Comparing the orange forums to the green forums.

[cp1969]

This is the first time I have spoke my opinion on this forum. Growing up on a farm I was raised with John Deere equipment, so yes I look at green and nothing else. I believe John Deere is number one when it comes to quality. I am a welding engineer for John Deere I was very surprised whenever I first went to work for them. It is unbelievable how concerned and dedicated the employees are to the final customer. I have been involved in several design reviews where we talk about everything from cupholder placement to transmission designs, each holding significant importance whether it be functionality or operator comfort. John Deere looks at there product and how it is going to be affected during the long haul, not just what it takes to get it out the door. I believe our weld quality is second to none, we spend extra time to weld areas just to prevent rust bleed further down the road even when somtimes it doesn't add any structural integrity. Not to mention the gruesome inspection each component goes through. In my mind what seperates Deere from all others is the way they take care of there customers and there product for the long haul. I have seen Deere bend over backwards to help customers that clearly voided there warrenty by doing modifications to there equipment that caused a failure, and we still provided replacements and whatever it took to keep the customer happy. John Deere is a world class manufacturer that cares about quality and there customers. Is that worth the difference in price...

First, welcome to the forum and don't be bashful...post early and often.

Now, not trying to give you a hard time on your first post, but as an engineer you should know better than to do what I've emphasized in bold in your post with ANY product. Think about the kid who was raised on a farm using Oliver or Massy Harris equipment or the motorist who grew up driving DeSoto or Studebaker cars. What are they to do today, and should they have looked at other brands instead of those back in the day?

Things can and do change and you have to be on the lookout for it. Brand loyalty puts the blinders on.

I believe everything you say about John Deere is true, at least today. But management philosophy can change over time. And I further have no reason to believe that Kubota or NH, for instance, are concerned about customer satisfaction any less.

 

[RoyJackson]

Still waiting for some real substance in this thread, same old same old..

You expect what??? In an internet forum?
Surely you jest...

 

[johnk]

Maybe we should get Consumer Reports to do an UNBIASED tractor reliability, quality and overall satisfaction report. I want a tractor with a consistence in reliability. If it has a proven track record with the least failures that is the one I want. It is just hard to find an UNBIASED opinion as to which one has these things. If it works its great.... How long it will keep on working without problems is the abstract of the question...

 

[DiezNutz]

Growing up on a farm I was raised with John Deere equipment, so yes I look at green and nothing else

Well, if you look at nothing else, then how can you really know how JD stacks up against the competition? That statement alone makes you your own worst enemy. You're more or less saying "We're the best! Compared to... well... us".

I am a welding engineer for John Deere I was very surprised whenever I first went to work for them. It is unbelievable how concerned and dedicated the employees are to the final customer.

Bias. You're right, Kubota secretely hates us all. They're still p!ssed off over the H-bomb, and will exact their revenge through cold weld joints and inaccessible cupholders. Like what cp1969 said, Kubota and NH (and a few others) are no less world class manufacturers, and no less caring about quality and customers. If that were true, JD would have no competition when in fact is has quite a bit, and it's stiff. I equate your comments to ads for headache medicines that hawk "no other pain reliever works better", which is doublespeak for "ours works as good as theirs and vice versa". Careful before the JD Marketing dept. steals you away from the Engineering dept!

I don't think anybody is bashing JD or any other brand here, and I don't think anyone is seriously boasting a particular brand either. I have a problem with the attitudes some people have about certain brands, either (a) that somehow everything else is inferior, or (b) to be so narrow-minded or "color-blind" as to not objectively explore every option available to them when making such a big-ticket long-term purchase (if it wasn't obvious from my earlier posts). If "you can't go wrong with green", then you can't go any more wrong with any other color either. Like I said, that's why the dealer and other factors often make all the difference.

For the record, I have nothing against Yanmar per se. That much should've been obvious by the number of times I've compared them the Kubota, courtesy of JD. Like Art said, they've helped JD's reliability, much the same way how Detroit has benefited from "rebranding" certain import autos as their own over the years. But if Yanmar sold their own US-certified tractors here, and I had a choice of buying one direct from them or a "repackaged" one from somebody else, especially if it were at a premium, why screw around with the middle man? For the name? Not if the Yanmar dealer had just as good of a reputation for support, access to parts inventory, etc. Same reason why I haven't stepped foot in a Radio Shack since probably the first Bush administration (Pops not Junior). And I know in many cases Yanmar only supplies the powerplant but that's a major component of anything from a nose hair trimmer to the Space Shuttle. Realize, JD Farmboy and his buddies aren't building them.

 

[DiezNutz]

First, let me say I've never seen a tractor I didn't like. How many things you buy these days can last you the rest of your life with proper care? Not many. Whether green, blue, red, orange or polka dotted, a tractor is the best tool, toy, or stress reliever you can buy.
After countless hours of research and shopping, I came to the conclusion that ANY tractor I got would be a good tractor. They all have problems and they all have something better than the rest. There is no perfect tractor, just ones that suit YOUR needs. Dealer support and service was critical. After that, I shopped by value for my dollar. I ended up with a Kubota BX2350 and am very pleased. It's done everything I wanted to and suprised me by doing things I didn't think it could. My first choice was a JD 2305 for no other reason than I really liked the loader control. But at $1700 dollars more, my practical side won out.
What I found interesting during my shopping experience was the number of people (mostly non-tractor people) who said "You got to get the deere". JD has over the years been ingrained as "The" tractor to get. And much like Harley has capitalized on that brand image to charge a higher price, JD has done the same. You pay more for what is perceived to be the best. We all have our prejudices when it comes to tractors, whether from a bad dealer or tractor experience or just because Granpa was a JD fan and wouldn't throw his leg over nothing else. In the end I'm a "Tractor Guy". Kubota today, but maybe a JD tommorow. Depends on my mood and finances. I just want us all to remember that.

We've got very much in common, both in attitude toward and experiences in tractor shopping. I considered buying a JD ZTR as any other, but once again it came down to value. Besides, the local JD dealer (much like the local Toro dealer) was a real tool. Didn't buy Kubota either (didn't fit needs/couldn't afford).

 

[JDCAN]

Deere's greatest product is their brand and marketing. Thats what they do best.

Hey for what's it worth, I think your views are tainted since you make a living selling tractors not named John Deere. Surely you are tired of losing major sales to John Deere Branding. In my views, your comments come off as shady and very unprofessional.

It is clear what your motives are all about. If you and your dealership sell such superior machines compared to John Deere why are you here wasting your time talking junk and trying to suggest all John Deere has is marketing?

Honestly by your comments you are suggesting all John Deere has behind it is just marketing, Amigo check your facts, they have alot more going for them like good products and a huge group of customers for generations that are very happy. And then to top that all off ( as you have noticed, made note and posted about) have great marketing.

I don't see other John Deere dealers talking smack on other tractor brands.

John Deere dealers are too worried about their own business to worry or care about the other brands. Maybe that is something Kubota, Holland, etc dealers should learn about.

In the end it's 2007 , mostly all tractors are built great. With the internet and all the shady dealers talking smack, all brands need to step up and make better products.

Who gives a John Deere's arse what people are buying. It all contributes to brands pushing to offer better and more for the dollar, which means we all win as consumers regardless of the brand we buy.

 

[Superduper]

Now I have never owned a greenie but in making my decision to buy a BX24 I read through several pages of posts in all of the different brands of tractors i had available to buy locally. I noticed at the time that in the Kubota forums people were generally pleased and the discussions revolved around what things they were doing to upgrade their tractors and their projects. In the Deere forums it was predominantly complaints about things broken or not working properly. Just tried it again tonight to see if I could pick up any new interesting topics and again, predominantly complaints. I can't see how this wouldn't reflect upon a serious quality issue.

Huh??? Interestingly enough, I did the exact same thing, reviewed the posts and came to the OPPOSITE conclusion. I did, however, visit, looked at, test operated the competing products by Kubota and NH and concluded that Deere offered the better product and greater value, at least over here. Perusing the deere forum, I don't see any relevant relationship between the posts and the quality of the machines. In fact, may of these questions are exactly that, questions pertaining to the operation of the machines, such as how do I..., does anyone know where... etc. In my opinion, there is no lack of owners expressing pride of ownership. And since I don't normally peruse the Orange site on a regular basis, I thought I would do that and what I see is that there are far most complaints of problems on that forum. Therefore, before making such polarizing comments, it would have been better to come up with some hard data first. And for the opinions to really matter, perhaps we need to also consider the demographics of the operators, how many are farmers and how many are hobby farmers, how many are city owned vs. agriculturally owned. So many factors could affect the results, that maybe even the demographics will determine the owners propensity towards posting the ratio of "I just learned how to do donuts on my tractor" vs. "how do I unhook my loader?"

Perhaps Snatchface's own comments about never owning a greenie says it all...

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Hey for what's it worth, I think your views are tainted since you make a living selling tractors not named John Deere. Surely you are tired of losing major sales to John Deere Branding. In my views, your comments come off as shady and very unprofessional.

Actually we have a Deere dealer about 5 miles from our store. Its shocking how few customers we see going back and forth and shopping different brands. Deere customers are a certian breed, ours are another. I have a clear bias... one that I don't hide. However the store that I work for carries about a dozen major lines of equipment and I spend day in and day out looking at tractors of all colors.

I think anyone here who takes an objective look at that statement will agree that it's 100% true. Deere's greatest strength is their brand and their marketing, its the one thing they do better than anyone else.

 

[DiezNutz]

Honestly by your comments you are suggesting all John Deere has behind it is just marketing, Amigo check your facts, they have alot more going for them like good products and a huge group of customers for generations that are very happy. And then to top that all off ( as you have noticed, made note and posted about) have great marketing.

I didn't take it that way at all. He said their marketing was their greatest product. Not to say that it's their only great product, or that maybe everything else wasn't a close second. But it's blatantly obvious that nobody has the marketing machine that JD has. You basically said so yourself.

I don't see other John Deere dealers talking smack on other tractor brands.

I also don't see a bunch of Kubota owners going over the Green forums and trying to cause trouble like what's been happening with this thread. You're here because ... ?

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Maybe we should get Consumer Reports to do an UNBIASED tractor reliability, quality and overall satisfaction report. I want a tractor with a consistence in reliability. If it has a proven track record with the least failures that is the one I want. It is just hard to find an UNBIASED opinion as to which one has these things. If it works its great.... How long it will keep on working without problems is the abstract of the question...

Consumer Reports is far from Unbiased. About 5-6 years ago they gave a BOSE product a poor review. A few months later BOSE sued them for their testing methods. Fact is, BOSE makes some pretty shotty speakers and they do not preform well when you start looking at response graphs and stuff. Ever since there has not been a bad review of a BOSE product.