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posted by martyb on Wednesday March 27 2019, @07:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the Tractors-and-combines-are-just-iphones-on-wheels dept.

Farmers have been getting screwed by a combination of DRM linked to DMCA legalisms that effectively make farmers into criminals if they modify their own farming equipment, forcing them to choose between breaking the law or paying extortionate fees to equipment manufacturers for both hardware and software fixes.

Elizabeth Warren recently announced a new broad policy agenda focused on helping farmers. But buried in it is something everybody here can get behind too - the right to repair:

Consolidation is choking family farms, but there’s a whole lot of other ways in which big business has rigged the rules in their favor and against family farmers. I will fight to change those rules.

For example, many farmers are forced to rely on authorized agents to repair their equipment. Companies have built diagnostic software into the equipment that prevents repairs without a code from an authorized agent. That leads to higher prices and costly delays.

That’s ridiculous. Farmers should be able to repair their own equipment or choose between multiple repair shops. That’s why I strongly support a national right-to-repair law that empowers farmers to repair their equipment without going to an authorized agent. The national right-to-repair law should require manufacturers of farm equipment to make diagnostic tools, manuals, and other repair-related resources available to any individual or business, not just their own dealerships and authorized agents. This will not only allow individuals to fix their own equipment — reducing delays — but it will also create competition among dealers and independent repair shops, bringing down prices overall.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by RS3 on Wednesday March 27 2019, @09:22PM (6 children)

    by RS3 (6367) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @09:22PM (#820968)

    That's very funny, but I'm both laughing and crying. In fact, many screws and bolts are safety critical and to maintain warranty and safety, you _have_ to use expensive factory bolts, and you're frequently not allowed to re-use bolts.

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  • (Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Wednesday March 27 2019, @10:10PM

    by linkdude64 (5482) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @10:10PM (#820990)

    Bolt DRM when?

  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday March 27 2019, @10:53PM (2 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @10:53PM (#821018)

    There is virtually no screw or bolt that cannot be adequately spec'ed from the McMaster Carr catalog. Part of right to repair should include multiple vendors for common parts.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 28 2019, @04:33AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 28 2019, @04:33AM (#821170)

      > adequately spec'ed from the McMaster Carr catalog.

      Good luck finding high strength connecting rod bolts at McM-C...the kind that are installed with a spec on bolt stretch.
      More generally, the variety of custom/specialized high performance fasteners is much wider than any supplier could hope to stock. Some might be designed in perversely to force factory replacements, but often the particular properties are required to get the desired performance from the part.

    • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday March 28 2019, @04:56PM

      by RS3 (6367) on Thursday March 28 2019, @04:56PM (#821403)

      In case I'm yet again being misunderstood, I do all my own repair work, including rebuilding V8 car engines, automatic transmissions, differentials, welding, body work, appliances, tractors and all types of outdoor machines (including large wood chippers), all the way down to component-level electronic repair (tiny stuff). I'm the first guy to substitute parts.

      However, right to repair, which I'm 100% in favor of, does NOT mean right to wing it. If you don't follow the written factory procedure, and something breaks, and someone gets hurt, 3 guesses on what happens next?

      My Chevy repair manual lists many many bolts which _must_ be replaced with new. From connecting rods and flexplate to crankshaft to differential to body and suspension. It is probably overkill / CYA on the manufacturer's part, but I'm just saying that if you don't have a receipt showing you bought that new factory-spec. bolt, and something bad happens, you might be in a whole world of trouble.

      And there's no question it's a slippery-slope: manufacturers already make things too difficult to repair, requiring a ridiculous array of crazy specialized tools. People like me don't want to / can't invest thousands of dollars, so we improvise, and maybe don't do the repair correctly, or unknowingly damage something, or even get hurt. (of course surviving all of the above is the fun of accomplishment, right? :)

      American Airlines Flight 191, the crash of which killed some 273 people, was originally blamed on a reused / overstressed bolt. Further investigations revealed incorrect maintenance procedures which caused a sequence of failures which stressed the bolt, but IIRC there was thought at the time that the bolts were re-used, and/or not torqued properly, broke, and horrific disaster ensued. As far as I know, they were never sure about the bolts, but it certainly drew attention to bolt strength, using new every time, etc.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Acabatag on Thursday March 28 2019, @01:52AM (1 child)

    by Acabatag (2885) on Thursday March 28 2019, @01:52AM (#821097)

    At the Tractor Supply in town, they sell the cheapest grade hardware, but also the higher grade bolts, by the pound. Bulk hardware is cool, because you can go in with your project in mind and piece together exactly the bolts/nuts/washers you need, throw it in a bag, and they throw it on the scale at the cash register. It beats the blister packs in the big box stores.

    • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday March 28 2019, @05:10PM

      by RS3 (6367) on Thursday March 28 2019, @05:10PM (#821410)

      Big box stores (which I hate but that's a very different problem / topic) have lots of bolts in the bulk bins, including grade 8. At least the ones near me do.

      And there are some wonderful good old hardware stores not too far that have amazing fastener assortments.

      I've only been in a Fastenal store a few times but they're awesome. I need one in my backyard.

      And there are more and more stainless steel screws and bolts at all of the above.