The Car-ification of tractors

[RobertN]

Simple tractors... That is one reason I like my Farmall-A. It doesn't get much simpler /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif No starter, alternator or lights. Just a kill switch, and a hand crank. Actually, the Farmall pulls trailers around the property, and in parades. I'm slowly working on a mower so I can get more use of the tractor. For the rest, I use my mid-80's Kubota.

There was a farmer near where I grew up, outside of Sacramento, that used horse drawn equipment until the late 1970's. Actually, it was pretty cool to watch him out cutting hay and such.

 

[flusher]

YOu can find LG refrigerators, ranges, washers and dryers at places like Home Depot and Best Buy.

 

[flusher]

Agree. Repairing sheet metal vs repairing plastic is a wash, IMHO. Get a good welder for the sheet metal and practice, practice, practice. Welding is a handy skill to have on your resume. And there're plenty of good epoxies and super glues for repairing plastics.

 

[andrewj]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Agree. Repairing sheet metal vs repairing plastic is a wash, IMHO. Get a good welder for the sheet metal and practice, practice, practice. Welding is a handy skill to have on your resume. And there're plenty of good epoxies and super glues for repairing plastics. )</font>

let me disagree a little - I weld a little - broken plastic probably won't ever be as strong as it was when it was not broken, no matter what epoxy you use. Whereas welds can actually be stronger. Besides, let me see you try to glue on things like a chain saw holder, or a chain box, or something else to plastic! You can weld and fabricate metal, not so on plastic.

 

[daTeacha]

For Lehman's hardware, you need to think older than that technology. Oil lamps bright enough to read by easily, specialized axes for specific jobs, that kind of stuff from a slower moving era. Google them, take a look.

 

[jgh]

20060206

What a thread! Nice to know what gets everyone excited!

Being an accountant who went thru a lot of business school stuff, I recall exposure to models (computer assisted mostly) as tools for making decisions.

Surely mfrs these days model their decisions related to the matters above. Every model includes user-defined factors for things like quality, customer satisfaction %, etc. Factors that cost money, which tend to get a lot of scrutiny by top manangement in deciding how to approach issues.

The source of most actual (as opposed to perceived only) "product dissatisfaction" is when those factors are reduced below acceptable levels by aggressive cost cutters who are not held properly accountable for overall (as opposed to spot/short-term) results of their decisions.

Go too far for "quality", etc, and you go out of business when your competitors wipe you out on price and margin. Slack too much and your rep is shot after a time.

Good lord, look at the health care industry. Do you want low cost (affordable cost) or the best care?

I really do believe that a lot of companies have gotten this right, some have gotten it partly right, and some totally wrong. Think objectively about it and you can all identify good examples of all three. Generalizations/stereotypes rarely work, do they?

And one poster's sig says a lot: 'the older I get the better I used to be'.

A lot of wood burns in Harvard Business School study sessions (and Va Tech, too /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif where I spent much time) over these issues.

And, from reading above, here!

Just my opinions (and if there was ever any doubt I have too much time on my hands...), but I for one enjoy this kind of discourse.

Jim

ps--some BirdSeed/bait: what do you think of the idea, prevalent in my home town years ago, that putting the police in cars with AC meant they lost at least some touch with the environment /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif?

And I just realized this thread has a page 2, did not read b4 posting, oops if I stepped in something by not seeing all /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.

 

[rogdan]

This is what I see around here for the most part. An older(vintage) tractor on the farm semiretired to pulling trailer, hay rakes ect.. Then a newer (modern) tractor for most of the heavy stuff such as baling hay.
Maybe they complain about the newer machines because of the more and use they need more maintenance. Versus the old classic in the shed with so many fond memories continuing to plug along?

 

[Big_Cajun]

Well:

Whether the new tractors are carificated (lol) or not, I'm still going to buy one. I agree with rogdan though...those newer machines can be more costly to operate/maintain than the oldies...that's why they could be considered to be carificated... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Don't know if those are words, but oh well /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[willfick]

I'm gonna run this thread a little further off track in a minute, first want to say everybody's right. Old ones and new ones are both good. I love my sixty year old Farmall, my forty year old Ford, and when I needed to move a house-size pile of compost I was glad to have my sister's five year old JD5310 w/4wd & FEL with which I could get it done in a reasonable time.
And here's the off.
daTeacha, a few days ago you wrote about acid paper not lasting. That's true, but actually you'd not likely find acid paper for your printer and copier anymore. Most papermakers changed over to alkaline in the last ten or fifteen years. Not because it lasts, but because it's cheap. To get a sheet as bright as the market demands now (90, 92 or 94 Brightness) with an acid sheet would cost a fortune in titanium dioxide, even with flourescent dye. Alkaline uses calcium carbonate - Tums - which is cheaper by the ton than the wood pulp fiber that holds it together.
Wm

 

[daTeacha]

Hey, thanks. I won't think I'm old 'til I quit learning something new every day. What kind of life is it expected to have, given storage like in a book rack or filing cabinet?