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An earlier article did a much better job layout why this is a huge problem for independent farmers: "The family farmer who owns this tractor is a friend of min

An earlier article did a much better job layout why this is a huge problem for independent farmers: "The family farmer who owns this tractor is a friend of mine. He just wanted a better way to fix a minor hydraulic sensor. 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. So for two days, Dave’s tractor lies fallow. And so do his fields. Dave asked me if there was some way to bypass a bum sensor while waiting for the repairman to show up. But fixing Dave’s sensor problem required fiddling around in the tractor’s highly proprietary computer system—the tractor’s engine control unit (tECU): the brains behind the agricultural beast." Source: http://www.wired.com/2015/02/new-high-tech-farm-equipment-nightmare-farmers/ http://www.wired.com/2015/02/new-high-tech-farm-equipment-ni... So basically, the concerns are very reasonable - operations cannot rely on systems that are put out of commission without a way to fix relatively minor issues on the spot. While the system is trying to protect the farmer for liability purposes, if that farmer overrides the safe guard, liability shifts. The choice should be with the farmer and not John Deere lawyers.

Shivetya 12y ago
People have been doing this years with lawn mowers, both push and riding, for as long as I can remember. The complexity of work require to skirt the system increases but the reasons never really change. If the system is so unreliable there are many other farm tractor manufacturers who can step in and likely are already exploiting the issues John Deere has. If anything, perhaps lemon laws could be applied to farm machinery and written to be as X number of days across a calendar year. the nice thing about farming today is your likely to have online resources, places where word of this problem can travel fast enough to make a manufacture take notice
- betenoire 12y ago
  grew up urban, married a farmer... learned everything I know (not much) about fixing things with spit tape and wire from them. what you say makes sense, but meanwhile Dave is still standing in his field with a useless machine and lots of work to do.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
    This is exactly the point. If your car is a lemon and always in the shop, at least it's trivial to get a rental, even if you're out of pocket the cash. Any number of car rental companies will drive a car out to your house or the shop where it is. If your tractor is broken down and you need to bale that hay that's been drying in the fields today before the rain comes tomorrow and ruins it, you're screwed unless you can find a nearby farmer to help.
    - c22 12y ago
      Hopefully the terms of your neighbor's tractor lease don't come with a geofence!
jimmytucson 12y ago
Why doesn't the market handle this? If John Deere is only willing to sell lifetime licenses to operate their vehicles, thus putting the farmer at risk in ways like you described, why do farmers still buy these "licenses"? Naively, they must represent some advantage (despite their shortcomings), otherwise John Deere wouldn't be able to sell these things.
- Qworg 12y ago
  Lock in and capital expense - the market is terrible at providing what is currently a financial service coupled with large equipment delivery. You need both halves - the sheet bending/engine manufacturing and the cash on offer to float the loan to the farmer. There's a lot of strength to being incumbent in both of these areas.
  - icebraining 12y ago
    Why can't a manufacturer partner up with a financial company to provide the bundle?
    - Qworg 12y ago
      They can and do at the low end, but the upper end market is dominated by Deere and a few others in a way that is hard to understand. The manufacturer has to have the deep pockets and stomach for a protracted battle - lots of folks "bleed green" and will only buy Deere. Deere is everywhere in the countryside - big marketing campaigns. Deere and others also have large dealer networks. That is where the sales are made. Many of these dealers have been around for a really long time and have all of the customer access. You'd have to break into the network somehow. You'd have to not only be able to make it, but have the cash on hand to sustain more than a few years of incredibly low sales and lack of distribution.
      - sologoub 12y ago
        Also, don't forget that this is a relatively new development in situation. Historically, Deere has been a very reliable brand-name for farmers. Long term, they may do significant damage, but it will take time to erode the built-up good will.

Shivetya 12y ago

People have been doing this years with lawn mowers, both push and riding, for as long as I can remember. The complexity of work require to skirt the system increases but the reasons never really change. If the system is so unreliable there are many other farm tractor manufacturers who can step in and likely are already exploiting the issues John Deere has. If anything, perhaps lemon laws could be applied to farm machinery and written to be as X number of days across a calendar year. the nice thing about farming today is your likely to have online resources, places where word of this problem can travel fast enough to make a manufacture take notice

betenoire 12y ago
grew up urban, married a farmer... learned everything I know (not much) about fixing things with spit tape and wire from them. what you say makes sense, but meanwhile Dave is still standing in his field with a useless machine and lots of work to do.
- HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
  This is exactly the point. If your car is a lemon and always in the shop, at least it's trivial to get a rental, even if you're out of pocket the cash. Any number of car rental companies will drive a car out to your house or the shop where it is. If your tractor is broken down and you need to bale that hay that's been drying in the fields today before the rain comes tomorrow and ruins it, you're screwed unless you can find a nearby farmer to help.
  - c22 12y ago
    Hopefully the terms of your neighbor's tractor lease don't come with a geofence!

jimmytucson 12y ago

Why doesn't the market handle this? If John Deere is only willing to sell lifetime licenses to operate their vehicles, thus putting the farmer at risk in ways like you described, why do farmers still buy these "licenses"? Naively, they must represent some advantage (despite their shortcomings), otherwise John Deere wouldn't be able to sell these things.

Qworg 12y ago
Lock in and capital expense - the market is terrible at providing what is currently a financial service coupled with large equipment delivery. You need both halves - the sheet bending/engine manufacturing and the cash on offer to float the loan to the farmer. There's a lot of strength to being incumbent in both of these areas.
- icebraining 12y ago
  Why can't a manufacturer partner up with a financial company to provide the bundle?
  - Qworg 12y ago
    They can and do at the low end, but the upper end market is dominated by Deere and a few others in a way that is hard to understand. The manufacturer has to have the deep pockets and stomach for a protracted battle - lots of folks "bleed green" and will only buy Deere. Deere is everywhere in the countryside - big marketing campaigns. Deere and others also have large dealer networks. That is where the sales are made. Many of these dealers have been around for a really long time and have all of the customer access. You'd have to break into the network somehow. You'd have to not only be able to make it, but have the cash on hand to sustain more than a few years of incredibly low sales and lack of distribution.
    - sologoub 12y ago
      Also, don't forget that this is a relatively new development in situation. Historically, Deere has been a very reliable brand-name for farmers. Long term, they may do significant damage, but it will take time to erode the built-up good will.