brand new tractor, warranty repair; waiting 4 weeks, still hasn't been picked up

[Palmettokat]

hotnoob, you dug that with your fel? I am impressed, the machine and the operator. I would have never began such a job. Then I have small excavator.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Hotnoob,
If you read your warranty paperwork you are required to take it to the dealer, the dealer is not required or obligated to come pick it up or deliver it after work is done.
I take it you never had that conversation with the dealer, or they are doing you a "service" to come get it and do warranty work.
Get someone like a towing service to come pick it up and take it to the dealer.

 

[lugbolt]

NIH beat me to it

He's 100% right

nothing in the warranty booklet says that they're coming to get your tractor no matter if it's 1 minute old or 100 years old. YOU are responsible for transportation, regardless of how far or how inconvenient it is. If they decide to come get it, that's the dealer's way of being as nice as they can. They aren't obligated to, and they could easily (and might) charge you for the transportation.

in our case, with 4 wrecker services within 2 mile radius of us, it's cheaper for most folk to hire a rollback than it is for me to send my driver out there, within reason. Particularly if the equipment won't start. Then it's hourly, at $100/hr for recovery time. Rollback is mostly a flat fee, usually $100 or less, dependent on where the equipment is dead at. Only once has the rollback company called & said "I can't get this one"--equipment was in a POND with about 14" of the cabin visible. We couldn't get it either. Owner went & got his other tractor, pulled it out of the pond, and then called the rollback driver back out to winch it on. What a mess that was. Seriously, you can't make this kinda stuff up. It happens. Now track driven construction equipment is a little different but we ain't getting into that discussion here, not relevant.

all dealers are backed up. Covid has caused a lot of things to happen and one of them is that people that ain't working are using their tractors to make extra money and that equals more breakdowns and that equals more work for the shop, more parts sold, etc etc. Out here right now I can get my grass mowed in the yard around the house for $20, and I do it. Every younger college boy that can't work at a fast food joint is trying to make a buck, and for $20 to mow what I got? Have at it. Costs me that much in fuel, wear and tear, and maintenance. I had a young couple (wife and husband) stop by a week or so ago and offered to cut my yard for a good price. I asked them what a good price is and they said I'll do all 1.7 acres for $195 plus tax including blown clippings, trim the bushes, and weed-eat. I told them that a boy at church does it for $20 and he says ain't no way. Showed him receipt and they walked off. NOBODY has ever in the years I've lived here offered to cut my yard, ever. Now I get them about once a month. And I used to do that job too, and worked for a dealer at the same time, and also worked at the local homer depot store stocking shelves from 11pm til 3am, go home, sleep a couple hours, get up & go work on tractors. No wonder my body is trashed.

covid has been a real curse for many, and I had it in July, but for the most part it's been a blessing for us mechanics. Business is up 155% over last year. I hate it but I love it all at the same time, but I like to stay busy.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Guess I'm very fortunate, my dealer will pick up and deliver either of my M9's, no problem. He charges me 50 bucks each way and it's about 40 miles to and from. I consider that a bargain and yes, he has a rollback with a winch. If it's not to serious, they will make a farm call and of course use my tools...lol

That is one helluva trench. Bet the dirt pile is huge too.

A mini ex would have been easier and you could have done the whole thing and covered it in a day.

 

[torch]

Looks like sandy, glacial till.

Now, please don't take the following unsolicited advice the wrong way, but:
What you have there is an 8' deep death trap.

My day job includes attempting to rescue people from the bottom of such trenches after the sides collapse. Usually on "small", "quick" jobs like service connections and trenches for drains and wells. People think that these jobs are not dangerous enough to be worth safeguards.

But what often happens is the top corner of the trench wall suddenly collapses and the person working in the trench is partially buried. If they are buried up to the chest, the soil pressure prevents them from inhaling and they die quickly. If the depth of bury is lower, it still can rupture things inside, they bleed out internally and they die slowly.

Your spoil pile is not along the top edge, which is good. But you still need the sides tapered back at least 45° all the way to the bottom, or use shoring. If the soil is wet or loose, then more taper is needed. Unless the walls are solid rock, never enter a trench deeper than 1.2 metres (4 feet) if it is not properly sloped, shored, or protected by a trench box.

Again, I don't mean to insult you, your efforts, or your intelligence, but I am very well trained and experienced (over 30 years as a firefighter and a company officer, currently serving with a heavy rescue squad). Please take this to heart. I've seen too many preventable deaths.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Looks like sandy, glacial till.

Now, please don't take the following unsolicited advice the wrong way, but:
What you have there is an 8' deep death trap.

My day job includes attempting to rescue people from the bottom of such trenches after the sides collapse. Usually on "small", "quick" jobs like service connections and trenches for drains and wells. People think that these jobs are not dangerous enough to be worth safeguards.

But what often happens is the top corner of the trench wall suddenly collapses and the person working in the trench is partially buried. If they are buried up to the chest, the soil pressure prevents them from inhaling and they die quickly. If the depth of bury is lower, it still can rupture things inside, they bleed out internally and they die slowly.

Your spoil pile is not along the top edge, which is good. But you still need the sides tapered back at least 45° all the way to the bottom, or use shoring. If the soil is wet or loose, then more taper is needed. Unless the walls are solid rock, never enter a trench deeper than 1.2 metres (4 feet) if it is not properly sloped, shored, or protected by a trench box.

Again, I don't mean to insult you, your efforts, or your intelligence, but I am very well trained and experienced (over 30 years as a firefighter and a company officer, currently serving with a heavy rescue squad). Please take this to heart. I've seen too many preventable deaths.

Thanks for posting those guidelines. I don't have a backhoe and have wondered if push comes to shove could I safely bury a sheep or a horse with a light materials bucket dug hole. Part of the back pasture is sandy, more of that glacial stuff. I think a sheep maybe, not a horse.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Thanks for posting those guidelines. I don't have a backhoe and have wondered if push comes to shove could I safely bury a sheep or a horse with a light materials bucket dug hole. Part of the back pasture is sandy, more of that glacial stuff. I think a sheep maybe, not a horse.

Got a few in the back pasture and mine is sandy which is kind of typical here. Always dig them at least 2 rimes bigger than needed and never enter them myself, always in the tractor. MDNR now prohibits that, must be composted and I use my buddy's compost pit for steers, would most likely use it for an equine as well but we use Partridge Services in Sand Lake now.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

looks more like an archeological dig than a 'trench' !!! kinda neat, kinda scary.....
that being said, take some good pictures of the tractor oil leak, send to dealer and KubCanada as it sounds like it 'should' be under warranty.
I would get the trench filled ASAP,though maybe drop a 4" conductor pipe in first, in case you need 'something' else to go from 'A' to 'B'.......

 

[BobInSD]

I get the safety concerns, but that is still an impressive ditch. Does that represent all 77 hours on the tractor, or just some? Which type of tooth bar do you have on the FEL bucket?

 

[hotnoob]

Looks like sandy, glacial till.

Now, please don't take the following unsolicited advice the wrong way, but:
What you have there is an 8' deep death trap.

yeah; i originally planned on only going 4ft; digging the last two by hand, and relying on insulation for the rest of the depth, but, around 3ft hit some hard sand / clay / dolomite mixture. i used a pick to get through this by hand where i had to. with the FEL i scraped away the top with very long runs, digging in by ~ 1/2" per scoop.

the grass in the area is also extremely thick; the roots go down 4-6 inches, keeping the top together.

based on all that decided to risk it, but never planned on having it open for over a month!
---

update; called in to the dealership again. this time got a different person on the phone, who was confused as to why it's taking 5 weeks to pick up the tractor. she said, they'd call me TODAY to arrange the pickup.

hopefully something starts rolling... maybe the guy knew they assembled my tractor wrong; it did arrive with UDT instead of SUDT2/Premium UDT, very difficult to change gears ect... 10 hrs on the OD, was missing a top-link as well, and a few grease fittings were missed... and the sales guy said the mechanic was "slow" *retarded*, but "good," when i came to pickup the premium UDT a few months back.

maybe they knew it had a leak and put UDT in to hide it? *conspiracy theory*


gov still frozen, so can't update license ect...
so, if no call today, i'ma have to call around for transport; just a bit of a pain, cause i have no civic address, and poor cell coverage...

 

[hotnoob]

I get the safety concerns, but that is still an impressive ditch. Does that represent all 77 hours on the tractor, or just some? Which type of tooth bar do you have on the FEL bucket?

took about 20-25 hours.

prior to that, tilled a few acres of field, and a few small pits.

no toothbar, but i've been looking at getting one.

 

[BobInSD]

took about 20-25 hours.

prior to that, tilled a few acres of field, and a few small pits.

no toothbar, but i've been looking at getting one.

I was wondering if I had a PTO driven tiller if I'd even need a tooth bar? Till first, then scoop up 2-3 inches per pass (or maybe 5 of that sandy stuff)?

 

[hotnoob]

I was wondering if I had a PTO driven tiller if I'd even need a tooth bar? Till first, then scoop up 2-3 inches per pass (or maybe 5 of that sandy stuff)?

for the sand, cuts like butter ( traction is a huge issue ) get stuck A LOT if i don't back pull, in the sandy parts, have to back pull every scoop. oh, and 100% make sure you got SUDT2 / Premium UDT; without it my tractor was stalling every time it got a tiny bit stuck in sand. even just tilling the field, stalled a few times, when the soil got softer. still a bit peed that they put the wrong hydraulic fluid in my tractor when i got it new >.<

PTO tiller would be scary AF going through gravel lol. so, i wouldn't try it.

for my field, i personally went with discs; because it's untouched soil with TONS of random rocks, when i did my field, ( i spent more time picking up rocks than with the discs ). the smaller farms prefer discs, but the bigger farmers in the area barely know what discs are; it's weird.
---

dealership finally picked it up; driver said people were buying tractors like crazy and that they were busier than they ever have been.

also; instead of back filling with a wheel barrow; i just dug out at the sand layer on the side that i can afford to collapse, and let gravity loosen up the soil. back / side filled behind the shed with a shovel; took about an hour, much easier to drag dirt side to side now it's only ~2 feet deep behind the shed.

 

[aaluck]

der. i did the rest by hand;

You were not kidding!!! Are you expecting an attack from the east?

 

[D2Cat]

Hotnoob, I am impressed with your work ethic! If you were a neighbor I'd be over to help.

 

[Palmettokat]

Hotnoob, I am impressed with your work ethic! If you were a neighbor I'd be over to help.

Maybe he could offer you a hunting trip or vacation for the help package. Would be a tad to haul a tractor though.

 

[TheJigsaw]

I know this is a bit late, but I saw your post while searching for something similar and thought I'd share a suggestion. For anyone else in a similar spot, without a way to move their equipment, you might want to check out https://stuck.solutions/. They offer roadside assistance, and it could come in handy for getting your tractor going again when you're stuck. When winter comes, having a backup plan like this could really help.

 

[fried1765]

necroposting...but.. it sounds like dealing with that hydraulic leak has been a real pain, and the dealership not helping out quickly makes it even worse.

Most recent post was 4 years ago.
Hopefully, that hydraulic leak was fixed LONG ago!