Don't buy John Deere

sickofJD

New User
This message is a reply to an archived post by Rickinco on September 13, 2010 at 14:55:15.
The original subject was "Dont buy John Deere".

I have a GX255 that I bought in 2005. Just replaced the PTO clutch last October and the clutch just failed 8/19/17. Less than a year later. Dealer is telling me the harden bolt broke. A $4.05 part. They want me to pay for repairs after they talked to their JD dealer rep because the rep told them the parts warranty is 90 days. Really????!!! I have to pay $500+ for repairs due to the failure of a cheap Chinese made bolt??? Called the JD 800 number. They are useless - told me the same thing. They don't care. They won't do what is right. Never again. Once this tractor is done for, I'm buying Kubota or something else.

And if you are buying JD from Lowe's or Home Depot - you are crazy. Just like all the other crap these stores sell, it's guaranteed to break/fail. The tractors JD makes for Lowe's and Home Depot are junk - made with the cheapest parts JD can get their money grubbing hands on.

We all need to boycott JD until they get their morals straight (if that will ever happen) and they guarantee to stand by their products and parts.
 
Maybe Deere should discontinue that part - NLA ? Was this 12 year old mower actually built in a Deere factory or was it built by someone else and re-badged for Deere to sell as an entry level product in hardware/department stores?
 
Deere has a longer warranty on parts if the dealer installs them... which is sort of a sham in its own way. It is sad when parts from a salvage yard are warrantied longer than from the original manufacturer!
 
JD did install the new PTO clutch and they are telling me it's a 90 warranty. The dealer used JD parts. My auto mechanic gives a 1 year warranty on all parts AND labor. JD is nothing more than a POS.
 
I believe it is a year warranty on Deere parts installed by the dealer. I think you are being snowed- I will check with my dealer on Monday.
 
Did you do something to make the new clutch fail. For example my neighbor runs her mower and in constantly shutting the mower off and on when she changes directions. I've got a John Deere Z track and can't say enough good about them...replaced the clutch last year after 12 years of use and have only replaced the main belt once. Don't have enough information to pass judgement but I can assure you that going to Kabato will not solve your mechanical problems.. Give us more information....
 
I'm running an LX277, 15 years old with well over 1000 hours on it. I've never replaced the PTO clutch. How do you know the bolt was from China? Buy some other color and you'll probably find out green isn't so bad.
 
I don't know of any L&G tractor sold by Deere that isn't made by Deere. I do think some of the CUT tractors are almost totally, if not totally, made by Yanmar in Japan. They're good products.
 
PTO clutches on GT series tractors fail because of ignorant operators. Don't engage the clutch at full throttle and it will last the life of the tractor.
 

My LX188 has similar hours and age, no clutch failure. Been through just the normal wear items of tires, blades, bearings, belts, starter, carb etc.
 
If i'm reading correctly you're complaining about a 12 year old bolt failing that holds the clutch on that was replaced last year? Do you think anyone replaces all the fasteners when they change any part on anything? Doesn't happen and if anyone actually tried it customers would pitch a fit over the rip-off. A bolt breaking is about like getting a nail in a tire. You simply say "crap" and go on with life.
 
M-man you are right on, I hear the neighbors turning the mower off and on when they change directions at full throttle . That bolt probably came loose because it wasn't Loc-Tight'ed . Wasn't the bolts fault . THATS WHY YOU REPLACE THE HARDWARE ON ANYTHING when its overhauled, ITS CALLED COVERING YOUR A**
 
Let me get this straight, after 11 years of service your PTO clutch goes out and you have it repaired and then after nearly a whole summer's use, a mounting bolt fails and you think that Deere should be 100% liable; is that about right? You claim they are liable because the mounting bolt that failed is a "cheap Chinese made" one, right?

I know it is frustrating to have something fail so soon after repairing it but let's try to be reasonable here. When mother Deere supplies the replacement clutch, it does not come with new fasteners, so either the original ones were used or the local dealer supplied new ones. If the original one was used, you cannot hardly expect mother Deere to liable for the bolt failing after 12 years especially if it has been removed and reinstalled. If the dealer replaced the bolt, again mother Deere cannot be liable as they have no control over the type and quality of the bolt that the dealer used. So it appears that your issue is with the dealer and not with mother Deere.

And seriously, claiming that an entire product line is inferior because of one failed bolt is stretching it a little bit.
 
SickofJD: You're still railing about John Deere but you didn't tell us exactly what went out. Electrical/bearing. You mentioned a bolt broke but I can't get a handle on this. Who was operating your mower and how was it being operated? There's not much complicated about the electrical clutch. It has the plug and has a bracket that keeps it from rotating. Has a belt guide. I'm confused as to the issues. Did the bearing sieze?
 
I worked on JD equipment for 14 years. 7 for a dealer and 7 for an independent shop. SickofJD, its idiots like you that make me happy I have a different job!!
 
I don't know here but it sounds like you had no patience with the machine.
You can beat a good dog and then he becomes a bad dog.
Things in life are never perfect.
 
(quoted from post at 16:36:00 08/25/17) I believe it is a year warranty on Deere parts installed by the dealer. I think you are being snowed- I will check with my dealer on Monday.

Turf parts have a 90 day warranty dealer installed or otherwise...Bigger machine parts do have a one year dealer installed parts warranty.

Mr/Ms sickofJD is just outraged by what is perceived as a 'good-screwing over' and seeks to outrage the rest of us too...hurt JD by buying a Kubota!??

Rage is the rave these days...warranty is warranty simple as that...er ah unless by some peculiar chance that the disgruntled John Doe happens to buy tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment from the particular JD dealership. Then threatens to switch to brand X dealership 'cause of his $500 mower clutch failure/repair....then possibly(at the dealer's discretion)..the dealer may/might eat the repair. However buying a lawn mower every decade or so does not make a customer a preferred customer...just an occasional consumer.

I fail to see the logic behind sickofJD's anger...out of warranty is out of warranty about as simple as that.
 
We all have our rants, me included, just win some and lose some, you lost this one, time to suck it up and move on.
 


sickofjd is a product of a society that praises and rewards, whiners, victims, losers and the perverse.
What ever became of thinking ahead and being responsible?
A used, re-torqued fastener failing, well duh. Why do you think that the military, medical, transportation and nuclear industry does not re-use critical fasteners ?
 
I really think that if the fastener failed after being serviced by JD they should have covered that, but 90 days is 90 days.
 
I have certainly had and been around a few "lemons" in my lifetime. Cannot offer a comment about whether this product is or is not a lemon. It has been very rare when I have bought something new. Most of what I do buy has been previously owned. I have had some issues with problems that can be originated back to the prior owner, and I have had a few where I could or should have operated something in a different manner than what I did. I have a tractor which should have provided a lot more years and hours of service in the engine, but when there was a failure, it was discovered the prior owner had done something allowing dirty air into the engine, greatly reducing the expected life of that engine. We just paid the bill for the complete overhaul, and at least now know what I have to work with, and it probably will outlast me. I am on my second lawn and garden tractor in just over 14 years. The first one showed some signs of future issues, but it was all that I could afford at the time. I traded it for a newer one after 5 or 6 years of reliable service, and I have not regretted that change. This one now seems to be in better mechanical shape versus the prior one and its condition at the time I originally purchased it.

As I read this post, I thought about an individual whom I had done business with between the mid-1990's and early 2000's. He had a 4 wheel drive tractor and it was past the end of any warranty on that tractor. He talked about how it had developed a vibration when the engine was above a certain rpm. Instead of looking into this, they just throttled it down until the vibration went away. They had to reduce the engine speed, little by little, as the season wore on. They did finish tillage that season, and when they were going to put the tractor away for the rest of the year, the crankshaft broke at the harmonic balancer pulley. The owner had indicated he was in a squabble with Cummins about this, and had demanded Cummins replace the engine. I do not know how this played out in the end, but I certainly hope Cummins stood firm on this. In this case, the owner "chose" to continue to operate the tractor when it was apparent their was some sort of failure present. This is not the behavior or action that should be rewarded!

Again, I am not totally aware of your specific situation. I simply shared this story on account of reading the posts jarred my memory on the disgruntled owner of a farm tractor with a Cummins engine, and he was demanding Cummins eat the cost of an engine for a significant error on the part of the owner.
 

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