Build-It-Yourself Attachments KITS??? interested?

[vwnotrunning]

I agree with the potential for this to go over well with TBNers. So many of us do have all of the tools, all though my tool utilization my fall short of others!!! I would be more inclined to purchase an implement that I may not have considered if required to purchase at retail. I can hear someone coming along and saying "you didn't build that". Could never convince me though.

 

[vwnotrunning]

I can see the pre-painted option being an excessive cost. The cost to properly pack the items for protection during shipping could add alot to the costs, unless it is simply a bolt together application.

 

[npalen]

Another service, right along these lines, would be custom parts laser cut from sheet or plate where the customer supplies the CAD drawing in DXF format. There would be a setup charge of course. The beauty of the laser is accuracy as Ted aludes to above. Not only can slots and tabs be incorporated to minimize the need for welding jigs and fixtures to ensure an accurate weldment but bolt holes, clearance holes etc. can be pierced in the same setup.

 

[JD230511]

I like this ideal!!! I have been thinking about building a few attachments myself. If the price was right and it was the attachments I wanted I would be all over this!!!

 

[Hiltz]

I have been thinking about this and wanted to see how much interest there would be. This is an idea I would borrow from Ikea, the discount furniture store where you get a box full of parts and instructions and assemble everything yourself EXCEPT my idea has to do with what we all love. Build-a-bear? nope....... TRACTOR ATTACHMENTS!!!!

How many people out there would be interested in ordering a kit to build your own attachments(box blade, scrape blade, disc harrow etc.)??
Our components are cut and indexed by our plasma cutter or laser so they fit together perfectly with little room for error. As long as you have the mechanical ability, a square, a flat surface to work on, as well as a welder then this may be for you. I would also include an assembly video along with all of the nuts/bolts and other hardware needed to build your attachments. You would also be able to paint(not included) your attachment whatever color you choose.
Besides the feeling of accomplishment when you've finished building your own attachment, you will have also saved yourself some money which I think we all are for!!
The kits would be limited to products that we build at our facility here in NC and the list of those attachments is growing all the time.

Let me know what you guys think of this. It's only an idea now and I'd like to know if we can turn it into something!

I thinks thats a great idea. Sorta like your pine straw rake is in kit form now. 25% savings on a chisel plow put me down for one.

 

[Paul N]

I like the idea. My biggest stumbling block is getting the steel. We have suppliers around here, but I can't buy in large enough quantities to get a good price. I would be concerned about shipping costs from NC.

 

[AGRIMAN]

I hadnt considered painting. I would consider that an optional way to ship would be to package them in pre-blasted and primed condition with just the weld area unpainted. Furnish paint/thinner also for prime and finish coating after construction is completed. You wouldnt end up with a baked on coating but many coating materials are available to mimic the powder coating. Most of the equipment has a poor paint job and very little prep work or media blasting or even degreasing is done so the paint goes away pretty fast unless you pay premium for the paint work and even then, I have never seen a sandblasted finish on equipment which is what it takes for the paint to adhere and stay on long term.

Well, it would be a good deal for me as I have the welding equip and a Powder Coating shop, but as others have said, it depends on the price.

Gary, Not to hijack the thread, but I'm wondering what coating materials you are talking about?

 

[swick1]

I want a box blade kit badly. So many used ones are beat up and command a high price!?

 

[Sackett2]

i want a land plane kit... I have a welder but no time and plasma cutter...

 

[mjncad]

If you go through with this idea, I would post a minimum tool list and instructions on your web site for potential buyers to review before ordering a kit. Nothing would piss me off more than to order a kit and when it arrives to discover that I don't have the tools needed to assemble the implement. Of course you would need some disclaimer absolving you of liability should somebody do a crappy welding job and have the implement fail in some manner causing said inDUHvidual to file a lawsuit against you.

 

[LD1]

I think it is a very interesting concept, BUT, IMO, it would have to be AT LEAST 50% off, and posibally more to entice me.

Lets look at your new scrape blade for starters. At a price of ~$1200 finished, if you offered it as a build-it-yourself, the average person would have a good day in fitment and welding. Another day in preping and painting. And then another day in final assembly.

And then theres the issue of warranty. I didnt see any kind of warranty listed for your rear blade and dont know if you offer one, but I suspect that you'd stand behind your product as well as any if a weld broke or something bent as long as it wasnt pulled behind a 200hp 4x4 tractor. You certainly arent going to do this with a customer assembled blade.

So all of that in consideration, a 25% discount.........only saving $300, no thanks. Go ahead and do the welding and painting. I'd have to be at the $500-$600 range or less to even consider such a proposition.

But thats just me. Others may be different.

 

[GPintheMitten]

My implement budget is tight, so I tend to look for used equipment in decent shape.

I'm retired, so saving money on DIY is sort of like a part time job. So I would consider assembly.

About the warranty, my expectation would be that the design and parts are up to the job and fit without using presses etc to overcome a bad fit. However, I would not expect someone to warranty my assembly or welding.

I think it would be important to your business model and to the customer to figure that out and manage the finger pointing.

 

[JerryG]

I like the idea. If everything can be worked out and the price is reasonable it should go over well.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Well, it would be a good deal for me as I have the welding equip and a Powder Coating shop, but as others have said, it depends on the price.

Gary, Not to hijack the thread, but I'm wondering what coating materials you are talking about?

Dupont used to make a coating called 25P that was a one coat system epoxy that could be applied without blasting or degreasing. I think they still make a comparable product to it. I used it on a powerhouse in Buffalo NY many years ago just for the fact that it didnt need a substrate (blasted surface) to hold it on the metal. A demo by the supplier asked me to get him some grease which I got off one of our cranes. He smeared it on a piece of pipe, wiped off the excess with a rag and brush painted it on. The next day we used a welders chipping hammer and couldnt knock it off other than small chips. It dries to a shiny coat also like powder coating. It was expensive back in 1988 at $100 per gallon but for quality of paint, durability, ease of application (brushed, rolled or sprayed) and no sand blasting required, it was worth the extra dollars. It aslo came in multitude of colors which is what we had to do with the piping there to color code it per product.
I just googled it and found this. Lots of sites on Dupont 25P. I was reminded that it will chalk in sunlight after a few years, which doesnt hurt the protection, just fades the color a bit. Topcoat with UV resistant paint and you're good to go.
http://dpcprd.asp.dupont.com/dpc/en/ca/html/prodinfo/dic/2012_TDS/Corlar2-1ST.pdf

 

[Reyer Farms]

I think it is a great idea. I would love kits for repair work. Customers pay a lot when a section has to be cut out and replaced. If for example a grader blade's scope and plates are bent or just cracked, it is an alternative to heating and beating half a day to get get it pretty close, or I could have new parts that fit, just plug and play- cheaper on customers. Dealerships could keep the knockdown kits stocked easier and assemble what the customer wants. it would allow customized equipment with lower input cost and happier users. I prefer using equipment I built but time & reasonable parts to do it limit my options.

It would open up a whole new market. For all who don't have a welder or don't know how to weld, I know your uncle or brother-in-law does. HaHaHa I hear that ever time I get called to "tack" something back together, he's busy so can you just....

 

[woodsmith]

Sounds a really good idea!:thumbsup:

You could do a trial run with a selection of implements to select TBN members who have a proven history of making stuff. They could trial the process to see if it is workable just from the parts and instruction booklet and give feedback.
(I know a chap who does likewise with 4x4 kit on a UK forum. Select members get to trial and feed back on the design development, and also to do assembly photos in different vehicles. Small products are given away for the trial, larger ones are heavily discounted.)

If the welding quality is a legal/safety bind then perhaps working towards a redesign of some simpler implements to flanged bolt together seams might be worth a trial run. That would allow for fully painted parts and a box of bolts in the delivery.

You'd have to include a Z shaped wrench for assembly though!

Good luck with the idea, I think if all the legal/safety aspect are covered then you're onto a winner.

 

[J_J]

Hi Ted,

I would say go for it.

I would start out with something most people might want, like a tree scoop, land plane, middle buster, pipe/cable layer, etc.

Bolt together stuff would work for those that don't have a welder.

 

[lairdg]

For us in Alaska we pay for the freight for all of you that live in the Contiguous USA whenever its advertised as free shipping. I think that it would be a great idea. UPS, FEDEX they charge us an arm and a leg for freight. But everbody else gets it for free. Anything that would cut the cost of merchandise and give me a good project to work on at -40 degrees is alright by me.

 

[cabinfevrr]

I'd be interested, but like others have said, a cost reduction of at least 50% would have to be available to make it feasible. I'd like something like a sleeve hitch brinly box blade for my Garden tractors - pull snow away from the lawn / buildings in the winter, and straighten up my gravel driveway in the summer. Yeah, i could just buy one, but I've been tempting the idea of building one. My problem lies with only being able to cut with an angle grinder - I don't have a torch and frankly not really interested in one, nor can I afford a plasma cutter...so if I were to cut a bunch of pieces out of 1/8 or 3/16 sheet, it'd look like the dirt it's meant to move.

I say 50%, because you aren't paying a welder to assemble it, and you don't have to powdercoat it.

I don't need powdercoat, i can just paint and touch up every fall - like what I do now.

 

[catdozer]

I replayed in the other thread. But I do think this will bring on more people to buy with a limited attachment budget. But I would say start off with the simple stuff (non pto equipment).
send some units out there,
note of how long it would take them to put together,
Let them try it out, most stuff will break the first day!,
If it holds together well and they like the attachment, let them have the option to buy it (if it don't break) and what would be a good price they would feel comfortable to pay.

For warranty i would say, it's a kit, your doing the work of putting it together, if you want a warranty buy an assembled unit!

PS Ted I will be looking for a rear scrape blade soon. I love your design and if you get a kit for it I would be gladly to purchase and test one for you!