Power Trac showroom

[marrt]

One of the odd things, to me at least, is the Power Trac showroom. While the room is great, the products on display almost look like rejects. Very ugly welds, cut out mistakes, running paint. Every time I visit that showroom I'm unimpressed with the workmanship. A lot of the stuff seriously looks "homemade." Yet, when I purchase the actual products, the workmanship is much better.

I bought a grizzly "gunsmith" lathe recently. In the catalog and owner's manual, it looked great. But the unit I received was a POS cosmetically. I own several Grizzly products and this, by far, has the worst fit and finish. In addition, the gearbox leaks from two of the shafts (forgotten o-rings?). I mention this because it's typical. The product often looks much worse in person than in the marketing materials.

Yet PT does the opposite it seems. They lower your expectations with the showroom so you're favorably impressed once you receive your order.

 

[Marks481]

I have noticed that the Grizzly lathes in the showroom are much nicer looking then the ones you get at home.

Part of this is that I believe that the Grizzly gunsmith lathes were originally built in Taiwan (and those are the ones in the showroom). IIRC, they shifted over manufacturing of this line to China about 4-5 years ago, with the subsequent drop in fit and finish.

I havd a grizzly G0709 "gunsmith" 14x40 lathe... it does the job, but it obviously got an "earl scheib $99 paint job" after assembly... so everything got painted (including gaskets). No oil leaks on mine so far. But the cast iron bracket that holds the motor looks like the mold was formed by a 3yo out of play-doh (same bracket on the G4003G), and it has a bit more vibration then I would like (need to slap a 3 phase motor on there),

 

[marrt]

Yeah, I have the same lathe. Someone at the factory slathered bondo everywhere...then never bothered to sand any off. Bondo is used to cover casting irregularities. But with no sanding, it looks like the casting mold was originally hacked out with a hatchet. Grizzly's RFP specification was probably something like "Apply filler as necessary to any casting imperfections" and someone forgot to add the "and sand smooth" part. LOL. That said, the tolerances are very good on the lathe.

In theory, lathes and tractors are for use and cosmetic issues shouldn't matter too much. However, when there's concerns about a product, it's natural for people to use fit and finish as an indicator of a product's overall quality. "If it looks bad on the outside, imagine what the inside must look like." Grizzly certainly understands this because their catalogs are extremely polished. From a marketing perspective, it pays to pay attention to fit and finish. Just ask Apple.

 

[marrt]

tmarks11,

Not to highjack the thread (can one highjack their own thread?), but I didn't originally see the part about adding a 3 phase motor to the lathe. I've been thinking about the same thing. I added a VFD to my mill and it was a piece of cake. In case others don't know, 3 phase motors run much smoother than single phase and are desirable on a lathe. KBAC makes a nice VFD in a NEMA water tight enclosure. I'd want to figure out how to re-use the emergency stop switch for the foot brake and, ideally, the front panel. And mount a remote rheostat conveniently for variable speed control. Shouldn't be too hard.

If you have some ideas, PM me and let's discuss. I have one of the "growling" motors that has a very odd and loud harmonic in certain gears. So, I need to make a change anyway. I'm going this route or I'm selling the lathe and buying variable speed lathe from Grizzly, Acer or Sharp.

Tom

 

[ponytug]

Musings from the tractor seat:

Cast iron isn't a uniformly high quality material, even on a microscopic scale. That said, there shouldn't be gross defects, and using filler doesn't cut it in my book. I'm glad both of your lathes work, but at some point the variation in the casting thickness and uniformity does translate into dimensional stability and rigidity.

Back to PT:
The showroom is very much PT. The 1855 parked on a 45 degree patch of astro turf is breath taking. I don't know how you guys manage to drive on that slope. Everything else in the show room was icing on the cake for me. (Not that I bought a 1855...)

Yes, I wish that their fit and finish was better. I wish that they had more fabrication tools, or considered outsourcing some of the parts product, e.g. it would be great if they had a CNC plasma cutter, and better looking welds. But they don't, and they do make it all right there Tazwell. I would echo Woodlandfarm's comment on their intrinsic profitability and the fact that they don't seem to ever lay folks off. They own a niche, and do quite well in it. Would they have a hard time if DaeDong, ShanDong, Huwei Tractor ever makes a competing product?

I do feel that I am in a glass house throwing stones though. I know in principle that by the right selection of AC/DC/current/gas you can make great looking, and high quality welds in thick materials. Could I do as well as they do? I doubt it that I could, even with practice. Observationally, the tractors seem to hold up to the work load. (Perhaps the 422 steering piston and Woodlandfarm's hazard and ravine filled property aside.)

While this isn't Apple quality in materials and finish, I think that there are some Apple-esque marketing aspects to PT. Apple sells a vision, "Think different", "The computer for the rest of us." For PT, I am (we are?) sold on the uniqueness, the possibilities of doing things that can't be done (easily, or at all) with conventional tractors. I think that PT embodies "Think different" & "The tractor for special users"...

Most days, I think that folks here would probably happily part with their PT when it gets pried from their cold, dead, fingers. Probably 20% of my seat time could be done with a CUT. Warts, irregular cuts & welds, and creative hydraulics and all, I love my PT. I would have to have someone working full time for me, if I had a standard tractor.

All the best,

Peter

 

[s219]

I think Apple used to sell the "think different" vision when they needed to be different. Now they are mainstream and they know it (for better or worse). Still love their product quality and design though. Some of the manufacturing details and technology are very impressive. For a computer company, they have some of the best manufacturing and product engineering around.