Decided to go with Kubota.

[Builder]

Of course, I know there is a Ridgeline. I just don't consider it a pickup.

All the truck magazines and most of the GP does.

 

[milkman]

I don't think any comparison where one costs thousands more than the other is a fair comparison. The products should be nearly equal in price to be a fair comparison.

???? Imagine that.... compared to your #85 reply.

 

[Builder]

???? Imagine that.... compared to your #85 reply.

Your logic is confusing, but what do I know, I buy American when I can so I'm not that smart

 

[gemini5362]

Unions had their place, but I don't think hey work in a global manufacturing community. You don' see any of the Toyota or Handa plants being unionized.

\
I am not aware of where all the Toyota or Honda plants are at. But I tend to believe that they are mostly in the south in right to work states which are traditionally not union friendly. I am sure that might have something to do with the situation.

I have worked in plants that were non union. The steel mill I worked at was not union when I worked there. The steelworkers union got enough votes to hold an election. Management spent weeks of making all employees stay two hours over on overtime so they could talk to the employees and try to find out why they wanted a union and see if they could fix the problems before that election. 99 per cent of the discussions were not about money. Most of the employees had no complaints about the money. It is one of the higher paying employers in the area. The health benefits were the best in the area. The way certain department heads and managers treated their employees was the problem. Some of these people did things that no employee should have to put up with. Management spent a lot of money talking to employees on overtime. They hired anti union consultants to guide them. The election results did not support the union and the plant stayed non union. After the election no department heads or managers were fired. None were shifted to other positions not a thing was done about the problem. Two years later there was another union election and the union was voted in. A lot of industry is that way. It is not always about money it is about the attitude of the employer more often than not. If you want to talk about the american worker and how expensive they are look at CEO's of companies. It is nothing unusual for a company to show major losses in a year and have the CEO get a multimillion dollar bonus that he decided to give himself. American Airlines mechanics gave back about 12.00 per hour to help keep the airline in buisness then found out that all upper management did not lose any money and was promised a 100 per cent bonus per year if they would stay for two years. When you talk about mistakes made about which models auto makes are introduced into the market those decisions are not made by union members. My final point on this discussion is that the most profitable airline in the United States is Southwest Airlines. It is the most heavily unionized airline in the United States. If you talk to Southwest Management and their Union leaders both will tell you that they work together for success.

I am going to take these posts to the members at my next meeting especially the ones about high paid union officials. As the vice president of my local which means I get calls at home, on vacation, etc I make a resounding 125.00 per month.

 

[gemini5362]

Your logic is confusing, but what do I know, I buy American when I can so I'm not that smart

Builder not trying to beat a horse to death but what do you buy that is american. Very few products are actually made totally in the US

 

[Farmwithjunk]

\
I am not aware of where all the Toyota or Honda plants are at. But I tend to believe that they are mostly in the south in right to work states which are traditionally not union friendly. I am sure that might have something to do with the situation.

I have worked in plants that were non union. The steel mill I worked at was not union when I worked there. The steelworkers union got enough votes to hold an election. Management spent weeks of making all employees stay two hours over on overtime so they could talk to the employees and try to find out why they wanted a union and see if they could fix the problems before that election. 99 per cent of the discussions were not about money. Most of the employees had no complaints about the money. It is one of the higher paying employers in the area. The health benefits were the best in the area. The way certain department heads and managers treated their employees was the problem. Some of these people did things that no employee should have to put up with. Management spent a lot of money talking to employees on overtime. They hired anti union consultants to guide them. The election results did not support the union and the plant stayed non union. After the election no department heads or managers were fired. None were shifted to other positions not a thing was done about the problem. Two years later there was another union election and the union was voted in. A lot of industry is that way. It is not always about money it is about the attitude of the employer more often than not. If you want to talk about the american worker and how expensive they are look at CEO's of companies. It is nothing unusual for a company to show major losses in a year and have the CEO get a multimillion dollar bonus that he decided to give himself. American Airlines mechanics gave back about 12.00 per hour to help keep the airline in buisness then found out that all upper management did not lose any money and was promised a 100 per cent bonus per year if they would stay for two years. When you talk about mistakes made about which models auto makes are introduced into the market those decisions are not made by union members. My final point on this discussion is that the most profitable airline in the United States is Southwest Airlines. It is the most heavily unionized airline in the United States. If you talk to Southwest Management and their Union leaders both will tell you that they work together for success.

I am going to take these posts to the members at my next meeting especially the ones about high paid union officials. As the vice president of my local which means I get calls at home, on vacation, etc I make a resounding 125.00 per month.

Not commenting on unions, their need in todays world, or their value to America in general, other than to say they aren't high on my Christmas card list, BUT.... The FIRST Toyota plant to produce Tundra pick-ups is in Princeton Indiana. The employees there are members of the United Auto Workers. So are Toyota workers at the Georgetown Kentucky plant that produces Camry's.

 

[Builder]

Builder not trying to beat a horse to death but what do you buy that is american. Very few products are actually made totally in the US

Well, look at my signature. All 4 units were built in the US, even my little JD garden tractor. Last time I checked, Ford, GM & John Deere were American comapnies. Case is owned by Fiat, but at least the company still builds their equipment here in Racine, Wisconsin. My GMC truck was built in Flint MI. My Ford Superduty was built in Louisville, Kentucky and my IH dumptruck was built in Chicago, IL.

I know not are totally made in the USA. What you need to do is stop taking me out of context. I never said everything I bought had to be 100% US made. That's impossible. What I did say was when I have the opportunity to buy 2 similarly priced & featured products, I like to buy the US made product to help keep my countries' industrial base in business. I buy foreign products when they're clearly superior or clearly cheaper or there's no other choice. Sometimes the US made product is inferior.

Nothing more, nothing less than that.

Are you carrying some kind of "American guilt" about US made stuff? American made stuff ain't that bad. I drove my GMC truck to work today and used my Case backhoe to load my IH dumptruck and you might find this hard to believe, but none of the 3 pieces broke down! They all functioned perfectly, completed their tasks and made me money. Not bad considering nothing was made by Toyota or Porsche, huh?

 

[Taiser]

Are you carrying some kind of "American guilt" about US made stuff? American made stuff ain't that bad. I drove my GMC truck to work today and used my Case backhoe to load my IH dumptruck and you might find this hard to believe, but none of the 3 pieces broke down! They all functioned perfectly, completed their tasks and made me money. Not bad considering nothing was made by Toyota or Porsche, huh?

I agree they are not bad. I'm currently restoring a 1979 GMC 1/2 ton. Belonged to my FIL. Runs like a top, basically a tank on wheels but rusted out like crazy. So far the cab and front end are all done, all I need is a good box (hard to find) and she'll be good as new. It went through an alternator every few years but all the parts are cheap and she only has 100,000 km on her (about 60,000 miles) so it's worth fixing and souping up! I got no problem with North American stuff overall but when it comes to my hard earned money I want the maximum quality for it, even if it costs a bit more!

 

[excelagator]

You know that just because it is a Chevy or Ford does not mean that it is made or built in the USA!!!

I looked at a 2007 1/2 ton Chevy, nice truck. The dealership decided to put a letter stating why buy American. They forgot to mention that yes some parts are made in the USA, but the thousands of parts that complete the truck are assembled in Canada. Hmmm, Canadians are not Americans last time I checked.

I own a Nissan Xterra, The ironic part is the Xterra was designed and funded completely Nissan of North America in the USA. It is made just outside Nashville, TN. supporting Americans.....

My beloved JD 2210 is a great tractor. After buying it I found out it is made in Japan!! I have been told that all under 40hp JD tractors are made overseas.

So would you rather support an American worker or just support an American-based company that imports their product??? Personally, I would rather see an American worker take home a paycheck!

Dan

 

[Builder]

So would you rather support an American worker or just support an American-based company that imports their product??? Personally, I would rather see an American worker take home a paycheck!

Dan

You just don't get it. You need to read a little more. American cars have far more domestic content than the foreign automakers. Ford is 78%, Chrysler is 78%, GM is 74%. All japanese automakers combined average only 48%.

Of course some domestic cars are built outside the USA!

Look at these facts and tell me if you still feel the same way:

US automakers employ 8 out of 10 domestic & foreign autoworkers combined in the US

GM employs more autoworkers than all the foreign car companies in the USA combined.

8 out of 10 foreign auto company jobs in the USA are in sales, not manufacturing.


Source: Domestic Content