Why do CUT owners/buyers have low expectations?

[jake98]

My 3 cylinder 25 hp tractor weighs over 3000 lbs. The company that made it also makes super-tanker ships. I don't think they're in the business of skimping on iron.
With the advanced manufacturing processes of today I'd expect the major components to last longer than the old American made units, given similar treatment.

 

[RoyJackson]

Do you think that the CUT tractor of today is more or less reliable than the CUT when they first started getting popular in the late 1970s/early 1980s?

What I'm wondering is if the CUT tractor of today is more or less reliable than the CUT of the late 1970s/early 1980s.
rScotty

My opinion is the CUTs of the 70's and 80's...up until the late 80's...were more "tractory" meaning few options and comfort items. Real working machines...not toys at all.
I also think those machines will run longer then new machines assuming parts and service are available. This is mostly due to them being overbuilt.
My first machine, a 1991 Deere 670, was like a smaller 790. Very simple and quite reliable. In some ways, I wish I still owned it.

 

[IslandTractor]

Old iron= screw driver. What's to break?

New iron= Battery powered drill/driver. Lots more options/performance but also lots more things to go wrong.

Screw drivers are bullet proof but I still reach for the drill/driver almost every time.

 

[tessiers]

My 3 cylinder 25 hp tractor weighs over 3000 lbs. The company that made it also makes super-tanker ships. I don't think they're in the business of skimping on iron.
With the advanced manufacturing processes of today I'd expect the major components to last longer than the old American made units, given similar treatment.

My 23 hp tractor weighs 4000 lbs, 2/3 of that is rearend. I would be surprised if any tractor made today will out last tyractors of old.

Look in any classifieds ads, there are as many ford N's and Farmall Cub A, C, H, M's as there are newer compacts for sale. I bet ford N's still outsell a lot of off brand compacts, where is that statistic when you want it.

 

[deere5105]

Old iron= screw driver. What's to break?

New iron= Battery powered drill/driver. Lots more options/performance but also lots more things to go wrong.

Screw drivers are bullet proof but I still reach for the drill/driver almost every time.

I think this may be the best comparitive example yet. I just replaced an 18V cordless drill driver. Screw drivers I have had for years still work just as they did when brand new! I could still get the screws out with my manual drivers but when it comes time to put wood together with 3" screws I will spend the extra for the cordless.

 

[beppington]

I think this may be the best comparitive example yet. I just replaced an 18V cordless drill driver. Screw drivers I have had for years still work just as they did when brand new! I could still get the screws out with my manual drivers but when it comes time to put wood together with 3" screws I will spend the extra for the cordless.

My 18V Ryobi drills actually turn screws harder than I can with a screwdriver, especially in Low (called "1" by Ryobi) & with a fully charged battery :thumbsup:

 

[crazyal]

Kind of funny we are talking about this when another thread in the buying section has a new member talking about his "old iron" making rear end noises not sure how much longer it's going to run and another member saying his Kubota is running strong with 5000 hours on it.

 

[mwb]

My 18V Ryobi drills actually turn screws harder than I can with a screwdriver, especially in Low (called "1" by Ryobi) & with a fully charged battery :thumbsup:

My cordless goes all the way to "11":laughing:

 

[Gary Fowler]

Folks talk about how durable old iron is compared to the CUTs but I can remember the old 8N gas burner tractor my Dad had and how many times he had to replace the points/condenser to get it to start, overhaul the carb to keep the float from sticking and this was a regular occurrence. I did the same with my 70 model Ford car, tune ups were frequent. We wouldnt stand for that to happen in todays vehicles or tractors. We want them to run forever with little maintenance other than oil change. Even grease fittings are disappearing on everything except the FEL. Cost wise in yesterdays dollars vs buying power of todays dollar compared to our salaries, are we getting bargains or not. $10K in 70's would buy you a Ford 9000 120 HP tractor without a cab. Hourly salary for an industrial journeyman was about $7 per hour in my local at that time. So that was about 75% of my gross yearly salary. I cant say that I can tell you what a 120 HP tractor goes for today since I have no need for that size, but I would think that with what we expect them to have on them today they would be above $100K which by my calcs would be above a full years salary for the same position mentioned. SO I think that the costs for these tractors is at least 25% higher now than in the 70's and durability is maybe less also since we have so many bells and whistles on them now that costs a small fortune to replace that it convinces everyone to trade them for newer models quicker than the old iron was traded. Also with the CUT normal usage, the drive train gets more work out in a shorter period of time than the old Ag tractors ever got. When I used mine to build a pond with the FEL, I would honestly state that I shifted F to R more in 2 days than I did with the 9000 all the time we had it. It went into reverse to hook up to an implement then it was forward non-stop for 5-6 hours till lunch, then forward 6 more till dinner and then maybe 4 or more till stopping for the day. I would put 16 hours per day on it and in 2-3 days have as many hours as many CUT owners get in a year. But those CUT hours likely put more wear and tear on them than the thousands of hours per year that the big iron Ag tractors got. The big problem with todays engines is that when they do break, they cost much more to fix.

 

[BethesdaEC]

We hold these 50 year old tractors on a pedestal as a shining examples of how good they were, but honestly how many have made it to this point? 5%, that means 95% didn't make it. In 50 years will the next generation look on our few surviving tractors and say "that how you make a tractor".

When my 2000 Sable Wagon made 100K miles, the first and only scheduled maintenance item outside of filters and lube was to replace the spark plugs. How quickly we forget the hassle of distributors, plugs, plug wires and adjusting the timing or fiddling with a carburetor. How about lubing all the ball joints, bet you haven't done that in a long time. 20 years ago a car making it to 100K miles was a milestone, now 200K is the norm.

How many of us have had a vehicle not start or die on us while we are driving in the last 10 years? I remember it being a much more common occurrence 20 years ago.