Dealer Why do NE dealers not recommend block heaters?

NIXON · Mar 14, 2004

When I bought my machine I asked for the block heater and got it no problem .
However when the conversation turned to tire chains ....
I was told I wouldn't be needing them .
I believed him until I got into a pretty scarey slide while blading snow /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif He missed out on a sale . I got a bit of education and a set of St. Pierre chains .
The block heater allows my tractor to come up to operating temp quicker ,and the chains seem to keep my seat cleaner . John

Junkman · Mar 14, 2004

Mercedes sold diesel cars all over the United States and the block heaters were standard equipment no matter where the car was sold, because they didn't want an unhappy customer that couldn't start the car if they just happened to wake up one morning in Duluth Minnesota and it was -20 and they normally lived in Florida. I can remember -20 degree weather in Worcester MA and that isn't the norm, but it does happen. For $25 it is cheap insurance for the few times you might just need it. It is like collision insurance. You hope that you won't wreck your car, but if you do, you want to know that the insurance company is going to pay to put it back together. If you pay $25 for the block heater, you know that if you use it the tractor is going to start. If you went to the barber and asked for a haircut, would he say that you didn't need one because he gave you one last week? If you want a hair cut every week, and are willing to pay for it, he will cut your hair every week. Tractor dealers are a strange bunch of people. They won't cut the price a dollar to make the sale, but will talk you out of buying an accessory item once they make the sale. I just think that they are all around poor business people that must have been in the right place at the right time, but have the wrong mentality for the job that they are in.

NIXON · Mar 14, 2004

If you went to the barber and asked for a haircut, would he say that you didn't need one because he gave you one last week?

Priceless comment /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I believe you hit the nail square on the head ! John

shoppintractors · Mar 14, 2004

Tractor dealers are a strange bunch of people. They won't cut the price a dollar to make the sale, but will talk you out of buying an accessory item once they make the sale. I just think that they are all around poor business people that must have been in the right place at the right time, but have the wrong mentality for the job that they are in. 

Junkman, Kind of a harsh "characterization" of tractor dealers don't ya think.

Don

Junkman · Mar 14, 2004

( Junkman, Kind of a harsh "characterization" of tractor dealers don't ya think.

Don )

Harsh...... Yes......... Honest......... Yes..... Deserved by reputation.........Yes......... How many people here have said that the dealers have been telling them that they don't need to buy heaters? Too many of them! I call them the way I see them. You might not agree, and you are entitled to your opinion, however I stand by my statement. If a customer requests to make a purchase, it isn't the dealers place to tell that customer that he doesn't need that item or product. His job is to sell the customer what he wants. How would you like it if you went to the store to buy a dozen eggs and the grocer said to you that you didn't need a dozen eggs and that a half dozen was enough for you. I think that you might be pretty perturbed and possibly as angry as a wet hen! I can hear you now "How dare that grocer tell me how many eggs I can purchase!". Think it is any different when a tractor purchaser asks the dealer to install a block heater? "Mr. Dealer, Please install a block heater in my new Kubota". "Sir, you don't need a block heater in that Kubota. It will start just fine." "But I want a block heater." "Sorry, you can't have a block heater." "But I want to give you money to install the block heater." "I don't want your money and your not getting a block heater." "I'm going to call Henro!" /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

NIXON · Mar 14, 2004

While Junkmans might have been cosidered "harsh " by you. I agree with his sentiment on the statement . Providing that it isn't someting incompatible with the machine concerned . Say a 7 ft brush hog on a bx . Or a safety related item . I believe the salesman should respond with something better than "you don't need it ". He should give a well founded reason not to buy the item, or just shut up and sell the customer what he wants . JMHO John

frank_f15 · Mar 14, 2004

will agree with you, my b2400 starts fine in all temps without block heater, the only thing i can say is that the heater will probalby help with the lubrication when it is cold.

paparammer · Mar 14, 2004

I have a BX1800 and got the same runaround. "you won't need it / it'll start just fine / besides it's much more complicated to put in than a BX2200". All this after being told by one employee they put block heaters in every tractor. After starting the tractor one day at about 0 degrees - yes, it started but it took a while; can't be as good for the engine. On the info from someone at TBN called Tractorsmart and for $30 got a block heater. Kubota part, Kubota instructions. Take off cowling, remove 3 bolts to take off muffler, pop freeze plug, insert heater, muffler back on , replace cowling and top off antifreeze. Not a lot of time or expense. If they consider this a complicated job, sort of worries me what will happen with more serious repairs. Since I believe they're a decent shop, I just don't understand it at all.

LateBloomer · Mar 14, 2004

Roger that JMan, I too asked for a block heater as I live in Alaska and it is rumored to get chilly here. I bought mine in Washington State and shipped it up to Anchorage to save the local tractor dealers "mark up" for shipping and saved about 3K. The dealer in Washington told me I didn't really need it but he did sell me on a magnet heater which turns out to be worthless. There is not even a flat place on the oil pan to accomodate this gadget so most of the heat goes out into thin but cold air. Oh how I wish I had insisted on the block heater, I am going to install one myself this summer. The start ups in subzero weather were painful and slow.

shoppintractors · Mar 14, 2004

'Tractor dealers' are a strange bunch of people. 'They' won't cut the price a dollar to make the sale, but will talk you out of buying an accessory item once 'they' make the sale. I just think that 'they' are all around poor business people that must have been in the right place at the right time, but have the wrong mentality for the job that 'they' are in. 

Junkman, Just so I understand your point. What your telling me is every single tractor dealer in NE falls into this category?

Don

44trxfun · Mar 14, 2004

As one who experienced this, I too asked myself this question. I bought from a 3rd-generation dealer who persuaded me I didn't need a block heater. I did not insist I needed one because I just moved here. I figured he knew regional weather better than I did, and I'd still back him on that.

So that leaves the question, how unusual was this winter in the NE? Enough off the charts to have made a lot of us who listened to our dealers wish we hadn't?

Henro · Mar 14, 2004

My tractors might not need their block heaters...but I sure do!

Like has been said above, if you start your tractor once at zero degree F or below without using the block heater, and you do it again after the heater has been on a half hour or an hour...you sure will not feel the same!

I don't plan on passing my tractors on to someone else after a couple years. As a matter of fact, I do plan on passing my tractors on to my kids in the distant future. For me the block heater makes me feel good each time I start my tractors in winter.

So...who is a dealer to tell me what I don't need?

I personally need a block heater, even though my tractor may not, in the short run...short = ten or twenty years...

Tractor dealers...well they are like everyone else...some really good, some really bad, and the rest everywhere in between... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif... Just like everything else in life...

Junkman · Mar 14, 2004

( Junkman, Just so I understand your point. What your telling me is every single tractor dealer in NE falls into this category?

Don )

No Don..... I am not saying that every tractor dealer in NE falls into this category and I never mentioned NE in my post. I was generalizing about all tractor dealers of every type and every brand of every color and every shape of every country of origin sold in every state in the entire United States, its Territories, and Possessions, including, but not limited to Guam, Virgin Islands, Allusion Islands, Puerto Rico, Marshal Islands, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau............... Bet you didn't know that there were so many places in the United States you never heard of! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
It was a pathetic, sarcastic, dig at a wonderful bunch of sweet old men that closely resemble father time, that have long outlived their useful purpose on Gods beautiful green earth and have nothing more to do with their lives but to deny us poor yuppie compact tractor owners of our life long desire to own a engine block heater while they patiently wait for the grim reaper to call their number to come to heaven to sell tractors.
I hope that this answers your question about what I meant by my comment. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PS.... this isn't a flame, but a feeble attempt at satire.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

spencer200 · Mar 14, 2004

Not fair Junkman not all dealers are like that. We give our customers whatever they ask for. We even include block heaters in all tractors we sell you dont even have to ask.

Junkman · Mar 14, 2004

I knew that I didn't want to go into this just for this reason. I know that there are a lot of good dealers out there that put in the block heaters and you are one of them. The dealer that I purchased my tractor from is also one of them. One of the dealers that visits this site, that sent me a private message that agreed with me that dealers should install them when a customer wants them is also one of them. There are lots of great dealers out there. More of them than we realize, but there are also a fair number of dealers that play ostrich and put their head in the sand when asked to do something that they just don't want to do. They just are stubborn and will expend more energy trying to get out of doing it, then it would take to accommodate the customer. I will never understand this type of dealership. Possibly you as a dealer can educate us as to their logic? Certainly you have heard of them from customers and have read about them here on the forums? Help me and others to understand their way of thinking. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Spencer200...... one thing that I will ask you, if you are a dealer, why don't you fill out your profile and let the world know more about yourself and what brand of tractor you sell? You never know, you might get some sales as a result and it would be good for business. Especially now that we know that you install block heaters in all tractors that you sell. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

spencer200 · Mar 14, 2004

Well most people in the New Holland forum know that we sell them. I don't not wish to advertise on here that is not what this forum is about. Plus many of the things I tell the guys in the New Holland forum would get me in hot water with New Holland and with other dealers that monitor this site on a regular basis. This is why I stay anonymous.

Bob_In_MN · Mar 15, 2004

Spencer200,

Same as my dealer--block heaters are standard on every tractor--it's part of the pre-delivery prep work.

I'll say 2 things about my block heater.

1. I'll never know if I really needed it or not because I use prior to every cold weather start.

2. My tractor when plugged in on a zero degree day starts easier (easier is defined by me as firing quickly and short a time before running smooth) than on a 50 or 60 degree day when not plugged in.

Bob

rbarker · Mar 15, 2004

( So that leaves the question, how unusual was this winter in the NE? Enough off the charts to have made a lot of us who listened to our dealers wish we hadn't? )

This winter in Massachusetts was exceptionally cold in January. Matched records set in the 1800's. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Junkman · Mar 15, 2004

The vote is in folks...... All of you that have been calling me mean names behind my back must be correct! My wife has just officially called me a "crothedy, grumpy old man", so that must account for something! Those of you that agree with her, and there must be quite a few from the comments that I have had to defend myself from recently, can sit back and smile. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I am going to apply for a tractor salesmans job in the morning and I will be practicing saying "NO"! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Youare · Mar 15, 2004

The dealer I purchased my Kubota from in New Hampshire installs block heaters on all the tractors he sells. I use mine when the temps get below 20. There have been a few times when I wasn't able to plug the heater in before I needed to start the tractor and it started okay.

However, the difference in the sound of the starter between a cold start and a block heater start is very noticeable. I would think the engine wear would be greater in a cold start than in a heated start, that would be a big reason for wanting a block heater no matter what the dealer said.

Randy