Nearly 40 years of nothing but green coming to a close

My good friend and next door neighbour has eaten breathed and slept nothing but John Deere most of his life. His Dad and Grandfather had a fleet of big new Massey's back in the 70's,the 2000 series ones that had transmission problems,or theirs did anyways. Run them for 2 years and there was rarely a time there wasn't at least one at the shop. They traded them for 2 4440's and a 4450 JD and boy did they have something then. Ran those for over 10 years then traded those for 2 new 7700's and a new 7800 when they first came out. Those have been replaced by an 8410, 7930 and I'm not sure what else they have by number. They still love their Deeres but are beyond fed up with our local dealer service and lack of in stock parts. Nearly everything you can think of they say,sorry don't have one,can get it in a week or if you want to pay $50 can have it air freighted in by tomorrow or the next day. They stock near nothing. They have 13 stores under 1 dealership in 3 neighbouring provinces. Only other Deere option is go to Quebec. Anyways they bought a new Kubota M7 151 with a loader today. We deal with that dealership and the parts inventory and service department is second to none. It's a shame it's come to that but you can only stay broke down so long and hear the same ol song and dance so many times.

I understand completely. I was all Deere and now I have none at all because of the superstores.

Philip interesting reading. You might like to know for the last 30 years to supply parts KUBPTA has had warehouses in four locations, California, Texas, Ohio and Georgia. With the new M6 & M 7 tractors coming aboard a decision was made to furnish ALL dealers from one warehouse so a new parts facility is operating out of Kansas City in a leased building with the new permanent one under construction. Kubota is committed to giving good parts support.

They used to be all independently owned at one time and they all offered excellent parts and service. For various reasons they all went broke and one at a time the same dealer bought them all up.

I think Deere pulled their dealership and offered to the big guys who could afford a whole region.

Good parts support? Then why did it that them 3 months to get me a replacement gearbox for a mower with 12 hours? I had to wait a week of a belt for a 60" deck? I really like the tractor and mower but waiting all summer when the grass is growing? I went and bought a new deere ztrac with 3 year no down time guarentee. They provide you a loaner if yours is down more than a day, hell kubota would not give us anything!

Every dealership is different. I had to wait a month for lawn sweeper parts at our JD store. I'm pretty sure there's litterly hundreds of those sweepers on PEI and 3 JD dealerships and not one of them had sweeper parts the first of June.

My all green neighbor now has green, blue, red and orange.

Your friend is going to find out in this day and age NO dealership stocks many parts. The same is true for almost every other business as well. There is no better parts support than Deere.

I would be interested in a few facts first what model mower? Do not want to get into what dealership but at least what state and maybe how long have they been a KUBOTA dealer. Something really sounds strange . Not saying it did not happen but again just not like anything I have ever experienced. MOST KUBOTA mower decks are made in Gainesville Ga but some gear boxes are out sourced.

It's not Deere it's the dealership. It's very rare that you can walk in there no matter who you are or what you have and they have a part your looking for in stock. This kubota dealer also carries NewHolland and Kuhn Knight among other lines and you'd be very surprised at what they have in stock. This spring the gearbox shaft on our 1040 Knight spreader twisted off. It needed a new shaft bearings seals and hub for the beater and they had all of the parts in stock. We've gotten countless parts for our old 648 baler 790 forage harvester T4030 tractor M8200 loader tractor and it's very rare they don't have what we need in stock.

!

Tractor population and model mix determines a lot of parts stocking. Some dealers just plain do not have the money to tie up in parts so they hold the stock down. Twenty years ago Kubota had fewer models so when a customer walked in the door we furnished somewhere around 86% of the parts right there from the counter with a stock of probably somewhere around seventy five thousand dollars worth of parts. Fast forward to 2016 Kubota probably has 4 times more product out there and we (at the dealership) have over four times as many dollars in parts setting on the shelf that turns on the average of 3.6 times a year, but now that fill rate is down to upper 70% and that is actually a little above what the company calls acceptable. Consumables like blades , belts, filters, oil need to be close to 100% but after that it gets hard to predict .

Kubota has purchased a 35 acre sight about 40 miles to the south of me, to build a parts warehouse, and new equipment warehouse/storage facilities. So this will make same day parts easy for our dealers here in Ontario.
Kubota is cutting a swath into the market, mostly taking away the livestock farmers right now. Crop farmers want 200-300 hp tractors, and Kubota doesn?t offer them... yet

Bruce, did they do that just for you?

JD is stacking the deck to favor the mega dealerships. The biggest way is to have all the stores in one pot so they build sales volume together. While a single location has to go it alone. Then JD makes the level of sales be larger to receive a volume payment at year end. So the mega dealer may get as much as 10% of his total sales volume back in a volume check. The single location would be lucky to get 4-5% back. Then JD plays with the market share requirement as well. So lets say that there are 20 100 HP tractors sold in your county. JD says that 50% of them should be JD tractors. So you have to sell 10 100 HP tractors to meet your market share goal. If you don't JD will cut your volume even lower. So if your in a county with other brands like CNH and MF you may not be able to sell that high of a share.

As far as part availability that is largely dealership driven. Around here even the mega stores are close enough they run a shuttle van between the various stores to help cover needed parts at different stores. I can look up my parts on line. I then can look to see if my local store has the parts I need. If they do not I can look at the other stores in that chain to see if any of them have it. If I call and let my local store know what parts I need before 9AM they can get the parts from the other dealer locations. I can usually pick the parts up after 2 PM that same day. Here in North-East Iowa they get stock orders three days each week. So even if non of the other dealer locations have it I can usually get the part freight free in a day or two. If I absolutely have to have it I can get Machine down parts the very next day. I have to pay the freight. IF I want to drive to Milan IL. I can go pickup the parts there seven days a week. The local dealer has to order them and set it up for customer will call but you can do it.

So around here none of the other brands is even close in parts availability.

The trouble is I have three different Mega store chains to deal with. There are no locally owned stores left. If your buying new equipment your not going to get much competition on that new sales quote. It is pretty much take it of leave it. JD enforces that too. There are always unpublished discounts. They are only good to customers in that dealership's sales territory or for customers out of that territory that the dealership can prove a prior sales history with. So if your thinking you can go three states away and get the discount it will not happen.

(quoted from post at 19:12:37 08/06/18) !

Click to expand...

OH? So I'm supposed to buy only AGCO and Deer? CASEIH is a no no? it is after all owned by FIAT.

Sorry Tee don't want to go there. Because of the local "I don't support any older equipment" AGCO store I won't own anything AGCO makes, sells or supports. So I guess yer saying that I'm only supposed to buy Deer?

Rick

A core theme of this thread seems to be newer tractors and instant parts availability.

For you guys that hate one brand or another over parts availability, may I ask what types of breakdowns you've had with late model tractors, and what parts you would like to see stocked locally?

As good as machinery has gotten over the years, I would HOPE a new tractor (of any color) typically wouldn't need anything but filters, and maybe a fan belt for at least the first 5000 hours.

WHAT are some of you guys having trouble with/tearing up?

It's not so much the newer ones it's the brand in general. If your running a farm you have a lot of equipment and it's only new when it's new. Eventually your going to need wheel bearings and seals,a starter or alternator maybe. On equipment it could be a shear bar on a chopper maybe knives. Maybe the blower fan bearings on a chopper or bearing on your baler. Could be a universal on your hay mower. If they have a bunch of that equipment on the go in their area and there's common wear or fail parts that fit those pieces of equipment you'd think they'd stock a few of those parts between their 13 stores but unless you need a filter chances are they don't have it.

That's the frustrating part,you'd think between 13 stores collectively they'd have most common model common wear and tear parts in season but they always say it's at least 1000 miles away and take a week maybe a month to get it.

The tractor is a b2620 with a 60" belly mower. I believe it is a 2014? bought at end of 2013. The dealer has been a Kubota dealer for along time, we bought a BX series from them about 6 years before we traded for the B2620. They are a large IH and Kenzie dealer also with several stores. I really like their parts people but all I really buy is filters for the b2620,svl75,RTV and zd326 and parts for the Kenzie planters. The rest of the farm is green.

Lol, somehow I doubt that.

We had four dealers here within a stone's throw. If any one of them had been turned in to a super store I probably would have stayed with them,but I refuse to spend two hours on the road just to be treated like that. I used to go to the nearest one for everything,whether it was for a Deere or not. Bearings,belts,chain,hoses,u-joints,oil,you name it,I went there for it. It got to where at Deeremart,even if you had the part number,model number,serial number and had the manual with you to show them what it was,they got the wrong part every time and that was after a healthy dose of bad attitude.

(quoted from post at 21:12:37 08/06/18) !

Click to expand...

Surprise

There are no tractors under 100hp manufactured in North America. There are a few assembly plants in the United States putting some tractors together but pretty much everything is actually made overseas and none of the power trains are built out here.

Case, Ford, New Holland, Massey, McCormick, Kubota, and yup you guessed it, even big JD are all made elsewhere.??

Japan, and India???

If I was in a position to NEED a new tractor, which I do not, I would definitely be looking at a Kubota. I am as patriotic as any of you, but in the under 100 horsepower category, the Kubota is as American as any of the others.

Bad information.......Deere has tractors made in Augusta, Ga. that are under 100 hp.

(quoted from post at 09:30:58 08/07/18) Bad information.......Deere has tractors made in Augusta, Ga. that are under 100 hp.

Click to expand...

Assembled in Augusta, Ga.
Engine, trans, axles, ect all built in different countries and sent to a assembly plant.

More people are employed in various jobs pertaining to components built than in final assembly.

(quoted from post at 08:04:46 08/07/18)

(quoted from post at 09:30:58 08/07/18) Bad information.......Deere has tractors made in Augusta, Ga. that are under 100 hp.

Click to expand...

Assembled in Augusta, Ga.
Engine, trans, axles, ect all built in different countries and sent to a assembly plant.

More people are employed in various jobs pertaining to components built than in final assembly.

Click to expand...

Exactly!! Same for Case-IH, Massey, New Holland, etc., etc.

(quoted from post at 10:30:58 08/07/18) Bad information.......Deere has tractors made in Augusta, Ga. that are under 100 hp.

Click to expand...

5100M is 102 engine HP. Are components such as engine & trans built in USA or is tractor just assembled in USA with some foreign made parts? I'll guess engine in 5100M isn't built in USA.

(quoted from post at 12:04:46 08/07/18)

(quoted from post at 09:30:58 08/07/18) Bad information.......Deere has tractors made in Augusta, Ga. that are under 100 hp.

Click to expand...

Assembled in Augusta, Ga.
Engine, trans, axles, ect all built in different countries and sent to a assembly plant.

More people are employed in various jobs pertaining to components built than in final assembly.

Click to expand...

And most likely the only reason they are assembled here is because it is cheaper to do so instead of paying the tariff on a completely assembled and operational tractor.

Not sure where their built today, some years ago the engines were built in Great Britain, another part was built in France, something else was built in South America.

That one of the reasons JD changed to black drive trains.
Paint pigments where different in each country the parts were built in so when they where assembled the tractor would be 3-5 different shades of green.


As for the mega dealers.
Our local dealer has been owned by the same family since the 50's, in the pass 10 years they've taken over other stores, now they have 6 stores in 2 states.
They told us JD said go big or get taken over, JD only wants mega dealers.

JD was promoting mega location dealers back in the 90's because that's the reason my ex-sister in law sold her JD dealership way back then.

We almost bought a 5100M until talking to other
Deere customers and hearing the frustrations about
the dealer chain. The salesman said the 5085 and
up 5000 series E and M are built in Agusta Georgia.
The 5075 and down are built in India. Not sure
where the components are made but they?re at the
very least assembled in Georgia.

Another point I think is missed is that a person is only going to have trouble finding parts for the brand they own as they wouldn't be looking for parts of another brand.

Ha-Ha. I used to buy JD oil filters for a Deere 420 lawn mower with an Onan engine to use in my 982 Cub Cadet from my local Deere dealer. 3 years ago I went to buy a new oil filter, big Stihl leaf blower, had to be in a box, was a gift, and get a chain saw chain sharpened. Walked imto showroom, walked down to parts, 2 guys busy, then nobody busy, one guy comes out from behind counter, straightens spray cans on shelf across from counter, does not look at me, does not acknowledge my existence, I walk down by sales, salesman says Hi, walks away, I walk back to parts, stand resting on counter another good 5 minutes, finally guy, a supervisor maybe walks out of back office, asks me, "Have you been helped?". I said, GOD, I thought I suddenly turned invisible!" Then the guy starts badgering me asking questions, Did you do This? Did you do That? I said, HEY, I came here to buy a Stihl leaf blower, Just like that, gotta be in a box. Turned out I had to go to their other store across town. Did get my oil filter which didn't fit since they changed their filter offerings, Returned the filter when I got the sharpened saw chain, SON loves the blower

Oh, and since then, I've bought a $10,000 zero turn mower for $8400, new $300 chain saw, about $600 worth of service/repair parts, some of them I have no idea why they had them, or why they were so cheap, but they had them. All from my Cub Cadet and Case/IH dealer that's about FIVE. I've NEVER waited to talk to someone about parts, seen 4-5 guys behind the counter when they are busy. Not a place you come in and chit-chat, they can be busy.

I know ALL about cost of inventory, inventory turns, price mark-up, etc, I was in purchasing for over 30 years. I could completely understand having ALL parts be special ordered. But what I won't tolerate is bad attitude, being ignored, some manager or supervisor trying to start an argument. I have not and WILL NOT go back to that Deere dealer, will continue to buy from my C/IH dealer.

we have 3 john deere dealers within driving distance one has 17 or 18 stores usually have an ad in newspaper for more help. I have never waited more than 2 days for parts if machine is broke usually have parts by 8 next morning.
the other 2 places both have several stores I don't know about their serve

The change may have been because of new machine pricing rather that shipping charges. Central warehouses and overnight delivery have changes the spare parts business and cut total costs. For most operations, a $50 overnight shipping charge is a drop in the bucket compared to having a machine down for several extra days. How many lost bushels does it take to offset $50?

BINGO!!! That's exactly why everything green and yellow is gone from here. It had nothing to do with the products,everything to do with being treated like a red headed step child!

We almost bought a 5100M until talking to other
Deere customers and hearing the frustrations about
the dealer chain. The salesman said the 5085 and
up 5000 series E and M are built in Agusta Georgia.
The 5075 and down are built in India. Not sure
where the components are made but they?re at the
very least assembled in Georgia.