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Hypothetical example (might not be how it works with farming equipment): sell the combined harvester at cost, then have profits on a maintenance contract (note:

Hypothetical example (might not be how it works with farming equipment): sell the combined harvester at cost, then have profits on a maintenance contract (note: might not even be the parts themselves that create the profit). With complex modern machinery, maintenance and repair is something that really matters (downtime costs money) and depending on the equipment, it is something where the manufacturer has a real edge, for example, in large industrial machinery. Not talking about some trivial upkeep here. The asset depreciation/wear side would only be with the buyer, not the seller. So if the buyer where show a balance sheet, then maybe there is something to argue about - not sure what farms do or don't do from an accounting perspective (or need to do). Not everyone needs a balance sheet drawn up. This is not too dissimilar from selling a gaming console at a loss/at cost and making the money on the games, I reckon.

libertine 5y ago
>With complex modern machinery, maintenance and repair is something that really matters (downtime costs money) and depending on the equipment, it is something where the manufacturer has a real edge, for example, in large industrial machinery. Not talking about some trivial upkeep here. That's why documentation, schematics, software should be accessible by anyone who wants to fix this type of equipment. It's the difference between a mechanic going up to your farm, plug the equipment to the PC, run the diagnostic, replace part, instead of you have to call a truck, pay for the shipping of the equipment to the closest authorized dealer, and then have it looked up -> this second options costs way more time/money. But if things are getting so complex you need to haul equipment that weight tons back to the factory, then is that complexity sustainable at all?
- RandomLensman 5y ago
  I know little about the specifics of farm machinery and it might very well work with schematics etc. so that stuff can be fixed by anyone reasonably skilled (and having access to the right parts and tools). However, for some machinery (might not be in farming) it will need real training so even with schematics, docs etc. we do not want untrained people to fix it. These people might not work for the manufacturer, but repairing is "gated" in a sense (repairing commercial aircraft, for example). As far as onsite vs. shipping is concerned, I think with really heavy equipment most maintenance will be onsite as shipping makes no sense at some point/transport is next to impossible.

libertine 5y ago

>With complex modern machinery, maintenance and repair is something that really matters (downtime costs money) and depending on the equipment, it is something where the manufacturer has a real edge, for example, in large industrial machinery. Not talking about some trivial upkeep here. That's why documentation, schematics, software should be accessible by anyone who wants to fix this type of equipment. It's the difference between a mechanic going up to your farm, plug the equipment to the PC, run the diagnostic, replace part, instead of you have to call a truck, pay for the shipping of the equipment to the closest authorized dealer, and then have it looked up -> this second options costs way more time/money. But if things are getting so complex you need to haul equipment that weight tons back to the factory, then is that complexity sustainable at all?

RandomLensman 5y ago
I know little about the specifics of farm machinery and it might very well work with schematics etc. so that stuff can be fixed by anyone reasonably skilled (and having access to the right parts and tools). However, for some machinery (might not be in farming) it will need real training so even with schematics, docs etc. we do not want untrained people to fix it. These people might not work for the manufacturer, but repairing is "gated" in a sense (repairing commercial aircraft, for example). As far as onsite vs. shipping is concerned, I think with really heavy equipment most maintenance will be onsite as shipping makes no sense at some point/transport is next to impossible.