Consider that we're expecting these dealers to have parts for tractors that are 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, even 60 years old, available and preferably in stock, AND THEY DO! There's a cost associated with that, commonly called "overhead," and overhead's expensive.
Once the spares from the original production run of the tractor are gone, the manufacturer makes a decision whether to continue supporting a particular part. If they deem it necessary and profitable (i.e. there are enough of that tractor still in use), they hire a small "jobber" shop to make a short run of the part. That kind of work is tremendously expensive. The shop may be making the parts individually. The shop may be setting up the original molds, jigs, and/or fixtures. The shop may have to go as far as designing a whole new set of molds, jigs and/or fixtures from scratch because the originals were destroyed, lost, or worn out.
There might only be a few cents' worth of metal in the part itself, and maybe only a few minutes' worth of labor in the actual creation of the part, but there's more to it than just that.
On top of everything, there has to be some incentive for these companies to continue stocking the parts and supporting the machinery. If not money, then what? Warm fuzzies that they're keeping some piece of old iron in the game? Warm fuzzies don't put food on the table or gas in the Cadillac.
AND, if that's not enough, have you stopped to check how these companies are doing financially? Last I checked, companies like CNH, JD, etc, are not all that profitable. They keep merging and selling off divions to each other to stay alive. How many dealers were around in the '50s compared to now? Nobody's getting particularly rich off this.
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Today's Featured Article - New Hitches For Your Old Tractor - by Chris Pratt. For this article, we are going to make the irrational and unlikely assumption that you purchased an older tractor that is in tip top shape and needs no immediate repairs other than an oil change and a good bath. To the newcomer planning to restore the machine, this means you have everything you need for the moment (something to sit in the shop and just look at for awhile while you read the books). To the newcomer that wants to get out and use the machine for field work, you may have already hit a major roadblock. That is the dreaded "proprietary hitch". With the exception of the
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