The weakest link.

rockyridgefarm · Oct 4, 2005

I love my tractor. It has exceeded my expectations at every turn. I am thrilled with the service and support that I am receiving from John Deere & Co.

But should I recommend a new tractor from them to my friends? Right now, I am a little hesitant.

It appears that Deere has gone the route of putting substandard componants in critical places. Sure they will back them up and fix what's broke. But why did it happen? How much market share did they want to hand back to Kubota?

Because, the orange guys will cook Deere's brains out over a few 'Made in China' emblems on loader castings. (and please, I mean no disrespect to anyone's national origin.) Kubota has always touted their 'made by us' image. Deere willl lose a lot of ground.

OK, shoot me now.

ronjhall · Oct 4, 2005

OK, shoot me now. 
What would you do instead. Recommend another COLOR . /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

deerefan · Oct 4, 2005

did you have a certain component fail? Or did you observe a "Made in China" logo on a component of your tractor? My 5103 was assembled in India but the technology and engineering came from Deere. I do not agree with outsourcing American jobs to other countries. It amazes me what some corporations will do to pad the bottom line. As you mentioned, whether it was made in china or here, it breaks Deere will usually back it up.

hobbyfarm · Oct 4, 2005

Are you sure it says "Made in China"

Look closely
It says_______"Fine China"_______

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

mhalla · Oct 4, 2005

( It says_______"Fine China")

No wonder the cast parts on the loaders are breaking so easily being made of fine china. I thought they were just crappy cast iron parts from China.......

I'm happy to have a 210 loader on my 2210 tractor without the cast parts. Hopefully the redesign of the new loader castings solves the problem for John Deere but more importantly for the owners who deserve better from John Deere.

Mike

tractorguy56 · Oct 5, 2005

I know firsthand exactly what you mean. I used to own a 4510 with a loader and BROKE the cast iron peice connecting the bucket to the loader. The dealer is a friend of mine and he said he had never seen that happen before. Whether he was truthful or not I am not sure. I now have a Kubota 4630 cab and air cause at the time Deere did not have a CUT with cab and air. Kubota has a great product but the dealer is FAR from being the best! I am patiently awaiting the arrival of the new Deere 4720 cab and air. Hopefully Deere will come to their senses and put a power reverser in the tractor as an option instead of only offering a hydro transmission.

Kyle_in_Tex · Oct 5, 2005

Mike, this is a pet peeve of mine too. Yeh yeh, global sourcing, whatever. I guess it is the only way they can stay competitively priced. It gets my goat to hop on a brand new green machine with a FEL and the 2nd thing you see is "Made in _____" I have trouble saying and typing it. Its just located in such a conspicuous place. Funny thing is, I remember reading an email from a retiring Catapillar purchaser whom mass emailed all his suppliers(on his last day). Basically, he warned of the ruthless tactics the "fresh out of college" braintrust of the company was using to lower costs. He told the machine shops to band together and hold the line as the casting and forging shops had done. I guess JD has found a _____ese company to cast parts now. Too bad they put the "Made in ____" in plain view...

American shops have trouble finding good help anymore. The smartest kids with money go to college and the others realize there is not much of a happy future in American manufacturing. Hope we never have another big war where we have to depend on our manufacturing capabilities. You think ______ will make us some cheaper warheads for our war with ______.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, manufacturing is how I pay for my baby's diapers.

rockyridgefarm · Oct 7, 2005

The 5103
s are made in India. Hopefully, anybody shopping for one know that is part of what makes them a great 'bang for the buck' machine. it is a good basic tractor.

The 20 series is Deere's deluxe line. It is marketed in their commercial grounds care as well as consumer (C&CE - Commercial and Consumer Equipment) A guy buying these to do serious landscape work will go ballistic if he sees this level of quality. And beefing that part up 50% is still pretty bad, in my opinion. A 50% stronger crummy casting is still gonna break.

Eventually, this will get fixed. Because you won';t see orange loaders snapping at the bucket carriers, or their bolts snapping. Erode some market share and suddenly building with US or Canadian parts will become price competitve.

MessickFarmEqu · Oct 8, 2005

We where told Kubota added another 2% this year

Kyle_in_Tex · Oct 8, 2005

I really don't have a problem with tractors made in Japan as compared to other low cost labor countries. For a couple of reasons.
1) From a manufacturing point of view, Japan has high paying wages along with strict pollution control measures which means America's shops can compete on a level playing field.

2) Quality and excellent engineering. Pay a bit more, get more that you can and can't see.

I almost bought a Kubota. My JD dealer won me over.

When people (and corporations) purchase offshore commodities, that's where their money goes. As manufacturing in America dies on the vine, that doesn't leave much money to create an economic base.

If all a person can afford is a low cost ____ese tractor, thats fine, I think he/she should have every right to buy it. I just want to pose 2 questions. Will you be able to get parts and support for these machines that are sold from used car dealers and such? You will need parts sooner and later.

Where will your grandchildren work if American manufacturing dies? Everybody can't be fixing everybody else's toilets. Service economies can't last. They depend on the economic base created by other fields.