Not to start an argument..............

[MessickFarmEqu]

Neil at Messicks should be and is proud of Kubota, and he can brag all he wants, let's just try to not drag someone else down in doing so.

I'm not trying to prop up Kubota. I'm not a brand cheerleader, I'll call a spade a spade. Just trying to have an intelligent conversation... maybe we can all have a more correct picture. I'm still having a hard time seeing how 8500 exported tractors per year fits into this picture. If you had to put a number do the domestic sales what would it be?

 

[greystone]

well it may not be an argument but it does appear to be a great discusion.
im currently having problems with a nh tc30.
in retrospect my decisions for buying this machine were price,brand,dealership.

knowing now what i do i would have looked at all the machines and studied how they were put together. what the service cost and procedures were like.
looked long and hard at the dealership and see if it was going to be there 10 years from now. i also would have bought an extened service warranty to cover anything unexpected.

and most importanly i would have signed on to a forum like this one and read all the reviews about the tractor i was interested in.

I wish i could log onto a site for nh parts and have them in 3 days a a fair price it dosent happen. i needed new pins for my front wheel drive shaft and had to order them through the dealer at 4$ each and wait a week. then drive 60 miles round trip to pick them up.

so yea if you spend a few more dollars and get better service and support its money well spent upfront as opposed to after the fact

mike

 

[pitt_md]

As an example...... A Cub Cadet/Yanmar EX450 with shuttle and FEL is a very solid machine (from my limited viewing time) and is at least $5K less than a similarly equipped Kubota.

What a deal! Save $5K on a tractor that is worth half as much...brilliant!

 

[DavesTractor]

What a deal! Save $5K on a tractor that is worth half as much...brilliant!

I'm not a Yanmar dealer, but I think the new Yanmar tractors will stack up against any brand quite nicely. They are good quality machines, probably why John Deere had them build almost all of their compacts for over 25 years. If Kubota and Yanmar were priced the same, I'd take the Yanmar.

 

[DavesTractor]

I'm not trying to prop up Kubota. I'm not a brand cheerleader, I'll call a spade a spade. Just trying to have an intelligent conversation... maybe we can all have a more correct picture. I'm still having a hard time seeing how 8500 exported tractors per year fits into this picture. If you had to put a number do the domestic sales what would it be?

I think you are a brand cheerleader, but aren't we all to some degree? Your numbers are way different then mine, so we don't have a basis to start a valid debate. I will say that the reason Mahindra has such a huge worldwide market share is because they are huge in India, which is one of the worlds largest tractor markets. In the USA, Mahindra's market share pales in comparison to JD, NH, and Kubota, but we are gaining.

 

[TripleR]

I'm not a Yanmar dealer, but I think the new Yanmar tractors will stack up against any brand quite nicely. They are good quality machines, probably why John Deere had them build almost all of their compacts for over 25 years. If Kubota and Yanmar were priced the same, I'd take the Yanmar.

I think the problem with the Yanmar built CC is going to be the CC brand. I believe many more people are going to be willing to buy a "green"
Yanmar rather than yellow and gray. Heck I have seen actual Yanmar branded tractors that people had trouble selling as people viewed them as being an "off brand". Many buyers really don't know much other than the color of the paint.

 

[robertwhite]

What a deal! Save $5K on a tractor that is worth half as much...brilliant!

Care to explain how a CC/Yanmar is worth half of what a Kubota is? Or do you prefer just to spew ill conceived thoughts? I am not brand loyal by any means and even to me your statement sounds childish.

I think the problem with the Yanmar built CC is going to be the CC brand. I believe many more people are going to be willing to buy a "green"
Yanmar rather than yellow and gray. Heck I have seen actual Yanmar branded tractors that people had trouble selling as people viewed them as being an "off brand". Many buyers really don't know much other than the color of the paint.

That's just it. How many thousands of people over the past 2+ decades realize that the JD they sing praise over is not even made by JD, especially the engines? Heck, to this day, a JD ZTR uses Kawi engines as well as other brands. JD may have the best dealer backing and ease of finding parts, but to me they are pretty much exactly like Rolex. Superb marketing supported by a good, but not other worldly product.

 

[EquineNetworkCO]

I think the statement "...the JD they sing praise over is not even made by JD, especially the engines?" should be taken with a grain of salt. That may be true of *some* of the smaller JD CUTs, but not *all* of them. I know for a fact that my 4520 was assembled in Augusta GA, and the engine was made in a JD factory in Mexico. I don't think that makes the engine or the overall machine inferior in any way, and I realize that some of the components were made abroad. That's just the reality of the global economy. When I made my purchase, I was just happy to support a US company and in some small way, the people JD employs.

 

[TripleR]

I think the statement "...the JD they sing praise over is not even made by JD, especially the engines?" should be taken with a grain of salt. That may be true of *some* of the smaller JD CUTs, but not *all* of them. I know for a fact that my 4520 was assembled in Augusta GA, and the engine was made in a JD factory in Mexico. I don't think that makes the engine or the overall machine inferior in any way, and I realize that some of the components were made abroad. That's just the reality of the global economy. When I made my purchase, I was just happy to support a US company and in some small way, the people JD employs.

I own different brands including John Deere, but feel no patriotic obligation to help "support" an American company that has a plant in a foreign country eliminating American jobs.

I consider cost/quality when buying not names/colors/location of build.

 

[Lt CHEG]

JD may have the best dealer backing and ease of finding parts, but to me they are pretty much exactly like Rolex. Superb marketing supported by a good, but not other worldly product.

I think there is one flaw with your analogy, at least since the year 2000 or so. Rolex makes all their own movements for their watches, so when you buy a Rolex it's all made by Rolex. Before 2000 Rolex did use a Zenith made movement for their Daytona. So Rolex is able to exercise more control over their watches since they manufacture all their own movements. John Deere on the other hand has lots of major sub-assemblies manufactured by other companies. I should add that sub-contracting construction is not necessarily a bad thing, but in the watch collecting world there is a certain prestige associated with the companies that manufacture all their own movements in house.