parts at outrageous prices

[Citydude]

Messick's wants $285 + $118 shipping for a Land Pride 8' plow cutting edge. Paid a little over $100 for the last one locally but no one has them in stock. They are backordered until the end of March.

Messick's has them in stock for immediate shipping so I guess I'm stuck. Wrong time of year to replace one I guess.

Yeah, I could wait but I'm already tearing up the moldboard frame. We're getting 2 or 3 nuisance storms a week now, and I'm afraid of doing more plow frame damage.

Yes, the cutting edge is reversible but I did it last year. I thought there was enough edge left to get me through till spring. Not so, since I've already plowed 11 times this season and there are still 6 more weeks of winter according to that damn ground hog.

I used to make my own from a $50 length of 6" x 1/2" steel plate but the 16 square holes with recesses for the flat head carriage bolts on the OEM edge are tough to replicate. Ordinary bolt heads, even round head carriage bolts, cause the snow to stick to the blade on this plow for some reason.

I ended up stitch welding a 3" piece of 3/8 flatbar on the cutting edge. When that wears down, I'll grind it off and replace.

Not buying the expensive cutting edges anymore.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I ended up stitch welding a 3" piece of 3/8 flatbar on the cutting edge. When that wears down, I'll grind it off and replace.

Not buying the expensive cutting edges anymore.

I tried that with the last edge. It's high magnesium steel and, for me anyway, a real pain to weld. Made quite a mess.

 

[bearthebruce]

How about a Kubota OE replacement fuel tank cap for $105... Plastic part... Think that is reasonable?

Found a "compatible" one for $25... We'll see how compatible.

 

[Carl_NH]

Here's a bad one. The FEL on my Mahindra 2555 cab controller/joystick broke the small plastic/bakelite piece that holds the cables for the valve controls. Mahindra only sells the entire joystick assembly (~$1,000 Not Installed!) and I haven't found a 3rd party unit. The other pieces are just formed mild steel rod and a few nuts. Go figure! Maybe we are all in the wrong business!View attachment 2664599

If its bakelite you cant plastic weld as it doesn't melt it but JB Weld would work and for that $$$ it is worth a try. Could also buy a 3DPrinter for $500 to 1000 and make the part and more parts for other things too!

 

[Oaktree]

Tractor parts have become a bit like boat parts. Its just greed and convenience finding a middle ground.

Or snowmobile, motorcycle, ATV or any other relatively low production specialized vehicle parts.
I wouldn't say it's greed as much as the cost of keeping an inventory of these parts would be quite high given the (relatively) low volume sold. It would help if there were more standardization across brands and even models within a brand, enough to encourage aftermarket suppliers.

It's been quite a few years since I've owned a foreign-brand auto but IIRC parts for them were disproportionately expensive too.

 

[BobLewis]

I had to work on a John Deere GT 235 for my church and we had manpower for one day before a rainy week, I had ordered parts needed from Amazon, but had to expedite it, so I found a JD dealer, 50 miles away that had what we needed. The Amazon order was $35, the JD price was $125. Steering drag link joints were identical and the others were comparable, but Amazon took back the parts which came the next day without problems, shipping or charges.

 

[Citydude]

I tried that with the last edge. It's high magnesium steel and, for me anyway, a real pain to weld. Made quite a mess.

Yes, it's hot mess of blobs for sure.

 

[al b]

I knew a guy who worked for GE waaaay back. He told me a story about the "real reason" for $800 toilet seats. No idea if it is correct, but sounded reasonable. He said the contracts often have overruns and such and those cost get spread out over everything for some reason. So if they charge an extra 1 mil for some change or something then they would divide that out across every thing in the contract so every bolt and nut and whatnot would look extra expensive as they all got a slice of that over run cost but it wasn't that the part was actually that expensive. Seemed logical.

What does it mean to over run.i can't make sense of it.

 

[tassmannn]

How about a Kubota OE replacement fuel tank cap for $105... Plastic part... Think that is reasonable?

Found a "compatible" one for $25... We'll see how compatible.

Yeah, Kubota is proud of their parts. I needed the grey Push Rivits for the headliner inside my RTVX 1100. They were $1.62 apiece. I couldn't find them anywhere else that size in great, only black. Crazy.

 

[DennisK47]

How about $20 for 1 lynch pin. Outlet Store - Complete Tractor
I doubt this online store will survive.

Wait until the tariffs kick in