Gem99ultra
Veteran Member
Buy cheap, buy twice.
'nuff said?
'nuff said?
USA vs. Italy....
- Thread starter wowwee
- Start date
IslandTractor
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2005
- Messages
- 17,101
- Location
- Prudence Island, RI
- Tractor
- 2007 Kioti DK40se HST, Woods BH
Jingoistic pride in US manufacturing capabilities is not particularly in touch with reality these days. How did "Buy American" help GM and Chrysler stay at the top of the heap? I wonder how many of the commentators favoring US vs Italian CUT implements have ever owned an Italian mower or tiller? I've owned both high quality US mowers (Bush Hog, Rhino) and now have an Italian mower (Caroni flail). The quality is essentially the same.
Sure, Landpride, Woods, Bush Hog, Rhino all make excellent equipment especially of the heavy duty type. European manufacturers don't seem to focus on such heavy duty stuff probably because they don't have much demand for maintaining hundreds of acres of overgrown praire or abandoned farms. They have more compact equipment generally because they deal with smaller parcels of land (as do the Japanese). You won't find lots of batwing mowers built in Italy nor will you find any bush hogs at all. That doesn't reflect badly on the equipment they do make however as Europe is simply in a different market. Where is the Landpride equivalent to the medium duty Caroni flail mower? I'd have been happy to compare the two if Landpride made one of comparable quality for anything near the price that Caroni can charge and still make a profit. As far as I can tell, Landpride and the big US manufacturers have simply missed out on the CUT market opportunity to downsize some of their commercial flail equipment to suit the non commercial market represented by tens of thousands of CUT owners. If you are intending to mow 10 acres of pastures a half dozen times a year, why invest more than $5,000 in a piece of equipment designed to survive years of debris accummulated along highway borders when perfectly servicable sub $2,000 implements can be purchased from the likes of Caroni?
The US implement manufacturers have simply been slow to address the unique aspects of the CUT market and have attempted to do so primarily by relying on thier reputations from Ag and then downsizing and cheapening commercial equipment rather than starting with a fresh sheet of paper or being innovative. Just like GM and Ford brought us the Nova and Pinto while the Japanese developed the Corolla and the Europeans perfected the mid sized sedan. That IMO as much as any differential in manufacturing costs is why the high quality Italian, Japanese and Korean companies have made inroads in the CUT market despite the barriers of extra shipping costs and low value of the US dollar.
Sure, Landpride, Woods, Bush Hog, Rhino all make excellent equipment especially of the heavy duty type. European manufacturers don't seem to focus on such heavy duty stuff probably because they don't have much demand for maintaining hundreds of acres of overgrown praire or abandoned farms. They have more compact equipment generally because they deal with smaller parcels of land (as do the Japanese). You won't find lots of batwing mowers built in Italy nor will you find any bush hogs at all. That doesn't reflect badly on the equipment they do make however as Europe is simply in a different market. Where is the Landpride equivalent to the medium duty Caroni flail mower? I'd have been happy to compare the two if Landpride made one of comparable quality for anything near the price that Caroni can charge and still make a profit. As far as I can tell, Landpride and the big US manufacturers have simply missed out on the CUT market opportunity to downsize some of their commercial flail equipment to suit the non commercial market represented by tens of thousands of CUT owners. If you are intending to mow 10 acres of pastures a half dozen times a year, why invest more than $5,000 in a piece of equipment designed to survive years of debris accummulated along highway borders when perfectly servicable sub $2,000 implements can be purchased from the likes of Caroni?
The US implement manufacturers have simply been slow to address the unique aspects of the CUT market and have attempted to do so primarily by relying on thier reputations from Ag and then downsizing and cheapening commercial equipment rather than starting with a fresh sheet of paper or being innovative. Just like GM and Ford brought us the Nova and Pinto while the Japanese developed the Corolla and the Europeans perfected the mid sized sedan. That IMO as much as any differential in manufacturing costs is why the high quality Italian, Japanese and Korean companies have made inroads in the CUT market despite the barriers of extra shipping costs and low value of the US dollar.
daveinnh
Gold Member
Island Tractor:
Well thought market analysis. I generally agree but even Italian consumers must "push" their products to design limits and beyond.
Well thought market analysis. I generally agree but even Italian consumers must "push" their products to design limits and beyond.
I work for a Swiss company and they are **** good to there employees and there customers. I should probably quit 'cause they're foreigners. Buy what you think is best for you. Italians reading this are using computers with Windows OS and Intel/AMD processors. Free market.
My Land Pride PHD works great, as does my Del Morino finish mower.
My Land Pride PHD works great, as does my Del Morino finish mower.
Turbys_1700
Elite Member
Very true...
I hope that my current Woods is just as good as the Land Pride was but that's gonna be hard to do...
Well, thanks for the education on this issue. I bought a Landpride finish mower today, I really could see a difference in build quality in Land Pride vs. the cheaper brands. But, as far as the tiller goes, I actually liked some things about the King Kutter XB better than the Land Pride, and then the $900 price difference too. I bought the King Kutter. Unloaded it from the trailer while it was snowing, I guess it will be awhile before I need it. So I guess it's like anything, research and compare before you buy.
Dale
Dale