What have you done to your ride lately?

tx_shooter

It is not a war crime the first time.
Staff member
I would be going off on them too. The level of service a dealer provides is what makes them profitable vs "enough to stay open". Sounds like the shop supervisor is not checking anybody's work and odds are you are not the only person it has happened to now.
 

Taco Loco

Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
Long post here, someone may find it almost comical.
I’m about to go full Karen mode on the local Kubota service manager when they open on Monday.

My BX2380 has been leaking hydraulic fluid from the quick disconnect coupling for the front end loader forever. I just recently learned that there was a recall on that part but my serial number was excluded for whatever reason. I called my local dealer and asked if I could bring mine in and see if it’s the same issue or not. They said sure, and I am very thankful that they were able to coordinate with corporate and get my coupling replaced under recall.

While my machine was there, I figured I would just have them do a tier 2 service since it’s right at the 350 hour mark and that way it’s just one less thing for me to have to worry about.

Now for the fun part.

They call me to come pick up my tractor on Monda the 3rd. Great! I go pick it up in the afternoon and right around 4:45 I’m at home and notice that the mower deck is covered in hydraulic fluid. That’s weird, surely they would have cleaned up after their repairs….I cleaned it up and did another 10 minutes of work with the tractor and sure enough it was still leaking. I dropped it off Tuesday morning for them to repair it again, and they call me later that afternoon to come back and get it again. Cool. It’s actually fixed this time and I remove the loader to get ready for mowing.

While preparing for the first mow of he season, I double check the mowing deck. As part of the service I requested, they grease all the zerks on the tractor and mowing deck as well as level the mowing deck. It turns out my mowing deck was 3/4 of an inch out of level from one side to another and there were globs of grease all over the top of the deck. I’m thinking someone just flat out didn’t check the deck for level and didn’t give a crap about cleaning up the grease mess. About this time I was starting to get frustrated because of the sloppiness of their work with the hydraulic leak at first and now the deck not being level and also covered in grease.

Fast forward to today and when I got home from work I went to the garage to level the deck myself and I noticed that there’s a puddle of fluid under the rear diff of the tractor. What now? Turns out that when the numbnuts replaced the HST filter he didn’t tighten it down all the way. I reached under there and could easily put another 1/8-1/4 turn on the filter! So far, it’s stopped leaking but I’ll be sure in the morning. I’m just glad I left it in the garage while I was gone for a couple days and didn’t leave it in the normal parking place because it usually isn’t parked on concrete that would call my attention to a leak.

After much frustration and doing half of their job for them I got my grass mowed and don’t seem to be leaking fluid from anywhere anymore.

WTF?

TL;DR -
I took my tractor in for service. They called me 2 weeks later to pick it up.
I had to take it back the day after I picked it up because the issue wasn’t fixed.
The next day I discovered that the mower deck was not leveled, and it was covered in globs of grease.
I had to clean the deck and level it myself.
The HST filter was not on tightly and was leaking fluid.

The whole reason I had them also do the tier 2 service was so they could fix it up and I could maximize the productivity of my time at home and instead I wasted almost 2 full days dealing with their shortcomings.

Just one picture showing the mess of grease the tech left behind

View attachment 52116

HST filter leaking like it had a hole in it

View attachment 52117View attachment 52118

Those machines are stupid easy to work on, I wouldn't want a drop out HS kid at the dealership messing with my equipment. It sucks that they don't have confident mechanics. Please note this...Kubota dealers do not pay their mechanics enough, therefore you going to have less experienced mechanics. All the dealers in Central Texas have this problem with the mechanics. My friend that works for a Kubota dealer said dealers have not increased the mechanics pay in the last couple years, so most mechanics moved on to greener pastures.
 

tx_shooter

It is not a war crime the first time.
Staff member
Greener pastures meaning John Deere? The place I bought my zero turn at seems to do a good job taking care of their mechanics. My f-in-law has been using the dealership for 5 years now and has been dealing with the same mechanics and service writers.
 

AlienXtx

Nignog
That's true of any type of dealership right now nation wide. Hell, I've been trying to get all my guys raises so they don't run off and have only managed to squeeze out a few $ more an hour. The idiot bitch I work for always throws out " well do other places offer benefits with retirement, because that's a big part of their pay here".
She doesn't seem to understand that that's $ coming out of their check that they would rather have for paying bills. A 25-30 year old mechanic could give two shit about a retirement plan (they have no choice, its an automatic 2% of each check) they are 30 years away from using or medical insurance they don't use.
 

MatthewMay1

amateur professional
Those machines are stupid easy to work on, I wouldn't want a drop out HS kid at the dealership messing with my equipment. It sucks that they don't have confident mechanics. Please note this...Kubota dealers do not pay their mechanics enough, therefore you going to have less experienced mechanics. All the dealers in Central Texas have this problem with the mechanics. My friend that works for a Kubota dealer said dealers have not increased the mechanics pay in the last couple years, so most mechanics moved on to greener pastures.
I prefer to do all the work on it myself but I’ve been too busy lately and a day of my time is better used actually getting projects finished instead of wrenching on my equipment to then do the projects.

Bummer to hear that Kubota doesn’t pay enough….I see this problem continuing if they have a revolving door of mechanics.
 

tx_shooter

It is not a war crime the first time.
Staff member
That's true of any type of dealership right now nation wide. Hell, I've been trying to get all my guys raises so they don't run off and have only managed to squeeze out a few $ more an hour. The idiot bitch I work for always throws out " well do other places offer benefits with retirement, because that's a big part of their pay here".
She doesn't seem to understand that that's $ coming out of their check that they would rather have for paying bills. A 25-30 year old mechanic could give two shit about a retirement plan (they have no choice, its an automatic 2% of each check) they are 30 years away from using or medical insurance they don't use.

The irony is in your industry the drivers being on time and mechanics keeping everything running is the reputation of the business. Dealerships are the same way - sell the equipment once but get the service hours every year for the duration of ownership. That was one business model that Harley-Davidson did really well; and most other motorcycle companies are doing the same as well.
 

Taco Loco

Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
Greener pastures meaning John Deere? The place I bought my zero turn at seems to do a good job taking care of their mechanics. My f-in-law has been using the dealership for 5 years now and has been dealing with the same mechanics and service writers.

Greener Patures, in means of mo money on the other side of the fence with other companies.
 

Taco Loco

Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
It's John Deere.

The local Kubota mechanics near me all went to company that services generators. From cell towers, water plants, nursing homes, hospitals, gas stations etc. They all got their own service truck and starting pay was $32 hour, 2 of the senior Kubota mechanics got $41 hour. They were all recruited by prior service mangers that also worked for Kubota. They pulled mechanics from numerous dealers.
 
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Taco Loco

Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’

tx_shooter

It is not a war crime the first time.
Staff member
I have only used United Ag and Turf. Everyone that I know that owns JD also uses them and has had good reviews with them. I only have the zero turn but my f-in-law has used them to rebuild a motor in an inherited zero turn and for his ~20hp tractor with bucket and attachments.
 

PSU Taco85

Well-Known Member
That sucks man, and is why I do all my own maintenance myself. I know peoples work ethics aren’t as anal as mine and they just want to get the equipment in and out and make a quick buck.
 

MatthewMay1

amateur professional
That sucks man, and is why I do all my own maintenance myself. I know peoples work ethics aren’t as anal as mine and they just want to get the equipment in and out and make a quick buck.
Someone usually will pay better attention to their own equipment than someone else’s and I get that but they should at a minimum do what I paid for! I prefer to do all my own maintenance, but it comes down to a time problem for me. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to get everything done by myself. My dang 4Runner is going on probably 3 to 4 years with no air conditioning and I know exactly what the problem is. I just haven’t had time to tackle the job because it’s a big one.
 

tx_shooter

It is not a war crime the first time.
Staff member
Someone usually will pay better attention to their own equipment than someone else’s and I get that but they should at a minimum do what I paid for! I prefer to do all my own maintenance, but it comes down to a time problem for me. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to get everything done by myself. My dang 4Runner is going on probably 3 to 4 years with no air conditioning and I know exactly what the problem is. I just haven’t had time to tackle the job because it’s a big one.

The limited time issue is one of the things I dislike about my job. I usually travel one week a month and that kind of time away makes a big impact in how much you can get done when home. I have started either paying for basic stuff or just buying finished items I could have made.

There seems to be better things I can do with my time when home than basic "no brainer" tasks.
 

PSU Taco85

Well-Known Member
Someone usually will pay better attention to their own equipment than someone else’s and I get that but they should at a minimum do what I paid for! I prefer to do all my own maintenance, but it comes down to a time problem for me. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to get everything done by myself. My dang 4Runner is going on probably 3 to 4 years with no air conditioning and I know exactly what the problem is. I just haven’t had time to tackle the job because it’s a big one.

I hear you, I share that sentiment as well. Time off for me is usually far and few in between if I'm working OT days. I look at as "how can somebody fuck this up" and if the fuck up takes longer than me doing the work myself I make that executive decision to wait to DIY lol
 

Silverback

Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
Sorry.. speaking of time off. I work with a guy who has been at the company for like 20 years or so. Today we all went into the office for a reason.. anyhow. This guy says he has 7 months of sick time saved up!! WTF. I was talking about this with the new guy (been there about 6 months now).. he says that during his new hire into the HR lady said she had over a year of sick time. Blew my mind.
 

AlienXtx

Nignog
Sorry.. speaking of time off. I work with a guy who has been at the company for like 20 years or so. Today we all went into the office for a reason.. anyhow. This guy says he has 7 months of sick time saved up!! WTF. I was talking about this with the new guy (been there about 6 months now).. he says that during his new hire into the HR lady said she had over a year of sick time. Blew my mind.
They cap us otherwise there is no telling how much I'd have built up. I've been maxed out at 240hrs of sick for 17 years now. My vacation tops out at 160, which has also always been maxed out. Think I missed one day last year when my daughter was sick and my vacation consisted of a few 3-4 day weekends throughout the year.
 

tx_shooter

It is not a war crime the first time.
Staff member
Sorry.. speaking of time off. I work with a guy who has been at the company for like 20 years or so. Today we all went into the office for a reason.. anyhow. This guy says he has 7 months of sick time saved up!! WTF. I was talking about this with the new guy (been there about 6 months now).. he says that during his new hire into the HR lady said she had over a year of sick time. Blew my mind.

At my work I either use it or lose it; so I use it.
 

balakay

BabyMax
We can roll over sick time/PTO but only to 96 hours. I was capped out until my surgery last year. We’re paid for any unused vacation at the end of the year and our floating holidays are use or lose.
 
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