Okay, while at Power Show Ohio, I saw several brands that I had never encountered before despite living in the dairy capital of Ohio for almost 30 years (Wayne County). The strange brands I remember -- no dealer within 75 miles of some very serious farm country, as far as I can tell -- Montana, TYM, Zetor, Branson, FarmTrac, and another brand that looked Ford blue but was not NH. I have heard of Long, Brown, Bradley, and a couple others that were around looking good for a while and have now gone to that great farm field in the sky, plus the usual big names that aren't around except in memories of conglomerates like Allis, Ford, and so on.
The main line of this thread, I believe, is to lament the fact that tractors have become like so many other products in this country -- i.e. a market driven consumable product. The designs are trending toward whatever is fashionable or popular at the time, albeit with a longer cycle than consumer electronics. The fact that the only way to survive in the business world is to make a profit, and that profit comes from selling lots of product at a low profit margin, less product at a high margin, or if you're lucky, lots of product at a high margin, is driving the tractor manufacturers to direct their efforts toward what seems to move out of the dealers lots the fastest.
You can't blame Kubota for trying to sell a B3030HSTC harder than a
B7800 gear model. The 3030 represents what a lot of people want and are willing to pay for. The 7800 is there for traditional tractor buyer -- the same guy who wants a non-extended cab 1/2 ton stick shift 6 cylinder 2wd pickup to use for work. The 3030 is for the other 95% who want the deluxe wheeled 4X4 V-8 crewcab leather laden A/C and stereo equipped neighbor impresser to drive to the kids soccer game and are willing to pay for it. How many 790's does JD sell compared to 10 or 20 series machines? How many TC30's does NH sell compared to the fancier line?
It's just modern business, guys. If you want to see basic no frills tractors continue to be offered, convince your friends and neighbors to buy them and drive the market in that direction. Until then, sit back and sigh as our materialistic society continues on it's merry way toward ever bigger and fancier everything. And before we all get insulted, how many of you guys who are reading this are empty nesters or soon to be, and living in, or planning to buy or build a house that is bigger than the one you lived in when the kids were being raised? How many have more cars/trucks than drivers? How many have more than 2 TV's, phones, stoves, showers, bathrooms, etc.? Tractors becoming toys and status symbols is just a small part of the national trend toward having more and more of everything while piously decrying the materialism all around us. And yeah, I'm guilty too. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Starbucks anyone?
