Help I broke my tractor in half!!!

rangerdave

New member
Well after a week of no phone & internet due to storms rolling through the North East, I am trying to scratch a quick note out before we loose power again to the 2 day ice storm falling on us..... Thank goodness for the wood stove and generator!!!

1. My whole point of addressing this issue was NOT to whine about or defame the company. I was specifically told that: "In the history of Antonio Carraro, we have never had a tractor break in half", "Your use of the front end loader lifting the front end voided any warranty"... It was your fault for using the tractor in a way it was not designed.... The point was to find out if what they said was true. I think the only dealer near me is about 20+ hours away on Long Island NY now... So I'm essentially one of the lone TRX owners in the North East... I was sold on the dependability, service and strength of the tractor line.

2. Excuse me for asking the obvious. I'm no tractor engineer/scientist, but I am a thinker/have plenty of experience around machinery. I refuse to believe that this is MY fault. If the 30 and 42 HP tractors i bought used never broke in half over the course of 15 years (same Italian design concept, and I worked them HARDER), then my brand new 68 HP tractor that looks really rugged should have held up to the job....

3. I spend plenty of time maintaining my equipment and followed the manufacturers recommendations as stated in the manual that I received. The irony is that I WAS PERFORMING MAINTENANCE when it broke!!! I wasn't even ON the machine. Just standing beside it working the controls getting ready to place the jack stands under the front axles TO CHECK BOLTS!!! Thank goodness I didn't get killed or hurt when placing the jacks under the tractor when it broke in half!!!

4. It insults every tractor owners common sense about WHAT their compact tractors should be capable of and then told that the tractor was NEVER designed for that type of use.... Yet they advertise their machines with front end loaders, winches, pulling incredibly HUGE log and hay trailers, fork lifts, mulchers, backhoes, ect.... Yet, most of the older tractors I see still keep plugging along as long as you can still find parts... bullet proof engineering.

5. Oh yes.... about the 4 year warranty thing that orchard pete mensioned... It does not apply to the TRX machines, I would have purchased it to last as long as my 4 years of payments..... As it stands, I have 4 years of payments and only 2 years of use.... and I'm loosing work.

Cheers,
- Dave
 

rj's barn

Member
Sounds like a very pricey learning experience. Never buy a machine from an obscure manufacturer. I made that mistake once, but I paid a smaller learning tax than you did.
 

Supertiger

New member
Dear rj's barn,
Not because you don't know something, it make it obscure... AC is the most renowned specialized European tractor manufacturer for vineyard. Of course the dealer network in North-America is not the same as for a more popular brand. The rest of the story is base on personal experience. Even though you have the best machine in the world... if the support from the manufacturer or their representative is not to level, guess what! I am not judging here AC America nore their dealers.

Supertiger
 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Good post Super Tiger. I had a post started but didn't get to finish it saying it was a very specialized and established company. Ranger Dave has had multiple machines from them and up until now, all performed GREAT.

I too had never heard of them until Ranger Dave posted his dilemma. But the tractors are very impressive to look at.

Sorry to see RangerDave having this issue and I hope the company will come to the rescue and take care of this for Ranger Dave.
 

rangerdave

New member
Hey everyone, Just an update...

I finally received the denial of claim from my insurance company. It was no surprise either... they totaled my tractor as well.

The insurance company came to the same conclusions during its own investigation.... They sent not one but two claim adjusters, and the opinion written was taken under the advisement from two different cast iron/machining specialists that have been in the business for about 40 years....

No surprises in what they said either since they work with heavy machinery...

I know folks from Antonio Carraro have been following my tractor issue (From Italian Corporate down to former Reps and Dealers)....

One rep tried to help me and get corporate to do what was right and had a deal to cover it under warranty or something like that, but she was either shut up, or lost any standing in the company to make any deals when she left for a different job... We couldn't connect in the limited time of about a week and withdrew any communication to me or any of the forums she was involved in....

Not surprising, the person that would have been involved in resolving the issue at AC America completely denied that any such conversation with the Rep took place about my tractor....

I genuinely believed in the tractor community and service that AC portrayed. I received their Tractor People magazine and read all of the stories from around the world. I couldn't think of a better company to invest $50,000 in a new tractor...

I just didn't expect to get ignored, strong armed and lied to when it broke in half, just out of warranty and still owing $20,000.... And back to using my 15+ year old Pasquali that I have worked harder under the SAME conditions....

I don't appreciate being made to feel like I am the bad guy in this situation by the very people that I was hoping would be supportive...

While I am awaiting receipt of the Insurance Companies findings, I am also talking with other people (that supposedly don't exist) about their tractor problems....

I am just hoping Antonio Carraro will reconsider its position and contact me (and the others) about resolving this issue...

Especially in light that AC just introduced their 4th? generation of center section housings AND introduced a 4 YEAR ACROSS THE BOARD WARRANTY ON ALL OF THEIR TRACTORS!!!
 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Dang. The saga continues RangerDave. I sure does not sound good. I'm surprised that a multi million dollar company would not want to take care of the issue or at least work out a deal with you, rather than ignore / argue they are not at fault when it appears obvious to me that they are. :confused:
 

al b

New member
From earlier posts in this thread I think we can take that as fact, even the OP seemed to agree that they had.

I still think Quincy gave the best advice earlier in the thread, trying to damage the manufacturers reputation by posting a one sided story on all the forums you can find isn't going to help the case IMO. Sorry to be so blunt about it.

It doesn't matter if the OP stated it or not. The truth is that a professionally built and designed and installed bolt should not come loose.Period. If it does loosen the factory is putting out sub quality product that they need to correct. It might not be on all products but on that one it something that fell through the crack. Accidents don't just happen they design to happen.
 

SPYDERLK

Member
It doesn't matter if the OP stated it or not. The truth is that a professionally built and designed and installed bolt should not come loose.Period. If it does loosen the factory is putting out sub quality product that they need to correct. It might not be on all products but on that one it something that fell through the crack. Accidents don't just happen they design to happen.
Yaaay!.... :respect:Somebody had to say it. Again,I think. But the thread continually seems to lose focus on that truth and to cast tentative aspersions on the OP for using the tractor to do work. :Mickey:
larry
 
What about a little walk around and look at am and pm start of work? Looks to me like someone got on the tractor and ran it until it broke. NO look and see or hands on maintenance Over use and abuse!!! When I was working on heavy equipment if this had happened the boss would have fired me and the operater..
 

SPYDERLK

Member
What about a little walk around and look at am and pm start of work? Looks to me like someone got on the tractor and ran it until it broke. NO look and see or hands on maintenance Over use and abuse!!! When I was working on heavy equipment if this had happened the boss would have fired me and the operater..
:wtf:If you had read the thread yould know that the bolts in question were under covers and not exposed for inspection without disassembly. How often do you drop your oil pan and check the bolts on the rods and mains? After all some may be loose or missing. Hint - you dont have to if the engine is designed and assembled correctly.
larry
 
:wtf:If you had read the thread yould know that the bolts in question were under covers and not exposed for inspection without disassemb
Don't look to me like the ones on the bottom are covered up. This horse has been rode to death. I broke muy tractor oh my I need to sue someone rather than assume responiibitiy BOO HOO.. Maybe if I cry loud enough I will make everyonne feel sorry for my stupidity and get a new tractor.
 

SPYDERLK

Member
I also included the material thickness of each housing to compare....
Note how there is NO bottom reinforcement to the Carraro housing... It is essentially an upside down "U" that goes from thick on top to thin on bottom...

In so many words... [[[I was utterly shocked to actually see how it was designed for the first time since the whole tractor is covered with sheet metal.]]]
[/quote]

:wtf:If you had read the thread yould know that the bolts in question were under covers and not exposed for inspection without disassembly.
[[[Don't look to me like the ones on the bottom are covered up.]]] This horse has been rode to death. I broke muy tractor oh my I need to sue someone rather than assume responiibitiy BOO HOO.. Maybe if I cry loud enough I will make everyonne [[[feel sorry for my stupidity]]] and get a new tractor.
[[[Stupid to trust a company to design and assemble their product correctly?]]] Oddly enuf that seems to be the case here... Makes you wonder what youre paying for -- to assume responsibility for latent defects?
larry
 
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Mith

Active member
Keep it calm guys, getting heated about it isnt going to help anything.

Larry, dont forget the tractor was over 2 years old when it broke, and out of warranty. Just because the bolts are inconvenient to access doesnt mean they shouldn't be checked atleast once in those 2 years. I'd even expect it to be part of the maintenance schedule to look over the machine and check for loose bolts.

Dave, I'm sorry I am coming across quite hard on this, but without the manufacturer here to defend themselves its necessary to try and see their side too.
Opinions aside, I can completely relate to the heartache involved with having expensive machinery breakdown before its time. I know exactly how sick and helpless it makes you feel, and I'm truly sorry you have been put in this situation. We would have liked, as I am sure you would too, to see pictures of a happy owner.
 
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