Not sure of this, but I think Shaeffer's may be getting the parts from Hinomoto. I think they were grey market tractors to begin with. MF still can source many parts, but I think Shaeffer's may cross check with the various brands of equivalent tractors (they were sold under different US brand names) and come up with parts MF doesn't know still exist because they aren't in the MF distribution chain.
As soon as it cools off, I am going to replace the gear shift ball bushing in my 1010 (it's plastic, so don't shift that lever too hard). My MF dealer could not find some of the parts I wanted (like the shift ball bushing itself) but Shaeffer found many of them. I will have to reuse some parts that I'd rather have replaced with new when I go in, but I think I will be ok overall now.
