Well, I guess I have caught redneckitis....

[Rich Z]

They can be kind of slow with communications sometimes. I have an outstanding email to then about a land plane I purchased that doesn't seem to have a pin connection for my top link. Didn't hear anything back from them today about that. I included photos too, to show what I was referring to.

I believe that by being a TYM/Branson stocking dealer, they have a contractual obligation to do warranty service on the brands. Worse comes to worse, you could contact TYM corporate and ask them about it.

That being said, there is nothing to say that you would get priority service having purchased from another dealer. So that might be a consideration.

When I was considering having them do the 50 hour service for me, I was quoted a price of over $1100. Included in the price was a $90 charge for pickup and delivery of the tractor. When I purchased the tractor from them, Will told me specifically that he would pick up and deliver the tractor for me as he comes to Crawfordville quite often. Granted, he didn't specifically say it would be for free, but the implication was certainly there. I guess it is just a matter of the honeymoon period being over with.

Which is the reason why I decided to do that service myself, instead.

[Rich Z]

BTW, your tractor looks pretty good. Nice that you got the attachments you did with it.

[85vette]

Yeah, I figured that since they didn't make any money from the sale they wouldn't be too happy with what they would make on any warranty repairs.

And thanks for answering the question of how much the service would be. Others have done it themselves and advised the cost of the fluids and filters was $300-$400. So about $700 for labor. You did it yourself, did that seem to be reasonable for your time?

I found a Tym Owners page on FaceBook. One guy in Arizona bought one from the same dealer in North Carolina that I did and had it delivered. He said he saved money over buying it from a dealer that was only 60 miles away from his house, even with the shipping!

So I got this package (T2610 with loader, 5 foot box blade, 5 foot bush hog, and 5 foot grapple) for $23K out the door. Two other customers were picking up tractors from him the morning we went up there.

He had a lot full of tractors, equipment and trailers. And he was definitely off the beaten path.


https://www.smithsenterprise.com/?gc...BoCnlcQAvD_BwE

[Rich Z]

Well, for me doing my own 50hr service, these were the costs involved:

Filters - $272.00

Amsoil Severe Gear Oil - $118.00

Shell Rotella T6 - $60

Lucas Synthetic Universal - $226.00

So all total that came to $676.00 for filters and fluids.

Now I did get a new air filter, fuel filter element, and fuel/water separator filter that I didn't need to replace at this time. And certainly I paid top dollar on the fluids as I went with all synthetics whereas I am sure Lee Trailer uses regular dino fluids, plus they buy them in bulk. I will say that since putting the synthetics in the tractor, everything seems a lot quieter, especially the hydraulics, which used to squeal quite a bit. And the front end loader seems a lot more responsive to the touch.

The only thing I see that would be a real pain is that hydraulic strainer/filter. I could barely pull it out just to clean part of it, but to replace the thing, well, it looks like I would have to take off the driver's side rear wheel AND a sizeable part of the frame that would block that endeavor. Fortunately it didn't need to be replaced for the 50hr service, but when it comes time to replace it, unless I can find a trick for doing it easily myself, I may have Lee Trailer do that for me. I would imagine those rear wheels are quite heavy, and likely more than I want to be handling.

Other than that, it was kind of an all day job, which would probably go quicker the second time around. Is it worth saving a few hundred bucks? Well, figure into the expense of doing yourself that you will likely ruin whatever clothes you are wearing from being soaked with one oil or another. Then you have cleanup, and disposal of the old fluids. I dunno. Probably a toss up. Being retired, I have the time to spare, but if you are working your job, it might mean giving up a weekend to do it. How much is that worth to you?

[85vette]

So. Since Lee Trailer Sales will not respond to the two emails I sent I can only presume they don't wish to perform service on tractors that they didn't sell.

During my times working in the service department of Ford and Chevrolet dealers I found this to be the norm. Warranty repairs only pay a predetermined amount to the dealers so they much prefer to get the customer pay jobs where they can fudge on the flat rate hours as most people have no access to the labor rate guides. So they used the excuse that," You didn't buy it here so we don't want to do warranty repairs on it". They couldn't really refuse to do it but they implied that they didn't want to. And with that attitude would you really trust them to work on your car? Although I wasn't asking about any warranty repairs so I was a bit surprised. I guess they were just miffed that I inquired about a certain model that they didn't have in stock and when they told me this I bought one elsewhere instead of paying the price they quoted.

So I looked up Tym/Branson dealers close to me here in Georgia and found one in Wicksburg, Alabama. Dixie Horse and Mule Company. At 60 miles away, it's actually a bit closer to me than the Tallahassee dealer.

I sent an email Saturday evening inquiring about the possibility of getting the 50 hour service done there, even though I had made my purchase elsewhere, and I got a reply from Marcus Grimes this morning. Marcus said they would be glad to do the required service for $400 or they could sell me the filter pack for $200 if I wanted to do it myself. This sounds like a bargain to me.

[Rich Z]

Damn!! You might want to verify that the $400 includes the new fluids too. Sounds awfully cheap to me, but if you can snag it at that price, heck, DO IT!

I think you would have better luck talking to Lee Trailers via phone. I often have to send them emails several times before I get a response. I think not as many people rely on emails any longer.

Oh yeah, the other day I was carrying some brush in the grapple from around the side of the house, and it was a tight squeeze near the old mouse building. So I was trying to swivel my head around like crazy to make sure the wheels cleared and the grapple cleared. Didn't think about the flail mower sticking out further on the driver's side than the wheel did. Banged up the flail mower drive belt guard pretty badly. It is pretty heavy metal so it will be a real bugger to straighten out. Probably be buying a new one.

[85vette]

Ouch! At least it still works, right?

Yeah, I'll let you know about that service when it comes due.

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by 85vette

Ouch! At least it still works, right?

Yeah, I'll let you know about that service when it comes due.

I don't want to use it with the belts and pulleys open to all the dust it makes and the debris it kicks up. Could cause even more issues. Will at Lee Trailers said it will only be around $100 for a replacement, so I just ordered one. Might be able to straighten it, but might be more work than it is worth trying.