My Tractor Forum banner

John Deere Co

7K views 20 replies 16 participants last post by  jdemaris 
#1 ·
Well, the JD glory is gone! Looking down the nose at other peoples tractors is over. The apple pie tractor company is no different than any of the others any more. Chinese parts are only a part of it, how about the whole tractors. You can argue all you want that YOUR new John Deere, if it's under 120 HP, is American made. Some of them, so far and don't know how long that's going to last, might be assembled here, But their opening up big manufacturing operations in China, along with other operations in various parts of the world. No lawn mower size tractors parts are made here, all over seas. Some are assembled here, for now, how long that will last?????

Read just one of many articles. Too many to list. This is from 2006/7, there are more up dated ones.

http://www.stackyard.com/news/2007/06/machinery/03_john_deere_benye.html
 
#2 ·
Sounds like a smart business decision to me. :)
 
#4 ·
Well, the JD glory is gone! Looking down the nose at other peoples tractors is over.
Deere was making tractors in Germany since the 1950s. By the late 70s-early 80s - in Argentina, France, Spain, Canada, Austrailia, etc. Also was selling rebadged tractors from Japan since the 70s.

So I guess you think only China is a problem? I see it like this. There are many Deere owners all over the world and some parts only come from Deere. They owe it to loyal customers to stay in business so product support exists. Deere Co. has done a great job and may be the only stand-alone original tractor company left that originated in the USA.

I just got some parts from Deere for my 1960 crawler that are not available aftermarket. I find that impressive for a machine over 50 years old. Go to your government supported Chevy dealer and try to buy parts for a 20 year old Chevy and see how far you get.
 
#7 ·
As long as its built to JD spec and i can get parts in 20 or 30 years i'm fine with it. Not much any of us drive is built in the USA or Canada. Might be some parts and pieces but not the whole unit for the most part. I can still walk in and get parts for my ole JD70 diesel.. I'm happy..
 
#9 ·
some countries have rules... like: if you want to sell your product here, it must be made here (at least a certain % of the work)....
so if JD wants to sell tractors in china, which has 4x the population of the US, and a good portion are farmers - it would make sense to open up shop there.

the next day, when you realize you make for example - wheels in china, and then you need the exact same wheel in the US for a new tractor you just finished designing - why would you tool up and begin manufacturing of the same wheels in the US, when you are cranking out 1000's of them already somewhere else?... this is called 'business management'

in the end, it's the balance that counts. you make parts everywhere. you assemble everywhere. you sell everywhere. what's wrong with that?

deere has done a lot better job at balancing business mgmt, and customer sentiment, than most other companies. it could be a lot worse. they could just outsource everything to china and india, like many others... then you'd have something to complain about.
for now, congratulations to JD!...
 
#10 ·
That's why I go old school.....
 
#13 ·
do not think that you will ever get the service or longevity of the old dubuqe, waterloo tractors from what deere is selling today, it will just not happen

the newer small deeres would fall apart quickly if they ever had to do the work of the old tractors, they are just not in the same league
imo
 
#14 ·
and here at the end of the rant i thot u were gonna say that u finally broke down and got a nice riding select series tractor.. checkout the X310 with hydraulic deck, power steer and serviceable transmission, been sellin' like hotcakes and are priced higher in Canada.. and then ther's that X540 that's water cooled and has differential lock..4 wheel steer models.. quite the variety.. thinkin' the quality put into the select series is purdy good as they warrantied for 4 yrs.. and if they gonna build'm in China, they'll sell'm in China..
john deere, harley davidson and Norman Rockwell are all American Icons..
now who wants some apple pie.. :)

~Mowes
 
#15 ·
i know this dont have nothing to do with deere but ill though it out there anyway. i work at a factory that makes locking lug nut, plain lug nuts and anything else custom locks for both government, business, and for just the private consumer. sure we have stuff brought in like our plastic stuff but over all it is mainly all stuff made in the us we mill, plate and assemble all our stuff. however we do send stuff to other counties to assemble . there are 3 or 4 other factories world wide the largest is i believe japan then us then Germany . i guess what im getting at is just because a part says its made in china (or where ever) doesnt mean the whole part was. it just means the the main part of that part was. we send main parts over and they slap "made in bla bla " on it. im sure the us companies do it too.

i dont blame deere one bit for resorting to out sourcing. a company now days has to do it in order to stay a float. the American way of pay is so messed up. the "bosses" get paid 50 grand or more to sit in a office on the phone and computer while the floor workers bust hump for just over minimum wage. that brings me to another point. we are some of the highest paid people in the world over all and yet everyone (including myself) is always asking for more money per hour. just think about it. back in theday people didnt complain so much, they were happy with what they were getting thus meaning companies wernt forking out 8.00 ph at the least. but as we all got greedier companies had think of ways to make more money to pay us more. out sourcing is the oly logical way of doing that.

so think of that before ya start complaing about how jobs are going across seas at such a quick rate and how everything is made over there and not as much is made here. plain and simple companies can no longer afford a 100% american work force now days like they could way back then.


i do agree that the new stuff isnt built as tough now as it was back then though. you cant beat good ole american steel !! we may charge more but at least its built solid and will last 50 years !!!
 
#17 ·
there are other issues that have caused our troubles as well, you probably do not make as much as your dad did in real wages.

most things are cheaper today than they where back 50 years ago, that is when the government took the last of the real value backing from our monetary system.

in other words they took the silver out of our money, they had taken the gold out back in the 30's

in 1958 a new 420 john deere cost $2300, you could take 2300 dollars and buy you a new tractor or trade it in at the bank for silver dollars and set on it, today the silver content of that coinage would be worth $48300.00

today a new 5045 john deere 2wd basic tractor (about as close to a 420 as you can buy today) can be bought for $13000, that is just $610, in 1958 silver coinage

today the silver content of just one of those silver dollars is worth over $21 of our paper money and new non-silver coinage, this time last year it was worth $45, so our currency is bouncing back a little

but the wool was pulled over the eyes of the american public, 50 years ago,they took God out of our schools and bullion from our money.

in both instances they replaced something of great value withe the garbage we have today.

if you are making $100,000 annually, to day you have the same cash value as someone making $100 a week in the late 50's and early 60's

while the real value of american wages have fallen, the things we use have become cheaper when measured against the value of of silver and gold

todays 4 dollar gas is worth about 20 cents per gallon in american silver coinage

ther dime that bought my first can soda pop, back in the early 60's, today will buy a 6 pack

it is not that everything has gone up as much as it is that our dollar has faltered


look at this calculator to see what i am talking about
http://www.coinflation.com/silver_coin_values.html

the pied piper blowed the horn and everyone followed, sound familiar :thSick:
 
#16 ·
Every since I was a kid, the Unions said they needed more money to meet the cost of living. And the Companies said they needed to raise the price of goods to offset the cost of wages. I don't know who is right but now jobs are going overseas.:dunno:

All this angst in this thread is no different than when The Farmer had to sell his horse and get a tractor, you know. Things change, we adapt.
 
#20 ·
Funny that this thread came up.... I was at a local tractor show this weekend and was talking with an older gentleman who had come out, and I mentioned that is it just amazing that there were tractors at the show that are anywhere from 50-100 years old.... It made me think that I do not belive that any modern tractors will still be running in 50-60 years (like my Ford). I do not think they are built as well today, and it seems as if there is a correlation between how simple the tractor is to how long it lasts....

Now I know there are many things I cannot do with my 1950 Ford that I could do with a new tractor, but I can't really say I wish I had one.... I know my property/playground, and the Ford fits just fine.

Nothing against those that have new machines, that is a choice, as is mine...

Thanks,

John
 
#21 ·
I do not belive that any modern tractors will still be running in 50-60 years (like my Ford). I do not think they are built as well today, and it seems as if there is a correlation between how simple the tractor is to how long it lasts....
From an engineering perspective, Many newer tractors are built better then the old ones. That with "better" meaning more durable and hours of use before a rebuild. The problem (as I see it) they are too complicated and go through too many changes on a yearly basis. That level of complication and lack of standardization of parts is likely to make getting parts in the future very difficult.

Simple case-in-point. I can buy just about any part I want for my Ford Model A car or even most parts for my 1918 Model T. Yet- I went to my local Dodge dealer (now an Italian company) asking about some driveshaft parts for my 1998 AWD Grand Carvavan and was told the parts are obsolete and no longer available. Not available aftermarket either - so my only souce is used from a junkyard.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top