Found some weird stripped bolts sitting on my new LX-2610

[HowardTractor]

The dealer was really quick to respond to my concerns. They are going to pick the tractor up on Monday and try to turn it around quickly. I told them of the potential ROPS issue and provided them a link to this thread. So, fingers crossed. (Thanks everyone).

 

[wgator]

Since you mentioned you bumped the ROPS driving forward, while you still have the tractor, might wanna look underneath the housing at the bottom 2 bolts location like shown in post 12 middle picture of the link i posted (post 8), for cracks in the housing. If your's is cracked like that one, helicoils in the top holes and new bolts is not the fix!

 

[Magicman]

But you can hit a low hanging limb in the woods and do a wild wheelie!!

 

[HowardTractor]

Since you mentioned you bumped the ROPS driving forward, while you still have the tractor, might wanna look underneath the housing at the bottom 2 bolts location like shown in post 12 middle picture of the link i posted (post 8), for cracks in the housing. If your's is cracked like that one, helicoils in the top holes and new bolts is not the fix!

Thanks. Yeah, I don't see anything obvious. Hopefully the service guys will give it a good once over up on a lift.

 

[xrocketengineer]

Is this the same scenario with "short bolts for shipping that should have been replaced with longer bolts by the dealer for delivery?" See entry #14.

Cracked HST Housing - Removing tires

I noticed some hydraulic fluid dripping from my tractor today and while investigating the source, I noticed a small crack in the HST housing. So I removed the ROPS and realized that the small crack was not so small.. Long story short, I need to replace the HST housing and would prefer to do it...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[leveraddict]

This is a little new to me but are you guys saying that the Rops is bolted to the transmission housing?

 

[leveraddict]

Those belong in the holes right above them. I don’t know what could have caused them to do that!!

View attachment 59774

Soooo Njtool you have the painted bolts! I would contact my dealer before you crack your HST housing!

 

[Njtool]

Soooo Njtool you have the painted bolts! I would contact my dealer before you crack your HST housing!

Oh no!!! I will call them first thing in the morning. I need to call them anyway, my tractor is low on tail light fluid. And I think my muffler bearings are bad. Darned Kubota!!

 

[leveraddict]

Oh no!!! I will call them first thing in the morning. I need to call them anyway, my tractor is low on tail light fluid. And I think my muffler bearings are bad. Darned Kubota!!

WOW! I guess your not concerned? Did you read this whole thread? Theres 3 cracked HST housings so far because of the wrong bolts used like you have on your tractor. Ill mind my own bussiness.

 

[Njtool]

WOW! I guess your not concerned? Did you read this whole thread? Theres 3 cracked HST housings so far because of the wrong bolts used like you have on your tractor. Ill mind my own bussiness.

3 out of how many? I’m not concerned. And besides, I find it hard to believe whey would put bolts in that need to be changed to longer bolts for no reason. I’ve seen how these things are shipped I don’t see any reason those bolts need to be touched by the dealer upon delivery.
I don’t have rops, and I don’t see them connected to anything that could be shocked by impact.
But that’s just me...

 

[leveraddict]

Ahh cab model. No Rops. Gotcha!

 

[whitetiger]

The bolts in question are used when the tractor does not have ROPS. When the ROPS is added, the original bolts are too short due to the thickness of the ROPS.
The ROPS installation instructions very clearly show what length of bolt is to be used in each location. All one has to do is read the instructions. If the correct bolts are not installed, when you are done assembling the tractor you have 4 new bolts left over. Common sense tells you to go back through the instructions and see where that length of bolt is used.
Here are the Installation Instructions.
Your dealer needs to step up and replace the rear differential housing, I doubt he wants the liability of cobbling the ROPS mounting hardware with Helicoil or such. It's kind of a safety situation.

 

[HowardTractor]

The dealer picked up the tractor and returned it yesterday, a week later. They didn't really communicate well through the process. I hadn't heard anything from them last week and I called for a status. They said they were pretty backed up and would have the tractor back on Monday which they did. I asked if they were going to replace rear differential housing and the gentleman on the phone said that the only thing he knew was that there was some problem during the original assembly and they were going over it and making sure everything was done properly. I asked specifically about the bolts that had come out and he said "they usually rethread those". I haven't had a chance to follow up and check things more throughly yet, but I did see that the bolts they put in were silver, so I am assuming they used the longer bolts this time. I am going to follow up with my contact to see if I can get a more complete report, but everything seems to have been covered by the dealer.

 

[Henro]

The dealer picked up the tractor and returned it yesterday, a week later. They didn't really communicate well through the process. I hadn't heard anything from them last week and I called for a status. They said they were pretty backed up and would have the tractor back on Monday which they did. I asked if they were going to replace rear differential housing and the gentleman on the phone said that the only thing he knew was that there was some problem during the original assembly and they were going over it and making sure everything was done properly. I asked specifically about the bolts that had come out and he said "they usually rethread those". I haven't had a chance to follow up and check things more throughly yet, but I did see that the bolts they put in were silver, so I am assuming they used the longer bolts this time. I am going to follow up with my contact to see if I can get a more complete report, but everything seems to have been covered by the dealer.

My guess is you are probably fine, but if it were me I would be troubled by the bolts that I found, which would indicate that the housing threads were partially stripped out.

So what I would do is contact Kabota, explain what happened, and ask them if they still stand behind the integrity of the ROPS, seeing that due to the improper shorter bolts being used the housing was damaged.

I’m with Whitetiger...the housing should probably be replaced to ensure structural integrity should a worst case event happen.

Not sure I would be happy with that solution either though.

 

[DustyRusty]

My guess is you are probably fine, but if it were me I would be troubled by the bolts that I found, which would indicate that the housing threads were partially stripped out.

So what I would do is contact Kabota, explain what happened, and ask them if they still stand behind the integrity of the ROPS, seeing that due to the improper shorter bolts being used the housing was damaged.

I’m with Whitetiger...the housing should probably be replaced to ensure structural integrity should a worst case event happen.

Not sure I would be happy with that solution either though.

One of the problems is the lack of dealer communication, and the owner not being involved from the day that they picked up the tractor. Once repaired, it is difficult to get them to rework the same problem twice. When I refer to lack of communication, I have mean that a telephone call isn't the same as showing up in person, and asking to see the progress of the repair, and that the repair is being done, with new parts, not reworking the old part. Being that this is a safety issue, when they deliver the unit back to the owner, it is implied that the owner is satisfied with the repair. At this point, the best that can be done is to have an attorney send them a letter questioning the repair, and asking them to assume any and all liability for the tractors useful life. When the dealer and Kubota get a letter like that, it will grab their attention. The dealer is probably going on the mistaken assumption that the repair is adequate and the likelihood of the tractor rolling over, and the ROPS not protecting the operator is remote to say the least. What if it happens to the next owner, who isn't aware of the original problem?

 

[Justasquid]

Did they give you a receipt? There should be a detailed print of what they did, even with warranty work. Somewhere in their database is a detail of what was done. They need that for billing and just keeping track of their employees time. If all they did was replace the bolts with longer bolts, that is not acceptable. more than likely, the bolts will end up doing the same thing the short ones did as the longer bolts will only have a a small portion of good threads on it.

I would at a minimum contact the service manager and ask them what was done. If they can't or won't let you know exactly what was done, I would be in contact with Kubota and get a Kubota representative involved.

I do agree with other posts that it truly is a safety concern and I can't imagine they would just install longer bolts and call it good. But they really need to communicate to you what was done.

 

[GeoHorn]

Dusty, your wording is not clear when you wrote “ I have mean” ...but if you only made a typo and intended “meant”.... Then it’s understandable.
However, what you describe is not a Kubota action but an owner action...and THAT is not Kubotas responsibility.

Your next suggestion that an “attorney send them a letter” ... sounds a lot like getting a ”note from Mother”. I don’t know why it’s so popular to think a letter from an attorney is a good idea.... UNLESS it’s the owners desire to make this an expensive propostition even in the absence of a problem.

If a Kubota-representative dealer works on a tractor still under warranty, then Kubota AND the dealer is responsible for their actions.

If it were mine, I’d do as Justasquid implies and get a written description of the repair on the Kubota dealers’ letterhead or invoice or other documentation the repair was accomplished.

It is a separate matter as to HOW the repair was accomplished.... and IF that repair SATISFIES the owner. Personally, I‘d be satisfied if I received the documentation of the repair.
However, the wife and any beneficiary of the owners life-insurance policy might prefer to see a new housing installed rather than helicoils or the longer, correct bolt only.

Why? Because a dealer-mechanic that will strip out threads by not following instructions and by installing the wrong bolts... can make an even BIGGER mess when replacing a housing. This entire situation can be a never-ending circle-of-distrust over what is probably a “nothing” issue. There’s no reason to lose a lot of sleep over this. Get the repair invoice/document and enjoy the tractor. IMO

 

[HowardTractor]

So I finally got the dealer to send over the service report. The language in it was very vague.

I was never charged anything and I think this is just how they recorded the work.

Anyway from what I can tell from our discussions, the bolts installed were the wrong bolts for the ROPS model. When I banged the ROPS into the top of the garage the smaller bolts did not have enough hold and stripped out the threads they were installed into. I received the tractor back with the larger bolts installed (based on color). I would hope that they repaired the threads in some way. I am worried they just screwed the longer bolts into the damaged holes. Anyway, I voiced my concerns to the dealer via email. I will see what they come back with.

It's a good machine and has been doing good work for me. I just want the tractor's ROPS up to spec.

Edit... Just got word back from the service dept.
They said they rethreaded the holes of the bolts that came out. So I guess I am all good.

 

[Bark]

Glad you are happy with it. Sounds like it was a pain in the rear but is now safe and secure. I learned a lot from following this thread.

 

[Tire Biter]

They “rethreaded” the holes. WTH does that mean. They gave you lip service, man.
how much longer are the correct bolts than the wrong ones? That’s probably how much thread is actually securing those fasteners now.
But hey, at least they washed it for you