I don't think it's fair to compare when Bobcat launched themselves into the CUT universe with Cabela's. First of all, Bobcat is an international and very traditionally run old-line corporation. They're in a cut-throat industry already, constantly evlauating their bottom line. Every margin percentage forces a thumbs up or thumbs down decision. Obviously tractor sales were taking away from their bottom line in other areas. Cabella's, on the other hand, is in a niche market. Though they are sizeable and stock thousands of different products, they are much more capable of individualized service to the general public. That's not saying that implement dealers can't or don't do the same thing. It's merely pointing out that Bobcat as a corporation was at the mercy of their dealer network. Many Bobcat dealers sold a lot of tractors and are well run no matter what machine they happen to sell. On the other hand, IMO, a lot of their dealers are/were dead weight; in a mega-corporation that is always an inevitable down side. Adding hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of inventory exacerbated problems for those dealers in an already over-crowded field. Cabela's doesn't have that problem. They, like Bobcat, will be able to capitalize on their good name for a while. But after that they'll be forced to compartmentalize their tractor business as it grows simply because it is so specialized that their average employees will be too disconnected. It will be at that point that Cabela's will show if they are truely willing to build a tractor business. My guess is they will succeed because they have a good product (TYM), a good model to follow (their boat business) and a very loyal customer base.
