Labor for rear remote install on L Series

[Calbourn]

I'm in the process of purchasing an L3901 and need to have rear remotes installed (for TnT + 1 fn). I inquired with my local dealer about cost, and was given a quote for over $1100 in installation costs, and was told that it is a 7 hour job. This seems exorbitant, as some folks on these forums with far less experience than a dealer mechanic, claim 3-4 hour install times.

Question is: how many hours of labor should a dealer charge for, to install 3 rear remote sets? The rear valves would be SCV, SCD and FD.

Thanks in advance!

 

[BAP]

If this is a new tractor purchase, then $1100 to install is outrageous.

 

[Calbourn]

If this is a new tractor purchase, then $1100 to install is outrageous.

That's what I thought! Thanks for the response BAP. Any sense of how much this should be (in terms of hours)?

 

[SDT]

I'm in the process of purchasing an L3901 and need to have rear remotes installed (for TnT + 1 fn). I inquired with my local dealer about cost, and was given a quote for over $1100 in installation costs, and was told that it is a 7 hour job. This seems exorbitant, as some folks on these forums with far less experience than a dealer mechanic, claim 3-4 hour install times.

Question is: how many hours of labor should a dealer charge for, to install 3 rear remote sets? The rear valves would be SCV, SCD and FD.

Thanks in advance!

It doesn't matter what a dealer "should" charge.

Your dealer is going to charge what he is going to charge.

The days of dealers installing options without charge or with little charge when a new tractor is purchased are over.

The now almost universally practiced concept of profit centers ended such.

FWIW: When buying my RTV-X1100C with front mounted plow, I decided to install the plow myself. Though I did not ask what my dealer would charge to install the plow, I did ask the technician who does such installs how long it would take him and was told "between 3 and 4 hours." The dealers shop rate is $110/hr.

Having not done this job before, I estimated that I should be able to do it in 5 or 6 hours. I ended up with about 10 hours in the job. Yes, I'm anal so always spend more times doing things than most others.

SDT

 

[Fordtech86]

I don’t have an answer to your question, but was the $1100 just labor or is that parts and labor?

When I added the backhoe to my L they quoted $300 to install the subframe and the hoses to the back (I never asked them to install it but they quoted it anyways). It took me maybe 3 hrs to do that and the worst part was getting the backhoe itself out of the crate.

If $1100 is parts and labor that’s probably not bad from the prices I’ve seen on here for the remote kits. If $1100 is just labor then maybe I need to look into the tractor business

 

[Nicfin36]

I asked about rear remotes last year when I was having the dealer quote me a price for my L2501. He quoted me roughly the same price to my recollection, and I got the impression he was really not wanting me to have it done. He talked me out of it. I have not needed a remote, but wished I had them.

 

[Fladogman]

I inquired about adding two additional remotes to my MX a few months ago. The dealer told me the cost of the remotes we're $750 each and a couple of hours to install. I think the OEM parts are where the cost is.

 

[RCW]

Parts and labor or just labor is important, as Ford said.

Following SDT's comment; when I bought my BX, I got the snowblower and front hitch/mid-PTO in crates/boxes.

I think my salesman said it saved me a couple hundred $$ assembling myself. It surprised me they would charge to do that.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I suspect that is parts and labor. It's not a big ordeal adding valves but the price of the Kubota valve units is quite high.

 

[Calbourn]

I suspect that is parts and labor. It's not a big ordeal adding valves but the price of the Kubota valve units is quite high.

It's just labor. Parts + Labor on 3 remote sets = $3300 (parts alone are around $2200). On top of that, he's also charging about $850 for the TnT kit, and $70 to install that. This is in Sonoma County, CA, so would expect higher hourly rates than other parts of the country. The dealer's hourly rate is around $150, which is acceptable, so long as they're not overcharging hours. In this case, I get the sense they might be. It's a trust issue; I'm ok with higher hourly rate, but not ok to be snookered. Thx!

 

[Calbourn]

Thanks so much for the input, all. The Orange Tractor crew is always super helpful! As stated in my last post, I think there's reason enough to doubt the numbers provided. I will shop around and see if other nearby dealers sing the same tune. Will post back with what I uncover.

 

[bx tractorjoe]

This is the buildsheet for my l2501.. i priced the parts for the 2 rear remotes, and top n tilt and they were maybe 330 cheaper then the dealer prices so I'm guessing the added cost was for the installation, but more likely there markup?.. it seemed pretty good to me not to have to spend 5 or 6 hours installing them myself..

one big positive is its all covered under the warranty.. the total difference from the kubota website to the dealer costs was only 1036.65.. but that was for everything installed and delivered. Im guessing the dealer also charges the customer to ship the tractor to them as well?? It is what it is.. and I financed it at 0% so ohh well..

They always seem to get more money out of you someway.. id rather think it was for labor costs then just charging me more because they can..

 

[Calbourn]

This is the buildsheet for my l2501.. i priced the parts for the 2 rear remotes, and top n tilt and they were maybe 330 cheaper then the dealer prices so I'm guessing the added cost was for the installation, but more likely there markup?.. it seemed pretty good to me not to have to spend 5 or 6 hours installing them myself..

one big positive is its all covered under the warranty.. the total difference from the kubota website to the dealer costs was only 1036.65.. but that was for everything installed and delivered. Im guessing the dealer also charges the customer to ship the tractor to them as well?? It is what it is.. and I financed it at 0% so ohh well..

They always seem to get more money out of you someway.. id rather think it was for labor costs then just charging me more because they can..

Thanks much for posting this information, TractorJoe. This is super helpful. I ran a few numbers and think you got an equivalent deal (by my calculations), with around a 10% savings over what my local dealer is offering (if I were to go with your configuration). I'm ok with that, accounting for our different regions, and relative labor costs, etc. Here's my breakdown:

In the end, it's as SDT stated, "Your dealer is going to charge what he is going to charge." In this case, given the proximity in pricing, I think I'm getting a fair shake. Thanks again for all the info!

 

[mikester]

If you are hoping your dealer is being fair get 2 more competitive quotes for the same job. The dealer also needs to make money, if he isn't competitive then he doesn't get the work.

I don't expect people to work for free. Sometimes you just get an unreasonable customer expecting the moon for peanuts. I always tell those customers to do it themselves if they want to save money.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Must be the Kalifornia thing on labor rate. My dealer is 85 an hour. Not even the Freightliner dealership where I retired from is at a buck and a half an hour. If they were, they'd loose most of their shop work.

I guess labor rates are competitive based on location. Glad I don't live in Kalifornia for sure. I couldn't afford it.

 

[Bmyers]

I know for my area, timing plays into the cost. The Spring thru Fall months the dealer charges a premium because he usually has more work than he can keep up with. In the winter months he runs specials for servicing and that is how I got my rear lights installed labor free. I was bringing my tractor in for service special and asked since I bought the light from him and was going to have my tractor there for service, if they would just install them, which they did.

I understand that rear remotes are more involved, but if you talk to your dealer and find out when his/her slow time is and they are trying to find work to keep their people busy, you might be able to get a little better price. The downside, you are doing it on the dealers schedule and not your timing.

 

[Northwoods906]

I was advised installing two rear remotes with parts and labor was $2,000 on my LX2610. I called another dealer and they said it would be the same. It is what it is!

 

[UpNorthMI]

My dealer supplied the parts & installed 2 rear remotes on my L3901 for a cost of $1,375, 2 years ago, it was at the time of purchase of the tractor new, in addition they fitted 3rd function on loader for use with a grapple.

 

[Sid Post]

Call around for other quotes!

On a barely related issue, I had, moving to Texas I needed a front license plate bracket for my Toyota Tundra. I went to the local dealer and was quoted $62 for the bracket by itself in a plastic bag.

MSRP from Toyota was $22, I paid $17 from a dealer in Dallas.

 

[NHSleddog]

I just wanted to finish the sentence,
Labor for rear remote install on L Series - IS WORTH IT.

I put the top and tilt on as well so I have 3 rear remotes and use them all the time. Well worth the money for me due to the quality of the job that can be done with the box blade and rake.