Are rural king tractors yanmars?

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

The USA has 45 sf of retail space for every man woman and child. Second in the world is England - with 9 sf.

Do you see a crash coming? I surely do. And that's before we account for internet and 'curbside pickup' - the latest thing here for grocery's - walmart charges a premium I think for it, the premium priced store advertises same prices either way. I'm not interested, but I know many that RAVE about it - no waiting in any line, ever.

There's always a risk - look at the last decade or so - suzuki abandoned the american car market, old, saturn, mercury, hummer, saab all shuttered. Sears was once the largest retailer in teh US - just about gone. Same for Kmart (and others before them). RK may be big..but they too can fold in a weekend and be gone. Nothing is certain anymore.

I've read that NO SCUT/CUT is american made anymore. Kubota assembles them here, might be the closest to made here. Deere and MF I assume are US companies so at least the profits stay here.

Crash in terms of retail space? Certainly that is already happening. There are already plans to turn large empty factories and other buildings like malls into hydroponic farms, vertical farms. Change is coming and much of the way of life we all grew up with, is going away. I am sad for it, frankly. But I'm in business myself, so have to look at it practically and not kick too much. Companies that stay on their toes and innovate will survive. I don't see any way manufacturing on a big scale is coming back to the US. Something else will take its place. Adapt or die.

I will say this. My company is fiercely "made in America." We source every single thing that we possibly can here. It costs more, and we charge more for our premium product. In our market sector we can do that. In other sectors that are more competitive or more price-sensitive, you can't. So I'm not on any high horse here.

BTW, you mentioned Saab.....I bought a 2011 Saab just a couple of years ago. Reason, Saab promised parts would always be available through Saab USA, and also they provide free repair support to any shop that wants to work on a Saab. I knew all this (we've kinda been a Saab family for like 30 years) so was able to buy a $50k luxury Aero loaded with 20K miles in perfect condition for $17k. Great car!

Agree, there is a lot of uncertainty and therefore risk right now. But I wouldn't let that stop me from buying a tractor!

 

[sloeffle]

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Note this: There are many Yanmar, LS, kioti and mihindra dealers that are VERY small shops that could disappear today!

I doubt it. There are too many stupid people like me willing to pay inflated prices for quality products. Those extra lug nuts costs thousands of dollars.

 

[prof fate]

a trend is for a company to own nothing...

For example - RK sells tractors with their name on them - but don't own a factory for tractors.
The biggest hotel 'chain' in the world is Air BnB - and they don't own a single hotel room.
the biggest shipper is Amazon - and they don't own a single delivery truck.
The biggest taxi/ride provider owns no vehicles - uber.

Is this good or bad? and good or bad for who?
Shareholders? Employees? Consumers? the economy?

Many folks proudly state 'made i america' or they want to buy made in america..but what does that MEAN? You can get a chevy truck - same truck - made in indiana or mexico. Many fords are made in USA, but also mexico and canada. BMW, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and others build cars in the US.

If you buy chinese made items..it's way cheaper for you so you can buy other things, live on less money - whatever. Like walmart - my food costs dropped 20% when they opened here. Sure, other stores went out of business...do I care? I now have to drive 20 min each way instead of 5..so I have that cost to bear in time/fuel. Selection is less - they only sell the most profitable/fastest moving items.

Way too many moving parts for anyone to really know or predict the future.

RK can change who they source their tractors from Profitable for them, cheaper for the buyer. BUT is there support for what they sold in the past? Probably not.

Based on my experience in dealerships - when you drop/lose a lline you lose access to factory parts and support.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Good points, professor fate.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Amazon has trucks, and is setting up their own delivery network.

Air bnb is not a hotel chain, but rather a renting service, like uber and lyft. Uber and lyft are in the driverless car development race..

Sears never made tools or appliances, they had them made with their label.

What RK is doing with tractors has been going on for years and years...

 

[prof fate]

yep...and go to sears..oh wait, they're closed or about closed everywhere.

As is Montgomery wards before them, woolworth before that...Circuit City was one that shut down almost overnight. Egghead is online but used to have retail stores.

I can list 50 other discount/department stores that have failed. And probably as many tractor brands (can you buy a new wheel horse today? David Bradley? Gravely (I see zero turn mowers with their name on them), Polaroid or 100 other companies.

there are no guarantees - at all. Rebranded items are common as well (polaroid name was on TVs a while back, craig made stereo gear in the 70s and I see their name now and then, same for Philco. Havent seen Zenith in ages)

Case, Ford, Allis Chalmers, White all made garden tractors at one point.

So it's a crapshoot. But if my local Kioti, NH or Deere dealer closes odds are other dealers are out there. If RK drops tractors it will be company wide...as if deere, NH or such went out of business. And since they done it twice before...I'm not convinced they wont' do it again.

Another indicator of big box mentality is inventory - they had 20 tractors in april. today they have 3. And only big ones. Kubota dealer, kioti have all the models in stock and more than 3 units.

 

[majorwager]

Fatal Poster,

It must be very SAD to be You, You stand under the sky waiting for it to fall upon you. Your preoccupation w/ RK is Obsessive. News flash: they will do fine if you never return to their store or stores again.

Just a heads-up. Your information is skewed, biased, and incorrect, Know that the economy and its' players evolve, you obviously have not.
You stated as examples that hummer and saab are GONE. Wrong! American General is alive and well, actually very healthy.They declined to succumb to US crash testing for the updated models, choosing to focus upon the foreigh milittary sales market.

Saab has been purchased and the venerable 9.3 will be on the market next year.

There is a reason you have worked at "so many dealerships", your ultra negative prespectives could impact the most productive business environments.

Reading your posrts is akin to the sound of scratching fingernails on a blackboard. Enough already.

 

[tjkubota93]

I would have definitely considered a rural king tractor 5 yrs ago when I got mine. We don't have one local, but 2hrs away there's one.

 

[TractorNH]

Amazon has trucks, and is setting up their own delivery network.

Not only does Amazon have trucks but they also have their own fleet of cargo aircraft, though technically they lease the planes.

 

[Soundguy]

Personally, I'm not surprised. It's not like most of the customers are looking for tractors so they wouldn't have someone assigned to stand out by the tractors all the time.
If it is like Tractor Supply and Runnings are around here, I am sure that their tractor implements are the same way as are their other large items such as gates, dog kennels etc etc etc. Most lumber yards do the same thing. If you want to talk to someone about something that is out on the yard, you go into the front desk and let them know and they will call the person who knows something about it. That way they can get more done with less people.

Aaron Z

I have a semi-relative that just quit a management position at Rural king ( to go to another company in a similar position ). He had just been told he was being transferred/trained to be the tractor sales/service manager.

So at least internally in the company, there are plans for a dedicated tractor sales/service department / staffed with some personel, including a mechanic that is suposedly yanmar trained. Said relative wasn't interested in the tractor position and went to work for a tool sales company.. yada yada.

There are 2 RK's in driving distance from me. finding the spec sheet at one store meant going inside to a display stand. the other store had laminated tags. I was not approached, but then, I hate it when a salesman runs over to me when I'm looking. If I need to buy something, I can walk to a staff member and ask.