Kubota B1700 tractor

[SawyerTed]

Looks like the tractor will be good as new!   

I’m enjoying your rebuild

[GRANITEstateMP]

Bill, you better not let Kubota see that you know what your doing...they'll hire you right outta retirement!  Good techs are hard to find!

[Wlmedley]

It’s not back together yet.In a couple more days we’ll see if I know what I’m doing or not.If I don’t get it running good I’ll never live it down.

[21incher]

Bill, you better not let Kubota see that you know what your doing...they'll hire you right outta retirement!  Good techs are hard to find!

My experience with Kubota over the last 4 weeks with my defective side by side is that the service reps are totally useless POSs. They don't know how to solve issues and just throw parts at things without listening to the dealer mechanics.  They have no idea and don't care. should be working at McDonald's. I made a mistake being loyal to Kubota. 

[GRANITEstateMP]

21incher,

Sounds like you have a dealer with communication problems.  I've seen that before, sometimes its a misinterpretation of the customers complaint/concern from the service writer to the tech. Sometimes I've seen the customer explain to the service writer what they thought was wrong and how they wanted the tech to start the diagnosis.  I hope you get yours figured out, but lumping all the service folks into the pos category might be a bit much, I know quite a few techs/writers/parts guys/and such in a few different disciplines, no doubt some are hacks, and some are parts replacers, but the majority aren't

[21incher]

Not at all. Crankcase fills with oil and gas at about 12 ounces in 20 hours.  Original Kubota said this is normal if it's not run hard enough but finally the dealer got them to open a case. They approved oil change , head gasket check, and new injectors.  The dealer then took it to his farm and ran it hard for 5 hours. Oil still went up with contamination.  Dealer asked for more  help and so far they are saying it's normal for the engine just change the oil every couple hours insteadof the normal schedule. Seems to be an issue with others also and I heard that it's a problem with the Subaru engines. 
 Dealer just got a new one in and talking to the mechanic they have totally redesigned the injector and intake manifold along with adding a couple sensors mid year for some reason with no explanation. The Kubota rep is avoiding the mechanic on a couple problem machines  because  it seems they don't know what to do to fix them.  Been at the dealership over 4 weeks and the mechanic is good but can't touch anything without pre approval from the rep that has no ideas and is useless.  I have 20k in a garbage machine from Kubota and won't accept it back until  it's fixed and the mechanic knows it's not fixed but Kubota  is saying they don't have a fix but it looks like they came up with one on new machines that were just implemented.  Kubota doesn't care. 

[SawyerTed]

Do you have Kubota insurance on the machine?

[Wlmedley]

I worked at a heavy equipment dealership my entire working life.Started with Case moved to International Harvester and ended with Komatsu plus many different side brands thrown in.With many design problems we would find the problem long before the manufacturer and if it wasn’t to expensive to modify we would go ahead and do it.If it required a major modification the dealer had no choice but to wait till the manufacturer came up with a fix which usually seemed to take a long time.Looks like they would just replace your engine if newer design has taken care of the problem but who knows what they are thinking.Komatsu always seemed to pretty good about admitting they had a problem and trying to correct it even when it cost them a lot of money.I have always been impressed by machines manufactured in Japan .Quality control was second to none in most cases.Hope they get your machine fixed .

[21incher]

Do you have Kubota insurance on the machine?

No just the 2 year warranty coverage good until next June 

I talked to the owner of the dealership 2 weeks ago and was told a replacement engine was talked about but would not solve the problems because it would be the same engine.  Don't  think the new engine would work as all the electronics have also changed including the ecu for the new cam sensors and map sensors plus the intake air is routed through the frame that may be part of the water issue with condensation in the tubes. This is not made in Japan. Mine is one of the early ones off the Georgia line when Kubota started building their own engines.  Sorry to hijack this thread but Kubota  says all communications must go through the dealer and the dealership is trying hard to help but Kubota is of no use as the rep is ignoring the problem and saying it's something your stuck with even though it's not right. Looking at the New farm equipment lemon law if it's not fixed right and this qualifies under it. Sorry for the rant.

[Wlmedley]

Finally got my tractor back together.Everything seems to be working good.No more oil leaking from transmission.Not something I would want to work on everyday but I guess it was worth it in the end.Need a few small items (head light switch ect) but I can get aftermarket and not pay Kubotas high prices.My grandson was up yesterday and helped me try it out.He has always been afraid of tractors,atv’s ect but my DIL figured out he didn’t like the noise.A set of earmuffs and now he loves riding on the tractor.Threw a fit when I shut it off .Going to put mower deck on it today and try it out.

 

  

[21incher]

Wow looks like a newer model. Great job, your gamble definitely paid off. Enjoy it.

[thecfarm]

Good!!! glad you both are happy with the tractor.

[moodnacreek]

Nice work, might work out better than a new one. Is that the next owner riding with you?

[Wlmedley]

The Kubota saga has now ended.Spent a lot of today putting mower deck back on and adjusted.Another job that turned into more than I had figured.Adjusting turnbuckles frozen up,casters all had to be moved ect,but I am finally finished.Tried it out and was pleasantly impressed.Mower runs smooth and cuts really good.Machine will go around pretty steep banks and up and down steeper ones.Was thinking about getting a new weed eater but now I think my old one will last a while longer.I think I now have about $2800 invested but probably at least 60hrs of labor.Wouldn’t really want to do it again but  would if I had to.Now to get back to other work I’ve been neglecting.