One factor in why equipment is so expensive

[barbender]

Jury Awards Man M After Kubota Skid Steer Accident | Equipment World

[teakwood]

Men, what a nonsense, this kind of law suits are only possible in North America. In another Country the ruling would have been: You're just an idiot, that's common sense!

[Cedarman]

The problem as I see is that Kubota will have to have signs in every language because who knows what language the riders can read with all the boarder crossers.

[Nebraska]

Stupid is as stupid does.

[PoginyHill]

Juries almost always side with those with money or are not individuals. It is a sad reflection of our times: people cannot be responsible for their own stupid behavior; it must be someone else's fault.

[21incher]

You can get more for spilling a cup of hot coffee on your nuts :D. guess that's why coffee is so expensive.  Too many lawyers in this country  looking for big paychecks.  The poor kid probably only wound up with 10% of it in the end.

[sawguy21]

So it's Kubota's fault the employer didn't properly train and supervise the kids? I am at a loss for words!

[GAB]

The problem as I see is that Kubota will have to have signs in every language because who knows what language the riders can read with all the boarder crossers.

Cedarman:
You are making the assumption that they can read a language.
GAB

[PoginyHill]

Maybe every Kubota needs to come with a full-time safety enforcement officer. That might raise the price a little.

[YellowHammer]

So a kid would have read a sticker.  Sure...

This is where AI technology comes in.  If a person is within 20 feet of a skid steer, inside or out, then the sensors detect it and then shouldn't let it crank.  So then it wouldn't need an engine, diesel fuel, or even a battery.  Then so the green people would be happy too.  Zero danger, zero emission.  Problem solved. 

[SawyerTed]

Warning stickers are like stop lights, they are mere suggestions.  Another stupid sticker wouldn't have prevented the accident. 

[Resonator]

Best warning sticker I've seen lately was on an antique D-9 on You Tube a guy in Idaho was running. "This machine does not have a brain, you will have to use yours." :D

Seeing that lawsuit makes you wonder if the really cheap foreign machine manufacturers would be held to the same standard. One of the big You Tube creators just bought a new mini-mini excavator for $4000. The first time he went to run it, the power of the hydraulics was way stronger than the weight of the machine and it almost threw him like a rodeo rider.

[Ianab]

So it's Kubota's fault the employer didn't properly train and supervise the kids? I am at a loss for words!

Here in NZ it would likely have been the employers fault and they would be in court for Workplace safety breaches. You can only actually sue for criminal level negligence, although you can be awarded some compensation if your employer is convicted. General Accident insurance is both compulsory and universal. You won't get millions from it, but it covers medical / lost wages and even retraining courses.

So if the warning said "No Passengers", that's pretty clear. What are they supposed to put?
"No passengers on the roof
No passengers on the left side
No passengers on the right side.
No passengers on the Back.
No passengers hanging underneath
No Passengers on the front"


Here's a recent case. It wasn't Kubotas (or whoever made the digger) fault that a guy got buried when a 10ft deep trench he was in collapsed on him. (luckily he survived with only moderate injuries). But his employer was on the hook for 6 figures for allowing unsafe work.
Contractor fined 5,000 after trench collapsed and buried worker | Stuff.co.nz

Someone mentioned the "hot coffee" cases. There is more to that than it appears at first glance. Basically McDonalds had been told that maybe passing people flimsy paper cups of boiling hot liquid, with lose fitting caps, through a car window, might possibly be dangerous. But getting the temperature right (hot, but safe) was too hard (expensive). So people ended up in hospital and needing skin grafts etc for their burns. So actual pain / suffering / disfigurement, due to corporate negligence. They only made changes when it started hitting their balance sheet.

[dougtrr2]

For me the scary part is that they were able to find 12 people on a jury that all agreed it was all Kubota's fault.  I am worried that juries are going to always think it is someone else's fault, and not the stupidity of the person injured. I suppose it is a reflection of our society, "nothing is my fault, someone else is always to blame"

There was a statement by the lawyers  "The lawyers said the verdict will force Kubota to look at its safety practices and develop warnings to prevent future injuries."  I would like to see the lawyers tasked with coming up with bullet proof warnings that would prevent future injuries.  It is real easy to say have warnings,  exactly what should those warnings be?  In general I always hate it when someone says something is not being done right, but doesn't have any concrete suggestions on how to do it better.

Sorry about the rant, I will kick the soapbox back to the center of the room now.

Doug in SW IA

[barbender]

 To me, this is akin to someone riding on the hood of a car, falling off and getting ran over by the car. Why don't we have stickers all over the car?

Yes, the jury is the scary part to me. I may be mistaken, but a jury doesn't have to be unanimous in a civil suit I don't think. I don't remember how that works.

I hope Kubota is able to appeal it farther up the line. The only ones that make out on this are the attorneys, and you the consumer will pay for it with your next Kubota equipment purchase.

I sure wish we could get some tort reform that would discourage attorneys from "prospecting" on litigation like this. Something like loser pays all legal bills of the opposing party.

[Cedarman]

Why don't knives have signs on them saying that "If blade contacts skin, serious injury may result"?
Why don't company trucks have signs that say, "Driving too fast may result in a serious accident that may result in bodily injury or death".  Sign companies need to get busy.

[chet]

Why isn't the forest plastered with falling hazard signs.  :  Or that bar stool you may fall off if ya drink to much.   ;D   Or on yer front door for a frying pan hazard after coming home after falling off da bar stool.  :D :D :D

[Old Greenhorn]

My favorite warning label on a chainsaw:
"DO NOT ATTPEMT TO STOP CHAIN WITH GROIN OR HANDS."

Now, somebody somewhere felt the need to put that in writing. ???

[21incher]

On the other  hand it makes me feel good seeing Kubota loosing a lawsuit after the piece of garbage  they sold me and the very poor customer service they now have. 

[chet]

My favorite warning label on a chainsaw:
"DO NOT ATTPEMT TO STOP CHAIN WITH GROIN OR HANDS."

Now, somebody somewhere felt the need to put that in writing. ???

Man tries to turn on chainsaw between his legs - YouTube

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, There's your sign......

[SawyerTed]

There's no dumbazt vaccine...

[sawguy21]

@21incher I am surprised you had a bad experience with Kubota. I had a scut for three years and was quite happy with its performance although I found it too small for some tasks.

[21incher]

@21incher I am surprised you had a bad experience with Kubota. I had a scut for three years and was quite happy with its performance although I found it too small for some tasks.

Kubota used Subaru engines that have a crude injection system and high compression.  Fuel goes right through into the crackcase when cold.  Dealer had it 10 weeks and returned it in the same condition.  Took 8 weeks to get a Kubota technician  involved and the oil testing showed serious contamination with gas. Kubota has no technical info on the Subaru engines and just said its normal if they aren't run a half hour each time they are started to evaporate the gas from the crankcase. I got about  12 ounces of gas in the oil in 20 hours.  I have emails from others  having the problem so it not just mine. Dealer knows  its a problem and said that I should run it hard with the contamination and try to blow the motor so Kubota has to do something.  That seems to be why there are so many low hour  ones for sale cheap now.  I'll probably  hire a lawyer in the spring myself.

[SwampDonkey]

I've had bad experiences with Kabota as well. Mostly, I would say the dealers they approve. But they don't give a crap about correcting their approval list either. Because one outfit here does more damage than good and they have no clue anyway. A bunch of misfits and throw backs that bounce from garage to garage. They can't even make a hydraulic hose. The other dealer near here is a world of difference and at least know how to cut a piece of hose and put a fitting on it. The factory hoses they put on the smaller tractors are crap. The ones the local dealer makes are superior hose. Some of their implements are third party with their paint on them. Had one of the backhoe attachments, never worked from day one. Bad crappy valve bank. Too sensitive to side sweeping a pile of mud, that would just kill it.  :

[Magicman]

No bad experience here except "pricey". 

[SawyerTed]

Our experiences have been good with Kubota.  We've got 5 Kubotas on the farm.  My BIL has an MX5700 and I've got an MX5100.  The fellow who leases our farm has 3 tractors and a mini-excavator from Kubota. 

All have been free of major problems.  Dealers have been good but we've not needed them much.

[sawguy21]

That was my experience too. I wouldn't hesitate to get another Kubota product.

[SwampDonkey]

My cousin has some Kabota's on the tree farm. He deals with the better dealer after the questionable one came and changed the break in oil and dumped it direct onto the ground.  :

He never bought a Kabota SxS though, got a Kioti instead.

[21incher]

That was my experience too. I wouldn't hesitate to get another Kubota product.

That's how I felt 4 months ago but now will not touch another Kubota product if they don't come up with a solution  and not excuses.  From what I read the Subaru engine was designed for a different application but Kubota decided to adapt it to the Sidekick.  Then Subaru decided to shut down  the line because  of problems and Kubota bought the tooling at that point to be able to continue building the engine.  There is no debug info available and the mechanic at my dealership said the problems were talked about at a training  session but then just blown off. Dealership thought it is a bad ecu but Kubota said they are all the same so don't waste money swapping parts and return it to the customer. That's  how they all are. You never know how good a company  is until there is a problem with a part they don't want to address.   

[randy d]

We had trouble with a 900XP ranger Polaris did nothing to fixit so now we have a 65 horse John Deere tractor a 35 Horse a 835 John Deere gator 525 John Deere lawn mower and we have not had one problem with any of these machines and we don't have any plans of ever going back to Polaris.

[barbender]

On the flip side, I know a guy that had a Gator SXS that he couldn't say enough bad things about, he said it was nothing but trouble. He was driving around a new Polaris SXS and smiling ear to ear🤷