Is the heaviest weight the best built?

[HayDR]

Functional weight or shall I call it a better use of weight placement. Here are some pitfalls I have noticed that may fool some first time buyers
·Cast Iron components that should be made of steel
·Large casting gearbox cases with small shafts and gears inside
·Disc mowers, 3 pt., that have heavy outside shoes and end supports that cause the mower to be unbalanced
·7 gauge steel decks on rotary cutter decks without proper bracing
·Large clutches on under sized PTO shafts with a large plastic shield covering...Guess who
·Thick glossy black paint on wear parts making them look heavier built

This is only a few, what do the barnyard engineers have to say?
I’m one too… LOL

 

[Anonymous Poster]

You forgot aluminum windings instead of copper,
Stamped steel housings,
Bondo,
and Walmart's favorite, Made in CHINA.
More money for advertising, and less in the product = New and Improved.

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color=blue>...·Cast Iron components that should be made of steel
·Large casting gearbox cases with small shafts and gears inside...</font color=blue>

Hi Mark,

As you know... extremely popular on the Chinese tractors/components... /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

 

[saw_dust]

Who is the biggest manufacturer of American flags ? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

You guessed it,China...

 

[Hydraman]

According to some in our Judicial system( 9th court of appeals);but I won't mention any names, it is probably "unconstitutional" to make the US Flag here!!!

 

[HayDR]

John,

I too use and sell Chinese components to MFG's. The Indian, Turkish and European components are easier to control the consistent quality. Dealing direct with Chinese trading companies is costly and aggravating. You can find junk in every country. The best quality cost more and in the AG industry some MFG purchase only as good as the market demands. I try to purchase & sell 10-30% more quality than the market demands. This shows up in less warranty claims and dissatisfied customers. Many Chinese products are good fits for the American market demands.

 

[putty]

One great complaint I have is electronic parts that should be mechanical, It would be one thing if car or tractor manufacturers use cheaper electronics parts and maybe pass the savings on to us , but they tend to use cheaper parts and try to trick you into thinking they are better.

 

[rationalizer]

CCI,

As always the answer is "depends". Weight is certainly a "factor" I look at - but only one of many. For items without "moving parts" (ie: blades, rakes, etc.) then weight is important - assuming the welds are good and there isn't something really dumb in the design. For attachments with "moving parts" (ie: tillers, cutters, mowers etc.) then weight is "less important".

I'm shopping for a tiller right now and I'd say weight is less important to me than many other factors like gearbox "rating", chain sizes, design features, country of manufacture, manuf. reputation, etc. Even some of these can be misleading - is a big chain a plus? Maybe not if that is "designed" to be the weak link as it is the cheapest to fix... The gearbox rating question is also interesting - I'm not sure all the manuf. use the same design standards...any ideas there?

Bill

 

[JimMc]

Gearbox ratings are one of the biggest areas for misleading specs. As a manufacturer, I can legitimately rate "A" at 15HP or 50HP. It all depends on the service life I want to assume. Many manufacturers do this routinely. If you need a larger HP rating to compete, just reduce the service life. Nobody publishes service life as a spec, so no one knows what you have done. Same is true with bearings and weight capacities.

 

[patrickg]

A couple examples with few moving parts: A "Crescent" wrench and a "pair" of ViceGrips.

Take, for example, an 8 inch Crescent brand Crescent wrench is made of better steel and is lighter and stronger than a Craftsman copy. In addition it will open wider to fit a larger nut. Although thinner, its jaws distort less under stress and take more abuse without acquiring so many nicks and irregularities. It is more convenient when there is less clearance around the nut to be held/turned since its jaws are thinner. Many "Harbor Freight" level of quality tools are even further from the ideal. Don't flame me, I buy at Harbor Freight but not for everything.

Next, take for instance, the lowly ViceGrip: You sure can buy cheaper in brand X but are they the same? NO, NOT A CHANCE!!!!

I have several brand X which make decent clamps for welding and the like (I don't cry about a litle welding debris getting stuck to their finish.) I have tested essentially identical looking vicegrip tools one against the other for removing broken headless screws. If the object to be gripped is hard metal then the cheap imitation can't be clamped onto it tightly enough to resist popping off while the REAL ViceGrip will allow successful removal of the broken screw. This was not a fluke. I spent a year fixing up a 1928 built house and pulled a lot of broken screws.

No combination of bigger, heavier, and cheaper will guarantee more functionality per buck spent. I'm sure there are many instances (especially LOW TECH) where crude is fine. For example: dead blow hammers, brass mallets, "crow" bars or whatever.

Again, I'm not preaching buy only "NAME" brands, buy American, or saying anything aginst any of the tool importers. Realize that bigger and heavier can't always compensate for soft steel, poor detailing, and genetically deficient engineering.

Genetic deficiency? Make a Xerox copy of a Xerox copy of a ... and you loose a lot of detail. Just because a steel foundary can cast/machine something that looks like object X doesn't mean that it will funtion like the original.

That said, I have a nice looking large Chinese vice that was a small fraction of the cost of an equivalent name brand. On closer inspection it turned out to be a very rough casting with lots of Bondo to make a nice smooth paintable unit. So what? When my sloppy angle grinder wielding sends up a shower of Bondo dust instead of steel and sparks, I just think of the $$$ I saved.

Patrick