I recently purchased a B3200 within the last 6 months. I have driven tractors and other machines throughout my life, so I am not totally new to the concepts of machanics. That being said, I purchased a brand new B3200 series Kabota. I was using it to mow my lawn and small field in front of my house. The field happens to be on a slope, but I have mowed the slope before with my lawn mower without incident. The problem that I encountered 3 times with this particular tractor was it seemed to go into a neutral position on its own and take off out of control. My first experiance it was in med speed with the hydrostatic and I put the clutch in and shifted into low range with the 4x4 engaged as well before I approached the slope downward. after I let the clutch out the tractor took off like a train out of control. Luckly I was able to stop half way down without incident. I figured it was my fault and was getting used to the tractor. A month or so went by and I was mowing uphill on the same slope. I had it in low range and 4x4 was engaged, I was crawling slowly to avoid accidents. To my surprise the tractor self engaged into neutral and went backwards at a high rate of speed going out of control. The outcome was good for me and bad for the tractor. I rolled it and luckly I was strapped in and the rollbar did what it was supposed to do. the 3rd time this happend was when the tractor was parked on somewhat level ground, and it had been parked there for about a week. I had a party and several people witnessed the tractor roll backwards at a high rate of speed into a tree. Luckly nobody was behind it. The tractor is wrecked and the dealership gave me an estimate of 9500 dollars. From their tone of voice they were not interested in warranty nor were they interested in my story or my safety. They informed me that they did not look at the transmission when they gave me the estimate because the tractor was not running. They also said if it was a warrenty issue they would not cover any of the cosmetic damage to the tractor. Can ANYONE out there give me some advice? Has anyone ever heard of these hydrostatics having problems? Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Not ignoring the blogging here and trying to help you.
First do all, do verify that your sleeve did not brush against the shifter either moving around or getting on or off. If that is not the case. Do this:
DEMAND that the factory rep meet you or agree to inspect the tractor. Get whatever is said or imparted to you IN WRITING. If not satisfactory, contact your State bureau of consumers affairs via certified letter stating clearly the problem and your expected results. Clearly, to me, the results are A PRODUCT THAT IS FIT FOR THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH IS INTENDED.
Barring that, you can cite the Uniform Commercial Code which applies across our land. The provisions you are looking for within it are "fitness for purpose" and "latent defects." This might involve a claims court but it will work. Send the claim to Kubota's receiving agent. That will get their attention.
Burl
Now you must act as you only have a reasonable period of time to make your case. Generally, this is defined as 6 months.
