Buying Advice DID I PAY TOO MUCH?

   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH?
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#31  
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #32  
All I can say is that it was a linked news story and subsequent thread here on TBN... the picture showed a row of Californian government (State DOT, County, Town... I don't know) large (50+ hp) JD tractors with large holes bored through the engines so that they could only be sold for scrap.

Well, take it with a grain of salt. In the USA, that sort of "news" is is considered humor. We "get it" that a lot of the rest of the world don't quite understand our humor.

Here we know that sort of image that may or may not be real, but it doesn't matter because the point it is making IS real: And the point is that that California has more restrictive ecological regs and more vigorous enforcement of those regs than the rest of the country.
California always seems to be pushing the limits with its conservative eco-legislation and the liberal social programs. It gets away with bending the rules partly because of it's huge economic output.
rScotty
 
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #33  
Of course.......It's California!
Got to keep those Idaho potatoes out!

If they won't let our fruits and veggies in, maybe we shouldn't let their fruits and veggies out.

And I have ZERO doubt about them ordering machines scrapped. CARB says they won't let our engines in.
 
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #34  
Under the “Cars for Clunkers” program the local Toyota dealership was pouring sand into the intake of perfectly good running 4runners, Tacoma’s, and Tundras because folks were getting subsidized to trade them in on more fuel efficient cars. It was a crying shame to see perfectly good vehicles being destroyed like that.
 
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #35  
^^ That one ticked me off. There were a lot of decent cars scrapped under that because people were getting more for them in trade than they would have by selling at the time. Many of them were what would now be considered restorable classics and would have brought more money in sales. I'd love to find a couple of mid 70s Chevys or Plymouths that I could actually work on without a computer science degree, but they just can't be found any more.
 
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #36  
Under the 鼎ars for Clunkers program the local Toyota dealership was pouring sand into the intake of perfectly good running 4runners, Tacoma痴, and Tundras because folks were getting subsidized to trade them in on more fuel efficient cars. It was a crying shame to see perfectly good vehicles being destroyed like that.

Wasn't that a weird program? Too bad the program only lasted about a month back in 2009 before it was discontinued. I was a mechanic in Colorado at the time The goal was to get guzzlers off the city streets and improve air quality in cities. Since it only applied to licensed vehicles, us mechanics were all dreaming about the cheap dirt buggys and 4 wheelers we could build to use offroad and rurally. Did you see the program actually ever happen in Virginia?

Anyway, it never made it to Colorado, although we did get paid an hour's wages to watch a gov't produced video about the program...probably that is where some of the funding went.
BTW, if I remember right the program didn't apply to some 4-Runners and Tacomas, but it did to Toyota Tundras and big Toyota Sedans like the Previa.
After all, the object was replace the guzzlers with more fuel-efficient cars... and at the time some of the Toyotas were already good at that although some were not.

Since "Cars for Clunkers" was an urban program the emphasis was on air quality in cities. That doesn't seem to be so much of a concern today.

I like to think that us TBNers are smart enough about air quality that we saw what was happening and moved to the country for cleaner more enjoyable living all around.
Not many folks out here in the rural US, and a few tractors aren't enough to spoil the rural air,...Yes, that's selfish of us I know....but what can you do?
rScotty
 
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #37  
Wasn't that a weird program? Too bad the program only lasted about a month back in 2009 before it was discontinued. I was a mechanic in Colorado at the time The goal was to get guzzlers off the city streets and improve air quality in cities. Since it only applied to licensed vehicles, us mechanics were all dreaming about the cheap dirt buggys and 4 wheelers we could build to use offroad and rurally. Did you see the program actually ever happen in Virginia?

Anyway, it never made it to Colorado, although we did get paid an hour's wages to watch a gov't produced video about the program...probably that is where some of the funding went.
BTW, if I remember right the program didn't apply to some 4-Runners and Tacomas, but it did to Toyota Tundras and big Toyota Sedans like the Previa.
After all, the object was replace the guzzlers with more fuel-efficient cars... and at the time some of the Toyotas were already good at that although some were not.

Since "Cars for Clunkers" was an urban program the emphasis was on air quality in cities. That doesn't seem to be so much of a concern today.

I like to think that us TBNers are smart enough about air quality that we saw what was happening and moved to the country for cleaner more enjoyable living all around. . .
Not many folks out here in the rural US, and a few tractors aren't enough to spoil the rural air,...Yes, that's selfish of us I know....but what can you do?
rScotty

rScotty, love my clean air . . . :thumbsup:
 
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #38  
LOL, no there are not tractor emission inspectors at the Ag entry stations. BUT, I work for a nut harvesting equipment manufacturer. And any time we have to change an engine, we have to punch holes into the old engine block, take pics of the holes in the block, and send those to the engine supplier. Because the emissions controls are so strict here in California, CARB does not want a possibly used engine being rebuilt and put into service. Which, by their reasoning, there would now be two engines adding to the carbon footprint. The new one going into the old machine and the old one which was rebuilt going into something that did not have an engine. There is no such things as buying a new engine for a machine and having the old engine remanded for a spare here in California. IF you buy a new engine, the old one MUST be destroyed. I know, I know it doesn't make any sense. But that's how things are here.

Plus, the price of new Tier 4 machines, farmers and tractor operators are using the machines longer to ring out as much cost savings as possible. So there are very few newer used tractors available here. If you do find an used tractor, it is either a one or two year old rental return or it is a very old tractor.

But, it's not like I am doing net searches every day. So I could be missing some good deals in between. When I do search though, the good deals are almost always east of the Rockies. Or so it seems. Oh well. B.
 
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #39  
LOL, no there are not tractor emission inspectors at the Ag entry stations. BUT, I work for a nut harvesting equipment manufacturer. And any time we have to change an engine, we have to punch holes into the old engine block, take pics of the holes in the block, and send those to the engine supplier. Because the emissions controls are so strict here in California, CARB does not want a possibly used engine being rebuilt and put into service. Which, by their reasoning, there would now be two engines adding to the carbon footprint. The new one going into the old machine and the old one which was rebuilt going into something that did not have an engine. There is no such things as buying a new engine for a machine and having the old engine remanded for a spare here in California. IF you buy a new engine, the old one MUST be destroyed. I know, I know it doesn't make any sense. But that's how things are here.

Plus, the price of new Tier 4 machines, farmers and tractor operators are using the machines longer to ring out as much cost savings as possible. So there are very few newer used tractors available here. If you do find an used tractor, it is either a one or two year old rental return or it is a very old tractor.

But, it's not like I am doing net searches every day. So I could be missing some good deals in between. When I do search though, the good deals are almost always east of the Rockies. Or so it seems. Oh well. B.

There used to be a large US industry & lots of people invoved in rebuilding worn out engines in everything from lawnmowers to ocean-going freighters. A big reason why that was possible is that engine blocks themselves can be recycled many, many times.
Maybe the practice isn't as common as it once was, but still there's some old rebuilders alive and well in the western mountain states.
Are rebuilt engines still legal in California?
rScotty
 
   / DID I PAY TOO MUCH? #40  
Yes, you can still reman your old engine. As long as you don't buy a new one at the same time. CARB has implemented a one for one policy on new motors. As far as auto's go, I don't know what individuals are having to do. For instance, if you go to a dealership and buy a new crate motor for your hot rod project, I am not sure if you have to turn in a core or not. But I know for manufactures of equipment, if you buy a new motor for an old machine, the old core MUST be destroyed. No reman option. So we normally strip usable parts from those engines to give back to the customer. BUT, the block MUST be holed.

Finding machine shops is getting harder and harder. Some are still around and prolly will be for some time. BUT, a lot of the smaller shops have closed up their doors. B.
 

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