Dargo
Super Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2004
- Messages
- 5,981
- Location
- S. IN
- Tractor
- Jinma, Foton, TYM, Belarus, Yanmar, Branson, Montana, Mahindra and maybe some green and orange too.
I'm 62. Bought over 115 cars. Remember cars well from the 50's and 60's. Owned a bunch of them. Like seeing them now at car shows and often hear how much better old cars are than new cars. I'm a live for today and tomorrow kind of guy so I don't dream of the past. There is no comparison of the quality of cars today vs cars of the past. I've owned both and still do. Just sold my last 90 Allante. Tires! Batteries! Radios! Seats! Engine power! Engine life! MPG! Etc, Etc. The only thing older cars had was better looks,well more chrome and they didn't all look the same and had thicker metal then(better/worse?). I've bought 9 Kubotas in the last 6 years and each one has had some improvements over the previous model and one had some not improvements but it's gone. There are "probably" more Kubotas sold every year than there were ever in the previous years so more parts made which usually means more spares made. Will probably be able to get replacement parts easier for current models than you can now for those 20/30 year old Kubotas. Some people like the shift on the column, straight transmission cars and some like a tractor to be a tractor meaning a hand crank and steel wheels and no power steering but most of us like to turn the key and with one finger steer this tractor all over our yards and just press the pedal for back or forth according to sales figures. We are the major buying public us "want it easier to operate" people!!!
A very interesting and insightful reply. I'm a bit younger, but have probably bought more vehicles (my wife calls it an addiction
). I've not had nearly as many tractors, but at least a couple dozen or so. I see similar things as you do. I really liked a 1978 short bed Chevy Scottsdale 4X4 pickup that was burgundy with a wide silver area down the side of the truck. I use it as an example because I kept it for nearly 25 years. I replaced several bed corners, front fenders and bedsides due to rust. Each time I bought new fenders I noticed that they fit worse than the previous ones. After much investigation I found that the original molds for stamping those fenders were slowly wearing out and all future fenders would require more "tweaking" to get them to fit properly. The bottom line was that it was beginning to be difficult to find quality replacement parts for the body. I feel I could have kept the powertrain going indefinitely without having parts availability issues but the body was a different issue. I hated to see that truck go, many great memories with it, but it didn't qualify in my mind as something I could completely restore and keep as a show vehicle. I think I messed up thinking the same thing about the rusty '67 El Camino with a factory big block though. Anyway, I think we will see similar things with tractors. Many of the sheet metal parts, fenders and such may become hard to find as they begin to reach antique stages but I don't think there will be a problem getting replacement Kubota driveline parts. If that is indeed the case, it is a really hard call as to what the life expectancy for a Kubota is. I think that would make it fall directly into the "it depends" category. I think it's safe to say 'a good long while' and not be incorrect.
