Another discussion area?

[MChalkley]

I've noticed that frequently messages that have no bearing whatsoever to a particular brand of tractor end up in a brand-specific area of the board. In the interests of de-segregation, and perhaps increasing the number of members exposed to messages that don't have anything to do with a specific brand, would it be useful to have a discussion topic called, for example, "Tractors In General"?

Just wondering...

MarkC

 

[Muhammad]

Which do you mean? Kubota winding up in John Deere type of threads? The easiest way to fix this would be for us to do more moderation and move the threads to where they belong - as long as everyone knew where they went... we could post a notice to the forum if a thread was moved. Sound ok?

A general forum would kind of be taking a step back I think, losing the category organization.

 

[MChalkley]

No, I must've explained my concern poorly. I mean general questions about operating techniques, safety, etc. winding up in the Kubota forum or the John Deere forum, when it's equally applicable to all brands of tractors. There's no "unbranded" place to put such topics, so they have to go in a place they don't belong, i.e. the forum for a particular brand. Another example is the thread on Fuel Consumption. My suspicion is that a lot of JD and NH owners haven't even looked at it, though it has nothing to do with Kubota specifically. In fact, folks like JimBinMI have posted NH numbers there, but he may be the exception to the rule, and there would be a lot of JD and NH numbers there if it were in a "general interest" area of the forum. At least, that's what I would hope.

I know not everyone would use it properly. For instance, there are "Posthole digger" posts in the JD area, when posthole diggers are applicable to all brands and the message would more correctly have been posted to the "Attachments" area but, still, if there's no place to put a message where it really belongs, it has to be put where a lot of the members may not look regularly. I say this because some of the posters only seem to post to the JD area and the General Topics, for example, and that makes me suspect they don't look at the Kubota and NH areas, feeling they're not applicable to them because they own JD.

Of course, my whole opinion could be a "tempest in a teapot" here. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MarkC

 

[Muhammad]

Now I understand... I'll think about this one. Although if everyone would read every message /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif then this would be easy wouldn't it?

 

[MChalkley]

Followup: I think maybe I once again didn't say what I'm thinking plainly enough, a common occurrence for me.

My question is: Would a "Tractors In General" or "All Brands" or "Non-Brand-Specific" discussion area in the "Other Tractors and Related Discussions" section create more "in-common" discussions between owners of different brands?

MarkC

P.S. Ooops, this one got in after your last post but before I saw it...<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by MChalkley on 10/9/00 10:39 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[Bird]

Mark, I think the "idea" is good, but just can't imagine making it work right; not the way some of us wind up getting off topic enough (too much?) as it is. Of course, I know you and I would never do that, but some of these guys . . ../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

Bird - I understand your position entirely. Shucks, I even agree with you! It is a little annoying the way threads start out discussing something useful then rapidly deteriorate to drivel.

By the way, I've been meaning to ask: What do you usually eat for breakfast?

MarkC

 

[ERNIEB]

MarkC
I know what you mean. Right now there is a "seat belt survey" under JD that rightfully applies to all tractor operators. There does't seem to be a topic that this subject fits nicely into.
It's interesting to me that you brought up the Post Hole Digger post. Actually it's under Ford/NH owning, and yes it was me. I was aware that it should have been put under Attachments, but had reasons for putting it where I did.
A general topic as you suggest might be a good idea. A place for topics all tractor owners have in common.
ErnieB

 

[glennmac]

I agree with Mark, but even more so.

Most of what is discussed in Kubota Owning, for example, is just generic stuff about tractor owning in general. Of course, there are times when we discuss something Kubota-specific--like where is the toolbox on the 2910. (The sales guy at my dealer didnt know.) Same thing for Kubota Buying. Things like should I get hydro are generic.

I think a Tractors in General forum--with sub-forums for buying, owning, etc.-- should be the primary place we discuss most things. Then there should be instructions to post in a brand-specific forum only if the topic is really brand specific. Then I don't have to read where the toolbox is on a TC33.

Glenn

 

[MChalkley]

ErnieB - I didn't mean to specifically pick on you, of course. It was just the thread that came readily to mind. Now that you mention it, the seat belt thread is the perfect example of what I had in mind. It's this type of discussion that needs to be seen by everyone. I sometimes gloss over the JD and NH messages, not because I have anything against them, but because, if the messages are really where they belong, I won't have anything to contribute. Now if the title suggests it's about anything concerning a new model or something like that, I read it carefully, no matter where it is, because I want to stay informed. But if someone is asking a question about JD pricing, or has decided that he isn't going to buy anything but JD and wants advice on which model to get, I'm wasting my time to read and theirs if I were to respond.

MarkC