FWIW steering line failure.

[CGMKCM]

A few weeks ago I was tilling a garden at PTO rated RPMs. Came to the end of the row turned steering hard to the right to start a new row and what I thought was smoke poured out from under the deck of my tractor.

I dropped rpm's to idle and shut down PTO. I then limped tractor 200 yds to home. After shutting the tractor off I saw that hydraulic fluid was leaking from just below the deck and I thought I popped a line going to the hydraulic system cooler. I lost a little over 1 gallon of UDT2 hydraulic fluid.

My tractor is 3 years old and has 220 hrs. The leak was from just below the deck platform and beyond my abilities to see/repair.
The leak turned out to be a solid line/tubing that feeds the hydraulic steering. The line split near the pump outlet fitting.
The dealer spent 2X the book rated repair time because loader sub frame needed to be removed, 3rd function valve and lines needed to be removed, fuel tank and some other wiring and lines all needed to be removed. Dealer said book hours may have been based on tractor without loader.

I am not complaining about labor rate, Dealer charged me kubota book rate and stated they would talk to Kubota about adjusting book rate to include tractors with loaders.

I am complaining about and pointing out hydraulic hard line tubing failing and the costs involved with repairing that failure. The hydraulic tubing is a $300 part and shipping was $200 because of length and being oversized for shipping. Labor was $400 at book rate. That steering supply tubing showed no signs of external damage and split for no apparent reason.

Rant over, I feel better and poorer.

 

[TheOldHokie]

A few weeks ago I was tilling a garden at PTO rated RPMs. Came to the end of the row turned steering hard to the right to start a new row and what I thought was smoke poured out from under the deck of my tractor.

I dropped rpm's to idle and shut down PTO. I then limped tractor 200 yds to home. After shutting the tractor off I saw that hydraulic fluid was leaking from just below the deck and I thought I popped a line going to the hydraulic system cooler. I lost a little over 1 gallon of UDT2 hydraulic fluid.

My tractor is 3 years old and has 220 hrs. The leak was from just below the deck platform and beyond my abilities to see/repair.
The leak turned out to be a solid line/tubing that feeds the hydraulic steering. The line split near the pump outlet fitting.
The dealer spent 2X the book rated repair time because loader sub frame needed to be removed, 3rd function valve and lines needed to be removed, fuel tank and some other wiring and lines all needed to be removed. Dealer said book hours may have been based on tractor without loader.

I am not complaining about labor rate, Dealer charged me kubota book rate and stated they would talk to Kubota about adjusting book rate to include tractors with loaders.

I am complaining about and pointing out hydraulic hard line tubing failing and the costs involved with repairing that failure. The hydraulic tubing is a $300 part and shipping was $200 because of length and being oversized for shipping. Labor was $400 at book rate. That steering supply tubing showed no signs of external damage and split for no apparent reason.

Rant over, I feel better and poorer.

Welcome to the real world.

Dealer only parts are (overly) expensive and their labor rates are through the roof. I am surprised at the shipping costs. That over size charge is normal for a retail customer but I would think a dealer gets far better rates.

Fact of life be it cars, trucks, home appliances, or tractors. If you cannot do repairs yourself dealer service is going to be $$$$.

Dan

 

[Runs With Scissors]

That sounds crazy.

I have never seen a metal line just ruputure......I am not saying it can't happen, but it just seems odd to me.

I have seen plenty of them "rubbed through" and corroded to the point of failure, and I just snapped 2 fittings off last week, so I know sh!t happens....

Glad you got it fixed up and it sounds like your dealer is a "keeper". So thats nice

 

[TheOldHokie]

That sounds crazy.

I have never seen a metal line just ruputure......I am not saying it can't happen, but it just seems odd to me.

I have seen plenty of them "rubbed through" and corroded to the point of failure, and I just snapped 2 fittings off last week, so I know sh!t happens....

The line failure was most likely a defect in material and/or workmanship. At 3 years old I would have been lobbying for warranty coverage.....

Dan

 

[CGMKCM]

The line failure was most likely a defect in material and/or workmanship. At 3 years old I would have been lobbying for warranty coverage.....

Dan

I lobbied for warranty extension/coverage (refused) and or KTAC coverage (refused). KTAC stated they don't cover material failure. That is what warranty is for.

I did not see the damaged line but it was a small hairline crack 1/4" long near the fitting. The line may have been damaged when the tubing was flared or over tightened when tractor was assembled or a defect when tubing was extruded.

I also agree that hydraulic tubing should last 20 years or more if not damaged from crushing, chafing, rust etc. We have a 1993 Case skid steer with 3200 hrs and all of the solid lines are original.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I did not see the damaged line but it was a small hairline crack 1/4" long near the fitting. The line may have been damaged when the tubing was flared or over tightened when tractor was assembled or a defect when tubing was extruded.

The failure sounds like a classic case of a botched manufacturing process. Refusal to warrant the repair is a classic case of a faithless OEM.

Dan

 

[lugbolt]

I am not surprised. Actually I am, I'm surprised that the labor was only $400. I don't know what their labor rate is but where I'm at, we are at $150/hr. Don't take long to rack up $400 at $150 per.

Equipment has not gotten any easier to work on, either. If anything, harder-which means it takes longer-which means it costs more money. That's one reason insurance rates skyrocketed for your cars/trucks...

shipping on oversize items is expensive and I'm also not surprised there. A hydraulic pipe is an oversize item. Yeah they get decent rates on oversize stuff, but they hit the customer with a markup on everything, including shipping. At least the local dealer does, anyway. Boss said once "nobody will ever know". I worked there. I guess he thought that customers were stupid. Quite the opposite.

Warranty is 2 years or 2000 hours whichever comes first. Occasionally they'll do a goodwill but dealers usually avoid using this option because kubota "usually" required (at least, when I worked over there), the customer to pay a third, dealer to pay a third and they'll pick up the rest. Kind of stupid if you ask me but whatever. That and their system of goodwill repair requests takes forever.

 

[Henro]

Water over the dam I know, but just wondering if it would have been possible to replace that metal tubing with a hose?

For example, on my loader most of the hydraulic lines seem to be steel, except for transitions pieces at the ends, but after 20 years plus, if one failed I fear I would simply replace it with a hose.

Might not look as nice but would probably function in my case just fine. AND be much cheaper than the OEM steel line replacement cost.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Water over the dam I know, but just wondering if it would have been possible to replace that metal tubing with a hose?

For example, on my loader most of the hydraulic lines seem to be steel, except for transitions pieces at the ends, but after 20 years plus, if one failed I fear I would simply replace it with a hose.

Might not look as nice but would probably function in my case just fine. AND be much cheaper than the OEM steel line replacement cost.

That thought did occur to me. Sometimes those runs are tight snd make sharp turns so might have to reroute it..

Or perhaps just cut the bad section off snd replace with new tube or a short hose.

Dan