Has King Kutter gone Chinese

[neverenough]

I have a Chinese finish mower of unnamed brand and have been very happy with it. I got it cheap when I bought the tractor. I even cut my long, weedy pasture with it and it did fine.

I had been considering a KK rotary cutter and box blade but I think I'm going to buy different implements from my closest Yanmar dealer. After reading this thread I think that is the right decision for me.

By the way, as for American vehicles holding up, I have had amazing luck with Chrysler products. I have had a Dodge Ram, Plymouth Acclaim and Plymouth Laser (this is perhaps more a Mitsubishi though as it was the same vehicle as the Eclipse) go over 200,000 miles with relatively few problems. My Ram worked it's tailgate off too. In fact the only reason I sold that Ram was because of gas prices and decided it was not in my best interest to own 2 trucks. Had to replace it with an econo car. Other people have told me that Chryslers were the worst cars they ever owned though. For me that has been GM. I have had 3 GMs that all lost their tranny at 130,000 miles like they were programmed to do it. At least that is how I feel since it happened at the same exact mileage on all of them. But, I think American cars are at least close these days on quality to their Japenese counterparts. But, as some have pointed out, the cost to make them has gotten too high and the Big 3 (or 2.5) are in danger now and just have never been able to compete with Honda on how the factory is run. I personally think a lot of the unskilled labor is paid too highly. It is one thing for a mechanic to be paid what he/she is, these people have skills. It is another for someone who just turns bolts to be paid that highly.

I've gotten a lot of miles out of my American cars, but, they nickle and dime you to death compared to the Honda's and Mazdas I've had. Example, I have a Honda Accord with 283,000 miles on it. The only thing that does not work on it is the wiper for the hatchback window. I replaced the normal wear items like ball joints and timing belts, but other than that, nothing abnormal. In comparison, I will use my Olds Cutless as it has been typical. The intermittent wipers stopped working around 30,000 miles. The first injector went out at 55,000 miles, and the traction light starts flashing at about 60,000 miles. At about 95,000 miles the ball joints were shot, and I mean shot. 102,000 miles the radio stopped working, and the car started using oil. 110,000 miles the second injector went out. 121,000 miles and the motor was up to about 1qt a week, and the cruise, and tranny started acting up. 144,000 miles and it's still getting 33mpg and going down the road safely, BUT, IMO it has not held up very well so far. Sad to think a $17,000 MSRP car is worth $800 9 years later according to the blue book. I'm a Ford person, and I think the Old's replacement car most likely will be a Mercury Milan, but I think I will be heading back to the Honda dealer for my "commuter" car as I put more miles on it in a shorter period of time.

 

[ddivinia]

My MX6 gear box was made in Spain.

D.

 

[have_blue]

America has too many laws and regulations that stifle business...these countries don't. People are free to do whatever it takes to make it cheap and outbid you and I.

Of course this is only MY opinion...

Joe,

All so true!

Something that's a little under the radar right now is the Great Equalizer that will help make American made machine tools more competitive: $100 a barrel oil! Right now, you can buy a decent 14"x40" Chinese gap bet lathe for $3200. That sucker weighs nearly a ton, so I think it will be costing $4K in no time and $5K in a year or so. Since oil is a world-wide commodity (for better or for worse!), a barrel of oil will cost the same in China as it costs here. I think we will start noticing the prices of heavy tools such as brush hogs equalizing somewhat in no time at all. When oil goes up to $200, many of us won't even be able to afford imported machine tools! Right now is the time for American manufacturers to start gearing up.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

You can make a choice here too. King Kutters somewhat shotty products are only about 20% cheaper than Woods, Bush Hog or Landpride who all make their stuff here. China is building our bargin basement goods from tractor implemenets to walmart's juice boxes, but most items of quality are made elsewhere.

 

[Soundguy]

I'm aware of the japanese yanmar / JD relationship.. but AFAIK.. there is also a chinese relationship going on.. or at least there was talk of one a few years ago.

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Honda, Mazda.. which one of those are chinese?

Soundguy

I've gotten a lot of miles out of my American cars, but, they nickle and dime you to death compared to the Honda's and Mazdas I've had. Example, I have a Honda Accord with 283,000 miles on it. The only thing that does not work on it is the wiper for the hatchback window. I replaced the normal wear items like ball joints and timing belts, but other than that, nothing abnormal. In comparison, I will use my Olds Cutless as it has been typical. The intermittent wipers stopped working around 30,000 miles. The first injector went out at 55,000 miles, and the traction light starts flashing at about 60,000 miles. At about 95,000 miles the ball joints were shot, and I mean shot. 102,000 miles the radio stopped working, and the car started using oil. 110,000 miles the second injector went out. 121,000 miles and the motor was up to about 1qt a week, and the cruise, and tranny started acting up. 144,000 miles and it's still getting 33mpg and going down the road safely, BUT, IMO it has not held up very well so far. Sad to think a $17,000 MSRP car is worth $800 9 years later according to the blue book. I'm a Ford person, and I think the Old's replacement car most likely will be a Mercury Milan, but I think I will be heading back to the Honda dealer for my "commuter" car as I put more miles on it in a shorter period of time.

 

[Theowegian]

My Landpride RFM model FDR1572 has a chinese gearbox, gears and bearings. I got new parts from Landpride when I rebuilt the gearbox and everything I got from the dealer was made in china - even the 11" drive pulley.
So much for american made...

 

[Dargo]

Not all Chinese stuff is cheap trash. If you own a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort II headphones just look and see where they are made. It isn't here in the U.S. China can produce quality when given specific parameters for their build guidelines. However, they can produce some awful junk if only left to produce a product based on price.

 

[Soundguy]

Is this a bad time to point out that in many circles Bose stands for:

B)ring
O)ther
S)ound
E)quipment

There are others.. but this one is 'G' rated.

In all honesty.. i think their consumer grade equipment is top notch. It's when you hit their PA gear that you run into issues.

Soundguy

 

[neverenough]

Honda, Mazda.. which one of those are chinese?

Soundguy

Those who ignore the past are destin to repeat it. China is Japan 30+ years ago. The technology is in favor of China, to improve to world class quality in a much shorter time than Japan did. To know the past and present of Japan, is to know the present and future of China. The only difference between Japan of the past, and China now is, China has a much larger workforce to tap, there for the labor will remain lower cost for much longer.