Dan I'm going to elaborate somewhat.
You and I agree that a basic knowledge of Kubota's systems are needed. Unfortunately, they hire whatever they can, and often they don't stick around long enough to learn anything, so a lot of techs (at least in this area) are, well, clueless. A thankless dirty hot and cold job that pays pennies on the dollar, and I'm understanding that the local dealer has cut the pay of the shop guys because "they can't afford to pay them". Sad!! And I know they can afford to, based on what I know (but not going there right now).
Secondly Kubota training. They're still sending techs across the country for training which is pretty expensive in itself, both for the dealer, the tech, and for Kubota. Not all techs go, and there are reasons why, beyond what I've already outlined. I was forced to go. The downside....they put you in a class that is at an engineering level, which had nothing to do with real-world experience. If I wanted to engineer the hydraulic system on tractors, it'd have been a good class. But we, techs, were totally lost--all 46 of us. Nobody learned anything other than it was the longest most grueling 6 DAYS of at least my career. Waste of time, money, resources. If they're gonna take "training" that far, there needs to be a degree involved, and a significant pay increase because, like my neighbor, there are way better paying jobs out there the require the same level of training. In his case, less. He works on medical equipment, specialises in hydraulics. Makes about $145,000 a year doing it. At Kubota dealer, I made under $50k and was the highest paid tech in the entire 13 store chain (partly because I had been in that business for 30 years).
They "should" absolutley know their way around them but the reality is that often they don't. Unfortunate.
