The blower liner on our garage sale New Holland 900 failed. We made a not so quick dash into our local NH dealer for a new liner. It was something like $95. We could have got it mail order for $65 if someone would have noticed it was out last winter.
I don't object to that price. It is a little high but I kind of expected it.
Today we pulled the blower band (part 21)to get to the liner and discovered that the blower band it getting thin. I though perhaps it would be $150 or perhaps $200. It is not complicated but is specially formed.
I called my friendly NH dealer. $365!!! Needless to say it was not in stock.
I understand that there is no competition any longer but... Do the companies ever think that screwing their customers with high parts prices may not sell more equipment or parts?
I needed some wear plates for the side of the feed roll area. They were like $250. I could get them flame cut from better steel for less money. And I will...
The blower liner I will have to have but I am waiting till next season. I expect to first weld up little holes with baling wire before actually breaking down and buying the part.
It really irritates me as that same blower is used on about five NH silage chopper models and might even be the same one as on the current pull type model.
When I went to buy a disk mower I called and asked for prices on commonly used parts. I bought a Hesston because the parts were less money. Not sure if that is still true as AGCO is the same kind of rotten multinational corporate entity that Fiat New Holland is. Who actually knows who currently owns NH as Ag companies are traded like baseball cards on the international corporate market.
I guess you take your pick as to if you want an Italian screwing you or a Frenchman, it still makes it hard to set down for a while.
It gives me more sympathy for that maid...
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Outrageous. You are fortunate that you can do so many things yourself that will extend the use of the equipoment before being forced to pay their prices. In the appliance world, so many of the once reputable brands are now owned by more nefarious companies. You think you are buying Maytag, but you are really getting Whirlpool with a subsequent drop in quality, and that means having to pay a lot of money for low-quality parts on a more frequent basis.
ReplyDeletethefrumpy, Right! Instead of being inspired by the competition to improve quality, they just buy the competition and run it into the ground. This has pretty much been AGCO's policy for the past 20 years. But yet their stock share prices climb!
ReplyDelete"This has pretty much been AGCO's policy for the past 20 years."
ReplyDeleteI think it can be traced all the way back to when White bought Oliver in '62.
They are all guilty. Had a funny one the other day, here. Needed the mounting hardware to mount the baffle under a MacDon windrower that keeps the conditioner from tossing hay into the hydros and engine. Could have made them but didn't have a pattern and had other things to do so I called the dealer and they were in stock. Had them set outside for me to pick up that evening.
Got home that night and looked at the invoice. A 16" rubber strap that looks like a chunk of old tire was $136! And there were 2 of them! Called the next morning and found that they had entered the price for a sprocket for a NH chopper instead of the price for a MD rubber strap. They both had the same part #. $9 was a much better price. At least that one ended well. Then I ordered final drive parts for the Steiger. They wouldn't honor the prices out of my 2004 catalog. The nerve!
But I did get to pan for silver in the final drive housing. I'm rich!
Orin, Actually, It seemed me that Moline parts prices were reasonable and Hesston parts were reasonable right up to the point where AGCO decided to drop the old brand names. I thought the brief incarnation of White Farm Equipment was the dawn of a bright new era where White would build good equipment and have good service and be a good company. Then along came AGCO which may have saved White but still is a company I kind of hate. Growth by buying out the superior competition and the killing the brand is not innovation.
ReplyDeleteCase IH are just as bad. Oh wait, aren't they part of the same company as NH, AGCO, etc.? And BTW, I'm not really anonymous but blogger won't let me sign in to post a comment under my usual name
ReplyDeleteYou know WHITE FARM EQUIPMENT really had some sound engineering in their tools when they were their own brand, but AGCO is now so into the 'CAT' franchise that all the old brands are history....including WHITE.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find strange is AGCO's Cat wheeled tractors all have SISCO engines and not CAT engines.
But the hard fact is AGCO rapes their customers when it comes to parts and piss poor service. Man, I miss the old New Idea/WHITE Corporation...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
For some reason comments are not working properly. It is probably censorship for my insightful commentary on no-till farming.
ReplyDeleteRalph, I didn't follow the last round of company swapping. I think Case-IH and NH are owned by Fiat, Oh Joy! AGCO or Allis-Gleaner Company is now basically a French company, but is multi-national as well. I think... They all have the same parts pricing scheme. As in Screw the customer hard.
Frank, I was pretty excited about WFE. It seemed like a new era. A responsive farm equipment company. Apparently farmers will not purchase equipment for a company that cares about them and will only buy from people who treat them badly. Note the support for huge dealerships. I have experienced this trying to make a few sales for my uncle's tiny farm equipment dealership. (Which has NOS Moline combine parts if anyone is interested)
Orin, Panning for silver in the Stieger gear cases can't be good. Kind of like the time I decided to turn the gears around in the planetaries on my G1355. I discovered it had already been done. Let's just say, it is a good thing you don't pull much in reverse!
ReplyDelete