Showroom Shock !

[jjp8182]

While I agree that many, not necessarily most, buyers want a pre 4 tractor...many who need a tractor now probably don't care as much as you about the emissions hassle. The prices are high for all of the stuff. I cannot even get to test drive a tractor because there is nothing in stock...feels like 1960s USSR around here.

This comment just made me realize that in some ways this could actually be worse since during in the 1960's the rest of the world was still producing goods ......even if those goods were potentially difficult/expensive/illegal contraband to get into the USSR.

Still remember stories/rumors of people smuggling of blue jeans into the USSR before it's collapse.....

Contrast to now where the products may not be available anywhere..... pretty sure this is going to take a bit to correct.

 

[Charliedeere]

I stopped by my local Kubota dealer this morning for oil & filters. They are one of the largest in the northeastern US. Their large showroom, which usually has more than 2 dozen tractors on display, was mostly empty! There was one lone USED L3010 on the showroom floor with a SOLD sign on it! Their lot, which normally has close to a hundred machines available, had only about a half dozen used tractors!

On a normally busy Saturday morning there are usually 6 sales people available but this morning, there was just one! He just shook his head and shrugged when I walked into his office. When I inquired about a new flexwing finish mower, he shrugged again and said he could put me on the wait list. Right now, the wait is 8 months!

I've seen low stock periods before over the years but nothing like this! Is this happening all over or just here in the northeast?

It is in the southeast also, just bought 2021 John Deere tractor and I had to wait for it to come in from the factory. I also just leased a new car and I went to several dealerships. The lots were almost empty, several models were not in stock. One salesman told me he couldn't remember when they sold a vehicle for less than sticker price.

 

[bdhsfz6]

This is getting ridiculous! I made another trip back to my Kubota dealer this morning to get a fuel filter I forgot to get on my last visit. On the way, I stopped at a local mini mart for a cup of coffee to go. There were no lids for the cups at the coffee bar. I asked the clerk and she said they were back ordered and other stores in the area can't get them either! It's tough to drink an open cup of coffee in a moving vehicle so I passed.

To add insult to injury, I got to the Kubota dealer and, you guessed it, the fuel filter was back ordered as well!

Luckily, I found a compatible filter at my local NAPA auto parts store.

Coffee cup lids?? When will it end?

 

[ruffdog]

Container ship back-ups are happening at the China ports too.

Container Ships Now Piling Up At Anchorages Off China's Ports

 

[Mets5rocks]

This situation exists with ANYTHING coming from overseas.

Everything from shoes to heavy equipment is affected. Last time I looked, there were upwards of 75 container cargo ships sitting in the Pacific waiting to be unloaded.

I can confirm! I work in the ATV industry and it really is a struggle to get ANYTHING from overseas! Fortunately most of what we use is made in the US but the stuff that isn't is anybody's guess when we get parts or even if the full order will be there. Half the time even the manufacturer's don't even know where their stuff is because it's on a boat or a dock somewhere waiting to be unloaded.

 

[varmint]

This whole mess indicates just how fragile and barely managed our manufacturing systems are- you'd think that when chips became hard to get, partly because users anticipated needing less because of COVID and chip manufacturers switched to making "gaming" chips, thinking that demand would increase for those, and a major chip factory burned, it wouldn't take all that long for production of needed chips to ramp up again. I guess supply lines are not robust or resilient. I feel for all the workers who've been laid off because their production lines are slowed or stopped.

 

[newbury]

And along with the demand for gaming chips is the demand for chips to mine digital currency.

 

[fuchifarm]

I've been waiting since first week of August for replacement tractor for a totalled m7060. The dealer said maybe in 2 more weeks but almost for sure before end of October. He told me that about September in August.

 

[fuchifarm]

I just heard from my dealer that the new SVL-65 completed build on Monday and should ship this coming Monday. It is coming from the new plant in Salina, Kansas. I just hope that since they only very recently started production there that Quality Control is being extra tough. I know in my experience in manufacturing the first 6 months of a new production line had lots of eyes on it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Just in time only as good as weakest link...

I like to keep ahead at work... always have supplies for next service, etc... on hand.

Having some inventory worked out well for most things.

Early on our nearest sister factory asked for inventory of N95 masks etc... which I provided... next I heard is they were sending someone to pick up for their ER...

 

[workinallthetime]

waited 4 months for my RTVz1120. I am told new construction units will be available around Jan/Feb 22, and then again in mid-summer. I was recently in Galveston where they have a huge receiving yard for the big units, it looked normal from the road. Cat yard was pretty bare.
i will be back in a few weeks and take another look, have not been run off yet for licking the fence.

 

[Cougsfan]

I remember reading an article a few years back where someone interviewed several older Eastern Europeans to compare life before and after the collapse of the USSR. One of the things several of these people brought up that I found interesting; When they were under the Soviet's thumb, having money wasn't a big problem, the problem was that there were virtually no goods in the stores to spend your money on. The shelves were empty. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the situation reversed. There were plenty of neat things to buy on the store's shelves, but no one had any money to buy any of it. I sure hope none of you take this and turn this into a political discussion, but we are definitely approaching the "we have the money, but there is nothing to spend it on" status, probably for totally different reasons.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

bought my first tractor.It's a cub cadet 6284 with the 28hp cat diesel engine,front loader,154 hrs. (yes hour meter is correct),Paid $800.Added a woods mill wc-68 very lightly used for $2200.I'm all set.
I'll wait for the next recession to buy another vehicle, local dealer was selling Tellurides for 10k Over list price,crazy.But then I've never been one to buy new,I prefer near new.

I apparently missed this when it was posted. I had a 6284 and ran it several years with few problems that could not be traced to the previous owner.
If you want to private message me I can give you a few things to look out for so you can get many years out of it. wspitcher@gmail.com

 

[mrblanche]

I sure hope none of you take this and turn this into a political discussion, but we are definitely approaching the "we have the money, but there is nothing to spend it on" status, probably for totally different reasons.

This is the classic Economics 101 definition of inflationary pressure.

 

[chinawall]

See some TYM’s around.

 

[mrblanche]

See some TYM’s around.

You mean real TYM',s, or any one of the 10 other brands they own?

 

[MHarryE]

Traded my L6060 for a M5-111 a few months back. My dealer, from whom this is my 8th Kubota purchase, did not indicate there would be a problem getting one. Checked the buying forums and got worried even though I don’t need the tractor until next planting season. So after a month, I called. He said he hadn’t had word yet. A month later he said he would need to look at trading tractors he has in stock to a dealer who had the one I wanted. Yesterday I finally got a call asking if I would accept loader equipped (I had ordered without loader because of already having 2 loaders). I said yes, because later I felt I made a mistake buying less loader because loaders are so common on this size. He said thank goodness, because if I really wanted one without loader it wouldn’t be here for planting season. When I was last at the dealership I saw he had quite a few CUT’s and SCUT’s and from reading here, I thought he could easily swap. Hearing all the shortage problems, I thought sales must have plummeted each of the past 2 years, but in all tractor classes, 2020 sales were higher than 2019, and 2021 sales for the first 10 months have blown 2020 out of the water. The demand for new is extremely high, and supply does not seem to be affected by chip shortages like for cars and trucks. Companies are really pumping them out and dealer inventory is really shrinking. When I saw a farmer get a $350k tractor delivered in August just to put in the shed until planting season to make sure he had one, I thought that was crazy, and now I face the same thing except for lower asset value sitting idle through the winter.