Deere DDealers Disappearing - Time to Change Colors?

[Builder]

For small tractors John Deere has some catching up to do. For the big AG tractors John Deere is second to none. We live in farm country and there are some big John Deere's out here that will take your breath away. You won't see these big tractors on the compact tractor posts. For my small farm I have a Kubota. Small farms is what Kubota does best. For a real workhorse on a farm a John Deere is still the 800# gorilla in the forest.

I agree. Other manufacturers build great tractors, but John Deere is Agriculture.

 

[mjncad]

The dealer model that Deere is moving towards is larger dealerships with multiple locations. The smaller dealers with lower volumes are being encouraged to sell out to some of the larger conglomorates. Unfortunately, it seems it will continue.

This is happening along the Front Range and plains of Colorado too. Colorado Equipment has most of eastern Colorado to themselves now. There is Potestio, a two store network serving Colorado Springs and the Denver suburb of Parker, and Long's Peak Equipment where I bought my two tractors from. I buy my parts from Long's Peak as they are the closest to me; but I expect them to be owned by Colorado Equipment sometime in the future. Colorado Equipment has a sister company called Colorado Machinery that deals in construction and earth moving equipment.

Knock on wood, the only service I've ever had done was under warranty.

I do get concerned that the lack of competition amongst dealers will result in higher prices and as others have said...what if the chain sucks, you are stuck.

 

[Whitey]

I will tell you this.............I recently sold my JD 770 TLB and bought a Kubota B21......I changed all the filters and fluids last Saturday.....It took me about a day to round up the parts and fluids I needed from three different sources. All had the same reply.....I could have it later next week unless I wanted to pay the frieght. I never heard that from my JD dealer (Elders)......always had the stuff I needed or had it the next day!

PS....Elders is fifty miles away.....worth the drive IMHO. I drove fifty to get the Kubota stuff from three guys!

 

[Builder]

I am convinced from the last 20 years of buying parts for equipment that John Deere has the most comprehensive and fastest parts availability.

I typically have parts drop shipped to my shop whether they're from NH, Deere, AGCO, etc.

Saves me fuel, wear & tear on the truck and time.

 

[rcrcomputing]

Keep on being happy, my friend. You still aren't very convincing.

Convincing? I've feel no such need, as you obviously do, to attempt to convince others. I'd just like you to stop stomping on others decisions. There is no need for it. And it's unbecoming.

 

[Tritonman]

Must be a pretty rare pipe. Every part that is in stock in the US is essentially only two days away from any dealer. JD can look it up pretty much anywhere from my experince. To take that long it must be a backordered part

 

[Arcane]

To close out this thread I thought I would give an update.

My tractor came home yesterday, nearly 2 months later. It turns out that Deere had redesigned the hydraulic pipe that had broken, replacing one piece with two. The online parts catalog still hasn't changed. Apparently you need to know to look for an additional part number to order the second piece. It seems that my former JD dealer/repair shop couldn't get the time of day from JD parts; they learned this from another JD dealer.

Checking prices, I'd lose $10k to switch machines for one with a better/nearer service network. That covers a lot of inconvenience and freight charges, so I guess I'm still green.