Don’t take it too personally, Tim. You’re a public figure now, so thick skin is part of that deal.
I will chime in to give my perspective of what I feel is going on here. Finn like many of our members here get frustrated with the apparent disregard for some of the other brands that are bringing a lot of value to the industry. Most first time buyers are not as familiar with those brands and those brands often suffer from a lack of dealers. There also seems to be almost a stigma attached to those brands as well. I was also part of the "heard" that didn't want to give them a shot because of what I heard from people like Tim and some others (it was not just Tim to be fair and honest) regarding resale value and parts support etc. It wasn't until I got my fill of big Green and big Orange that I decided based on a recommendation from Hay Dude that I should rethink my bias toward the Korean tractor brands.
He didn't lose me with the health care issue. He shared his experience. It doesn't seem like he's pursued it any further. I didn't feel like he was trying to sell it to me and I'm still not involved in his healthcare option.
Im not a big fan of JD at all and Kubota has been disappointing me as of late but in all fairness, I think every tractor company will take you to the cleaners on parts prices.
I think you're probably right.
Tim's a great guy and I am subscribed to his channel. I actually have a lot of respect for him and I don't think he is a paid shill. Yes he endorses products and maybe he gets a little kickback but he is offering a value to people that other You Tubers are not. Tim has never beat up on the other brands or been "hostile" but I also think he hasn't given them a serious chance either. However, in his defense it would be hard to go out and buy multiple brands to run on the show and have enough work for each of them to do. I think there is room for someone else to come along and start a channel doing what Tim does but with the other brands.
I too at one time was one of those members that was down on those brands and came against them "with no first hand knowledge". I was echoing concerns that I had heard other people say about them instead of performing my own self evaluation. I also think I read too much into the negative reviews while not making an equal effort to read into the positive reviews. I finally started a thread addressing my concerns about Kioti's warranty here: Kioti Warranty Concerns I got some good responses from different members who helped me to see the other side of the negative reviews that I had been hearing out here for the last two years. However, I was equally attacked by some of the members here because I had the "nerve" to start a thread expressing my concerns and asking for honest feedback. So to be honest I have seen it run both ways on this forum. There are members on the other side that get very defensive the minute another member dares to question the "other" brand's quality or integrity.