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John Deere is an abusive company which despises its customers, and these customers reward them by gleefully buying that new million dollar harvester and doffing
by Jkvngt 6y ago
John Deere is an abusive company which despises its customers, and these customers reward them by gleefully buying that new million dollar harvester and doffing branded caps at every occasion. It’s extremely difficult to pity the farmer in this case. They are planning soon to change all their dimensions to conform with metric farming practices and spacing, which will entail having to re-buy all new stuff again. Oops maybe I shouldn’t have said that last part out loud, it might still be a secret...
- 29athrowaway 6y agoJohn Deere is another MBAized company that is no longer in touch with reality, just powerpoints presentations.
- BugsJustFindMe 6y ago> It’s extremely difficult to pity the farmer in this case. What are the available options?
- moistbar 6y agoKubota and New Holland seem to be popular in my area, to the extent that I used to drive past a Kubota dealership on my way to some high school extracurricular or other.
- Jkvngt 6y agoBoycott the company, buy from another manufacturer, lobby the Iowa government to stop these abusive practices. Or just sit back, bend over, pull down your pants, and take it while wearing the branded cap of the company which is abusing you? Really it’s all about choice now isn’t it?
- cmroanirgo 6y agoParts availability is a massive factor. When you break down mid-task, your task is often time sensitive. You can't always risk having your tractor stuck in the middle of a paddock for weeks while you get new parts in. So, the reality of choice is pretty much down to what your local tractor seller/repairer supports, because they'll have the supply chain setup to cope with certain brands only.
- Jkvngt 6y agoThe issue is that the tractor senses if you try to repair it yourself. There’s a trap mechanism which will punish you if you’re audacious enough to try to fix your machine.
- MikeUt 6y ago> lobby the Iowa government to stop these abusive practices. Isn't the right to repair movement exactly that? I don't think farmers are entirely absent from it.
- tomc1985 6y agoFrom what I hear the resale market on old farm equipment rivals Apple products in their ability to retain their value
- mikey_p 6y agoNot much out there to compete with the new X series combines. Claas Lexion is pretty much the only series contender in the 6000 bu/hr range.
- zucked 6y agoIs there a better option? Is Case or whatever else (sorry, not up on farm implements) a better option?
- randomdata 6y agoWhen I needed to fix my Case IH planter, the dealer handed me the service manual (book) and off I went. When I needed to fix my John Deere combine, the repair tech had to decrypt the service manual on his laptop for me. There does seem to be some different cultures around protecting information, but I was able to access what I needed in both cases, so I'm not sure it makes that much difference at the end of the day. I haven't had much trouble with Deere not willing to work with me and my equipment. No more than any other brand, and my shed has all the major brands in it. There is no doubt a squeeze on people who don't own John Deere equipment, but wish to have an independent career fixing John Deere farm equipment on behalf of other farmers. That isn't a problem seen by farmers directly, though.
- falcolas 6y agoIf you've lived in the midwest anywhere in the last, I dunno, 5 decades, you'll know that John Deere plays the long game. They advertise to people from their infancy to their adulthood. They have more brand recognition in the midwest than either Pepsi and Coke. When you've been exposed to this kind of life-long influence, it's hard to break out of the mindset. You know John Deere Green, and they've been associated with quality and durability and they belong with you on the farm. They're all but family. Case, or that weird orange company with the foreign name, on the other hand, are strangers who you don't know if you can trust. Advertising, no matter how much we say to the contrary, works. And John Deere are old hands at that trade.
- grogenaut 6y agoIn the 90s in rural missouri everyone had those orange tractors (new). Or the red ones (older, or new combines). Or the blue ones (new). Not very many green ones except rusting in the field or as the toy old one you used for around the property work while the real one was doing real work.
- m463 6y agoHarley Davidson. Marlboro. Jack Daniels. American Music and Films. If you ever want to see the power of advertising go to another country and it will all be there.
- onethought 6y agoThat isn’t just advertising that’s American soft power projection (especially with music and film) - trade agreements have helped the others.
- Daho0n 6y agoBeing there is not always the same as success. Harley for example is seen as overpriced extremely bad quality by almost all bikers outside the US, except maybe by the few who own a Harley. Pretty much the same as Jack Daniels, except that is at least as cheap as it tastes.
- throwawayboise 6y agoAs the article alludes, they really aren't different from Tesla in this regard.
- ActorNightly 6y agoKinda interesting that people seem to agree here that John Deere is abusive, but Apple does the same thing with consumer electronics, and tends to have a favorable view on this subreddit.
- johnbrodie 6y agoTesla is pushing the same anti-right-to-repair angle and also seems to get (mostly) admiration by the "tech community" at large. As seems to always be the case, it's a lot easier to be critical when the company/group/individual isn't "on your side".
- 93po 6y agoTesla avoids supporting third party repairs because repairing a potentially damaged self driving system or damaged batteries can have really bad outcomes. People scrutinize Tesla enough as it is without shoddy repairs making it worse
- alasdair_ 6y agoDo you know how many farming accidents involve tractors and combine harvesters etc. ? The exact same argument could apply there.
- syshum 6y agoYou do know that is EXACT same flawed logic that Auto Manufacturers have been making for Decades... and the EXACT same aurgument that John Deere, Apple and every other Anti-Repair advocate makes The plebs just can not be trusted to repair their own things, it is far too dangerous. If you repair you iPhone you might burn down your home, if you repair your brakes you might kill grandma, and if you repair are Tesla you might ..... Safety has never, and will never be a valid reason to prohibit independent / self repair
- Daho0n 6y agoWhich is luckily illegal in the EU. Tesla will be sued big time at some point as they do not play by the rules like the other manufacturers. Tesla makes VW look like pure angles.
- adolph 6y agoIf they doff the branded caps, they are taking them off which suggests not having an affinity with the brand.
- lovemenot 6y agoUsually just temporarily though. Indicating their paying respect or subservience to another. See also hat-tip.
- optimalsolver 6y agoNot the person you're replying to, but he's using the term correctly. Doffing the cap is a sign of respect.
- scrooched_moose 6y agoThe entire industry does. I work for a component supplier in the industry and the US companies are just awful. Their two priorities are: 1) Proprietary Fit - how do they prevent their customers from buying replacement components from third parties and keep them coming back to them for maintenance 2) Look and feel - I've seen major contracts decided on which design had fake diamond plate to project "toughness", despite higher price and worse performance. Price and performance are somewhat farther down the list and barely enter into the decisions. The European and Japanese companies in contrast actually care about and drive performance requirements.
- loonster 6y agoI've done work for a well known euro car maker, and they had several of the brackets interfering in CAD. This could have been avoided with a simple collision check that they should have done. After informing them of the errors, they fixed the print with a -/- tolerance and left the 3d model interfering. All of the domestic car manufacturers took great care to ensure clearance between parts. (I'm a Toyota fanboy but have never done work for them.)
- scrooched_moose 6y agoI don't have any automotive experience but that largely squares with what I hear through the grapevine in the Auto industry. In the heavy machinery industry which Deere opporates it's mostly the opposite. Kubota, Agco, Bosch etc. are miles ahead of Deere and Caterpillar; who are largely relying on past reputation at this point.
- sunflowerfly 6y agoI live in the Midwest (and hate JD). Many continue to buy from them simply because they are the only company that guarantees parts years after production. They will make a 100 year old part if they get enough orders for it. Most other manufacturers have been bought and sold, often making parts hard to source.
- dbcurtis 6y ago> They are planning soon to change all their dimensions to conform with metric farming practices and spacing, which will entail having to re-buy all new stuff again. Oh, please. Every planter tool bar that I have ever seen allows planter boxes/heads to be moved and clamped at fairly arbitrary space. Combine heads, not so, but, meh, change the planter to fit the combine.
- crb002 6y agoIt's Qt on Linux just like Tesla. Builds take 40+ minutes even with ICECREAM. Even Deere developers have a hard time fixing issues. Both Deere and Tesla need to be fully open sourced in FCC filings modulo crypto keys.