# should I be disappointed?



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

So I ordered a Deere CX-15 to supplement my growing open space maintenance business and replace my Woods mower which I never liked. Lots of conservancies calling wanting open space cut.

I wanted the best product and customer service, so I went to local big Deere dealer back in late October and ordered a new CX-15 mower. Delivery date was 12/7/15.

I sold my Made in USA Woods Batwing on/about 12/5 anticipating timely delivery of my CX-15. Also worth noting I have customers waiting for me to cut probably close to 50 acres and the list is growing.

You can probably already figure this out, but 12/7/15 lapsed and then the excuses started. "Thanksgiving caused delay". (OK well why didnt Deere factor that in when Deere shot back the delivery date?) Then a few more weeks and "Deere shutting down for holidays", then Christmas, then New Years.

I was able to keep my couple customers waiting on me content. Finally, mower arrives 1/6/16- a month later than promised-but no that's not the end-just the beginning.

Dealer needs 7 days to "assemble & prep" mower. 7 days??? Holidays have passed, whats the hold up?? I told dealer "you promised 1/7, I intended to cut starting January 11th and have already been delayed since 12/7". Sorry, but we have to assemble, prep and deliver, best we can do is 1/13/16. Contacted one customer, he said "nevermind, grass is done growing, we'll just let it go for the winter", so there's $800 bucks lost. 2nd & 3rd customer still standing by.

So mower finally gets delivered yesterday 1/13/16 fresh from Mexico made with Chinese gearboxes, Chinese severe duty AG tires and Mexican assembly ,,,, 38 days after promised.

Stopped by yesterday afternoon to find the mower and began the "familiarization process", learning the mower, how it works etc. Hooked it up to the M-126X (for $18,000, you'd think they'd include a 1-1/8" hitch pin, but no, they didnt) all my other implements included a hitch pin, T-shirt, hat, etc)

Ran out of daylight and went home. Got up there this morning to finish hook up and head out to mow. Hooked up hydraulics and uh-oh, problems.......mower goes up/down, but wings are screwy. One wing goes up, other goes down instead of both up/down at same time.

Call dealer and he tells me he "ordered the mower as if you had 3 sets of remotes so you could independently raise or lower each wing". Nope- I only have 2 sets remotes. I told him "I'm all set to hit the road and start mowing today, can you help me out and get this fixed"?

He tells me they need to order parts to change the mowers hydraulic circuit. I said can you get this done today? Nope. Tomorrow-nope. OK, when? We might have parts by monday, then we can schedule a tech to come out and install correct parts "early next week".

So I call my one remaining customer and tell him I'm going to be another week. He was OK with it, but you could tell he was unhappy- he was expecting to have his property cut before holidays. Now I'm going to be a month late.

Yeah I should have waited to sell Woods mower until after new mower came, but once I found a buyer, what am I supposed to do? Risk losing him and his generous offer? What if he blows me off and no other buyers come about? How long was he going to wait? He wanted it the day he looked at it!

So now 6 more days lost to waiting for dealer and who knows what might happen-we might be snowbound for 2 months. Then all customers and thousands of profits lost.

Should I be disappointed at dealer?


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## Bonfire (Oct 21, 2012)

For long term convenience, I'd add a remote to the tractor.


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## Growing pains (Nov 7, 2015)

Absolutely be disappointed. If you can't meet a deadline there's no point in giving one. We run a whole fleet of cx series jd mowers and they seem to hold up very well but for the amount of money we spend with Deere the dealers here aren't much better on service. I'd be going to the top of the food chain at that dealer raising hell. Probably won't help anything but to me that's pretty ridiculous.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

I make the dealer appreciate my business. I'm not a large purchaser but I do spend more than the weekend warrior. The trend in dealerships of late are as soon as the dotted line is signed, they are done with you. There are now more (and growing) weekend warriors in the market for new equipment. There are more operations stepping back and juggling used vs new tractors. Salesmen are wanting to sell new tractors and implements. I got that feeling after I was looking at a few distant dealers, drove a distance and came home with my money, they didn't want it bad enough.

A year ago I got extremely agitated with my local dealer. For good reason too especially after I spent roughly 60,000 in equipment and parts that year. It was always I call leave a message and they get back to me fast. I got a call 1 minute to closing time and missed it because I was on tractor, I had called at 9 am that morning. Guess what? I had to wait til Monday.

Be disappointed and take your business elsewhere.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Bonfire said:


> For long term convenience, I'd add a remote to the tractor.


It's easy to spend other peoples money.

Dealers responsibility to ask me how many remotes I have on my tractor so they can set it up properly.

I'm not spending another $500 more to accommodate a mower when everything else runs on 2 sets.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I would be upset.

Can you put the wings in float and get by until the update is made?


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## Growing pains (Nov 7, 2015)

Bonfire is right. If you can add a remote for $500 it'd probably be well worth it in the long run.


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## Bob M (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm pretty sure we both deal with this same dealership. They have left me very disappointed in the past . I have had more problems with the service department, which I try to only use very limited. I have gone to a dealership in New Jersey for most of my needs now. They seem to want my business and are very helpful.


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## Thorim (Jan 19, 2015)

JD3430 said:


> So I ordered a Deere CX-15 to supplement my growing open space maintenance business and replace my Woods mower which I never liked. Lots of conservancies calling wanting open space cut.
> 
> I wanted the best product and customer service, so I went to local big Deere dealer back in late October and ordered a new CX-15 mower. Delivery date was 12/7/15.
> 
> ...


JD3430 you are a good and patient man, if that mower hadn't been sitting in my yard on 12/07 I would have been down to that dealership on 12/08 demanding my money back and telling that sales man where he could stick his mower and then telling him how to rotate on it. If you owed that dealer money and you'd had promised to pay him on a certain date and you weren't there at the opening of business on the day the money was due he'd be calling you till your phone exploded or worst he bring legal action against you.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

Disappointed?...not me! I would have been mad enough to crap in my hands and rub it in my hair. I agree with Thorim. If they did not fulfill their contract (delivery date), and they STILL haven't fulfilled it...did not deliver what was expected. Unless you signed off on a floating delivery date or a mower of their choosing, I would think about demanding my money back...if I had other options to buy elsewhere.

THEN, I would put the extra remote on the tractor...because I wanted it and not because they wanted me to have it.

I also understand your issue with still having the hope of satisfying your customers' needs and waiting on them might be the only/quickest way to make it happen.

At a minimum, I would seek compensation (if only in part) from the dealer for THEIR mistake and lies that cost YOU money. As of right now, YOU are the only one being held accountable for their screw-ups.

73, Mark


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Did the issue of how many remotes the tractor has come up before delivery? Seems kinda important......but I agree that I would really like having an extra remote with a batwing, you'll enjoy the difference. 
I would be disappointed with Deere for the delivery and with the dealer for the slow assembly and I would be disappointed with myself for not demanding that they get it done or get me a loaner.....


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

glasswrongsize said:


> Disappointed?...not me!* I would have been mad enough to crap in my hands and rub it in my hair. *I agree with Thorim. If they did not fulfill their contract (delivery date), and they STILL haven't fulfilled it...did not deliver what was expected. Unless you signed off on a floating delivery date or a mower of their choosing, I would think about demanding my money back...if I had other options to buy elsewhere.
> 
> THEN, I would put the extra remote on the tractor...because I wanted it and not because they wanted me to have it.
> 
> ...


Wait....you still have hair??

I tore all mine out.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Bob M said:


> I'm pretty sure we both deal with this same dealership. They have left me very disappointed in the past . I have had more problems with the service department, which I try to only use very limited. I have gone to a dealership in New Jersey for most of my needs now. They seem to want my business and are very helpful.


Hey Bob, which one? If you say they're good, I'd believe it.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Sounds like Deere in my area. Seems like a trend that is not likely to get better anytime soon.Some people here might remember my round baler issue. As for asking for compensation, they don't care, not their problem but you can try.


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## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

$500 to add a third remote? I added a 2nd remote to a Kubota M6800 back in 2011. Did the installation myself. Purchased the parts at Messicks for $815. Pretty sure the price hasn't gone down in the past 5 years.

Gary


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Promises can be broken. What did this dealer do in the past to earn your trust?

Unless you brought up the 2 remote issue prior to agreement, maybe they Should ask if they know, but does not mean they will.

What was so bad about the American made woods? Sounds like the sale cost you $ in the end. Lesson learned.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

NewBerlinBaler said:


> $500 to add a third remote? I added a 2nd remote to a Kubota M6800 back in 2011. Did the installation myself. Purchased the parts at Messicks for $815. Pretty sure the price hasn't gone down in the past 5 years.
> 
> Gary


Depends on the tractor's hydraulic valve body. It can be as simple as remove a plug and install a coupling and lever linkage. Which is usually the cheaper route. Price is indicative of the type of valve and number of couplings you install. If you have to completely plumb a new line it adds to cost. If I'm correct your 6800 came stock with a single valve body that wasn't stackable. Larger tractors and quite a few utilities have the 'stackable' valve bodies.


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## Bob M (Feb 11, 2012)

JD, we have been using Central Jersey. Dennis Harris is the Parts Manager 609-805 6179, he is my go to guy. Dennis has gone above and beyond to help us and they seem to WANT our business.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

BWfarms said:


> Depends on the tractor's hydraulic valve body. It can be as simple as remove a plug and install a coupling and lever linkage. Which is usually the cheaper route. Price is indicative of the type of valve and number of couplings you install. If you have to completely plumb a new line it adds to cost. If I'm correct your 6800 came stock with a single valve body that wasn't stackable. Larger tractors and quite a few utilities have the 'stackable' valve bodies.


6800?


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Besides your disappointment in your dealer. I'm wondering what there is to cut in January? You don't have any snow cover? Obviously I don't know your area at all. I didn't know you lived in the tropics.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

_I wonder if your dealer is going to give you this valve kit? If it was my cutter I'd just tee the wing cyl hoses together and get to mowing. I had a 1508 yrs back that operated fine that way.Your selling dealer must be very busy to require a week to assemble & PDI as I'll bet it requires less than 8 hrs for assembly._

AW34494 Valve Kit - Valve Kit <a>ADD</a> 53.09 USD 53.09 USD AW28816 Spool Valve - SPOOL VALVE, VALVE 3WAY,3 FUNCTION <a>ADD</a> 1,310.53 USD


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Teslan said:


> Besides your disappointment in your dealer. I'm wondering what there is to cut in January? You don't have any snow cover? Obviously I don't know your area at all. I didn't know you lived in the tropics.


Brush & stickers left over from the fall.

No snow cover yet, but if I wait till it snows, I'll lose even more $$


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Tx Jim said:


> _I wonder if your dealer is going to give you this valve kit? If it was my cutter I'd just tee the wing cyl hoses together and get to mowing. I had a 1508 yrs back that operated fine that way.Your selling dealer must be very busy to require a week to assemble & PDI as I'll bet it requires less than 8 hrs for assembly._
> 
> AW34494 Valve Kit - Valve Kit <a>ADD</a> 53.09 USD 53.09 USD AW28816 Spool Valve - SPOOL VALVE, VALVE 3WAY,3 FUNCTION <a>ADD</a> 1,310.53 USD


Thats the way my Woods was set up and it was fine.

No way Im adding that spool valve.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

To me, what sets a business apart is how they handle an adverse situation. Anyone can do a good job when things go right. The times when things go wrong are what separate the men from the boys.

Over the years, I have quit doing business with some of these fair weather businesses. Sometimes, a minor infraction leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I quit doing business with one car dealership because of a $50 issue on a $24000 deal. As the old saying goes: "Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me."

This JD dealership didn't have any control over the late shipment from the factory. What if they said: "Listen, the new bushhog is backordered. We don't know when it will come in. In the meantime, we've got a used bushhog on the lot. We can let you use it until yours comes in."

Think that would have eased the frustration? Probably so. And as an added bonus, it would have built up customer loyalty and goodwill.

As it now stands, I can just about guarantee you that JD3430 will be shopping around different dealers on his next purchase.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

deadmoose said:


> Promises can be broken. What did this dealer do in the past to earn your trust?
> 
> Unless you brought up the 2 remote issue prior to agreement, maybe they Should ask if they know, but does not mean they will.
> 
> What was so bad about the American made woods? Sounds like the sale cost you $ in the end. Lesson learned.


No I think it might actually save me $ in the long run.
I liked the woods in some respects, but I never realized the one bad thing about the Woods until I cut a couple hundred acres of brush with it. 
The deck is single layer, and I knew that. However, I had no idea that the top of the deck would be so terribly dented after one year of brush cutting. Anytime a rock was hit, it really dented the deck badly and I saw no way to keep it from ruining the mower in just a few years. I'm cutting some pretty heavy brush, not just grass. My puny MX-8 cut similar brush and the deck still looks great. 
The Deere is a double deck design. It wont suffer the upward dents on almost all of the deck. 
My hope is, based on the durability of my old MX-8, it will far outlast the Woods mower I sold.
At no cost, we are T'ing the wing cylinders together and calling it a day. Then it's done.

Too bad I couldnt get the Woods in a double deck. That would be a heck of a mower.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

So dealer calls me this morning and asked me what I'd like to do. I suggested we T the wing cylinders together. Tech showed up today and we got things improved by 12. Better than "next week".
Mowed about 20 acres with it today. Works very good. The air bag suspension on each axle and the double deck design is real nice.
Hopefully this will be the only trouble. It's all behind me now, and even though I lost a decent amount of money, I gotta move on.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I'm glad it's "all behind me now" for ya. I bet your resting blood pressure is WAAAAAY better than mine. 

73, Mark


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

I would've rigged it to work till they were able to fix it the way you wanted. I hate waiting

Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Bgriffin856 said:


> I would've rigged it to work till they were able to fix it the way you wanted. I hate waiting
> 
> Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing


Griff,

Thats what we did, but I made dealership do it. I was concerned that if I rigged the T, they might be able to come back to me on some warranty voiding nonsense.

Didn't you get a new Pequea tedder last year? How has it been working for you?


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

JD3430 said:


> Griff,
> 
> Thats what we did, but I made dealership do it. I was concerned that if I rigged the T, they might be able to come back to me on some warranty voiding nonsense.
> 
> Didn't you get a new Pequea tedder last year? How has it been working for y


bgriffin bought a new JD discbine last year. I bought a new Pequea tedder last year. It works awesome. Sure beats folding manually. It does not spread the hay out as nice as the NH but I still have adjustments to make on it that I never got around to. It is nice not breaking teeth and travel time on the road is much better.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

JD3430 said:


> Griff,
> 
> Thats what we did, but I made dealership do it. I was concerned that if I rigged the T, they might be able to come back to me on some warranty voiding nonsense.
> 
> Didn't you get a new Pequea tedder last year? How has it been working for you?





JD3430 said:


> So dealer calls me this morning and asked me what I'd like to do. I suggested we T the wing cylinders together. Tech showed up today and we got things improved by 12. Better than "next week".
> Mowed about 20 acres with it today. Works very good. The air bag suspension on each axle and the double deck design is real nice.
> Hopefully this will be the only trouble. It's all behind me now, and even though I lost a decent amount of money, I gotta move on.


What other options were there to fix it (besides putting in another valve)? Every one I have ever seen has just been teed together.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

JMT said:


> What other options were there to fix it (besides putting in another valve)? Every one I have ever seen has just been teed together.


There's a Deere hydraulic junction box with a lever operated valve so you can split the remote to operate each wing independently. Big $$$$

I really haven't found the need to operate wings independently. If it arises, I will put the independent hoses back on and install 3rd remote.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

RockmartGA said:


> To me, what sets a business apart is how they handle an adverse situation. Anyone can do a good job when things go right. The times when things go wrong are what separate the men from the boys.
> 
> Over the years, I have quit doing business with some of these fair weather businesses. Sometimes, a minor infraction leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I quit doing business with one car dealership because of a $50 issue on a $24000 deal. As the old saying goes: "Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me."
> 
> ...


Abso-FRICKIN'-lutely!!!!

When I was row-cropping, I got sick and tired of several "local" businesses that just acted like they were *magically ENTITLED* to your money, and would treat me like a second-class citizen because we weren't BTO's... Sorry, but my money is JUST AS GREEN as anybody else's, and I don't play that way...

One was the local auto parts... every time I went in there they acted just like I'd p!ssed in his MOMMA's Cheerios that morning... I never really understood why, other than the fact that I didn't go to their church and expected to be waited on and treated courteously and professionally like anybody else... Yet EVERY time I went in there, they'd do EVERYTHING in their power to ignore me as long as possible and continue jaw-jakking with the BTO or whomever was in the store, instead of at least ASKING what I needed... Nope, just keep ya waiting as long as possible, and then act like it was a TOTAL INCONVENIENCE to even wait on you when you DID finally get their attention... I don't need that... I finally just quit going there altogether... I'd drive right by them and go on 12 miles to Rosenberg and get what I needed there, or go the opposite way to Wharton... They finally went toe-up and closed up shop, a few years later a new guy bought out the empty building and opened a new store, and they're better, but still not "as good as they should be"... So I'll buy stuff there "in a pinch" when I'm in a hurry, but otherwise I go elsewhere...

The second one was a store our family had been doing business with for probably 40-50 years... It was a local tire shop who also sold batteries and bulk fuel and oil for the farm... we used to get ALL our diesel and gasoline (we ran old gasoline powered cotton pickers and combines until about the last ten years or so we row-cropped...) My Granddad and the owner used to be good friends and did a lot of business together for decades... til Grandpa died and even then we did business another half-dozen years or so before the old man decided to retire... when his "boys" took over (who were all at least 10 years older than I) it just went to h3ll in a handbasket... they were the most shiftless bunch. We used to put in an order for diesel or gasoline, and the old man would have it out that evening or the next morning... the boys would "have it there in a day or two", then it was "we'll bring it out when one of your neighbors (BTO's) orders a load so we only have to send a full truck out once..." Then it was "why don't you buy a bigger tank or more tanks?" (I have 250 gallon diesel tank and had a 350 gallon gasoline tank). SO, I'd end up out of fuel and sitting around a day or two waiting for them to get a call from one of the local BTO's to bring them fuel, at which time they could be "bothered" to bring me fuel... I started calling them when I got down to the last 50 gallons or so (so I'd still have a day or two of fuel to run on) and they blessed me out good, "Don't call us til your tank is EMPTY!!" That was enough for me-- I went over to the old "gasoline alley" by the railroad tracks (where all the distributors used to have their businesses and the few survivors still do) and found that the Mobil distributor was eager and willing for my business, so I switched all the oil and fuels to them and never looked back, AND at a better price than we were getting from "the local guys"...

We still bought tires and batteries from them for a few years, mostly "Farm Bureau" stuff, but then the quality of that stuff went to ZILCH and they were much higher on other brands, and we could get those other brands elsewhere cheaper. We still used them for tractor tire service and trailer, implement, and HD truck tire service... At the time we had a couple gas wells on the farm and I was good friends with the guy who the old oilman in town had looking after them and doing maintenance and mowing and stuff, Stoney,and he and I had an interesting conversation one day... Stoney told me that he took the old oilman's old Case tractor that he used to shred and blade the gravel roads and pads they maintained to get into the field to the gas well sites, because it had a rear tire leaking down. He wanted to get the tire fixed, and after keeping him sitting half the day, they FINALLY started working on it, but simply b!tched, whined, moaned, and complained the WHOLE TIME they were doing the job-- even going so far as to chastise Stoney and ask him "Why don't yall buy a better tractor??" Stoney got more and more PO'd and finally said straight out when they popped that off, "Why don't you ask Mr. Rychlik himself??" (the old oilman). When he gave the bill to the oilman the next day, he mentioned all the BS they were spouting and the oilman told him, "Okay, that's fine-- NEVER take them ANY business again!"... and they didn't! Doesn't pay to PO someone with more money than they'd ever see in five lifetimes...

The last straw for me was when I got a dual tire truck axle from a junkyard for a hay trailer I was building-- I got some nice used 16 inch tires and took the old "dually" wheels on the axle to them for have the tires mounted... Now, these were split rims, and this just about the time the 'hoopla' about split rims was starting... (probably 25 years ago). Split rims were still EXTREMELY common on big trucks and even on older duallies and delivery trucks and stuff at the time, so it's not like NOBODY was running them anymore. All they did was b!tch, whine, moan, and complain the whole time they did the job, and make sh!tty comments about "why are you bringing this JUNK in to us?? WHY don't you go buy some NEW rims??" I finally popped off, "because this is a tire shop and I thought that's what yall did for a living... I won't be bringing anything else in to bother you from now on, though..." I never have. They folded up shop a couple years later...

The local "businessmen's group" screams to high heaven that everybody should BUY LOCAL!!! I USED to get muffler work and stuff done at the Western Auto in town, til they quit doing it for fear of "liability"... got a lot of car/pickup tires fixed there too until they finally got to where they didn't have a shop guy around half the time... easier to just haul it to Rosenberg and get it fixed rather than stop in there and gomm around trying to see if they even COULD fix it... Used to buy some new tires there too, until they got too high... Last time I priced "the cheapest tire they had" there it was $66 w/o mounting and balancing... I could get a comparable tire at the time at Walmart for $44 with $5 mounting and balancing... IOW, 33% cheaper! Doesn't take a rocket scientist to do that math! They finally got rid of all their tire and battery business and sold their pipe bender to the local mechanic who wanted twice as much for the same job... and had to go independent when the Western Auto chain got bought up by K-Mart and Sears and flushed down the toilet...

Later! OL J R


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Then there was the local cotton gin in town... we have 2 so the bad one we'll call "Gin 1" to protect the guilty, and the other we'll call "Gin 2".

I had been using the same gin my Granddad had used for many years until the owner died, it was sold, and then the new owners lost everything when the INS raided them and they got fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for having "illegals" working in the gin (I've never seen anything BUT illegals working in a cotton gin, except for a few older black guys when I was a kid, but that's another story). With them gone, I had to hunt for a new gin...

At the time, we probably had 8-10 gins within a 25 mile radius of us... now there's like 2 or 3. At the time of this story, cotton module builders were just coming into this area of the country... up until that time, everybody had used cotton trailers to haul seed cotton out of the field to the gin as it was picked... Thing was, the gins didn't really have a handle yet on how to juggle ginning trailers and modules at the same time in an equitable manner for everybody... Modules are big "bricks" of cotton the size of a big camper trailer that can simply wait for weeks or months to be ginned, but farmers using trailers, MUST have an empty trailer to dump into or else when the basket of the picking machine is full, and you don't have a trailer to dump into, you're just sitting until you DO have a trailer available... BTO's had big steel trailers with high sides that could hold 6-8, even 10-12 bales at a time, and had a fleet of them... We had homemade trailers built on various old wagon racks and running gear, from old pickup frames and axles converted to running gears to old flatbed trucks converted into running gears, with trailer floors and sides built onto them... (I built a lot myself and built up our "fleet" from the 2-3 trailers that Dad and Grandpa made do with to 6-8...)

Anyway, other than asking these gins what their ginning charges were and how much they paid for seed, my big question was "how do yall handle ginning trailers and modules??" Even with 8 trailers, in good cotton I'd have them filled in a day or two in good picking, and be sitting waiting on trailers if the gin didn't handle them in a timely fashion... Course, the BTO's running modules want THEIR cotton in modules ginned off too, so they can get the gin tickets and warehouse receipts and USDA grade cards and then sell their cotton and start bringing in money too... Most gins were ginning modules all day, letting the trailers pile up on the back lot until about 10pm when everybody was pretty much done bringing stuff in for the day, and then gin trailers all night til they were done, and switch back to modules sometime from just before dawn to the early morning hours... that way the trailers were empty for farmers needing a place to dump cotton, and yet the module guys were getting their cotton ginned too so they could sell it... The "Gin 1" solution was to "weigh in and tag trailers and pull them to the back lot and pile them up until they were out of room while they ginned modules, and then when they couldn't squeeze ANY MORE trailers in back there, switch to ginning trailers until they were ALL ginned off, then switch back to modules and repeat the cycle"... Thing was, they pushed the trailers up to within inches of each other and "packed them in like sardines"...

SO, anyway, since they were cheapest and paying a little more for cotton seed (which defrays the costs of ginning), and since Grandpa had ginned there when I was a kid and had been good friends with the former owner before he passed and left it to his son and his lousy wife, I decided I'd take them my business... Well, it didn't take long for a backlog of trailers to back up, and suddenly I'm sitting on the turnrow with NO trailers, so just park the machine and go to the house... I'd call and "we'll probably be ginning trailers tonight, or tomorrow morning" which would mean I *MIGHT* get a trailer by noon tomorrow... Didn't take long of this "wash, rinse, repeat" cycle and I'd had enough...

Realizing that I ONLY had about 8 trailers (which were a menagerie of homemade designs, some would hold only 1 bale of seed cotton, some 2, some up to 4-- the biggest were paired with the smallest and hitched together and pulled to town with the pickup together), I HAD to do SOMETHING. I knew from talking with the guy that owned "Gin 2" that he ginned off ALL trailers every night... he ginned modules all day, and switched to trailers about 10-11 pm, whenever trailers stopped coming in from the fields, and then ginned trailers til they were ALL DONE, EVERY DAY. If it had rained or something and there were few trailers, he might be done with trailers by midnight or 1 am and switch back to modules; if it were dry and everybody was picking like mad and the lot was full of trailers, he might start at 9 pm and gin trailers until 9 or 10 the next morning... BUT, he charged more for ginning and paid less for ginned cottonseed. I had most of my trailers sitting on the Gin 1 lot tagged and weighed in and waiting to be ginned, and was down to my last two trailers, so I picked and filled them up about 11 am and hauled them to town... but instead of turning right to go to "Gin 1", I turned left and drove down the street to "Gin 2" (which were within sight of each other) and tagged it in and weighed in and unhitched, and drove back 5 miles to the house for lunch...

I didn't even get my plate served up and get in my easy chair in the living room to watch TV before the phone rang... It was the battle-axe wife of the Gin 1 owner, grilling me in a VERY sh!tty tone as to WHY I had taken cotton down the street to Gin 2... they thought I was ginning with THEM! "I am", I said nonchalantly, though my hackles were already rising... "but I was down to my last two trailers and I'm sitting without trailers-- all the rest of my trailers are sitting on YOUR lot waiting to be ginned, and judging by how few trailers are out there, it'll be a good wait... I can't afford to be sitting without trailers and can't pick while the weather is holding, so I took a trailer to Gin 2 so I'd be guaranteed to have a trailer ready by tomorrow morning. When yall get my trailers ginned, I'll be bringing yall more cotton..."

Then, having had a moment to think about it, I added, "What the h3ll business is it of yours WHERE I take *MY* cotton anyway?? If I wanted to gin half with yall and half with the other guy, that's MY business anyway!" Well, this didn't sit well with Hitler's Widow, so she started screaming at me that "Well, then don't bring ANY cotton here anymore! And you can bring a check by and pay your ginning bill IN FULL before we'll release your last warehouse tickets and class cards to you (which you cannot sell cotton without)." "Fine!", I said, "Figure it up and call me when you have ALL the class cards and warehouse receipts, because I'm not paying you ONE THIN DIME until you have EVERY LAST CARD ready to hand over!" and I hung up... Stupid b!tch, think she's gonna treat me like that, even if I was a 20-something kid at the time... You don't trust me, fine-- I DON'T TRUST YOU EITHER!

SO, I ginned with Gin 2 from then on until we quit row cropping about a decade later...

What some of these people think with... LOL

Later! OL J R


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Well well, lookie here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kubota-Remote-Control-Valve-Lever-Kit-3rd-Position-Fits-M95X-M105X-M108X-M125X-/272101323902?hash=item3f5a80b47e:g:dR4AAOSwiwVWQ-kF


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## Growing pains (Nov 7, 2015)

For $200 it would be pretty nice to have independent wing control. You may not have the obstructions or uneven terrain like we do but it's pretty handy to just pick a wing up a little and keep going as opposed to jockeying around stuff.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

JD3430 said:


> Well well, lookie here:
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kubota-Remote-Control-Valve-Lever-Kit-3rd-Position-Fits-M95X-M105X-M108X-M125X-/272101323902?hash=item3f5a80b47e:g:dR4AAOSwiwVWQ-kF


JD, Don't mean to rain on your parade...you realize it only the LEVER kit, right? NO valve? I might be stating what you already observed, but just in case..

73, Mark


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Yeh no your good Mark, I just thought it was a fair price. I have 3 sets valves on smaller M9540 tractor. May think about doing a parts swap.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

Again, I will consider myself lucky. Around HERE, if you see anyone on a bike, you needn't question his bedroom preferences. The only question is the reason he lost his driver's license. Roughnecks work hard, drive harder, and drink even harder...unless they're on meth~ that equals bicycle riders tougher than harley riders. 
You guys keep talking about your citizenry and i might reconsider and capitolize the "i" in my location state's name. 
Nah!
73, Mark


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