Warranty Listings

[Pks]

Would anyone be interested in starting a discussion thread which would list known warranty bulletins that have been issued or specifically address by Kubota?

My thought is to have a listing by tractor model. Most of the listings, presently, are by problems that occurred. For example, there are a number of posts regarding cracked axel housings on the larger models possibly due to ROPS bolts and the shape of the housing. Is there a bulletin on this from Kubota? If so could it be listed here?

Another example is the new BX series having problems with the 3 point lift arms, gas tank leaks and fuel gages not reading properly. Those Kubota bulletins could be listed here as well. But instead of listing the bulletins by problem, they would be listed by tractor model.

A third example is that a seemingly large number of B2710 owners have had power steering problems. Does anyone know if Kubota has issued a specific bulletin/fix for this? I have read the posts but it seems a final answer is still in the making.

The reason I came up with this thought is that I am looking for a listing of official bulletins and known warranty problems with the B2400 models. I have not had any real problems with my unit, I'm just interested to know if there are issues that Kubota knows, about which I have not yet heard.

Any thoughts or rebuttles???

Thanks for your time,

Peter

 

[M. Sullivan]

Think it is a great idea. Wondering if Kubota might even be willing to help, as I'm sure this site gets them a ton of business. Would guess they could provide a good starting point from which to build. Would like to see older models as well for those looking at used equipment. My 2 cents.

 

[Thomas]

The folks here keep everyone up to date far as problems and cures a.s.a.p....much better than the the tractor companies.

I doubt very much if any tractor companies would come forward,for it might cause bad PR.




Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Boondox]

I agree with Sully. This is something that has the potential to help Kubota get the word out. We ought to approach them for support. But how do we contact them?

Pete

 

[Muhammad]

We'll have to consider the idea a little more before contacting the manufacturers (which we can do), but I think it is a possibility and would serve the buyers and owners well. I really can't say if they would be interested in having their service bulletins published here, since they don't even publish them on their own website. I'm not sure if that's the type of word they want to get out... from their point of view, anyway. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Looking at it from a service to customers perspective, without a doubt they should be published and would put out a positive message for any manufacturers that were involved in the service. It doesn't involve a direct personal contact with anyone at the manufacturer, which has been the obstacle so far, so I would say it is a possibility... I'll keep it in mind and look into it more when I get the chance. Busy, busy, for now. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Muhammad]

<font color=blue>I doubt very much if any tractor companies would come forward,for it might cause bad PR.</font color=blue>

I don't think the bad PR is going to come from publishing the service bulletins, but rather from not publishing them. Anyone agree?

For one, in the automotive industry, Audi/Volkswagen of America has a site with all technical bulletins, campaign circulars and service circulars... very valuable to buyers and owners. In each document, at the top it reads "Please give copies of this document to all technicians." When the site was down for a while without explanation, there was a rather harsh response from the owners... after a couple weeks, they put it back up. Happy owners. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif To see what's there, you can visit http://tech.vw.com...

 

[MReeter]

Pks,I also think this would be a good idea.I just picked up our B2710 from the Dealership this past weekend.Was having a problem with the Hydro..Trans was making a noise that sounded like a bearing going out,a "squealing" noise.I had seen a post here,I think by Msullivan where he had lost the trans out of his 2710 also.Anyway,it turns out that there was no major trouble.During assembly at the Factory,the power shaft that drives the front end was "misaligned".This is a splinned coupling that hooks up to the Hydro.This shaft has 2 joints and by being misaligned ,it was in a bind.The mechanic removed the shaft and rotated it 180 degrees.And thats all there was to it.I know this is not a common problem,but they have done this same repair on 3 different 2710's in the past month. Serial numbers range from 10,600 to 12,800.So,if anybody has the same problem come up,I would say,this would be the first place to look.Yes,it would be very handy if some of these issuses were listed on a public forum to help keep the customer infomed.

 

[Thomas]

Muhammad,
Maybe I shouldn't have single out tractor companies,but I have found out the hard way there are companies who would rather bite there tongue than come forward about a bad piece of equipment.
I agree honesty still the best policy.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[RobS]

Muhammad, I couldn't agree more. I think a well informed consumer is a happy consumer. The internet boom has really brought that to light. While researching products on line, I quickly skip over sites full of "fluff" and migrate towards sites with product information and comparison data. These also tend to be the better products as they have nothing to hide in such comparisons.

A warranty listing is a great idea. I suspect if the manufacturers were willing to post that info, they'd want it on thier own sites rather than a third party. Outside sites CAN have a major impact on manufacturers though. A good example is Blue Oval News where all sorts of Ford info is available. The site has the credibility to take on Ford when necessary.

This site is still the best for "awareness" though /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Charliebrn]

Hey folks, anyone know a very cooperative dealer? I'm sure that they would get the bulletins, and if we could acquire a copy, we could post them (perhaps after sanitizing them of any dealer info). I think just about anyone but the manufacturer would agree that the info is good to have to the public, as it would help eliminate the frustration of an ongoing problem that has a known fix...the type of problem that causes people to give them a bad rep. The red tape that you might have to go thru at the manufacturer I'm afraid would be formidable. They don't always think as logical as all of us... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[WVBill]

I was thinking the same as Charlie.

For Kubotas, since Steve Carver is an active, contributing member of TBN and can certainly see the value in publishing such things as Warranty recall notices and (the equivalent of Automobile) Technical Service Bulletins, I wonder if Steve would be willing to post that information on his Carverequipment.com web page.

How 'bout it Steve?

 

[Steve_Carver]

Value in publishing such things as Warranty recall notices and Technical Service Bulletins, I wonder if Steve would be willing to post that information on his Carverequipment.com web page. How 'bout it Steve?

Good morning,
Thanks for the note and opportunity.
I give that some consideration.

We make a 100% effort to keep our customers alerted immediately when we have an important service issue. Warranty or not.

I think it will always be the mfg. responsibility to offer the leadership here. I know that Kubota really makes the best effort in the area of consideration compared to any others we've seen in our business history.

They, like all the others, are not going to be too quick "to hang out dirty laundry" for the hungry competition to exploit and exaggerate.

We'll help any of you whenever possible.
Best wishes for a fine weekend.

We got a GREAT sale going on.... look at ...
http://www.carverequipment.com/used_cool_seasons.htm

 

[BobT]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the kind offer to keep people updated --- as you always do.

I just saw the Kubota 2000 Service Bulletin book, and it is about 200 pages. To put them up for the past 10 years would equal 2,000 pages of data. They would all have to be converetd to PDF format. Lots of work and it would cost a lot.

I personally think that the manufacturers are the ones, like Steve said, to put them up on their own web sites if they want them to be generally available. Some auto makers do it (Audi for example). It is highly unlikely they would agree to let a third party take on responsibility for posting such bulletins. Without their explicit permission, I wouldn't do it, here or anywhere else.

Just my .o2 cents.

BobT.
A Indiana Boy

 

[Muhammad]

A helpful dealer was kind enough to send me some more information about the service bulletins for Kubota...

The basic info, as I understand it...

There are a couple hundred pages of service bulletins per year for Kubota tractors... meaning the 25 years of service bulletins would equal about 5,000 pages. Probably not realistic to deal with if you're not a manufacturer.

To complicate things, the system these are stored on is, as I understand it, a proprietary system and the data cannot be exported to another digital form, like text, or something... they would have to be scanned and put in some digital form to be presentable online.

The bulletins are organized by date (not model) and a lot of organization would be needed to get them into some format that would be easy to use for users, and organized by model.

With that said, dealers would also benefit from such a service; not just buyers and owners.

That's a basic summary of the information I have so far... we would be interested in possibly offering the past year or two of bulletins here on TractorByNet.com (and update with future bulletins), but take 200 bulletins x 3 major manufacturers x 2 years = 1200 pages of bulletins to organize, and that's just for a couple of years of bulletins, and ongoing conversion of new bulletins would be needed.

Perhaps early next month I will get a chance to look into this more... perhaps contact a couple of the major manufacturers to hear their thoughts.

Possible? Sure, anything is possible.
Probable? I wouldn't say that, yet. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[tralderman]

Kubota notifies registered owners directly with recalls and safety upgrades. Our service manager sends a letter notifying our customers if there is a Service Update on their specific machine. If your dealership is not doing this I would suggest a polite phone call to request it.

 

[Pks]

What would be the best course of action to take for those people who purchased used tractors? How could they become a registered owner so that Kubota could notify "...registered owners directly with recalls and safety upgrades."

 

[Snell]

I would recommend stopping by your local dealer and letting them know what make and model you have. Many dealers have a database of all the tractors they have sold and/or worked on so that when an issue comes up, you can be notified. I think you will find most dealers will be very willing to work with you.

 

[Pks]

Will that information get sent to Kubota? Will that information be available to all the dealers within the Kubota computer network?

If someone were to provide this information, would the dealer then be able to contact Kubota to see what warranty work had been performed?

With these questions, I'm trying to learn how the information flows in the Kubota/Dealership systems. I can take my car into any Chrysler/Jeep dealer and they can pull up the entire history of the car (as long as the work was done by a Chrysler Dealership). Can this be done with our tractors?

If I sound like I'm being a pain, then I appologize. It's my nature, and my job, to look for details like this.

Peter

 

[Snell]

Kubota has front line technology when it comes to tractors... unfortunatly (or maybe I should say it is a good thing), they spend more time on their tractors then their computer systems. At this point, there is no nationwide tracking on all service performed but as of recently, there is a system for checking original owners on model/seriel number so if you move across the country and your tractor is still under warranty, the dealer can pull that information up. Buying used is a different story. If you bought from a Kubota dealer and the dealer had it on floorplan, then Kubota will register the change in ownership. If not, then it is up to you to work with the local dealer. Slowly but steadily it appears Kubota is working up to the point of getting itself computerized nationwide like the system many car manufacturers have but I don't expect to see it in the near future. Hope the information helps.