5 ms·

What's built not to be repaired, is bad value for money.

• hga 12y ago
  I read it as "repaired by the blessed people and parts". What I don't understand is, if this sensor fails so often, why doesn't the farmer keep one in stock. That he's willing to have the machine idle for 2 days to get it suggests this isn't a really big problem for him.
  • mschuster91 12y ago
    > What I don't understand is, if this sensor fails so often, why doesn't the farmer keep one in stock. Probably because it's impossible as JD as only vendor only sells the part to authorized service shops, with contracts forbidding sale to individual customers (edit: and the sensor is likely patented too, to prevent clones, like Apple did with Magsafe). Or worse, each sensor/component has a UUID and registers with the ECU over the communication bus... and to allow the sensor to be used with the ECU, it has to be authorized with a key provided only to authorized service shops.
    • kevin_thibedeau 12y ago
      I would assume the same consumer protection laws that mandate the sale of automotive parts also covers farm equipment. The issue is that the OBD standards have a mode for restricting access (0x27) until the test equipment has passed a challenge-response phase. The exact method varies but it is often a fairly simple scheme such as multiplying a secret key by a random value and returning part of the product for the ECU to confirm. The keys can be discovered by reverse engineering firmware or capturing enough initialization packets to work out the system. One of my ECUs from a defunct manufacturer has the ever original 0x6789 as its key.
  • amputect 12y ago
    From the article, "Every time the sensor blew, the onboard computer would shut the tractor down. It takes a technician at least two days to order the part, get out to the farm, and swap out the sensor." This is just a guess since that passage is vague, but it sounds to me like he isn't able to order the part himself. It might be a proprietary thing that only a (John Deere approved) tech can order. Either that, or maybe he isn't able to overcome some kind of anti-tampering hardware to install it himself.
    • bri3d 12y ago
      A lot of German cars have "coded" sensors and modules, where the sensor's serial number is written into protected storage somewhere and a mismatch will disable functionality. In some cases it makes sense (for example, if special calibration data needs to accompany the sensor) but it's often implemented simply to make replacement require a factory technician. I wouldn't be surprised if Deere have gone the same route.
      • brohee 12y ago
        It also deters stealing a car and dismantling it for parts, which used to be a major issue... Not 100% consumer hostile.
  • lotsofmangos 12y ago
    Sounds like the sensor swap might need a firmware reset from the technician and their magic box.
    • serf 12y ago
      wheres gnuTractor when you need it. "But the crops are so ugly, and it took me 3 months to setup" "but it was free!"
      • maxerickson 12y ago
        http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Tractor http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Tractor As part of: http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Global_Village_Construction_Set http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Global_Village_Constructio... (I have no idea whether the stuff they are making is practical or not)
      • toothbrush 12y ago
        Haha, and, "i can't figure out the keybindings!"
  • hga 12y ago
    In reply to the three who've replied up to now, I'm not suggesting the farmer do the repair work himself, and he could finesse putative prohibitions against him getting one by having his local dealership hold it for him.
  • mynewwork 12y ago
    Ha, wow, the first time I've ever been genuinely taken aback by 'victim blaming' and of all possible places it comes from a story about a farmer and his tractor. For starters, even the text of the article shows that he's reliant on the technician to replace the part, and it doesn't break down what of the 2 days is ordering the part vs scheduling the technician's time. It may be that even with the part in hand it's 2 days for an opening in the tech's schedule. Further, while the article makes it sound as if there is one part repeatedly failing, the reality is that there are dozens of different sensors, and maybe only one fails per year. Your proposed solution might require the farmer to have thousands of dollars in spare parts sitting around at all times so he has replacements ready for all of them. Modern ag is already a capital intensive operation without forcing every family farm to double as a parts warehouse.
    • hga 12y ago
      Yeah, well, my parents grew up on farms and starting in 3rd grade our property was sort of one, it came with a hand crank starter. And "my" vehicle until I left for college was a 1967 Jeep, and all this was in a farming region to which I've also retired to. Where I now help my father repair his eminently repairable Grasshopper mowers. So I kinda expect farmers to do some of the basics about this sort of thing. Going to the text I was working off: "It takes a technician at least two days to order the part, get out to the farm, and swap out the sensor." "Order the part" sure doesn't sound like a same day thing. Maybe this only shaves off one day on average. But I can't see how it doesn't shave off some time. I grant you your last point; if this isn't a single lemon(ny) part prone to failure he's getting unacceptable service. And I predict this gambit will not end well for John Deere.