Build-It-Yourself Attachments KITS??? interested?

[mikehaugen]

Your target customer has tools, is handy, a welder, mechanical knowledge about how things work and a willingness to spend time on messing with his equipment. People buy new when they are outside these parameters.

Just my first thoughts.

isn't this all of us here on TBN?

[texasjohn]

I'd focus on stuff not available any other way.

Example...a quick attach plate which allows various attachments such as:
hay spikes
boom extension to hay spike
pallet fork
chain hooks on above
receiver hitch for trailer ball or whatever.
also, set up plate so it also fits 3pt hitch and allows hay spike, boom, pallet fork, chain hooks, receiver hitch use there as well.

[Gary Fowler]

This would be ideal for folks like myself who have capacity to weld, cut etc but no ready source of steel. Closest place is 70 miles away and who wants to buy a 1/2 sheet of plate to get a few square feet plus angle, channel etc where a full 20 foot joint has to be bought to get 3 feet or else pay thru the nose for the small pieces. No fabrication shops around here to buy scrap like lots of folks on TBN claim to get for little or nothing.
Bottom line is how much savings can be had for buying the IKEA version versus finished product. Most folks think that their labor is free or at least enjoyable enough to not put a price on it but materials costs like welding consumables, electricity etc arent free so there would have to be a good saving to the consumer in order to make it work for both parties.

[EverythingAttachments]

To all the TBN members and everyone else,
At the moment this is just a thought, but I keep thinking about it more and more, because with the laser we are able to cut indexing holes and location spots where it is almost like putting a tinker toy together for our attachments built on our new laser. The main thing anyone needs is a flat table, and a square, and as I mentioned earlier general mechanical and welding ability is also required. My first thought on savings depending upon the attachment, would be at the least 25%, and at the most possibly as much as 50% off! I look forward to reading more of your thoughts, so I can organize what really needs to be done to be able to make this Ikea idea work.
Thanks,
Ted

[jwmorris]

50% off!

I'm in, start with this one.

[tkappeler]

...Or just include the special parts, and let the customers use localy sorced angle iron, channel, and I beams.

This is especially intriguing to me. Kits, whether complete or specialty items, are always good as long as the price differential is significant.

[s219]

I think the genius of the IKEA kits is that they are self contained and pre-painted, and you get a finished product at the end. Many kits include all the tools needed. They can be assembled by an average person with average skills and no special tools. And of course, you can have a meal of meatballs (we occasionally make a 2 hour drive to an IKEA to buy furniture and have a meal of their meatballs, which I love).

I am thinking a tractor implement doesn't fall into the same category if someone has to weld and paint it. Especially the welding part, but painting is no cakewalk either, as I found out when re-painting my mower deck recently -- it took several days for all the coats to be applied and dry, and it occupied one side of my garage the whole time. Not everyone has the equipment or skills for welding, and it takes effort to get a good "factory" finish on large implements.

I guess I would want to see a significant cost savings before it makes sense to me. Basically I guess it comes down to labor costs, since materials and shipping will be about the same either way.

[Ductape]

I really like this idea.

[SSdoxie]

I think it would be well worth trying. If I was in market for something that cost say $2000 and could get for $1500 or less and spend a day or 2 putting it together, would be worth it to me.

[Gary Fowler]

I hadnt considered painting. I would consider that an optional way to ship would be to package them in pre-blasted and primed condition with just the weld area unpainted. Furnish paint/thinner also for prime and finish coating after construction is completed. You wouldnt end up with a baked on coating but many coating materials are available to mimic the powder coating. Most of the equipment has a poor paint job and very little prep work or media blasting or even degreasing is done so the paint goes away pretty fast unless you pay premium for the paint work and even then, I have never seen a sandblasted finish on equipment which is what it takes for the paint to adhere and stay on long term.