Japan disaster.

[lawn_king]

Will kubota owners feel the effects of the disaster as far as attaining parts,etc?

 

[easygo]

I'm thinking that might be a possibility. But!!! I'm absolutely sure the poor people in Japan are going to put in an extreme effort for that problem to be as little as possible. We need them and they need us.

 

[richamor]

I had to take my new chainsaw back for some tweaking and I mentioned that to my dealer. He said that there should be enough in existing supply for the remainder of this year, but if it isn't replaced there could be problems later on.

I'm not worried about that, and I hope they aren't. The task before the Japanese is almost unimaginable. My heart goes out to them.

 

[Baby Grand]

Their core economy just got dealt a knock out punch to the chops. People can't get food, water, gas or electricity in parts of Tokyo. Think about that statement in terms of what it would mean in LA or NYC. There would be anarchy in the streets. I think everything will be affected, including tractor part availability for a little while.

I used to work in the semiconductor lithography OEM business. The "Fabs" that make chips are very sensitive to seismic activity and are designed to shut down when a quake happens to prevent damage to the equipment. When they shut down their in-process product is often rendered scrap. A big quake like they had will affect a huge area in this way. If what you need has a chip in it, chances are good it won't be available for a while.

 

[dodge man]

I imagine it depends on where there factories are located. A lot of their stuff in made in the USA, but a lot of it comes from Japan. If Kubotas stuff is made in a area where they had major quake damage, it could be a problem, if not, I think any problems would be short term.

 

[IslandTractor]

Their core economy just got dealt a knock out punch to the chops. People can't get food, water, gas or electricity in parts of Tokyo. Think about that statement in terms of what it would mean in LA or NYC. There would be anarchy in the streets. I think everything will be affected, including tractor part availability for a little while.

I would disagree with your "knock out punch" assessment. Clearly there has been a jolt and there will be temporary over reactions (people buying up all the food in Tokyo) but it is not like there is a true food or water shortage in Japan as they have just as much as they would have had four days ago Initial panic will subside especially in relatively unaffected areas such as Tokyo. They will make adjustments to food and power distribution to normalize or come close to normalizing operations in most areas of daily life relatively quickly given the general efficiency and public minded behavior of the Japanese people. I cannot think of another country (maybe Singapore) where the public would be more cooperative and willing to behave as their leaders request. That will certainly help get things back on a relatively even keel sooner.

I don't doubt that some factories will indeed be out of action for a long time but it is too early to tell exactly how that will influence things for a company like Kubota. Maybe there will be replacements available and maybe not. If the Kubota transmission factory was inundated by the tsunami wave (it wasn't) then that would certainly cause serious disruption but if the seat factory was destroyed they could pretty quickly find another supplier.

 

[ericher69]

Ridiculous that you are worried about parts for your tractor when the people of Japan are dying as we speak!

You should maybe worry more about the fallout that could affect the USA and Canada

Here's a video showing the possibility

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcMiNIz0X5Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[955er]

I sell fiber optic connector products, and we have already been told that sub-assembly parts on some big selling connector kits are no longer available due to the event. We are looking for other plants and sources to pick up the slack.

Definately affecting us.

 

[freddyr]

You have to remember that all of japan isn't destroyed. Toyota is opening its factories on thur. It depends on where the factories were located. It's really amazing to see the pictures. Glad i'm not in California but here in pa there is the Manderin fault which nobody talks about!

 

[Transit]

Even if a factory is not located in the earth quake area, shortages in power to run factory and the availability of supplies form other factories will have a dampening effect. It will be a slow recovery. And there is still the possibility of a double dip recession, station-flation or worse yet a depression.

No one really knows for sure, we need to see how it all plays out.

 

[Baby Grand]

I would disagree with your "knock out punch" assessment. . .

Yeah - probably not the best choice of words.

 

[IslandTractor]

Ridiculous that you are worried about parts for your tractor when the people of Japan are dying as we speak!

You should maybe worry more about the fallout that could affect the USA and Canada

Here's a video showing the possibility

YouTube - Japan More news and Evac Reactor 4 fire and third blast

1) No one is saying tractor parts are a priority and it is just a discussion that opens up the questions of long term effects of this disaster. The people of Japan are not dying as we speak. Please don't exaggerate. The tsunami deaths virtually all occurred within 15 minutes of the event and there is nothing any of us can do to prevent those. The survivors are in difficult and uncomfortable circumstances but there is absolutely no evidence that anyone is "dying as we speak". Calm down.

2) The Youtube link provided was just to a news conference in Japan that most of us have already heard. The graphic on the screen was not discussed and I don't know who drew it or calculated the exposures presented. Most intelligent balanced scientific discussions on the news have clearly characterized the Japanese "melt down" as a different (smaller) order of magnitude from Chernobyl. No one has implied that there would be serious risk to US residents even if melt down does occur. In Chernobyl the reactor core was blown into the sky and vaporized. That is not a plausible scenario here, not even worst case. There is no question that the current situation is an awful mess but let's not start exaggerating risk.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Kubota sent all the dealers an update on whats happened. They where basicly unaffected. Their most northern factory shut down for two days given what had happened, but will be running tomarrow. If there are complications it would be things that happen on a national scale.

There is no question that the current situation is an awful mess but let's not start exaggerating risk.

No doubt these is a lot of unfounded freakout happening. Cable news needs its weekly crisis for ratings.

 

[IslandTractor]

No doubt these is a lot of unfounded freakout happening. Cable news needs its weekly crisis for ratings.

And Anderson Cooper needs a venue for his silly news entertainment theatrics and to build up his frequent flier miles too.

 

[ericher69]

Islandtractor

Don't exaggerate? Have you watched the news and the satellite photo's?

How do you know that people are not dying as we speak? I cannot prove that anyone is but unless you have any type of experience (emergency related) then I cannot accept your claim that most people died in the first 15 minutes.

How many people trapped under rubble could be dying now?

Not arguing just saying

Glad to hear Kubota factory will be open in a few days

 

[houstonscott]

If you need parts or filters I would stock up now.

HS

 

[IslandTractor]

Ericher69 I understand your point. However, the deaths in a tsunami are overwhelmingly by drowning (less than 15 min) or by severe trauma (hit by big debris etc while in the water). If you are trapped under debris you are usually also underwater for at least ten minutes and will drown. Unlike some other types of disaster, a tsunami is a horribly efficient killer.

I did work in Banda Aceh right after the 2004 tsunami that killed 150,000 in one city. There were very few injured a few days later as almost all the injured drowned immediately. Most of those that did not drown bled to death or died of shock days before the first emergency medical teams arrived. Medical teams dealt mostly with walking wounded or those who developed pneumonia after near drowning. Very different than a real earthquake situation like Haiti where injured trapped people definitely need rescuing and benefit from aggressive medical care. .

Islandtractor

Don't exaggerate? Have you watched the news and the satellite photo's?

How do you know that people are not dying as we speak? I cannot prove that anyone is but unless you have any type of experience (emergency related) then I cannot accept your claim that most people died in the first 15 minutes.

How many people trapped under rubble could be dying now?

Not arguing just saying

Glad to hear Kubota factory will be open in a few days

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

Yike. Flame wars on the tractor forum? May I respectfully suggest a quick time-out, or maybe everybody take a deep breath and count to 10?

My son lives in Japan. He's OK, but I reserve the right to be worried as ****. Lots of people are not OK. It breaks my heart, really.

That said, it seems that a resposible manufacturer or vendor could be excused for wondering about their business' future.

Let's focus our thoughts on those in need, but maybe we can let life here (wherever that may be) go on a little too.

Down off the soap box now. Let's stay friends.

Z.

 

[Tachdriver]

I hope and pray for all those unfortunate people what were in the line of fire from this disaster. And I hope those reactors cool down. Japan is one of our very best allies. I also have friends in Japan. They will recover and shine better than before, but it's going to take time.


Later

 

[ericher69]

The big threat here is the nuclear reactors...

Obviously for the people around and even a continent away. Natural disasters are one thing but nuclear fallout and radiation contamination is a whole other story. Let's hope that nobody is covering up just how dire the situation really is!