Tractor Talk Discussion Board |
Re: My goodness!!! Why do these little dudes sell for so much?
[ View Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Return to Forum ]
Posted by BlueLight on March 28, 2001 at 16:34:23 from (206.172.218.18):
In Reply to: My goodness!!! Why do these little dudes sell for so much? posted by Poppin' Johnny on March 28, 2001 at 15:30:59:
Because the think tanks of the small tractor industry got it all wrong. They were supposed to make big bucks by trying to fill the needs of the homesteader. Well it didn't turn out that way. The days of the tough dependable JD 2 lungers and Ford N's and massey harris's 20-44 have long gone. But it turns out that people still needed them. Evidence the export of these fine machines to third world countries who's farming needs are similar to agriculture north america of the 40 and 50's, and the less-than-a-hundred acre landowner of today. The Kubota's and Branson's(Bradson?) of today were supposed to fill that nitch. Someone forgot to tell them that most of the people buying them were trying to cut corners. At 30 or 40 grand apiece, it's no wonder the oldies are still popular. The homesteader doesn't have many options. He can go to the common garden variety sears tractors for 5 to 7 grand. But the poor machine would drive a guy nuts going full tilt at high revs plowing 3 acres, and take a couple of weeks to boot. These machines are made for gardens only. Then we have the fill-ins, the Kubotas and Branson's that can do the job. These rate 25 to 50HP at slightly lower RPM's of the garden tractors. Made of aluminum alloys and steels with very little heavy cast iron down low where it counts. Since these haven't been around for awhile, we'll have to see if they can do 50 years of service like the old reliables. Which brings me to the next point. The oldies were designed for the farmer to repair easily, whereas the fill-ins were designed for the regular sit-and-wait service bay.($$$$) From 50HP on up we have the real work horses for the serious farmer, way out of the price range for most of us. Its strange that no one as thought of taking the old cast forms of the oldies and simply re-building them. Mfg would be less as the engineering as already been done. A lot of other MFG cost advantages I imagine also. Half the machine is cast anyway, foundry MFG is one of the lower costing processes. All one would have to do is find the old molds and talk to some of the older engineers. The patents could probably got dirt cheap relatively speaking. Buy a brand new MH22 clone for 8 grand? You bet I would. I don't need any bells and whistles on it either so leave off the umbrella and heater. Just don't change anything like they did the volkswagon. My 2 cents, Blue.
Follow Ups:
Home
| Forums
Today's Featured Article -
Usin Your Implements: Bucket Loader - by Curtis Von Fange. Introduction: Dad was raised during the depression years of the thirties. As a kid he worked part time on a farm in Kansas doing many of the manual chores. Some of the more successful farmers of that day had a new time saving device called a tractor. It increased the farm productivity and, in general, made life easier because more work could be done with this 'mechanical beast'. My dad dreamed that some day he would have his own tractor with every implement he could get. When he rea
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
2022 John Deere 5045E, 4wd, front end loader and 3rd function with grapple. 120 hrs, 55k new, must sell
[More Ads]
Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V. Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor HeadquartersWebsite Accessibility Policy |
|