Is My Neighbor Correct?

[rocknrod]

I was talking to my neighbor about buying a tractor.
He stated that that buying foreign tractors may be cheaper, but the costs of parts will be greater. Therefore I should look out for that.

 

[TripleR]

Simply put, no. You simply cannot make this generalization with the number of American brands being made over seas and some foreign ones made here.

 

[oldnslo]

I haven't found any parts yet yet I considered inexpensive. In some cases JD may cost less than Kubota, NH, MF, etc for a similar item but in most cases there is very little difference for the more commonly used items like filters, oils, etc..

 

[brucew44guns]

Thing I have a hard time getting a grip on, is the cost of a tractor----VS.----where it's made. I know labor costs are terrible, but wouldn't it be sweet if JD or IH for example would build a tractor factory here in the states, totally modern with robots and labor saving devices, and hired Americans to build these great named pieces of machinery? JD started here, got famous here, are used here. Seems like they ought to be built here, at a price we could afford, same for IH or MF or NH. Didn't mean to hijack anything, just tired of evrything made sounding foreign.

 

[rocknrod]

Simply put, no. You simply cannot make this generalization with the number of American brands being made over seas and some foreign ones made here.

Thanks - Thats what I thought as well.

Thing I have a hard time getting a grip on, is the cost of a tractor----VS.----where it's made. I know labor costs are terrible, but wouldn't it be sweet if JD or IH for example would build a tractor factory here in the states, totally modern with robots and labor saving devices, and hired Americans to build these great named pieces of machinery? JD started here, got famous here, are used here. Seems like they ought to be built here, at a price we could afford, same for IH or MF or NH. Didn't mean to hijack anything, just tired of evrything made sounding foreign.

No - Its just a question my neighbor asked - that I thought was incorrect and wanted to ask.
And lets be honest - Just look at JD engines and such - Not made here.

Back to the question.

 

[20 20]

I was talking to my neighbor about buying a tractor.
He stated that that buying foreign tractors may be cheaper, but the costs of parts will be greater. Therefore I should look out for that.

foreign tractor I would bet most are.

If you're comparing something like john deere newholland etc.. to a jinma then the answer would be NO.

Over all I would say NO{your neighbor is blowing smoke} but it still depends on make, were it is built, how it was built etc....

 

[rtimgray]

Which parts are you going to need? Beyond routine maintenance, who knows.

In 9 years, I've needed very few parts for my foreign tractor. Far and away the biggest expense I ever had (about $900 repair) was due to a shift collar key in the tranny going bad and the tractor had to split. Of the total bill, about 80% was labor, 10% was for materials (transmission fluid and filter), 5% delivery and 5% parts. In other words, the parts were pretty cheap.

Other parts that I've needed were quite reasonably. I had to buy a glow plug controller that was about $50, a few nuts/bolts/washers and some seals for hydraulic valves, and I probably haven't spent $100 combined on those. I can tell you that I spent way, way more on my John Deere tractor (in fairness, it was a 1964 2010 model).

I would say that your neighbor will be right on occasion, wrong on occasion, and who knows on the rest.

Good luck and take care.

 

[IslandTractor]

I was talking to my neighbor about buying a tractor.
He stated that that buying foreign tractors may be cheaper, but the costs of parts will be greater. Therefore I should look out for that.

Where do I buy an American made CUT other than a foreign CUT assembled in the USA?

Maybe your neighbor was confused or just FOS.

 

[TGF]

I was talking to my neighbor about buying a tractor.
He stated that that buying foreign tractors may be cheaper, but the costs of parts will be greater. Therefore I should look out for that.

Depending on the tractor you buy foreign maybe your only option. If you are in the SCUT or CUT market almost every single one of those is Japan or Korea in design and parts. Even JD's are. Many people will tell you that JD or whoever outsourced to save money etc, but truth of it is probably closer to, a farm in Japan or Korea is tiny by American standards so a SCUT or CUT is used much more there than a Row Tractor. They have put more time and tech into them, it would be silly to reinvent the wheel, and probably a losing endeavor.

There is nothing wrong with foreign made tractors or part, they can be of the same or better quality just like anything else. Heck my favorite pistols are Sig's and those are German made Swiss Arms. Its a global economy the buy American thing is a granfalloon. If you tie yourself to a Made In America label all you are doing is limiting your options and often times reducing quality for a silly bars and stars warm fuzzy. Buy quality first and foremost.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I was talking to my neighbor about buying a tractor.
He stated that that buying foreign tractors may be cheaper, but the costs of parts will be greater. Therefore I should look out for that.

Very wrong. This may have been true 20 years ago but the internet changed all that. Look at cars for example. 20 years ago getting a Honda worked on in a small town may have been a issue but now they are as well established as the big 3.

Me and my uncle bought tractors 1 year apart. He got a JD and me a imported Jinma. Both of us have had about the same number of small problems but one thing we both had to replace was the starter. Mine was $180 and his was $640. I also got mine in 24 hours via the internet and he had to wait 72 hours for the JD dealer to get it in.

Now there are some imported tractors that are not supported very well but my Jinma is supported as good as my Ford tractor I also own.

Chris