Dealer/ACME Tools service delays

dkb

New member
Jul 9, 2019
2
0
0
Minnesota
My L5030 has been at a dealer for service for over 3 weeks now and I need to cut hay! The original issue was a second after you turn the key on and hear the initial click you'd hear a snapping sound like a relay closing.

They appear to have ordered the wrong part to begin with (a solenoid) and after that arrived after a week they then realized they needed to order a relay. It will be 4 weeks this Friday since I brought the tractor in originally.

My question is does it normally take a week or more for parts to come into dealers? I've asked on two different occasions now where exactly the part is since I would think they could track exactly where it is but both times they told me they "need to talk to their buyer and call me back" but of course never call me back.

I was actually considering purchasing a Kubota skid steer but now think I should never deal with this dealer again unless I am totally missing something here.

The dealer is ACME Tools in Bemidji Minnesota.
 

SidecarFlip

Banned

Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
554
83
USA
My L5030 has been at a dealer for service for over 3 weeks now and I need to cut hay! The original issue was a second after you turn the key on and hear the initial click you'd hear a snapping sound like a relay closing.

They appear to have ordered the wrong part to begin with (a solenoid) and after that arrived after a week they then realized they needed to order a relay. It will be 4 weeks this Friday since I brought the tractor in originally.

My question is does it normally take a week or more for parts to come into dealers? I've asked on two different occasions now where exactly the part is since I would think they could track exactly where it is but both times they told me they "need to talk to their buyer and call me back" but of course never call me back.

I was actually considering purchasing a Kubota skid steer but now think I should never deal with this dealer again unless I am totally missing something here.

The dealer is ACME Tools in Bemidji Minnesota.
Usually takes about a week from the time I order something from my dealer to the time it gets in.

Kind of surprised you are running hay with a 5030. I had one and sold it long ago. Not enough power to run my hay tools efficiently and too light too. I need at an absolute minimum 50 pto horses to run my round baler (NH 450 Net / Twine) and the weight to keep it from pushing me. Same way with my 575 NH Square baler. Just the weight of the baler would push the 5030 around.

What really pushed me toward a bigger tractor was running dry wheat straw with the 5030 and the 450 baler. Before I got to full bale (4x5), a had the hand throttle wide open just to hold 540 on the pto. I knew at that point I was getting a bigger (more pto power) tractor or I'd be tearing up the 5030. Nice tractor, I liked it just fine, just not enough weight or power.

I'm running hay right now. Crazy weather has really pooched me on hay and getting it cut.

If I was running a sickle bar mower / conditioner (I have one as a spare), the 5030 would handle that but my disc bine, no way. 70 pto is the bare minimum for that machine and it's a 1000 rpm pto which isn't (or was not) available on the 5030 when I bought it. My M's are 2 speed pto, 540 and 1000.

Read you post and thought of myself.

Anyway, a week is reasonable lead time, lest for me it is.

Went from the 5030 right up into the mid range M series and never looked back.

Not sure what a 'buyer' is. My dealer deals direct with the Kubota regional parts distribution which for me, happens to be in Columbus, Ohio.

Finally, I have a Bobcat, not a Kubota skid and I'm very happy with it.
 

shootem604

Member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L245DT with Kubota (Arps Model 22) FEL and Kubota B/L4520B (Woods 650) BH
Apr 23, 2018
875
18
18
British Columbia
Some dealers will provide a "loaner" for clients - usually a newer/bigger unit they hope you'll buy. No such luck?
 

SidecarFlip

Banned

Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
554
83
USA
Some dealers will provide a "loaner" for clients - usually a newer/bigger unit they hope you'll buy. No such luck?
Not around here unless you want to call 'demoing' a unit a loaner. My dealer has an M7-151 I'd love to demo but I don't believe he will let me...lol
 

tthorkil

Active member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
M9540HDC12 / LX2610HSDC / ZD1011-48 / Bobcat S250
Jan 1, 2011
309
79
28
Bagley, MN, United States
Have you contacted Thomas Downs about this issue? I had some issues with my Zero Turn purchase there back in 2016. I thought that they had resolved the issues with their mechanics.
 
Last edited:

dkb

New member
Jul 9, 2019
2
0
0
Minnesota
The mechanic working on it did call me back today and apologized for the delay. He said that they are having trouble getting parts with up to a 2 week delay from Kubota. Supposedly Kubota is selling a lot of new machinery and can't keep up. After receiving the part it still had same issue where it would click off. He has a call in to Kubota support to ask some questions. In order to help me get to my haying he was going disconnect the shutoff relay and rig some manual switch up so that the tractor would stay running and I have to pull the lever to turn the engine off.

I guess the L5030 is half way in between the old all mechanical/analog internals and all computerized. No errors are showing. He is guessing that there is a wire that has an issue but the L5030 has a single wire harness so the part for it would be the entire wiring harness for the tractor. After haying season says I could bring it back so that he can check if he can check wiring to see which one may be causing the issue.

Was glad they called because I was getting very frustrated.

To the previous commenter I've been haying with this tractor for about 15 years now without issue. Both square bales and 5x5 round bales. Cut with a drum mower. I do have front end loader on it that I keep on at all times which I think helps stabilize tractor while haying.
 

SidecarFlip

Banned

Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
554
83
USA
Just didn't have enough reserve balls for me. I prefer more than less anyway. Don't know what a drum mower is. I use a disc bine. far as round balers go I run a NH 450 computer baler, sometimes net, sometimes twine. depends on what I can get it for (net). Minimum power with infeed discs is 40 pto but it likes about 60 much better.
 

ipz2222

Active member

Equipment
L235, bx2670
May 30, 2009
1,927
32
38
chickamauga ga usa
It's amazing to me that in today's time, you can order parts on Amazon and get them next day but you can't get a dealer to get parts for a month!!!
 

vic gerbasi

Member

Equipment
M110 L3300
Feb 19, 2016
232
5
18
dugald mb canada
seeing as how you are close to the border you may want to contact Keystone in Steinbach mb or Lawsons in winnipeg the two large dealers near Winnipeg thry may have the irems in stack and at Can $$ it might work for you

I would NOT however purchase any equipment from either of these stealerships their pricing an[deals]?? are out of sight, many times used is priced $1000 less than brand new

just a thought good luck
:):):)
 

lugbolt

Well-known member

Equipment
ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
5,205
1,889
113
Mid, South, USA
US dealers (and Kubota USA) kinda frown on importing parts from canada to my knowledge, per dealer agreement.

there's a ton of reasons for delays. Distribution center issues are common unfortunately. Backorders happen all the time. Nothing we can do about it but gripe. sometimes it works.