Me and Professional Shops Don't Mix

So some of you may know that my tractor was in need of repair. It has a four speed transmission with high and low gear ranges for a total of 8 forward and reverse gears. The high and low range shifter was working fine but I could not shift between the left and right sides of the H shift pattern. I suspect that a shifter fork is out of whack or something like that. It wasn't much of an issue while moving snow this winter, 2nd gear was just fine and dandy. However now that we're into spring and bush hogging season, I really could use 3rd and 4th. 2nd is a bit slow and 5th is too high. So about three weeks ago, I called Union Farm Equipment (the local kubota dealer) to get an appointment to bring it in to get the tranny repaired. Since it's spring and they're running a good special, I also wanted the annual service done on it. The front tires are pretty chewed up so I figured I'd get them looked at while it was in there too. As you may also recall, I don't have a trailer for the tractor so I had to rely on them to come and pick it up.

So I place the call and they tell me they'll give me a call just before they come to get it. Good enough. A week and a half goes by and I don't hear anything from them so I give them a call and inquire about picking up my tractor. We'll get to it next Thursday. Well OK at least I have a date. Sure enough they come the following Thursday to pick up the tractor. That Saturday I had to go into the parts department cuz last time I used the tractor before they took it I broke the PTO shaft that connects the tractor to the mower. Much to my dismay, I noticed my tractor was still outside in the parking lot. So a week goes by and I don't hear anything so I give them another call and find out that they've not taken it in yet and in fact there are 5 tractors in front of mine in the rotation, all needing clutch repairs. For those not in the know with tractors, clutch repair is a major undertaking. Basically the clutch sits between the transmission and the motor. You have to take the trasmission away from the motor to get to the clutch - this is referred to as splitting the tractor. At that point most tractors go into two pieces. Long story short - major backlog. So yeah, that's what I was thinking too ... "If you have such a backlog why pick up my tractor so soon????" No good answer but since I can't fix it myself I can't complain. They told me to figure on another week or so before it gets into the shop.

So over a week passes and I don't hear anything from them. By now it's this past Wednesday (and the grass is getting awfully tall). I call (again) and this time find out that they have, in fact, fixed the transmission. This is good. Then he tells me that they figure I need new front tires too. No suprise there. While doing the transmission stuff, the technician found some other things. Ugh - ok give me the list

1. You need new tubes for the back tires - they're leaking.
2. The front left tie rod is loose.
3. The tach does not work.
4. The starter needs a new solenoid.
5. There might be a charging problem.

So we talk about these
1. This is a no-brainer. My tractor tires are filled with calcium chloride to add weight. If the fluid leaks, it can cause rusting of the rims. Gotta fix that.
2. I talked to the shop man about this and he asked me if I drove it down the road in high gear. "Nope." Then we decided it wasn't worth fixing.
3. This wasn't a big issue to me but since it was only gonna be $35 to fix it I decided to do it.
4. Need a price on this one. There is a trick for the starter so I can start it but if it might break in the future better to fix it. Told him to get me a price on this. Turns out you can't get a solenoid
so I'd need a whole new starter. For the $700 decided to pass.
5. I told him that the battery always seems to work but that the past owner had cross jumped the battery so that's likely caused the idiot light to come on.

This is my problem whenever I have a vehicle taken into a factory shop. Remember the last time I took my truck into the shop for an inspection sticker and a cam-sensor recall I ended up with a new oil pan, brake lines, shocks, etc. Bad ju ju

Could have been a lot worse I guess so I figured that I was doing OK. Then about a half hour later I get a call back. "Umm - we were looking a bit closer at the rear rims and I noticed that your tube is actually sticking out of one rim and the other is pretty rusted." Sort of how the call went when the truck was in the shop too but what can you do? Rims are important.

So after giving them the go ahead for rims (I got 10% off of those) they told me the tractor should be ready sometime late next week.

As Stacy put it "see, you're a real farmer"