Just want to clarify this good point. For those who don't know I teach economics at HS level.
Opportunity cost is anything you forgo in order to make a decision you make. It does not even have to be financial. The opportunity cost of typing out this post is whatever I could otherwise have been doing.
For the people who value the large network and brand recognition of the JD and Kubota lines, the opportunity cost of those choices would be money to buy implements or vacations or whatever choices they otherwise could have made by buying a less expensive brand.
For the people who buy more on price, the opportunity cost is the bigger network and name recognition or the potential risk of the brand going away.
We all weigh those choices and make the best one we can given our own tolerance for the risk and ability to analyze that risk.
My issue is when people imply or state that the best choice for everyone is to choose one way or another.