4 ms·

Belarus produces simple and cheap tractors since forever, they are popular in Russia and other CIS countries. Just import them.

petewailes 5y ago
An old Belarus 420A is a simple tractor. Even a modern 742 or 1220 isn't that complex. But it's simply not as capable as a Fastrac 4 or 8 series, or a Valtra N or C series, or a Deere 6, 7 or 8 series for example. They're just not in the same league in terms of what they can do with tool management, fitness for specific tasks or tool interop. As a single example, there's nothing that Belarus make that I'd want to use for buckraking a heap of any real size. They don't have a JCB 435S equivalent, or a heavier Fendt or Claas. They're great tools, but you're not going to get the hectares per hour of sowing or harvest or the movement of tonnage of the modern competitors.
- cowl 5y ago
  But isn't this self-defeating reasoning? on one side you say things need to be simpler to repair, on the other you say simple technology doesn't cover your needs. A lot of these advanced features are so complex and so intertwined to each other that you really want only a qualified person to be able to "try to fix it"
  - sequesteredmar 5y ago
    Should there not be the option to break whatever you own however you want to? People who know they can fix X should be allowed to fix X
    - cowl 5y ago
      You surely are allowed to break it if you want at the cost of loosing the waranty. If you mean you want to be able to break it and still have the waranty then no.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    The whole complexity narrative is false pretenses. The new tractors contain computers and need tools. Manufacturers refuse to sell tools and placed equivalent of DRM on computers to stop you repairing your tractor on purpose. They make their supplirs sign contracts where the supplier is not allowed to sell parts to anyone else. None of these issues are due to complexity, all of them about you loose property rights over your possessions and turning physical goods into a subscribtion model
ClumsyPilot 5y ago
I dont think "just import them" covers the difficulties a lone farmer would have in transport, customs, language barrier and maintenance of a fairly random piece of equipment across an ocean that is also critical for their primary source of income. And imagine you have a warranty dispute or similar
- petewailes 5y ago
  Belarus are already imported into the US, as I recall.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    Oh, i didnt realise that

petewailes 5y ago

An old Belarus 420A is a simple tractor. Even a modern 742 or 1220 isn't that complex. But it's simply not as capable as a Fastrac 4 or 8 series, or a Valtra N or C series, or a Deere 6, 7 or 8 series for example. They're just not in the same league in terms of what they can do with tool management, fitness for specific tasks or tool interop. As a single example, there's nothing that Belarus make that I'd want to use for buckraking a heap of any real size. They don't have a JCB 435S equivalent, or a heavier Fendt or Claas. They're great tools, but you're not going to get the hectares per hour of sowing or harvest or the movement of tonnage of the modern competitors.

cowl 5y ago
But isn't this self-defeating reasoning? on one side you say things need to be simpler to repair, on the other you say simple technology doesn't cover your needs. A lot of these advanced features are so complex and so intertwined to each other that you really want only a qualified person to be able to "try to fix it"
- sequesteredmar 5y ago
  Should there not be the option to break whatever you own however you want to? People who know they can fix X should be allowed to fix X
  - cowl 5y ago
    You surely are allowed to break it if you want at the cost of loosing the waranty. If you mean you want to be able to break it and still have the waranty then no.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  The whole complexity narrative is false pretenses. The new tractors contain computers and need tools. Manufacturers refuse to sell tools and placed equivalent of DRM on computers to stop you repairing your tractor on purpose. They make their supplirs sign contracts where the supplier is not allowed to sell parts to anyone else. None of these issues are due to complexity, all of them about you loose property rights over your possessions and turning physical goods into a subscribtion model

ClumsyPilot 5y ago

I dont think "just import them" covers the difficulties a lone farmer would have in transport, customs, language barrier and maintenance of a fairly random piece of equipment across an ocean that is also critical for their primary source of income. And imagine you have a warranty dispute or similar

petewailes 5y ago
Belarus are already imported into the US, as I recall.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  Oh, i didnt realise that