Knowledgeable JD Sales People

[deere4600]

I visited the Minnesota State fair yesterday and made my usual one hour visit to the JD display (much to my wife's chagrin). Various JD dealers work the display throughout the ten day run. I was approached by a dealer rep from a dealership located close to the twin cities and asked if I had any questions. I was admiring a new 5220 with the isolated platform option. First I asked him if he could tell me the largest ag tire (bar) I could put on the tractor. He said he didn't know but that Deere offered many sizes. (no offer to look it up in the sales book). Several of the tractors had prices marked but the 5220 did not. I asked him the list price as equipped. He didn't know but thought it was around $20,000 (it was actually closer to $27,000). I asked him if he knew was it would cost to move up to the 5320 just comparing base tractor to base tractor. He said he didn't know (no offer to look it up). I asked him if he knew what the MFWD option costs on the series. He said he wasn't sure but it was probably $10,000. He asked me what I had currently and I told him that I had a 4400 and that it was the 3rd 4000 series tractor I owned. I asked him when the new 4000 ten series would be available and he told me "sometime next year." All of these responses were following his question to me "do you have any questions". Now in retrospect, he never told me he had any answers, only that he was interested in whether I had questions so technically, he was not guilty of being a moron. In his defense he probably has been listening to hundreds of questions from people with little actual interest in a tractor and was probably just making small talk. But when he realized that I was a consumer of John Deere prodcuts (expensive ones at that) I would have thought he would made a better effort to get information.

 

[cowboydoc]

That has been my experience with just about any salesman that I have ever dealt with. Rarely do I go to find out about something and they know more about the product than you do. Now granted I usually research what I am going to buy before I ever go and look at it but you would think they would know the products that they sell.

 

[DDT]

I have always found it amusing to tell the salesmen more about there tractors than they know or care to look up!

 

[Hillbilly]

Yes,and it is easy to "inform"them,when we have so much information at our fingertips(especially this forum). I have asked sales people questions they could not answer. Thanks to conversing here and being fortunate enough to interact with some very knowledgable tractor friends.

 

[deere4600]

I've tried to cut the ag dealers a little slack when it comes to questions on the compact utility tractors. These guys are trying to keep track of the information on the complete JD line from combines to push mowers. I don't expect them to be completely up to date on every piece of equipment that Deere markets. But the fellow I spoke with at the Minnesota State fair represented a dealership that is limited to lawn and garden, skid steer loaders and tractors up to the 5000 twenty series. I thought he should be know more. What really irritated me was the fact he made no attempt to get the information I was requesting. There were other dealer reps there as well as access to sales manuals inside their building. I agree with Hillbilly that discussion boards like this one and jplan.com provide us the necessary information to make our puchasing decisions. If we rely solely on what the sales reps tell us we won't get the information we need. I have a dealer that lets me look at his product information book that he gets from Deere. There doesn't seem to be anything real confidential but it does allow me to study things like tire options, implement compatibility etc. I suppose most dealers wouldn't let the customer do that. It gives me a chance to be certain of what I want. For example, when I ordered my 4400 I noticed that the 55 amp alternator was available as an option. I use up to six auxillary lights for snow plowing and wanted to make sure I had enough capacity. By going through the product information book I picked up on this point. I suspect most dealers wouldn't bother to mention it because they don't seem to know the product. It seems rather odd because there is dealer profit on every implement/accessory that we buy.

 

[Cornhuskerdeere]

I just read these posts, and agree there are quite a few unknowledgeable salespeople. But, if you have any questions regarding John Deere equipment, I can probably answer them, or at least find out for you. I have been in the John Deere business for 23 years now, and have a pretty good idea what its all about.

Thanks,

 

[BobT]

Cornhusherdeere,

Many thanks for coming in here as a dealer and interacting with users and BUYERS!!! We are happy to see good experienced dealers, and your offer to provide info is very much appreciated by many I am sure.

BobT.
A Indiana Boy

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Ok...

John Deere has an "implement code" system to determine front ballast needed when changing 3-pt implements...

I'm assuming you add a "O" to the end of each code group and this translates to "weight", ex. your MX-7 rotary cutter has implement code "119" with single rear wheel. This same implement weights 1190 lbs...

Your ballast/code chart indicates "8" quik-tatch weights will be needed, along with loaded/liquid front tires...

My question is this... what happens when you add a 521 loader mounted on the tractor into the equation?

Also the loader manual recommends no front weights with the loader attached... I seem to be in a catch-22 situation on my JD5205 MFWD w/ 521 loader and a 7' 1375 lb. rotary cutter mounted on the 3-pt.

What can you recommend? {I have to leave my loader mounted...as my brush is mostly 5-7 feet tall...}

Thank you Cornhuskerdeere for your time...

 

[StanInCalif]

Cornhusker-
Welcome- We need a little more Green here.

<font color=green>stan</font color=green>

 

[Cornhuskerdeere]

Hello,

My recomendation for the cutter issue is to go with a lighter cutter. In the John Deere sales manual, the MX7 cutter requires a minimum of 50 PTO horsepower and is targeted for use on 4 cylinder 5000 series tractors.

The ballast issue--a 521 loader will definately help you to counterweight the cutter, but sometimes it is a pain to leave the loader on to cut. Maybe filling the front tires w/ calcium or anti-freeze will give you the needed weight to help counterbalance the cutter.