makes you look like one of those crazy people that most people ignore.

Better would be to stay serious, and firm. and get this problem addressed.. keep moving up the food chain till you find help.

I'm guessing the dealership mechainc should have been able to tell if the trumped or axle was badly damaged or mis-machined.. but if it was a slight defect.. it may not have been 'eyeball' -able. That kicks it over to a manufacturer issue.

I can virtually guarantee you.. that if it is a flawed casting.. and you are out of warranty.. then NH won't do much to help. I found a flaw in the remote valve pack on my NH machine.. I never used the remotes till after my warranty was up... I paid for a replacement valve pack, even though after disassembly it was plain to see it was a casting flaw.. not damage. My dealer did ben over backwards to help me find affordable parts, and cut me a break on service.

If your dealer is willing to 'help' on parts.. or cut you a break.. you may want to consider that.. otherwise you have an expensive yard ornament right now.. best to sink a little more cash into it and have a tractor.. vs a yard ornament. Even with my issue with my current Nh machine.. i would not hesitate to buy another. I've been around ford and NH for a while.. I like their products.



Soundguy

 

[praha]

First , don't bother with BBB. A company could pay a fee to BBB, annually, and all complains are gone w/o any record.
Attorney general is another waste of time. You can complain, but don't expect anything.
You need a good shop and capable mechanic. The dealer you bought it from will not help you. He simply doesn't know what to do with it. And he is not a man enough to admit it. He, just like the NH corporation don't give a **** about your problem. You are on your own. Act accordingly.


Joe
Been there , done that.
/BTW. my 2004 and 2005 Yamaha Grizzly ATVs boil gas in the tank and carburator and have so called vapor lock problem.
Noone/owners/ managed to do anything about it. yamaha motor corporation refuses to recognize this design problem for 5 years.....and then they redesign it for 2007....and as far as I know , there's still a problem with a gas supply line system. THEY DON"T care anymore, they became GLOBAL./.

I used to be a Frigidaire HVAC dealer and frigidaire company did not pay the dealers for warranty work. So, we installed new A/C , / t h e y provided a brand new, but as we found later, faulty product/, freon leaked out within 2 days, , we went back removed A coil from the plenum, did all nec. work, got and installed new unit and compl. the entire installation and new freon and receive $0 from Frigidaire . 9 times in one summer. 9 times!
We dropped them that year became American Standard , excellent.

Point being made.............nobody cares.

 

[CDsdad]

RCL, your situation is very unfortunate. I have a feeling if I ever encounter the same trouble my dealer (and probably AGCO) will react the same way. My dealer was friendly enough at point of sale, but now..., well, I don't buy implements there to say the least. However, I did find a great dealer about 50 miles away. They come highly recommended and I have personally seen their service and repair work done for others. I am also about to purchase a couple of thousand dollars worth of implements from them, even though my dealer is only 12 miles away. Look around, there are SOME good people left. I unluckily seem to have to sort through the bad ones first.

I would remain calm and exhaust all avenues of repair and reimbursement with your dealer or (preferably) a new dealer and NH. After exhausting all options and getting my tractor properly repaired somewhere other than the original dealer, I would write, call, or even face-to-face paint a vivid verbal picture of exactly which orifice NH and the dealer in question could stick their service work, repair and labor costs, and personal relations quality. Then I'd trade the tractor in or sell it outright.

 

[coasterez]

Praha hit the nail on the head. Handle it as if you were on you problem and no one elses (cause that's the reality of the situation anyway). Makes no sense to poor good money after bad. Find a mechanic who will help you get to the real cause. Maybe the dealer will work with you in this manner, and reduce his rates or something while you pay to get to the bottom of it. Or just get rid of it altogether and buy something else.

Hmmm.... Not a good case for the "buy from the big 3" argument is it? You can get a bad tractor and bad service from anybody. It stinks, for sure.

 

[aesanders]

Hmmm.... Not a good case for the "buy from the big 3" argument is it? You can get a bad tractor and bad service from anybody. It stinks, for sure.

You can get a bad apple from any company. However, if he gets it fixed he shouldn't have a hard time selling it at all. A newer low hour machine from a big 3 should sell easily.


Also, while I'm not fully aware of the whole story, could it be that the original poster did something to the tractor to make it eat bearings? It is out of warranty as well, so I wouldn't see where New Holland or the dealer would want to fix it for free.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

What attachments did you have on this tractor? Loader, backhoe, mmm??? If you want to sell it I am sure you will have a lot of takers on this board as is. The fact the bearing failed again means there is another problem and it should not be too hard to figure out. So if you are interested in selling that blue piece of junk just let me know. For the right price I will gladly be there tomorrow to pick it up.

Otherwise take it to a different dealer and ask for their insight on it.

 

[ToadHill]

If they continue to stone wall you I'd consider an action in small claims court. In our area they hear cases under $2500 and you don't need a lawyer.

 

[workinallthetime]

when you say it "eats" bearings do you mean they are all chewed up and look like they have been dragging down the highway or is the entire bearing falling out of the housing? was there any wear on the axel? is there the same amount of endplay in both axels? I dont know that much about tractor rear ends but alot about automotive and truck rear ends. It sounds like everyone else is saying either a bad axel, bad housing, or maybe not set up right, if thats possible.

I wish chevy made a tractor, lol

 

[tractorman]

We had a John Deere 955 that ate axle bearings about 7-8 years ago. When I took it apart the second time I looked closely at the casting and found a hairline crack. The housing was flexing because of the crack and causing the outer race of the bearing to fail. You need to fill us in on what attachments you have and who they were installed by. If I remember correctly the John Deere 955 I mentioned had a Bradco backhoe and the gorilla who installed it must have over tightened the bolts with an impact wrench and cracked the housing.

 

[RCL]

Some info to help with the questions some of you have asked.
The NH tractor with the bad axle bearing. I did not see the bearing that the Dealer replaced the first time. I only know that when it failed it happened almost instantly with no warning. It made a loud cracking noise. Then when I went to move it to see where the noise came from it made a crunching noise and all the oil poured out of the axle houseing.
The unit has a Woods backhoe on it. Which was bought from the same dealer. The dealer also had the backhoe frame off when they did the bearing repair the first time.(this was another disaster)
When I approached the dealer with my reciept for the previous repair and asking what they were going to do to help me out since it failed again. The Service Manager told me that the guy who worked on it the first time would have looked it over good and would not have missed anything wrong. It was at this point I refreshed his bad memory and reminded him that when they delivered the tractor back to me after the first repair, I had to call to complain that they forgot to install ALL the huge bolts holding the bachoe frame and tower to the tractor that the loader attaches too. They had to send a guy out to install all the missing bolts. So I made the comment to him that I did not trust the guy who did the original work and that now I did not trust the Service manager as 1 minute prior he had been telling me how great the mechanic was and would never miss anything.
As I walked out the door the service manager made one last dumbass comment. He stated that it came up in conversations(i assume with NEW HOLLAND but will never know) that maybe the backhoe mount on that side was too tight and had caused the damage!!!!!!!!! Oh really???? Well that made me feel great since they sold it to me and had put it on yet now are not responsible for the damage!! My head was hurting so badly as I walked out of that place.
I do know I am never going back there.
And another update. So far I have gotten NO response from New Holland. So I am looking at John Deere and Kubota tractors to replace mine and the crummy dealer.

 

[Kendall69]

So I am looking at John Deere and Kubota tractors to replace mine and the crummy dealer.

Unfortunately changing manufacturers and dealers will not guarantee a problem free experience.

When things go bad, it instantly becomes a finger pointing game ( I’ve gone through two buy backs ). You see NO ONE wants to pay one dime more than they have to, and that goes for every dealer and every manufacturer regardless weather you buying a washing machine or a Lexus.

The dealer does not want to suck it up, and the manufacturer will not automatically lay down without a huge fight, that’s just the way they are.

I always bring in the big guns when it gets this ugly and let them fight it out.

You can either have a Lawyer handle it or go to small claims, either one will get their attention Guaranteed.

My dealer fought me hard on a vehicle that I bought that was documented on their computer generated form. Should be a slam dunk. They sold me a pre wrecked new vehicle, just give one that is not wrecked and take this wrecked one back. Three years of finger pointing at me, at the dealer, at the manufacturer at the insurance company for the dealer etc. What a circus, if it wasn’t so ludicrous I would've never stuck it out. I did, and it cost the dealer 60k, the manufacturer 20k, and the insurance company 20k, not to mention the hundreds of hours in legal fees. It didn’t cost me a dime.

I think you need some help on this one.

 

[BTDT]

Some of the local news channels here have a number to call for consumer problems. They send out a news team and film and gather info, then confront the perpetrators. Might be something you want to check into. They usually hate bad press.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Thanks again everyone. I did not know about the email so I will keep that and the phone #. I never even thought about things like the Better Business Bureau.



I will calm down for a week or so and think before I make my next decisions which reading these messages has and will help me decide what I will do. At least now I have more options than I thought I had.
RCL

First, I'm sorry you are getting jerked around...it sucks, and you often feel helpless...but you aren't. There are ways to get what you want. It just may take some time. The squeaky wheel always get's greased...unless the owner is deaf!

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a good service. No, they aren't "bought off". I'm sure it does happen, but it's not the norm. Companies enroll into the BBB so they can advertise the fact that they are members, not to keep BBB off their backs.

If you call the BBB, give them the specifics, they WILL get back to you. I won't go into big detail, but I had a problem with my home builder 2.5 years after I was in my home. My roof was leaking from faulty sub-contracting. I called my builder, they said NO, it's not in warranty anymore. I told them the roof was not built according to plan in that spot (valley) and it was going to continue to leak unless re-engineered. "NO", have a good day. I called the BBB, made a complant, and before that day ended, my builder was calling me saying that someone was coming out to fix the problem. They did. End of Story. Is the BBB fullproof? NO. But, it's free and they do contact businesses. Good luck man, keep us posted.