Is every Deere dealer inflexible on lawn & garden?

[Kyle_in_Tex]

If it has the k66, that would be a big factor for me.

 

[fried1765]

Wow, 15 hp briggs was considered HUGE in 1972. I've always liked Briggs. Good thing it didn't have to run it's whole life on ethanol gas.

The Briggs 15HP now lives at my seasonal residence in Nova Scotia.
I feed it ONLY ...NON ETHANOL gas!

 

[plowhog]

I'm confused. Supposedly the new Husqvarna has a K66 transaxle. I don't know transaxles, but since this is an integral and important part involving longevity I googled this. I found vendors selling K66 transaxle kits to upgrade supposedly weak and failing Deere transaxles? Umm, weak and failing Deere parts--- what???

If the stock Husky K66 transaxle replaces failing Deere transaxles, presumably in the 100 series models, isn't a Husky the obviously stronger machine at the similar price point? And if the K66 in a $3,000 Husky is comparable (or better?) than the transaxle in a $4,500 x380, why is one product priced 50% higher with take-it-or-leave-it dealer posture? I know the impression of quality of Deere products has to be more than just marketing gimmick-- at least I hope so--- so please help me understand this seemingly contradictory information about relative quality between these two? I'm looking at the Husky next week and would like to look for any weaknesses-- thanks!

 

[Amvcane]

Those upgrade kits are from a K46 to a K66. The K46 does not have a long lifespan when used for heavy pulling or on steep slopes, as stated previously.
A K66 is a K66 no matter what color machine it is in.

 

[Smoothas]

Whoa a kawi engine and a K66 for under 3K- almost seems too good to be true- that not only blows John Deere out of the water- but also all the competitors, Cub Cadet XT3, Kubota or Simplicity. Husky were renowned for their weak frame ( google bent frame husqvarna ) or the steering mechanisms problems Husky’s are famous for. If they haven’t cheapened up the rest of tractor- it’s a game changer

 

[BleedingOrange]

Being old and experienced, over the years one tends to gather info, that dealers don,t really want getting out to the public. As I have been directly told by one such dealer, at their annual meeting, there is a non written agreement that they will all sell their products very, very close to full MSRP. Anyone that breaks this silent agreement, will be treated differently as far as dealer trades and co-operation amongst themselves goes.
When this particular dealer finally got squeezed to much by corporate headquarters, he decided to tell them to shove their product, where the sun don,t shine. I,ve since talked to other dealers, and none of them where disappointed to see him get shoved out, as he was the only one that had the nerve to break the code, and sell the units below MSRP. Just some food for thought.

 

[Oldoak]

Being old and experienced, over the years one tends to gather info, that dealers don,t really want getting out to the public. As I have been directly told by one such dealer, at their annual meeting, there is a non written agreement that they will all sell their products very, very close to full MSRP. Anyone that breaks this silent agreement, will be treated differently as far as dealer trades and co-operation amongst themselves goes.
When this particular dealer finally got squeezed to much by corporate headquarters, he decided to tell them to shove their product, where the sun don,t shine. I,ve since talked to other dealers, and none of them where disappointed to see him get shoved out, as he was the only one that had the nerve to break the code, and sell the units below MSRP. Just some food for thought.

I can believe that.

Just like a major gun manufacturer telling their dealers that their guns could not be sold below a certain price, which was just marginally below their MSRP. Dealers could mark them higher, but not lower. So technically it could not be called price fixing. And all the dealers in a rather large geographic area had to go through one wholesale distributor who kept all the dealers in check. So much for competitive pricing.

 

[s219]

Again, my experience shopping mowers was 1 year ago, so maybe something has changed, but what dinged the Husky models for me had nothing to do with the engine or transmission. As we all know, the engines and transmissions are made by a third party and can be installed in many different brands. Ultimately, that was a wash when I was shopping, and not an advantage or detriment to either brand.

What knocked Husky off my list is that it seemed built cheaply and I sure didn't see much improvement between their cheap box store models and their higher end garden tractors. Sure, the high end models got better engine, transmission, and features but they were all bolted on to a cheap feeling body/frame with cheap feeling controls (reminded me of a Fisher-Price toy). Same thing goes for the Sears tractors (some are built by Husky) -- it seems like you're getting a lot when you move to their higher end models, but the upgrades are still bolted to a fairly cheap feeling tractor.

Heck, I noticed that 15+ years ago when I shopped for my first riding mower at my previous property -- it seemed like you got a lot more for your money from Sears, but the overall build quality just wasn't there compared to Deere. At that time I paid more for my Deere LT-150 than my mother-in-law did for her much larger Sears garden tractor, but she only got about 5-6 years out of that Sears whereas my LT-150 ran great until the deck rusted out 15+ years later.

So anyways, back to 2016 when I shopped -- when I looked at the Deere models, and focused on the X380, it was obvious it was built really well top to bottom. I really didn't see a single thing that felt or looked cheap. That was a big contrast to the Husky where almost everything felt or looked cheap. So with the two brands offering same/similar engine transmissions, it came down to the Deere costing more for the build quality and overall feel, and it was a no-brainer. I could see/feel/appreciate the benefit of the extra cost. Now, I got $700 off and had a great experience buying the Deere, which also helped a lot, but that was more about tipping me to buying "now" than buying the Deere. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have liked the Husky at any price point.

If I step back and think about all the riding mowers and garden tractors I have used over the years, nothing compares to an early 70s Sears garden tractor we had when I was a kid growing up. The thickness of the frame and quality of the metal body and components would put both a modern Deere and Husky to shame. They really don't build them like that any more, any brand at any price point. What's even more remarkable is that not only did that old Sears do duty mowing, gardening, snow removal, and moving firewood, but it was also subjected to a lot of abuse by my brother and me -- we treated that thing like an ATV sometimes. I clearly remember crashing it head on into a hemlock tree while my brother was riding in a lawn chair in the wagon through the woods (which was great fun for the person sitting in the lawn chair). There was no real damage to the tractor. Try doing that with a modern Deere/Husky/Sears and you'd be straightening the frame and replacing a lot of plastic body parts.

 

[fried1765]

Again, my experience shopping mowers was 1 year ago, so maybe something has changed, but what dinged the Husky models for me had nothing to do with the engine or transmission. As we all know, the engines and transmissions are made by a third party and can be installed in many different brands. Ultimately, that was a wash when I was shopping, and not an advantage or detriment to either brand.

What knocked Husky off my list is that it seemed built cheaply and I sure didn't see much improvement between their cheap box store models and their higher end garden tractors. Sure, the high end models got better engine, transmission, and features but they were all bolted on to a cheap feeling body/frame with cheap feeling controls (reminded me of a Fisher-Price toy). Same thing goes for the Sears tractors (some are built by Husky) -- it seems like you're getting a lot when you move to their higher end models, but the upgrades are still bolted to a fairly cheap feeling tractor.

Heck, I noticed that 15+ years ago when I shopped for my first riding mower at my previous property -- it seemed like you got a lot more for your money from Sears, but the overall build quality just wasn't there compared to Deere. At that time I paid more for my Deere LT-150 than my mother-in-law did for her much larger Sears garden tractor, but she only got about 5-6 years out of that Sears whereas my LT-150 ran great until the deck rusted out 15+ years later.

So anyways, back to 2016 when I shopped -- when I looked at the Deere models, and focused on the X380, it was obvious it was built really well top to bottom. I really didn't see a single thing that felt or looked cheap. That was a big contrast to the Husky where almost everything felt or looked cheap. So with the two brands offering same/similar engine transmissions, it came down to the Deere costing more for the build quality and overall feel, and it was a no-brainer. I could see/feel/appreciate the benefit of the extra cost. Now, I got $700 off and had a great experience buying the Deere, which also helped a lot, but that was more about tipping me to buying "now" than buying the Deere. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have liked the Husky at any price point.

If I step back and think about all the riding mowers and garden tractors I have used over the years, nothing compares to an early 70s Sears garden tractor we had when I was a kid growing up. The thickness of the frame and quality of the metal body and components would put both a modern Deere and Husky to shame. They really don't build them like that any more, any brand at any price point. What's even more remarkable is that not only did that old Sears do duty mowing, gardening, snow removal, and moving firewood, but it was also subjected to a lot of abuse by my brother and me -- we treated that thing like an ATV sometimes. I clearly remember crashing it head on into a hemlock tree while my brother was riding in a lawn chair in the wagon through the woods (which was great fun for the person sitting in the lawn chair). There was no real damage to the tractor. Try doing that with a modern Deere/Husky/Sears and you'd be straightening the frame and replacing a lot of plastic body parts.

Yup!
I would not even consider buying a Sears rider today.
Still got my dad's 1972 Sears (Roper) with 15HP Briggs.
Runs/cuts like a champ, built like a tank ..... 45 years later!

 

[plowhog]

A year ago, I believe it was a Husky with a K46 transaxle vs. a Deere with a K66. At $700 off, your choices were probably something like $3,000 for the Husky with light duty transaxle, and other differences, vs. $3,800 for an x380 with a K66 transaxle. $800 difference with a known better quality transaxle, plus other differences.

My buying decision is different. Now both models have a heavy duty K66 transaxle. And the Husky has a good quality Kawasaki engine. And the price difference is $1,500, even though the capabilities of the major components have been equalized. If the extra $1,500 were simply attributable to build quality, that would be one thing. But the earlier poster communicated he believes there is, in essence, price-fixing by Deere dealers. I don't know price-fixing laws and don't need to learn them. I just want to mow my lawn. But handing a Deere dealer 4,500 dollars, believing some of that cost may be attributed to price-fixing, would be tough. If that poster is correct, you are getting absolutely nothing in return for the excess dollars being squeezed by the anti-competitive practices.

I've seen other businesses and industries (not Deere) try to rig pricing and markets. I've actually seen it work successfully right up until customers believe they have been duped. Then it can backfire in a way that is very hard to recover from.