RK Tractor reviews???

[Ford850]

As I understand it, Cabela's dropped their tractor line due to Bass Pro acquiring them. The same can be done at the manufacturer level between any of the tractor companies and at the dealer level as the 'bigs' continue to buy out the smaller dealers, so any brand is at risk. RK is thinking outside the box and doing a great job with their marketing and service so far. It seems like the only issues posted here come from people with other brands for some reason. It's funny that many of the naysayers are also the first to be on here asking where they can buy parts to bypass their dealer, and how many times have you seen the term "stealer" on here? RK has worked out a business model to provide what many are asking for, so I applaud them. I also applaud them for having someone on this site answering questions and communicating directly with the consumer. How many of us can say that about our favorite brand?

 

[TractorNH]

Tractor NH,

I think the Cabella issue is exaggerated. We need to be careful when equating warranty support and long term dealer support. If the #'s were as inflated as suggested, there would have been multiple class action legal actions.
Lexis Nexis did not reveal any class actions?


Do YOU personally know anyone affected by a failure to execute warranty support? No one wants to see their dealer cease operations. A question was posed to RK if they would provide parts for Cabella owners? The answer is affirmative.


No ONE likes what occurred w/ the Cabella situation, but at this point it doesn't serve anyone's interest to paint RK w/ that same brush. RK had NO connection to that relationship. Let's analogize and draw a correlation on a much more personal level.

Presume for a moment, a member of YOUR family committed a crime against society. Shall we ALL then assume that since this is YOUR relative, YOU are likely to also commit a similar crime? Is that fair?. Well it is not fair to RK either!!!

The warranty support issues with Cabella's tractors is well documented on this site. Did you actually read my post though? Did you see the part where I detailed the differences between RK and Cabella's? Here it is again because I think you missed the point....

I was thinking the same thing when you consider all the people who got screwed on warranty buying from Cabella's BUT I do believe there's a big difference between Cabella's and RK. Cabella's is more of a sporting goods store that happened to try selling tractors whereas RK is an actual farm type store. IMO that is a HUGE difference going into it because tractors seem like a good fit for the RK product line but it would still make the decision more complicated for me as well. Cabella's really had no business getting into the tractor business.

 

[majorwager]

Tractor NH,
Not going to belabor the point. There is NO basis to even raise the cabella issue in relationship to RK. If you believe in guilt by association, that speaks to a narrow mindset. I have read some whining posts on this site. I still maintain most are bitter that their dealer vanished. I believe warranty issues were resolved, the cabella sale did NOT occur immediately subsequent to the advent of tractor sales. Anyone who purchased tractors after Bass Pro announced they were exiting the tractor business KNEW the consequences. Point remains, RK should not be painted w/ the sins of another. If I knew your complete family history, and a skeleton jumped out, should you be held liable for the actions of another?. I tried to make this point previously, but you did NOT want to listen. The adage goes, can only lead the horse to water...?.

EDIT:
There are Oldsmobile and Pontiac owners that are angry with GM. Not because they suffered warranty issues, but because the now own a perceived orphan vehicle. These may be valid feelings toward GM but associating RK w/ the cabella matter is simply NOT relevant, without regard for any subsequent backtracking disclaimers why the issue was raised in the first place. It simply taints the entire discussion.,

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

RK Tractors has developed its own business model, and I sure don't mean to be argumentative, but be careful what you promise. Saying that your future pricing will be adjusted solely upon any changes to what your manufacturer charges you leaves decisions on price increases exclusively to your manufacturer. Doesn't that essentially put handcuffs on RK's bean counters? :laughing: It limits the potential for increasing profitability strictly to growth in volume of future sales.

Every other tractor brand is free to increase prices based in large part on demand, not just cost. And many have done that, as their reputation, cachet and brand loyalty have grown over the years. In a free-market economy, why would RK give that opportunity up? No one is expecting the family to run its tractor business as a public-service enterprise!

We are Rural King. Our entire business is based upon offering the lowest possible prices. We do not have to be careful about committing to adjusting prices to move with our cost. Hard for people to believe, but if we sell something for a dollar and our supplier lowers the price to us, we drop ours. RK Tractors pricing will move accordingly. We have set our prices for RK Tractors, and once a year, they will move to reflect the price extended to us. For other products, We undersell Amazon. We are a retailer growing when others get smaller. We never borrow money. The same family that began the business still runs it, and our employees are co-owners. Point is, we are different, and the same approach that has us in our 58th year and prospering is applied to our tractor business. More Tractor. Less Price.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

OK RK Tractor Guy, I have a question...

"IF" I drive 400 miles (each way) to a RK store and buy myself a RK tractor and haul it home, then 2 months later it has a electrical or other problem, what are my options?

A. take it to my local TYM dealer to be fixed and you pay the bill?

B. you send a service truck to my farm and fix it at no expense to me?

C. I have to haul it all the way back the 400 miles to a RK store to be fixed, then come back that 400 miles to pick it up to bring it back home, all at my expense?

OR??

This is a serous question that I would like to know the answer to...

AND, thanks for answering questions on this forum.

SR

 

[Threepoint]

Threepoint,

As stated, it appears RK is in this for the long game. The conditions and variables you suggest are years down the road. Believe the objective is to first prove to the tractor buying community that they are committed to this tractor endeavor.[snip]

Majorwager, if we assume RK is in it for the long haul (and I would expect they currently hope to be), it's all the more reason for RK or any other seller in their first full year of tractor sales to avoid making such a firm, and unnecessary IMO, commitment: Not to raise prices in the future unless their cost from their manufacturer increases. :shocked:

"Our pricing will be adjusted once per year on Jan 1 based solely upon any changes to what our manufacturer charges us, but every brand sees annual price changes."

Maybe RK Tractor Guy didn't literally mean that, and he can tell us if not. It surprised me, though, which is why I replied. As Woody Allen said, "Eternity is a very long time, especially towards the end."

The rest of your points are additional reasons why it makes sense for RK to indeed be offering low introductory pricing right now, whether they choose to call it that or not. I would expect it as a matter of sound marketing strategy.

As to my original comment that prompted RK Tractor Guy's reply, it was that public uncertainty about RK's future longevity in the tractor market no doubt factored into their introductory pricing. Uncertainty about a new entrant is entirely understandable, and predictable. What would be odd would be if it wasn't taken into account.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

Majorwager, if we assume RK is in it for the long haul (and I would expect they currently hope to be), it's all the more reason for RK or any other seller in their first full year of tractor sales to avoid making such a firm, and unnecessary IMO, commitment: Not to raise prices in the future unless their cost from their manufacturer increases. :shocked:

"Our pricing will be adjusted once per year on Jan 1 based solely upon any changes to what our manufacturer charges us, but every brand sees annual price changes."

Maybe RK Tractor Guy didn't literally mean that, and he can tell us if not. It surprised me, though, which is why I replied. As Woody Allen said, "Eternity is a very long time, especially towards the end."

The rest of your points are additional reasons why it makes sense for RK to indeed be offering low introductory pricing right now, whether they choose to call it that or not. I would expect it as a matter of sound marketing strategy.

As to my original comment that prompted RK Tractor Guy's reply, it was that public uncertainty about RK's future longevity in the tractor market no doubt factored into their introductory pricing. Uncertainty about a new entrant is entirely understandable, and predictable. What would be odd would be if it wasn't taken into account.

Don’t even know how to respond. Our pricing is not “introductory.” We are buying our tractors from the same company that makes most of Mahindra’s tractors. The difference is, we sell to tractor buyers and Mahindra sells to tractors dealers. We have cut out the middle man. We already make a nice profit, and see no reason to raise our prices. People are free to think what they want, but to declare that we are being anything but open and truthful about our future plans to pricing just seems a little unfair. Let us run our business and judge us for what we do, not what anyone thinks we will do.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

OK RK Tractor Guy, I have a question...

"IF" I drive 400 miles (each way) to a RK store and buy myself a RK tractor and haul it home, then 2 months later it has a electrical or other problem, what are my options?

A. take it to my local TYM dealer to be fixed and you pay the bill?

B. you send a service truck to my farm and fix it at no expense to me?

C. I have to haul it all the way back the 400 miles to a RK store to be fixed, then come back that 400 miles to pick it up to bring it back home, all at my expense?

OR??

This is a serous question that I would like to know the answer to...

AND, thanks for answering questions on this forum.

SR

The question is good and the answer is simple. We don’t sell our tractors to anyone not in reasonable proximity to an RK Tractors location. In the future, we will establish an “authorized RK Tractors service center” network that will open up the entire U.S. and Canada, but for now, we only sell our tractors to customers that live near our 45 RK Tractors locations. That way we can take care of our customer’s service needs.

 

[prof fate]

Our pricing is not low because it is introductory, our pricing is low because we buy our tractors directly from the tractor manufacturer, built in our brand and to our specifications, and then sell directly to the tractor user. Every other brand sells to a dealer first. That means our cost is much lower than that of the dealers we compete with. Our pricing will be adjusted once per year on Jan 1 based solely upon any changes to what our manufacturer charges us, but every brand sees annual price changes. We will always be far below anyone else.

As for whether we will be around in five years selling tractors, our company is a family and employee owned, American business began in 1960. We launched RK Tractors at seven locations in April 2017, ranked 14th of 14 under 60 HP tractor brands in the U.S. in unit tractor sales because we started at zero sales. We are at 40 locations today, and we will be at 60 locations by March 2019, and at all 115 Rural King locations in 2020. We won稚 reveal where we rank now in Sales other than say we have already passed many brands that have been around for 10 years or more.

We値l be around in five years, and 25 for that matter. We do understand why we need to keep sending that message though. All we can do is share our plans and stick to our commitments.

you may be around - who knows though. Sears has been around 100 years...but won't be much longer. Woolworth, Montgomery Ward are gone, kmart is nearly so. Longevity means little these days.

And you've sold tractors in the past - diff brands - and dropped them (for whatever reason, matter not). So you may do so again.

I'd add in that you are a dealer, just as Mahindra dealers are. Neither of you make the tractor, both sell it. YOu sell it via store - i'm assuming your workers are not paid commission, where i"m sure every dealer's sales people are paid a commission.

While it's not been stated, i'm assuming also your price is your price, my price, his price, etc. Where as Deere, Kioti, etc negotiate pricing.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

you may be around - who knows though. Sears has been around 100 years...but won't be much longer. Woolworth, Montgomery Ward are gone, kmart is nearly so. Longevity means little these days.

And you've sold tractors in the past - diff brands - and dropped them (for whatever reason, matter not). So you may do so again.

I'd add in that you are a dealer, just as Mahindra dealers are. Neither of you make the tractor, both sell it. YOu sell it via store - i'm assuming your workers are not paid commission, where i"m sure every dealer's sales people are paid a commission.

While it's not been stated, i'm assuming also your price is your price, my price, his price, etc. Where as Deere, Kioti, etc negotiate pricing.

Sir, it is pointless to continue this exchange. We will keep a presence on the RK Tractors forum to answer the questions of people interested in our tractors and seeking information. You are free to think what you want, but you and anyone that reads your comments should realize that you have no basis of fact, only opinion. Suggest that you direct your efforts and comments on the brand forums that interest you, not one that you clearly seem to have a problem with. Our best to you.