As many of you know we bought a new 410G a couple of years ago. Well we bought it to replace a '96 410D that we had 5000 hrs on and it was starting to give us trouble here and there. That D model was 10 times the machine that this new G is. Dont get me wrong the G is a Cadillac, but we have had so much trouble with the stupid thing that it's disgusting. In 350 hours we have had: JD road service come out 3 times, twice on the side of the road for an intermittent power problem that caused the machine to shut down. Finally the mechanic found a plug that was not snapped together all the way and would come un hooked just enough to stop the thing. He apparently bumped it just enough while searching under the dash the first 2 times to make it run. Road service twice for a thermal valve (not sure what that is) in the stabilizer, this is not funny, all of a sudden it decides not to hold pressure on the stabilizer, not cool when you are loading a truck, or doing any sort of digging at all.This is a serious issue that could get someone killed.(IMO) And then on Thursday we moved it to one of our pits to use as a loader, and When I got out to load I noticed an awful screeching noise, lifted the loader all the way up, locked it in place,shut it down and found the fanbelt tensioner had lost its tensioning quality and the belt was so loose it was just sitting there as the pullys continued to spin, I am just glad it didnt come completely off. So yesterday we had to have that fixed, new belt and tensioner was in the $300 dollar range, plus the mechanics time. All in 350 hrs too, this machine has let us down continuously, what if it was our only machine, how could you depend on something like that to make your living, it seems like everytime we depend on it it breaks down. In 5000 hrs we only had road service twice on the old D. Wish we would have had that old girl gone through and bought a new excavator instead. Sorry for the rant, but this is a frustrating deal. If you've read this far, thank you ,and thanks for letting me vent!!!!!!!!!!
Not sure what a thermal valve is and why it would be in that part of the machine. ATCOEQUIP, could you advise us on that? A machine might be well engineered with proven improvements, but I think a lot of problems today come from the quality of the parts supplied to the manufacturer. Every component gets bid on and the lowest price is not necessarily accepted, or maybe it is. So the manufacturer takes the flak from the customer, sometimes years later, for choosing a supplier that has quality issues. Suppliers also have suppliers too, compounding the problem. Might turn out to be a good machine once the bugs are out. Phil
I know what you mean, but when you pay that kind of money for something, it seems as though there shouldnt be any bugs! I also hear you on the quality issues, everything is junk, plain and simple. Low bidders, and the people making the stuff dont care. Its a bad and sad situation. As far as the engineering and improvement, servicing this machine is way easier than the old ones just in that you can get at everything, no unbolting side covers to get at filters and that type of thing, the hood tips up, and its all right there, super convienent from years past.
nedly, I'm real sorry to hear about the bad luck you are having with this machine. Have you let the dealer know just how frustrated you are? I am not suggesting a ranting session but let them know how frustrated you are and drop in the conversation that you are making enquiries about a demo of a ****** and what would yours be worth for them to have it back This will give you a guide as to their customer service, might be a bit of good will coming your way or a used machine going theirs :tong Seriously, hang in there, iron the bugs out and it will be a cracker............... I hope. Just frustrating ironing out bugs that should not be there. :Banghead
They know we are frustrated, and I did try to make a deal with another dealer on an older machine, and a newer excavator. They didnt want to give us much for it, say there isnt much demand for them, and those who do want one will go get one from a big rental place for next to nothing when they turn the fleet over. I should call the JD sales rep and see what he has to say, maybe it woulc qualify as a lemon, not sure on the laws for that.
all i can say about that if is plaged with problems it will always be plaged with them. sorry to say i have had that same type of issue with out skid steer one after another they have seamed to stop for the moment but who knows
Sorry to hear about the troubles ,you would think in this economy they would be falling all over themselves fixing it for you . I'm sure the reason you replaced the old machine is to avoid the down time not to mention the agravation of it all. Hope the trouble ends now. Steve
I had a 317 skid steer for a year. When it had less than 10 hrs on it the stop bolt on the right side travel backed out and it would only drive with the left side. Road service came and corrrected it. Then we went to use it one day during the winter and Dad noticed hyd. fluid under it on the snow, it was leaking where the hub bolts to the chassis, so I called them back and this time they came and brought it back to the dealer and went over it with a fine toothed comb, there was no gasket on 3 of the 4 wheels at the hub. At that point Dad told the salesman " It's a good freakin thing John Deere doenst build airplanes!"
Since I work for a Case dealer, I can't believe I'm sticking up for JD, but hang in there. As previously stated, machines aren't what they used to be. They aren't just big blobs of iron, they DO have some sophistication to them. But, sometimes sophistication breaks down. With our stuff, it seems like some customers run the new models and NEVER have troubles, and some are calling us every other day. I don't get it. Some machines are just more trouble prone. I know that some customers have traded in "junk machines," then someone else bought them, had maybe one more hiccup and then no more. And, some machines have very obvious weak points that will always break down. The suggestion to CALMLY talk to your dealer is a good one. A good dealer will reasonably try to work with you. A bad dealer will blow you off. We have had customers that think that because the bucket teeth wore down in rocky ground and we wouldn't give them two new sets that we are a bunch of a**holes! The bad situations are when we find out that a customer is having ligitimate problems and don't tell us and have told other people and have given us and our machines a bad name with out us having a chance to remedy it.Stick it out. And know that they all break down!