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Digital Rights/Restrictions Management (DRM) technologies affecting new tractors are behind the continuing rise in popularity of the models. Particularly in the midwest, farmers are finding that 40-year-old tractors do the job with less trouble and expense.
Tractors manufactured in the late 1970s and 1980s are some of the hottest items in farm auctions across the Midwest these days — and it's not because they're antiques.
Cost-conscious farmers are looking for bargains, and tractors from that era are well-built and totally functional, and aren't as complicated or expensive to repair as more recent models that run on sophisticated software.
"It's a trend that's been building. It's been interesting in the last couple years, which have been difficult for ag, to see the trend accelerate," said Greg Peterson, the founder of Machinery Pete, a farm equipment data company in Rochester with a website and TV show.
Previously;
Reeducating Legislators on the Right to Repair (2019)
John Deere Just Swindled Farmers Out of Their Right to Repair (2018)
US Copyright Office Says People Have the Right to Hack their Own Cars' Software (2015)
(Score: 4, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:16PM (27 children)
Why aren't they financing domestic fabrication of low cost simple reliable tractors?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:19PM (5 children)
That's an interesting question. Why is nobody putting out simpler tractors?
Would need to see the data; maybe things like this story are incomplete. Perhaps enough someones are buying into the newer tractors that they're still making serious bank off them, and its only the small farms that can't afford them.
This is just guessing for the kind of thing having more data about the whole problem might show.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:25PM (1 child)
Perhaps enough someones are buying into the newer tractors that they're still making serious bank off them, and its only the small farms that can't afford them.
That's it in a nut shell. Small farmers just don't have the capital to nudge the market. For big ag, it's better to make them go bankrupt and steal their land.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:50PM
Steal their land is no joke. Land here goes between 9 and 10 arms-length, but it isn't uncommon to see desperation prices between 4 and 5 or even less on quick sales or auction. People are beating the shit out of their land with corn on corn or continuous corn to try an make a profit in the short term, but just costing themselves in the long run. It also doesn't help that the margins post-Trump are going negative. On many of my fields, I covered them early to buy time to research alternate crops rather than lose money. Bees seem to like it and my spouse thinks it looks pretty, so there's that. At least the farm isn't our only revenue stream.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Unixnut on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:34PM (2 children)
I can think of a few reasons:
1. It is very capital intensive to set up a complete new factory for factories. Especially in the western world. And if you do by some miracle manage, you have to compete with behemoths which a lot more financial and legal clout than you have.
2. A lot of of the existing technology is patented, and mostly owned by the large companies. They are unlikely to licence any of them to small firms.
3. Just like in the days of Microsoft dominance, big companies have standards for power take off and interfacing their tractors with other tools. Third parties build their tools to interface with those tractor interfaces, but if you want your tractor to copy that interface you have to licence the patents mentioned in (2), if the companies would even consider that.
4. As mentioned, big corporate farms are not too affected by this. They are unlikely to self-maintain their own equipment anyway, but outsource it to maintenance firms (or even the OEM). This affects the small/independent farmer the most.
5. Due to economies of scale, your "libre tractors" would be a lot more expensive than the commodity ones, with less features (think how open source phones are in our world. Usually 3x as expensive as the competition, using two/three generation old tech). Small/indie farmers, who are the target market, are the least able to afford higher costs.
6. Leading on from above, your "libre tractors" would be competing with the second hand market, which will be much cheaper.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @12:10AM
This
Not this. The in-demand tractors the article talks about are 30-40 years old. Any patents applying to an equivalent tractor made today are going to be well past their expiry date.
A little this. The article talks about tractors being retrofitted by the farmers with more modern tech, so you just have to not make your tractors difficult to modify.
Good! That's one market you don't have to worry about serving then, and you can focus the business on the real customers.
Maybe, maybe not this. It's not like open-source phones though, which are trying to compete with today's latest bells and whistles; the entire point is that the bells and whistles are getting in the way!
I suspect that with modern practises and tooling, it would be entirely possible to make an affordable replacement to 30-year old tractors.
Maybe this. However, the article mentions one such tractor was sold second-hand for over $60k! That's more than a fully kitted out Tesla Model 3!
The farmers seem to want reliability and repairability though, so perhaps the real money is in the parts business.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by shortscreen on Friday January 10 2020, @01:42AM
It may not be possible to make new tractors similar to the 40-year-old ones because of new regulations that those designs would not comply with.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:29PM (7 children)
Why aren't they just using livestock (horses / oxen) still?
This sig for rent.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:38PM (5 children)
They can't read GPS data. They are difficult to automate. And per acre costs might actually be higher, definitely if you factor in the time spent.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @11:09PM (4 children)
Animals are great for smaller farms. You can train them to do exactly what you want to do, they are useful for other things, fun to be around, and they aren't that much slower for fields with a lot of rocks, turns, etc. Big straight-run farms like mine? Instead of 2 corn acres a day, mine and my neighbor's combine can do around 10 and over 20 acres an hour, respectively.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday January 10 2020, @12:22AM (3 children)
Fun to be around?! Not at all what my father and grandfather thought. Horses are a bit unpredictable and dangerous. Most of the time, yes, they're well behaved. But, you never know when the stupid things are going to spook and go nuts. If panicked badly enough, they will do crazy stuff like charge full speed into a brick wall (usually fatal), trample everyone who doesn't get out of the way fast enough, tear up a bunch of fence (and cover themselves in deep scratches if the fence is barb wire), and rear up and try to smash whatever is in front of them, and other destructive and injurious things.
Also got to keep them away from the cornfield. A horse or a cow that gets into a cornfield is going to eat the corn. The problem is not the loss of the corn. The problem is that corn is too rich for those animals. Their digestion can't handle it, and if they get the chance to eat their fill, and no one notices for a while, they'll die.
Driving a 1940s tractor without a cab all day long, working the fields, really sucks. But that's better than farming with a team of horses.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @12:57AM
I did both. Hell are farm equipment was mostly out of 1920. Bucking sleigh to bring the hay to the barn. House pull rake and side cutter that both worked by the wheels turning by the tractor. Hay chopper and saw that was powered by 12 inch belts on a pullley/pro was on side of 1950 international tractor same as on old stream tractors. We had 26acre farm with fruit trees too.
All worked very welll but slow
Did learn to drive at age 4
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @08:29AM (1 child)
Sounds like they used broken and not trained horses. When the horse sees you, other people, and its partner as companions in a herd, rather than an obstacle to be avoided, they react very differently. Plus draft animals are much colder than the much hotter riders, which makes them much harder to provoke and less likely to bolt in general. Sure the tractor is faster and you don't have to worry about hydrating it, resting it, feeding it, etc., while working but, as I said, it comes down to the particular size of the farm and the other uses you can get out of them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 11 2020, @02:58AM
I was gonna say - a lot of it is the personality of the animal, and a lot of that is how they've been treated. A working plowhorse rearing? I never once saw a clydesdale rear up. But people who treat their work animals badly get bit and kicked; it's tit-for-tat.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:50PM
Distribution Restricted Manure.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday January 09 2020, @11:53PM
Because farmers don't have large budgets, and are very busy. This isn't true with the corporate farms, but they don't have as much trouble with tractors having DRM.
As for why nobody else is doing so... the people don't buy tractors regularly, so they depend on brands they recognize as quality. How do you develop a name? You do it by people using your tractors and finding them reliable. I can't think of any quick way to enter the field, and it's got a high bar to entry...you don't want to use a pickup frame for your tractor.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday January 10 2020, @12:03AM (9 children)
Because there's no need to [alibaba.com] - just a matter of importation. True, the USian farmer would need to swallow their national(istic) pride to buy one from the Chinese, but it would worth it.
A 80HP tractor at $3500 FOB [alibaba.com]. Feeling of guts, more than double that for "postage and handling" and you get one at $9000.
An 180HP one is $25k [alibaba.com] FOB - say $60k delivered. A used (2013) Deere in the same class is around $100K [tractorhouse.com]. For the price of a new Deere, one can get at least two of a chinese model (simple enough he can repair himself) and keep one for spares.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 10 2020, @03:00AM (8 children)
I bought a Chinese trailer from Harbor Freight - it suited my needs at the time, but I ended up keeping it longer than I planned.
Problem 1: the paint peeled off within 12 months and the rust started
Problem 2: Chinese sized axles and bearings - not US standard sizes, repair / replacement costing instead of $5 for US standard parts closer to $30, plus time required to obtain.
Other than that, it was a good trailer and remarkably cheap. If I bought a Chinese tractor I think I might invest in an immediate strip and repaint - but I'd be very much more worried about details like quality of wiring, insulation, fasteners, etc.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 10 2020, @03:32AM (1 child)
An one off job, on a pretty basic machine.
Also, aren't those something that a well-seasoned farmer could do as the repairs s/he has the right to do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 10 2020, @02:54PM
Sure, DIY is possible, but if you're going that far with a repaint, rewire, fastener replacement, etc. you might be more inclined to restore a home grown antique if you can get ahold of one.
Once the rust starts, rehab isn't much fun, or very effective - that trailer only has a couple more years before the frame cracks in half. And - $30 vs $5 for a bearing doesn't sound like a big deal, but when the trailer only cost $180 to start with.... same for a strip and paint, that's a lot of labor for a $180 trailer.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @08:42AM (5 children)
My three thoughts.
A lot of those Chinese tractors, especially at the cheap end, don't really compare to the agricultural tractors that the mid-tiers put out, let alone the top ones. For example, a 1 year warranty? My tractor came with 5.
You'll have a hard time convincing farmers to do China anything, especially after the tariff situation exploded.
Time is money. If my tractor goes down, it is because I am using it. If I am using it, I probably needed it to work yesterday. If mine broke, I can call my local mechanic or dealer and get a spare part in an hour and be going again and if not, they will loan me one while the part is overnighted so I can still work. One of those Chinese ones breaks, I'm looking at two weeks or more in shipping or 10x the price for express shipping and still out a tractor while I wait. Waiting a day or two at the wrong time of the season and I could be screwed for the year.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 10 2020, @02:57PM (4 children)
Part of how we deal with this and our older vehicles is by having backups - 4 cars for 2 people. One goes down we don't even think about it, just switch to backup until we've got time to start working on repair. Two down at once is rare, but still not even a trip to the rental agency.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @08:10PM (3 children)
So I buy 2 cheap Chinese tractors for more than the mid-tier or even expensive one costs here, and still have less features, less access to parts, less experience on it by myself and my mechanic, and I take a crap shot on how long the random brand will be supported. Some solution.
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Friday January 10 2020, @09:41PM (2 children)
Or you could buy an expensive dear john with expensive service costs (that's how they make a lot of their money) with more features, access to parts and experience by you and your mechanic rendered irrelevant, and you take a crap shoot on how long the particular model will be supported. Some solution.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 11 2020, @02:09AM (1 child)
Ignoring the fact your alternatives aren't cheap Chinese vs John Deere, the Deere will still be supported for a long time. For example, look up on their parts website [deere.com] the 2040 or the 4020, two tractors last available in '72, and '82, respectively. You can still get OEM parts on their website, not to mention the compatible non-OEM ones on the open market. Deere and other major manufacturers have a history of supporting their stuff for a long time. Can you really say that parts are going to be available for the Chinese ones almost 50 years later or that they will even last that long to put parts in?
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Saturday January 11 2020, @04:07AM
No, I'm saying that parts availability will be dependant on a company that's just (in the last decade) discovered that it can strongarm the disavantages of both buying and leasing to the customer and keep all the advantages to itself. In other words, only until them EOLling equipment is more profitable than providing backup; 'cos then you need to buy new.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @05:11AM
You know exactly the answer to your question. If there's no DRM or planned obsolescence, the kikes running the economy don't get paid enough. If American manufacturing businesses were placed back under the control of blue collar Americans rather than Jewish elites like the Rothschilds, you might get low cost reliable tractors manufactured domestically once again. Hope that helps.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @04:10PM
Emissions standards (and the need for FI/Engine management to meet them).
And service lock-in profits.
It's a win-win situation for the manufacturers.