New Holland less "Brand" vs Kub or JD?

[hazmat]

New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

Dave4410's comment that we weren't a chatty group got me thinking.

Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that New Holland has less brand recognition than Deere or Kubota. For example, seems whenever I'm talking with a non-tractor person and my tractor enters converstion - almost no one has heard of New Holland. If I say it's like a Kubota more will recognize it. Everybody seems to know John Deere.

I've also noticed that the New Holland owners on tbn seem to be less brand loyal. Ie - I don't hear "NH Is best" as much as I hear "XX is best".

Coincidence - I think not.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

In my area NH seems to be very popular in larger equipment sizes, along with John Deere. Kubota, and to a lesser extent, Deere seem to be popular with the landscape companies. JD & Kubota are very common sights in people's yards.

I think that means that NH sort of misses the hobby farmers/ranchers and so-called-estate owners who have a few acres to maintain. NH also seems to miss out on the landscapers.

Overall, I think that the brand loyalty issue you bring up is perhaps not a lack of brand loyalty, but maybe it is an objectivity that many NH owners have. Perhaps we don't <font color="blue"> SHOUT BLUE IS BEST </font> because we simply have a more objective approach to the tractor? I think the NH forums are more subtle than the others in many ways.
* I know I spend a lot of time on the orange forum (being an orange owner in addition to blue) and many of the Kubota owners seem to bleed orange blood.
* I see even more vocal advocates in the Kioti forums who claim not only a price advantage, but often push the fact that their tractors weigh more so obviously they are better because the extra weight is good (I still don't know why excess weight is good on a small tractor???)
* The JD owners seem to feel they have the best and that it is often insane to question their judgement on their choice so they portray an aire of superiority, although it is often subtle.
* The Jinma guys seem to beleive that they got the lowest price and their tractors are equal to or better than everything else (contrary to much of the evidence presented on the forums).

In all fairness, the above statements are pretty general statements and cast a broad stroke on the forums and the people who inhabit them, and all brands have their strenghts, their weaknesses and their advocates. <font color="blue"> But if you think about it, on what other forum would an owner say that other brands have their strenghts? That must say something about the outstanding & objective character of NH owners? </font> /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Glenn9643]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

hazmat,
I don't believe that most people pay much attention to the "XX is best" opinions, but that's my take on it. I had a NH before the MF. I wasn't locked into a brand then, and I'm not now! The NH is a fine tractor but when I bought the MF they didn't have a suitable tractor in their lineup. Had they had the TC55 then I probably would still be a NH owner today because I certainly was satisfied with the tractor and dealer. I give credit to the NH owners as having sense enough to realize that there are many good brands out there but for their own reasons they chose NH, and chances are they are very satisfied.

 

[DocHeb]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

I guess my overall response to a lot of the Brand-Bragging is "Whatever". No need to rationalize my purchase by denigrating other's brands.

Which tractor is the best? - the one you walk out the back door and hop onto, because it's yours.

 

[thcri]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

In our area you find mostly John Deere then New Holland. Not many Kubota's. Even most landscapers will use New Holland. My own personal findings on price is New Holland beats out John Deere in this area and that is why you may see landscapers using New Holland.

But as far as touting and not being a chatty group. I personnally am more an intravert where I like to sit back and listen more than I like to talk. I know what I can do with my tractor, I like my tractor but I respects others for what they like also.

As far as Dave's problems with his John Deere is to me more of a dealer problem. John Deere makes good tractors, they don't make lemons. But I tried reading Dave's post on his troubles and can only really find trouble with his transmission. And not sure if that qualifies for sending the tractor back unless the dealer just really didn't show any signs of being able to fix it or just totally has ignored Dave. Just about every tractor that comes off the assembly line will need some minor adjustment and that has to be done after the tractor is in the field. As I said I am not sure if I know the whole story of Dave's tractor so my above opinion is probably not the best.

murph
murph

 

[mahlers]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

It would be interesting to see the actual number of owners in each forum, a break-down of what they do with their tractors, how long they've owned them, and how many hours they put on them a week. From what I've seen on the forums, there seem to be more Kubota and JD owners out there, so it makes sense that there are more voices. Also, it seems (and I qualify that with the admission that it's just my opinion) that a proportionately larger group of NH owners are really 'serious' about what they do with their tractors - many of us use them to support a business or as an integral part of major projects. Because of that, I'm thinking that we just have a different outlook on the machines - they're important tools that we use to get jobs done, and we're not so fanatical or emotional about them because we're not using them 'recreationally.' I just think we're much more objective about the NH brand, and objectivity tends to minimize hype.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

I think you hit that right on, people buying NH tractors are a different breed than your Kubota / Deere customers. NH is reconized better by the crowd that knows machinery and farming. Kubota is reconized as a powerhouse in this market segment and Deere is just about a household name. Thus I think you assesment is right. There are probably more people who really use their NH's compared to other brands. NH's market share is also much lower and thus there is less chatter.

 

[Inspector507]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

I looked at all the colors. The NH fit me best in all aspects including price. Think only reason I think <font color="blue"> BLUE</font> is best.........thats what i got. If someone else owns green or orange and feels theirs is best, so be it, it probably is for them.

 

[DieselnHooters]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

There was plenty of brand recognition when it was Ford-New Holland, Ford was as big if not bigger than JD was in past decades. I live smack in the middle of the best agricultural lands of Quebec and CUT are a rarity. There is 2 or 3 very large dealers of every color in a 50 miles radius from my place and JD is the most prominently owned but you can see a whole lot of NH and Case-IH .The Kubota dealerships both have a complete line-up, up to 120HP but they sell mostly small excavators,they seem to own that niche but that's it.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Re: New Holland less \"Brand\" vs Kub or JD?

When I was a kid, we had JD and IH tractors, and some New Holland equipment (a rake and baler, I believe). Anyway, when I started looking I began with JD and New Holland, and only then found out about Kubota and only after finding TBN found out about all the others.

I ended up with a JD because the New Holland didn't feel right. I liked everything about it except where I put my feet and the angle my legs were at (I was looking at the small Bommers)

So for me, the name recognition was about the same for JD and NH. Just landed green instead of blue more or less by feel. I'm from Southwestern Pennsylvania, if that affects the discussion.

Cliff