RK24

[Diggin It]

I just returned from my 9th trip to Korea, and certainly our manufacturer, TYM, thinks we are going to be a success. They are the ones that receive the orders from us.

You said there'd be pictures!!! :cool2::drink::dance1:

 

[majorwager]

RK Tractor guy,

Welcome back, seems a short stay in country considering the miles traveled?

Is your store in NC at risk due to the storm? Many factories do not allow fabrication photos for consumer consumption?

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

I’ll post some pics tomorrow morning.

 

[prof fate]

I own two businesses, have a degree in finance and management, have 40 plus years working moslty for small/family businesses.

GM learned many years ago that if you can finance your expensive (more than a visa card can take) item you sell more of them AND you can make more money - on the sale AND on the financing!! GMAC was born.

Others have followed suit, if not all car companies I'd be surprised by now, if not alone then with a bank (similar to the finance deals at lowes, etc are often with discover, capital one, etc)

Zero interest may be that..or it may have the 'profit' or 'cost' of the loan built into the price - hence the discount for 'cash'. Not sure about tractor dealers, but toyota, ford, chevy, yamaha, suzuki I know pay the dealer a fee if they finance through them - so the dealer makes more with a financed sale than a cash sale.

In some ways it's nice to see "this is the price. financing is x%" rather than the games/smoke and mirrors that are standard in the big ticket sales world.

CDB2:
EDIT: I don't speak for RK. Going out on a limb here, presuming most consumers have a BANKING Relationship w/ a lending institution. Going a step further, and presuming your value to said BANK as a customer, then would it be unreasonable that YOU would be offered a prefered lending rate ? True, tractor manufacturers have a vested interest (no pun) in hooking the consumer to purchase their brand.

NO FREE LUNCHES will endure through all time. You astutely noted Zero interest bears a COST. Borrow from the bank, go to tractor dealer w/ cash, watch what happens to the numbers !!! RK is just ahead of the curve. They simply start at the deep discount up front.

 

[prof fate]

I could have a nice farm if I could combine all of the failed dealerships within 50 miles of here.

Many reasons for that - one is it's a tough business to remain profitable. People need cars - tehy don't need boats, tractors, motorcycles, atvs, etc. Times get tough and they don't buy. Dealerships fold.

RK has the financial backing to weather the storm, so that is a good thing. But as a large successful company I'm sure they have accountants that watch the numbers, and have benchmarks and goals to hit - if they don't make $X selling tractors, later gator.

ALL retail has performance benchmarks - how much turnover, sales per sf of space, etc, etc. They study what brings in foot traffic, what folks buy with what, etc. All those reward club/neigbors club bits are mostly for their own benefit on who buys what, when, etc. Haven't seen that at RK...bad for them. They don't know I have horses, turkeys, chickens, a tractor, cats, dogs..tehy would if htey were tracking my purchases. TSC does..and they send me incentives to keep coming back.

It's very costly to get a new customer rather than keep the ones you have coming back. And as the market saturates with 'farm stores' the only new customer to you is one took from a competitor. That can get expensive.

 

[RustyT]

Lol TSC the place that sends me come in we have this on sale. Go in same day I get the card. Oh we quit carrying that last year.

 

[fried1765]

Lol TSC the place that sends me come in we have this on sale. Go in same day I get the card. Oh we quit carrying that last year.

I honestly think that TSC has the worst inventory control on the planet.
I NEVER rely on my closest TSC (55 miles) having what I want......thus, I go there very seldom.....usually a waste of my time!

 

[atsah]

TSC = dog food bags with holes in them.. LOL I went three times to buy some Blue Wilderness for my pup, they had 20 30 pound bags and I couldn't fine ONE without a hole in it, I find the staff to be incompetent, I don't waste my time there..

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

As promised, here are some pics from my visit to TYM. This set is of the RK55 line, including an RK55 on the dyno. Note that tire & wheel (T&W) assemblies are just used for manufacturing , test and transport to shipping stations. All RK Tractors T&Ws are made in the USA by Titan.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

RK24H. Note that tire & wheel (T&W) assemblies are just used for manufacturing , test and transport to shipping stations. All RK Tractors T&Ws are made in the USA by Titan.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

RK19H on moving line. Note that tire & wheel (T&W) assemblies are just used for manufacturing , test and transport to shipping stations. All RK Tractors T&Ws are made in the USA by Titan.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

View attachment 570992View attachment 570993

Cylinder assembly and test, power coat paint booth, TYM's GMT loader/backhoe/mid-mower factory.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

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Parts warehouse at TYM's Iksan tractor factory.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

View attachment 570996

Transmission Test Cell at TYM R&D center near Daejong.

 

[Diggin It]

View attachment 570987

As promised, here are some pics from my visit to TYM. This set is of the RK55 line, including an RK55 on the dyno. Note that tire & wheel (T&W) assemblies are just used for manufacturing , test and transport to shipping stations. All RK Tractors T&Ws are made in the USA by Titan.

View attachment 570987

Hey, I like that Hovercraft version! No damage to crops or turf!! :thumbsup:

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

View attachment 570997View attachment 570998

War Memorial in Seoul. A special place for my family as my father lost a brother there during the Korea War on July 21 1950 after losing another brother at Iwo Jima during WWII. Both purple heart citations signed by Presidents Roosevelt and Truman hang in my home. My father also landed on Iwo as a Marine. The names of all U.S. KIA are listed by state inside the memorial. For whatever it is worth, the Koreans revere The U.S., for good reason of course, but to see the South today vs the North is one of the best examples of the difference between freedom and totalitarianism.

 

[RK Tractor Guy]

RK Tractor guy,

Welcome back, seems a short stay in country considering the miles traveled?

Is your store in NC at risk due to the storm? Many factories do not allow fabrication photos for consumer consumption?

Yes, short visit. Depart Saturday at noon, land in Seoul at 4PM Sunday, business Mon/Tue, depart Seoul 9am Wednesday arrive 9am Wednesday eastern. Our Morganton store is quite a bit inland but heavy rain event. You are correct on the sensitivity of factory pics, allowed when your product is isolated and no proprietary fixtures are present.

 

[Inspector507]

Pics may be too large. They fail to load on my end

 

[Diggin It]

^^ Loaded fine for me. And I'm super sensitive about image file sizes.

 

[Inspector507]

Pics in posts #52 through #57 shows up as invalid