Grand L Cab Tractor on sidehills

[jk96]

I just purchased a cab L6060 a few weeks ago and have mowed a few times already. Rear tires are loaded with R4 tires. Tractor seems very stable on a few sections of pretty steep side hills. A couple of spots are steep enough that the weight of the landpride 84" finish mower actually has pulled the rear of the tractor downhill a bit as I'm mowing.

For what it's worth my previous tractor the last 4 years has been a cab farmall 55C. A few sections I mowed in the case gave you a bit of pucker factor and really eased my way through them. The kubota feels noticeably more stable.

 

[troverman]

I just purchased a cab L6060 a few weeks ago and have mowed a few times already. Rear tires are loaded with R4 tires. Tractor seems very stable on a few sections of pretty steep side hills. A couple of spots are steep enough that the weight of the landpride 84" finish mower actually has pulled the rear of the tractor downhill a bit as I'm mowing.

For what it's worth my previous tractor the last 4 years has been a cab farmall 55C. A few sections I mowed in the case gave you a bit of pucker factor and really eased my way through them. The kubota feels noticeably more stable.

Thanks jk96. I think what counts as a "steep" sidehill is going to vary between operators. I wish everyone had one of those inclinometers on their tractor. I'm happy to hear your Grand L cab tractor is very stable, but looking at the distance between the outer edges of the rear tires on my current tractor vs the new one, I'm definitely adding spacers.

 

[lunasdude]

It's a fair point, and adding spacers does place additional load on the rear axle due to a lever effect. It would be something to consider if you had an extremely heavy implement on the rear hitch.

However, I wouldn't think twice about it - my safety is going to be more important than tractor warranty. Furthermore, I wouldn't expect any issues from installing these spacers. Thousands of tractors already have them installed and they have not experienced any failures as result.

Very good way to put it!
When I asked my Kubota dealer about it, he shrugged and said if something is on when we service then No we won’t warranty, if not.......
I remember reading about The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act which also covers after market accessories I believe.
I have only tested this Premies once on a car I had installed an intake spacer for better throttle response and the car needed warranty service on the engine unrelated to the intake.
They tried to deny the service stating that the aftermarket accessory voided the warranty.
I simply said Really? What about The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act?
They shut up and backed off and did the work without another word.
I suspect something like this would be the case if anyone left spacers on the tractor before taking it in to service.
Not positive but I think if someone raised enough hell and spoke of the law then I suspect they would do the warranty work?
Just my 2 1/2 cents.

 

[troverman]

Very good way to put it!
When I asked my Kubota dealer about it, he shrugged and said if something is on when we service then No we won’t warranty, if not.......
I remember reading about The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act which also covers after market accessories I believe.
I have only tested this Premies once on a car I had installed an intake spacer for better throttle response and the car needed warranty service on the engine unrelated to the intake.
They tried to deny the service stating that the aftermarket accessory voided the warranty.
I simply said Really? What about The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act?
They shut up and backed off and did the work without another word.
I suspect something like this would be the case if anyone left spacers on the tractor before taking it in to service.
Not positive but I think if someone raised enough hell and spoke of the law then I suspect they would do the warranty work?
Just my 2 1/2 cents.

The M-M Act deals with using aftermarket parts in place of OEM parts for repairs, consumable items, etc. It also places the onus of proof on the manufacturer to show that the aftermarket part did indeed cause the failure.

On a tractor, if I install spacers and a month later the instrument cluster fails, clearly there is zero relationship of that failure to the spacers and the dealers would warranty it without blinking an eye. However, if a month later one axle shaft breaks...the dealer could very well deny warranty and state the problem was caused by the spacers. And they could be correct. Now if something like The HST transmission failed, they could also attempt a warranty denial but it would be difficult for them to prove spacers caused the problem (because they likely wouldn't have caused it). However, even though the manufacturers have to prove the aftermarket part caused the problem, they force the consumer to go to court, and court costs money and time, which many consumers don't have. So they often lose.

That said, I'll be purchasing the K-Tac insurance for this tractor, which would cover something like this if anything ever happened. So no worries.

 

[lunasdude]

The M-M Act deals with using aftermarket parts in place of OEM parts for repairs, consumable items, etc. It also places the onus of proof on the manufacturer to show that the aftermarket part did indeed cause the failure.

On a tractor, if I install spacers and a month later the instrument cluster fails, clearly there is zero relationship of that failure to the spacers and the dealers would warranty it without blinking an eye. However, if a month later one axle shaft breaks...the dealer could very well deny warranty and state the problem was caused by the spacers. And they could be correct. Now if something like The HST transmission failed, they could also attempt a warranty denial but it would be difficult for them to prove spacers caused the problem (because they likely wouldn't have caused it). However, even though the manufacturers have to prove the aftermarket part caused the problem, they force the consumer to go to court, and court costs money and time, which many consumers don't have. So they often lose.

That said, I'll be purchasing the K-Tac insurance for this tractor, which would cover something like this if anything ever happened. So no worries.

You are correct!
The key here is that they would have to “prove” that the aftermarket item was the cause of the failure and in practice that’s very hard to do.
Most of the time I think if you stand your ground and didn’t do anything super obviously stupid you would have a good chance of getting the warranty work done.
However having said all those big nerdy words if the repair was sufficiently expensive I think they just might fight you hard!
I think insurance and common sense is always the best route to go.

 

[troverman]

You are correct!
The key here is that they would have to “prove” that the aftermarket item was the cause of the failure and in practice that’s very hard to do.
Most of the time I think if you stand your ground and didn’t do anything super obviously stupid you would have a good chance of getting the warranty work done.
However having said all those big nerdy words if the repair was sufficiently expensive I think they just might fight you hard!
I think insurance and common sense is always the best route to go.

Manufacturers are terrible with warranty in many occasions. Six months into owning my brand new 2017 Ford F-350 diesel dually, one of the power folding mirrors failed. Being a dually, folding the mirrors didn't really make the truck any narrower so I think I had used that function maybe 3 times in total. And yet, Ford tried to deny warranty and say that I had "impacted" the mirror by hitting it. They sent a rep who pointed out a "mark" on the mirror housing. I stated the mark was caused by bugs hitting the mirror and causing a paint blemish, which was the case. Fortunately, the dealer stood up for me and the mirror was replaced under warranty. But I could easily see this going the other way.

I think the mirror was something like $1400 to replace. But who among us is willing to retain a lawyer and go to court to fight a big corporation for a $1400 part? You'd quickly exceed that amount in lawyer and court fees. And the corporations know that.

 

[lunasdude]

Manufacturers are terrible with warranty in many occasions. Six months into owning my brand new 2017 Ford F-350 diesel dually, one of the power folding mirrors failed. Being a dually, folding the mirrors didn't really make the truck any narrower so I think I had used that function maybe 3 times in total. And yet, Ford tried to deny warranty and say that I had "impacted" the mirror by hitting it. They sent a rep who pointed out a "mark" on the mirror housing. I stated the mark was caused by bugs hitting the mirror and causing a paint blemish, which was the case. Fortunately, the dealer stood up for me and the mirror was replaced under warranty. But I could easily see this going the other way.

I think the mirror was something like $1400 to replace. But who among us is willing to retain a lawyer and go to court to fight a big corporation for a $1400 part? You'd quickly exceed that amount in lawyer and court fees. And the corporations know that.

Your correct, many manufacturers are real jack asses about covering there own dam products!
I would hope and believe Kubota would not be that difficult but who knows?
As far as your Ford, I had a similar experience with a small Ford I bought new some years ago which had a manufacturing defect in the cams on the engine.
Long story short, they fought me every step of the way, tried to say I had “abused” the engine (with only 10000 miles on it) and caused the failure even though they had a TSB on the engine!
They eventually after months of fighting did cover the repair but it put me off of Fords forever.
The sad fact is that many, many manufacturers will take this route because they know most people will give up and go the hell away!
Not me, I am a stubborn a**h**e!

 

[troverman]

I know people will stay away from a brand that tried to screw them over on warranty, but the fact is all companies do it. For as many customers as Ford has screwed, GM has screwed an equal number.

I still like Fords and would buy another, but for the moment I'm driving a RAM dually.

 

[jk96]

I know people will stay away from a brand that tried to screw them over on warranty, but the fact is all companies do it. For as many customers as Ford has screwed, GM has screwed an equal number.

I still like Fords and would buy another, but for the moment I'm driving a RAM dually.

Currently driving a 2012 Ram Dually. Truck has been very good to me and will likely buy another when the time comes. 220k on the odometer at the moment.

 

[troverman]

We’re definitely going off topic but my RAM is a 2018. Bought it last year to experience the Cummins / manual transmission. Last year was it for getting a manual. I like the truck but the Ford diesel has quite a bit more power.

 

[jk96]

We’re definitely going off topic but my RAM is a 2018. Bought it last year to experience the Cummins / manual transmission. Last year was it for getting a manual. I like the truck but the Ford diesel has quite a bit more power.

The noticeable difference to me is the extra power the Ford has off the line. I think the twin turbo on the Ford makes a big difference there. I like my buddys Ford dually other than the ride. Way too rough empty for my liking.

 

[Fordtech86]

The noticeable difference to me is the extra power the Ford has off the line. I think the twin turbo on the Ford makes a big difference there. I like my buddys Ford dually other than the ride. Way too rough empty for my liking.

Ford doesn’t have a “twin” turbo on their diesel. The current 6.7 is a single variable geometry turbo. The 6.4 has a dual turbo set up that has one smaller turbo and one larger turbo.

 

[jk96]

Ford doesn’t have a “twin” turbo on their diesel. The current 6.7 is a single variable geometry turbo. The 6.4 has a dual turbo set up that has one smaller turbo and one larger turbo.

Thank you for the correction. Was assuming they kept the twin turbo on the new 6.7. They are definitely much snapier from the line.

 

[Fordtech86]

Thank you for the correction. Was assuming they kept the twin turbo on the new 6.7. They are definitely much snapier from the line.

I didn’t want to come off as an a$$ lol. Also didn’t want to derail this thread. (And twin turbo refers to two turbos of the same size, unlike the dual turbo on the 6.4 )

 

[jk96]

I didn’t want to come off as an a$$ lol. Also didn’t want to derail this thread. (And twin turbo refers to two turbos of the same size, unlike the dual turbo on the 6.4 )

I'll shutup and go back to puckering on my sidehills. Lol.

 

[Fordtech86]

Lol, it’s all good.

 

[troverman]

Well technically the 6.4 had a sequential turbo, not a dual. And the 2011-2014 6.7 also used a small and larger compressor wheel turbo.

 

[Fordtech86]

I didn’t mean to derail this thread into a turbo debate lol.