ETA TBN member nomination thread

[kiotiken]

I'm surprised so many people are saying the OP should be just as grateful for the opportunity to build a box blade as an attachment of his choice. I enjoy these types of projects when I'm challenging myself with something new and with the knowledge that I'll be getting something very useful in the end. Building something I already have sounds like as much fun as hitting my hand with a hammer.

As far as everybody saying this is an $800 box blade, BS it is. An $800 box blade is a fully assembled, nicely painted, delivered box blade that you back your tractor up to and start using. He'll probably use $50 of paint and painting supplies as well as consumables for his welder etc. and it's going to take him a bunch of hours to build. Because we all want to see it and he's agreed to do it, he's also going to have to stop and document the whole process. If EA values the DYI box blade kit at $800, the idea is DOA. I still agree with the poster that the value to EA is cost + shipping, and that would have been a pittance compared to the (positive) attention EA WAS getting.

There's no doubt that EA made it VERY clear that the person selected would have their choice of attachment to choose from and they would work with that person to find something that would be useful to them. If anybody needs help finding that, let me know, I'll be happy to provide the quotes. Now this thread has dragged on, we find out that this was a lie, the selected person does not get to select the attachment and no, EA is not going to work with them to find something that they will find useful.

Should Roger still take the box blade, ya, of course he should. He should build it and then sell it and buy the attachment he wanted. Is he going to put much effort into documentation and feedback (if EA still even cares), I don't know, but I wouldn't. It would also take me a really long time to do because it would be near the end of the stuff on my list of priorities.

For a thread that is all about EA, I would have thought that Ted himself would have had at least enough interest to look at it. He easily could have said that he could only provide a box blade if he had taken the time. Now it's too late, the person has been selected and EA needs to follow through with their commitment. PR is a funny thing, it cuts both ways.

[EverythingAttachments]

The goal for us with the whole "ikea" build it yourself idea to start out with was that it has to be an attachment that we are currently building that can be easily assembled.

Our box blade is an attachment that fits the customer's tractor and I think we can all gain knowledge from this build, unlike a new attachment they've never had and will not have anything to compare it to. That is why we picked someone with a 45hp tractor that currently has a box blade and the skill level seems to fit also. He has more than one tractor and more than one attachment so he is experienced on how everything works and has the ability to provide us(and you) with good, solid feedback. I realize if this works that customers will be buying attachments they don't have or it would be a useless cause. If this takes off, the kits will have a thorough instruction sheet with video but the initial trial here will not. The builder will need to know, for the most part, how it fits together. Once again, our box blade is the simplest to assemble. We wanted to pick someone familiar with the general shape and design of what they would be putting together and then be able to give feedback on the ease of assembly and design quality with the finished product. We never really expected to hear that he'd want something different. There are different things like a disc harrow that we have very well indexed but the problem with a disc harrow is that I have more in the purchased components than I have in the manufactured components by EA.

With all that being said(by Ted talking and me typing), we could care less about the location of the winner....California, Texas, Canada, VA, NC....we ship all over and get great freight rates so that had no bearing on our choice.
We aren't trying to be cheap...our interest isn't lost!

I am going to call Roger now and see if one of our new wicked grapples will be of interest. They are also fully indexed and shouldn't be a pretty straight forward build but we wanted the builder to have something to compare it to.

[94BULLITT]

After talking to Travis from Everything Attachments today I am feeling a lot better about being the winner of the build it yourself attachment contest. As some you know they originally wanted to give me a box blade. There is nothing wrong with their box blade, it is a quality piece. It is very similar to the box blade I already have. I could not see any need in building something that is similar to the one I already have. When I talked to Travis today he suggested a grapple. I do not have a grapple but it is on my want list. I had actually been thinking about building one myself. I am very excited about building the grapple. I created a new thread to get your opinions on what size to get. Here is the link to the grapple sizing thread.
Another Grapple Sizing Thread

[LD1]

I'm Glad things have taken a turn for the better for everyone

[Car Doc]

Good deal! A grapple or thumb is down the line on priority's for me but on there nonetheless so interested to see how it works out.

[4shorts]

Good stuff. Happy to see progress on this.

[murphy1244]

Grapple on!!!!!

[jmc]

Smart move, EA. A box blade is a commodity. A grapple is an implement of passion!

[Grumpy Old Man]

Smart move, EA. A box blade is a commodity. A grapple is an implement of passion!

Score 1 for the power of the people ! Although it was just like moving a bull from the corral to the pasture ,Even though the bull wanted to go to the pasture he needed to be prodded a little to get where everybody would be happy ! Now 94BULLIT gets what he wants and EA saved face and gets the response they wanted from the start ! Happy Happy Happy !

[94BULLITT]

I spoke with Travis earlier to let him know I decided on the 72" Wicked Root Grapple.