Bird - I understand your thoughts completely, because that's pretty much exactly the way I view them. They are more "commercial" in design than a typical CUT, but they're capable of doing pretty much the same jobs, albeit in somewhat different fashion, e.g. with a front mounted implement instead of a rear mounted one, in the case of blades, tillers, etc. (And haven't we all bought something of "commercial" quality because the "standard" quality wasn't good enough?) In the size I've got, though it's physically much smaller than a typical TLB, it has to be compared with them in terms of capabilities. But in the smaller sizes, it doesn't compare to
anything else, except CUTs. Maybe they're an entirely new breed of equipment, but I don't know that I'd go quite that far. On the other hand, if the CUT is an entirely different breed than the small farm tractor, maybe the EarthForce is in a category of one. Either way, as I've said before, I've been predicting all along that there will soon be competition from the "major players". I got a private e-mail from a TBN member last week, in which I was told that dealers for a "major player" were shown a piece of equipment that they were
actually told was designed to compete with EarthForce machines. If it's true, and I have no doubt it is, it will mean very big changes in the "Compact Tractor" market, as it will force everyone to reconsider what they think of when they think of CUTs.
MarkC
