FarmTrac Troubles

[chh]

I'm not a dealer but I'll tell you that Textron is the money in this puzzle. They floorplan the tractors to the dealers and finance the tractors when sold. IMO from what I understand of the situation there will be no deal with anybody without dealing with them and making them happy and they probably have more say in the situation than anybody in the comapny. In a bankrupcy(which may or may not happen) they would be the the major creditor and would come out with most if not all the assets from Farmtrac.

 

[cmuncy]

If I am not mistaken, since Textron is the flooring company, FarmTrac really doesn't have any inventory per say. So even if FT when under, I don't believe that Textron would be a creditor since they already own the dealer inventory

 

[firedog]

Did some quick research on Textron. A few companies they own are: Cessna, Ez-go, Jacobsen, Greenlee. Farmtrac was not named, but I also found this on Textron Financial's site.

Our Agriculture Equipment Finance team understands the unique needs of everyone in the equipment distribution chain. By providing manufacturers, dealers and end-users with the equipment financing they need, we help them improve performance and grow their businesses.

Wholesale Financing
We provide inventory financing via a revolving credit line that allows dealers, and distributors to access capital as they need it.

Goes right with what you said. It would seem they are Farmtrac's financial backer.

FarmTrac really doesn't have any inventory per say

Yes and No. Having a business on the side, we have a revolving line of credit at the bank for such things as inventory purchases, etc. The inventory is ours unless we fail to pay the bank, then it's theirs. (along with our butts)

 

[tommybr]

Textron is Farmtracs largest creditor......some say they hold the mortgage on the building and facilities.

 

[mbeeson]

I have been a member for a little while now, I usually just enjoy reading each of your post and have never replied. I am a dealer for Farmtrac and have been for 9 years our Customers have made us the number one dealership in Texas, and I don't take that lightly. We have made some great friendships thruout the years with our customers and appreciate each one of them. As a Farmtrac dealer we all are suprised at what has taken place. I cannot answer for Farmtrac nor will I try. But, I can only answer for us. Through out the past 9 years we have tried to give our customers the best product,service and warranty. At this time, we are caught in the ups and downs of the Farmtrac problems but as a dealer we are doing the best we can to continue our service, we cannot Promise anything but, we can try to do the best we can. Our Customers are what matters to us.

The Korean Tractors are the LG/LS series "270,320,3030,300,360,450,550,3145,3140
The Indian Tractors Escort are 35,45,60,70,80,535,545,555,665,675,

Many companies in the market at this time carry the same tractors
Montana 3040 is the same as a Farmtrac 300 I can go thru the list but it would be long and drawn out. Escort tractors match some of your old Fords.
Parts availibilty is really not going to be an issue. The issue is warranty. We have stopped all our sales of Farmtrac here till we have in Writing, of a buy out and who will warranty the new tractors. But, I personally feel confident that there will soon be a buyer. I do not have in black and white any one company at this time has made the deal. Nor am I trying to make statements to that fact. Textron has alot of money invested in this and I can tell you they especially have alot invested in us as a Famtrac dealer, as they do in many dealers. We are trying to stay as true to our commitment to our customers as we can. Dealers may not be able to take at this time expensive warranties or even small ones due to the fact, we have lost sales and they we will not be paid for warranties at this time. All that dealers can do, is do there best. For all my Farmtrac Friends and Dealers we here hope for the best and are awaiting the day that we can return to selling our tractors and serving our customers properly.

 

[California]

... since Textron is the flooring company, FarmTrac really doesn't have any inventory per say. So even if FT when under, I don't believe that Textron would be a creditor since they already own the dealer inventory

As I read the early posts, what Textron owns isn't the inventory but rather paper secured by physical assets. They have the legal status to force a liquidation, a fire sale of the physical assets, but all they will accept is cash. They don't want tractors.

And if I understood it right Textron is now demanding immediate payment to close out what had previously been financing over a long period of time. This is squeezing the dealers to pay Textron cash, while the dealers inventories of FT tractors is unsalable due to lack of factory warranty. I would think this might strain the larger dealers and be real hard on the smaller ones.

 

[NewToy]

mbeeson, well said. What else can you do under the circumstances? I liked your honest, hat in hand approach to the problem.
Is the FarmTrac parts dept all shut down as well? Have you had to order parts from Montana? I hope Montana and their dealers look out for us FarmTrac guys when we need them parts

John

 

[mbeeson]

Newtoy, to answer your question. Honestly we ordered parts thru Farmtrac NA thanks to all the great volunteers at Farmtrac up untill Feb 5, after that we started ordering from Long Agri Co. The set back to ordering thru them is the dealer must pay for the parts up front. Our business is family owned and operated, and immediatly we took stock of all our Farmtrac parts. How we are handling it is we will continue to do our customers warranties with what parts we have in stock, we still fill out are warranties even though at this time it is worthless.
We know there is a chance we may never get paid for them but that is chance we as a dealership have decided to take. If a customer has a warranty issue with something I do not have in stock, we are trying to at this time, wait untill we have an answer from the big guys. Hoping that is soon! For customers who are not in warranty or just would rather not wait and pay for it themselves, we order all LSandLG through Montana and On the Escort side we can either order through Long Agri Co or go Ford oem. On the Lg/LS there is little or no warranties, Thank goodness the Koreans do a great job at building there tractor. Now on the Escort side we feel we are more concerned. Also to let you know on the Farmtrac Implements tillers and Finish mowers Unifarm Machinery has all the parts available. I hope this helped.

 

[bluechip]

And if I understood it right Textron is now demanding immediate payment to close out what had previously been financing over a long period of time. This is squeezing the dealers to pay Textron cash, while the dealers inventories of of FT tractors is unsalable due to lack of factory warranty. .

No, so far Textron's terms remain the same. I chose to liquidate the tractor I put on ebay because it came due in full this month. Other tractors will come due in the future, as they were billed originally. I believe the interest for the free floor plan time was deducted at time of funding to Farmtrac.

The big problem is thatSome dealers are holding inventory that Farmtrac was paying interest on, that has stopped and now the dealers will have to pay. Also Farmtrac was soliciting orders from dealers with the promise that the tractors would never come due, they would rebill and update the invoices, this encouraged many dealers to "stock up" without fear of having to pay heafty interest charges if the tractors were not sold during the "free" floor time. Other dealers agreed to store tractors from dealers who have terminated, with the promise that they would not cost the dealer any interest or ever come due. But Farmtrac put them on these dealers floorplans. These guys (& gals) are really in a pickle now.

 

[firedog]

To mbeeson, bluechip & other dealers.

Thanks for posting. I know some of ya'll might be in a bind due the Farmtrac issue, it must be tough when this type of thing happens. My dealer has been very supportive as well as ya'll. As a farmtrac owner/customer I appreciate the insight, information & positive outlook ya'll have provided. Keep up the good work and thanks.

Godspeed.

 

[rback33]

I am glad you guys are remaining optimistic that this will all work out. I am normally on THAT side of the fence, but from what I have seen and heard in the last week I do not see Farmtrac coming back. I hope I am wrong. I don't think Montana is in the game with Farmtrac anymore. They had nothing to gain by buying them for the most part. The only benefit was the loader backhoe facility, but $$$ just did not make sense. Farmtrac makes good stuff. I hope they work this out.

 

[cmuncy]

Even if FT doesn't make it, I know my dealer will take great care of me like she and her staff have in the past

 

[Slacker]

My dealer is liquidating his inventory. I anticipate the other dealers in my area to follow suit. I don't anticipate any type of future factory support for my new $25,000 dollar tractor. I don't know how much extra I paid for the 3 year factory warranty, but it was too much.

 

[Builder]

I'm seeing more FarmTrac equipment on ebay auctions lately.

 

[teg]

From Raleigh's Craig's List...

Farmtrac Tractors
Reply to: sale-573067058@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-02-13, 4:07PM EST

Closing out Farmtrac Inventory. All Tractors and loaders must go. No reasonable offer turned down. Call for details and stock status. Yeargin Farm Supply Inc. 919-693-7723

• Location: Oxford Nc

 

[Builder]

I think this reinforces my stance on trade in value of lesser well known named tractors. If you look at trade in values, those with more established names reward their buyers with better trade in values because they're less likely to leave their customers with a mess like we see with FarmTrac.

 

[Ryan03]

I would be lying if i said that I was not second guessing my choice in purchasing a Farmtrac 270 over a New Holland TC 30, as I am sure the resale value just went down the toilet. I am one of the lucky ones, my tractor is around 2 years old and I only stand to lose less than one year of warranty, it is however a loss none the less. My 270 has served me well, and I feel it is a reasonably well built product. I was planning on keeping it indefinately, Now however , I am looking at replacing it in the next 5 to 7 years, mostly due to being unsure about parts availability several years down the road as the tractor gets older and needs more than routine maintenance. I do feel however, for an end user to panic and try to sell his tractor now is the wrong thing to do for many reasons, The newer Farmtrac tractor you own will likely continue to serve you well for the next couple of years, just as it did before the implosion of Farmtrac, And if what I have been reading is correct, parts should be readily available through Montana for some models, and Ford for others, at least in the forseable future, in 10 years, who knows. If I were to try and put my tractor on ebay right now, I bet I could not get 6 grand for it, mostly due to all the Turmoil surrounding Farmtrac right now, however, 5 or so years from now when all this is just a memory, and I have gotton my moneys worth out of the tractor in terms of use. I do not see 6k+ being a problem for a selling price, as I have seen many non mainstream brands of like models bring 5k + on a regular basis. Next time however I think I may go with the other blue brand, or the orange one, Maybe the green, Red is nice to. LOL

 

[TBDonnelly]

I would be lying if i said that I was not second guessing my choice in purchasing a Farmtrac 270 over a New Holland TC 30, as I am sure the resale value just went down the toilet.

Don't know if this will make you feel any better............this fellow has a TC30, six months out of warranty with a cracked block. Just think...It could have been you.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/nh-owning-operating/111737-2005-tc30-cracked-block.html?highlight=TC30

Don

 

[Ryan03]

I feel bad for him. I truly beleive that every manafacturer produces a turd every now and again, I would say lemon, but I like lemons [the kind you eat] . The TC 30 had comparable financing terms and rates, The dealer was close to my home at 7 miles away, but so was a Farmtrac dealer at 12 miles. Both are well established and know the products they sell. At the time, the deciding factor was the pushy New Holland salesman who did not know what "I am in the market for a tractor in the next month or two" meant. He continued to call my home every other night for the next month trying to pressure me into a purchase, sometimes as late as 9 pm on a weeknight and even on a couple Sundays. The other factor was cost, the New Holland was apprx. 2800 more than the Farmtrac, but since I had just built a new home and had to finance for a 60 month term, the difference in the payment was not realy much at all, especialy since the Farmtrac special was 0 for 60 and New Holland was 2.9 for 60 ,at the time. My primary deciding factor was the as$./+e sales man who would not go away, no matter how many times I politely asked him to.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Both are well established and know the products they sell.

This will play well for you in the years to come. Your dealer will keep you up and running should the need arise.

Don