This situation raises some sobering questions about the future of tractors sold by the less-established brands (the future of more-established brands is another topic). No one wants to see their $10K-$20K investment relegated to a back corner of the barn (or the woodlot) after 10 years or so because a needed part isn't available.
It's true that some have access to facilities that allow them to make their own parts, while others are expert scroungers or know of a machine they can cannibalize. But at some point, it's just going to become too much trouble to continue and the tractor will become essentially scrap....probably well before it's worn out. The tractors were, after all, purchased to help us do our work and solve our problems. They weren't purchased to add to our work/problems.
For now, at least, FT owners can support their Long designed machines with Montana parts and their Ford clones with the Ford aftermarket suppliers. But how long will this continue? With a serious economic downturn, Montana and many others could become casualties. In a bad economy, who knows what'll become of the aftermarket suppliers; from the selection of products they sell, it seems they cater to the tractor restoration hobbyist market.
It's true that a FarmTrac 300 (for example) and a Ford 8N are both tractors and capable of many of the same things. But it's a mistake to assume, that 15 or 20 years from now, today's FarmTrac (or Montana or Mahindra or Jinma or Kioti or....) will be supported the same way the 8N is now. For one thing, the number of different models and designs available today exceeds that of the 8N era by orders of magnitude. Even with healthy and willing aftermarket suppliers, support of such a wide variety of makes and models long term could be well nigh impossible. And we know from the 8N that, with decent support, a tractor's useful lifetime can easily exceed 20 years.
The point of all this, for me at least, is that the attractive deals available from the less-established brands become considerably less attractive when this is fully taken into consideration. It's true that, with the wrong guy at the helm at JD, Kubota, or NH, a replay of the IH fiasco is possible....but it's still much less likely than the disappearance of a smaller brand from the marketplace. This unfortunate affair has been an eye opener for me, a former potential FT buyer.
Going into an economic downturn, as we are now, tractor buyers would do well to consider the tractor company's health/commitment along with the tractor specs and the dealer. The financial statement lesson we got from Ned Farlinger and the warnings issued by Neil Messick and others shouldn't be ignored.
FWIW
Flame suit on
Bob
It's possible to learn a lot from the off-topic forays. I came pretty close to being a FT owner this year. If this had held off another 6 months, there might've been a FT/Escort/Ford in the barn. 
