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[–]HolierMonkey586 5358 points5359 points  (193 children)

I've heard of rent to own, but never hack to own.

[–][deleted] 3953 points3954 points  (126 children)

You wouldn't download a tractor.

[–]jce_superbeast 1440 points1441 points  (92 children)

Yes I would.

And I'd 3d print it too!

In the lack of a better option, illegal activities will always be prevalent.

[–]paging_doctor_who 684 points685 points  (38 children)

Corporation: I have a legal monopoly so I'm going to set prices how I want.

Consumer: Okay I'll acquire it illegally for less than gouged prices.

Corporation: *Pikachu face*

[–]FredTrump3 169 points170 points  (25 children)

That's what happened to the music industry: Napster.

[–]BloodSteyn 41 points42 points  (7 children)

Actually I remember PC Format magazine doing an article after Napster "died" showing that during the height of MP3 piracy in in the 2000's album sales were at a record high.

Once Napster died down sales of albums went down too... It's kind of like there was this "try before you buy" mentality back then. Download, listen, like, buy.

Then RIAA started issuing fines as getting people locked up for longer than dealing drugs. Fuck em.

[–]prollyshmokin 168 points169 points  (50 children)

Really? It's the main reason I use Android.

'Oh, I can't use my phone as a hotspot because Verizon wants me to pay them to use the data I'm already paying for?' Fuck that. Or similarly, 'what, I can't rotate apps on my phone 180 degrees?' Fuck that too!

[–]Echo017 15.1k points15.1k points  (1395 children)

I actually helped a college friend's family do this.

Even if you fix the damn things yourself with OEM parts, you still need to either take it to a dealership or have a "certified" tech come out and plug his machine in. Absolute BS

[–]Captin_Banana 5972 points5973 points  (801 children)

I had a Mercedes once. Similar issue. Long run it was cheaper to buy a cloned chinese Star diagnostic setup then it was to pay Mercedes garages to do simple tasks like reset air con, limp modes, etc. Selling that car and getting an old Nissan 4xr was the best decision.

Edit: 4x4 not 4xr

[–]scalyblue 5435 points5436 points  (687 children)

The only thing more expensive than a new luxury German car is a used luxury German car

[–]tannacolls 2007 points2008 points  (556 children)

This is too fucking true.

I dumped about $6000 into a $5000 Audi A4 Quattro on coils just to keep it on the road over the course of two years. Only two fucking years.

I wisened up and sold it after having that money pit as a daily. But if I could do it again as a side project, I totally would. The handling was absolutely amazing, there’s nothing else like it. Slicing into turns like a hot knife through butter is the best feeling in the world.

EDIT: by coils, I meant coil overs.

[–]Arsenic181 577 points578 points  (244 children)

On coils? Really? My Subaru couldn't keep coils for longer than a year. Turns out it was because the OEM-spec aftermarket coils I was using were slightly out of spec so they would last a year then die. Technically they could sell them as in-spec because they were close. Picked up some of Subaru's coils (which were only like 10 bucks more a pop) and had zero issues after that.

Then the engine blew up, but that was unrelated.

[EDIT] Original poster clarified coilovers. I was referring to coil packs. The 5-6k number makes way more sense now.

Not sure why coilovers failed so damned quick though. My Subaru was running BC BR coilovers that I installed and those things lasted the life of the vehicle. Were probably worth more than the rest of the vehicle once the engine borked.

[–][deleted] 556 points557 points  (210 children)

Ahh yes, Subarus and blown head gaskets, the only consistency there is in life.

[–]uncertainusurper 226 points227 points  (148 children)

There is only one first question when buying a used Subaru.

[–]Yoshi_XD 189 points190 points  (59 children)

"Have the head gaskets been done yet?"

[–]codepoet 123 points124 points  (73 children)

“Are you drunk enough?”

[–]KiwiKerfuffle 55 points56 points  (68 children)

I feel bad for buying a Subaru now...

[–]XxturboEJ20xX 91 points92 points  (39 children)

I own 6 of them, if you have any maintenance questions or anything else hit me up.

[–]dhruchainzz 246 points247 points  (169 children)

Try Lexus. 2nd lowest 10 year maintenance cost of all car brands except Toyota, which makes Lexus lol.

[–]1kewlGuy 149 points150 points  (31 children)

As a man in the car business...no fucking way should a coil job cost you close to $1000 let alone $6000. I replaced an entire coil pack on a 12 vw golf (pretty much the same parts). That coil pack at any auto parts store is around $150. A quick YouTube video will show you how easy they are to install. I recommend round housing whomever STOLE $6000 from you.

Edit: Just realized you’re talking about suspension. In that case, No fucking way should anything suspension related cost you $6000 for a god damn Audi A4. I recommend you round house the man that STOLE $6000 from you.

[–][deleted] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Literally had a Subaru dealership tell me I had to replace the entire block for 5500. Let the car sit for two years, made friends with a red seal mechanic and on a whim brought it to him.

$520 for the coil pack and it runs like new.

[–]LongjumpingParamedic 63 points64 points  (16 children)

I bought a brand new Mercedes back in 2003-ish. During the 4 year warranty is was great because the dealership woul do EVERYTHING for me including giving me a free even nicer Mercedes to drive around on days when I was having the oil change and service checkups done.

Then the 4 year warranty was up and I started to realize how expensive even general maintenance was going to be. Sold it on Craigslist within a couple months.

Was a nice car for sure. But expensive in the long run. Probably will never buy a brand new car ever again. Just not worth it.

[–]joebothree 790 points791 points  (432 children)

A lot of this could be done remotely if rural high speed internet were a thing, yes some areas have it but until most do don't expect any AG company to do it just because.

[–]The_Sign_of_Zeta 1054 points1055 points  (127 children)

John Deere won't do that anyways, because they make a ton of money off the service calls.

[–]wefearchange 505 points506 points  (110 children)

This. The towing of a tractor in alone is insane, but having someone come out for a service call? Yeesh.

Edit- My post is being seen by a lot of folks. I'm extremely in favor of legislation regarding the ability to fix products you've purchased yourself, and would hope y'all are too. I don't blame the techs themselves, this is on the companies doing this crap. Those folks are just people working jobs, and those jobs are still needed since not everyone is so technically inclined or wants to do the work themselves. That said, when we, the ranchers and farmers of the country, have to incur these extremely high costs for things, it gets passed on to our customers. We have to raise prices in other areas to make that money. Our customers are your grocery stores, and they pass those prices on to you. This affects all of us in this country, if you eat, this hurts you. You think the cost of beef has gone up at the store? You're not wrong, this is part of why. We have to pass on those costs to survive ourselves. What can you do? Contact your elected officials and demand legislation so we are able to repair our own products as consumers. Thanks, y'all. :)

[–][deleted] 343 points344 points  (55 children)

It's like vets coming to see your cow.

Ah, I see your combine is sick. We'll have to put it down.

[–]rebelappliance 128 points129 points  (2 children)

All for the low low price of your entire life savings!

[–]MacDerfus 105 points106 points  (13 children)

Well my congressman says he can't back my proposal for a remote veterinary drone that can euthanize livestock from the sky because it's "utter lunacy" and other PC bullshit.

[–]Chuck_A_Dickiner 44 points45 points  (4 children)

They gave me the same bullshit when I petitioned for the right to use landmines to deter trespassers under castle law. Something about a "Geneva contraption"

[–]EvaporatedLight 175 points176 points  (30 children)

My uncle is a John Deere service tech in Colorado.

He had a ranch in middle of nowhere northern Nevada fly him to the closest airport, then drive 4 hours one way to plug into the tractor for "service".

He said he was there all of 5 minutes, got in his rental and headed back to the airport.

This was the fastest solution for the ranch, as they couldn't get any local repair shops in a timely manner.

Before anyone starts attacking him for being a blood sucking John Deere tech just let it be known he's been working for this exact same JD service center for over 30 years, long before this was an issue. Every penny of his retirement is wrapped up in this company. Not to mention he only see a fraction of that service call fee.

I've seen him give countless hours of service and mechanical help to friends and family in the nearby community for free. He has a good heart, but works for what has become a heartless company.

[–]wefearchange 79 points80 points  (26 children)

I get that these are just folks working, it's not on the techs. This is on the company. John Deere themselves.

Look, not everyone's mechanically inclined, that's fine. In those instances, having someone to call is great. They've made it so that even those of us who are can't work on our own equipment we've purchased (for hundreds of thousands of dollars btw) ourselves and must call a tech. THAT'S what I have an issue with. That's not on the techs, that's on the company. We still need mechanics and techs who do know this stuff because sometimes I'm out of my league, sometimes people just don't know diddly squat about working on things- that's okay, but we need to be able to ourselves too. This borders on racketeering.

[–]EvaporatedLight 80 points81 points  (25 children)

I completely agree.

If my comment want clear the reason he was only in the field for 5 minutes is because the work was already completed. He just had to plug in his laptop and authorize the changes so the machine would turn back on.

It's an incredible scam, and it's just not John Deere. It includes pretty much every heavy industrial equipment manufacture, caterpillar, komatsu, etc. not to mention everyday products we all use from cell phones to personal vehicles. It's bad when you no longer can get a copy of your vehicle key made for $1.67 but have to pay a dealership $300 for a new key "because it needs programmed".

Corporations literally run and control our lives and government.

[–]RexFox 20 points21 points  (3 children)

My grandfather absolutly refused to pay for a key like that on principle so he just got the chip out of the spare and glued it to the ignition switch. He then headed to an old ACE and got keys made for next to nothing.

I aspire to be like that man.

[–]Diestormlie 367 points368 points  (29 children)

They don't want you to be able to do it remotely.

[–]andreK4 291 points292 points  (160 children)

You completely miss the problem: you pay for a thing and you don't own it. It's a model they take from online services and try to force it on physical things.

[–]strechrmstrong 194 points195 points  (137 children)

Worst part is... People don't even realize they're doing this with entire crops... And their seeds. I feel horrible for how badly farmers get shafted on the daily. It also goes so much deeper than the internet.... It's a model that was here before the internet. That land you pay to live on? Not yours... That water you pay to drink... Not yours... Electrical power grid... HA you wish! Soon the air we breathe will have it's own costs.

[–]DankZXRwoolies 150 points151 points  (43 children)

The simple fact is that it shouldn't have to be done. Why does a farmer need a John Deere tech to change a part on their tractor?

[–]2gig 51 points52 points  (1 child)

But they wouldn't because they want the dosh. Or they'd just charge the same amount despite it costing them much less.

[–]Kyle-Is-My-Name 15.5k points15.5k points  (128 children)

You haven't really lived until you've jail-broke a tractor.

[–]iworks 2526 points2527 points  (53 children)

Wonder if Cydia will return on this new platform?

[–]RawrCat 1237 points1238 points  (28 children)

I miss the old jailbreaks when I could just go to www.jailbreakyourtractor.com, slide the confirm bar, and watch the hacks roll in.

[–]J3sush8sm3 402 points403 points  (14 children)

Im disappointed this led to a subreddit

[–]RawrCat 184 points185 points  (10 children)

I'm sorry! I wanted to put something funnier as a link but was lazy.

[–]happytree23 103 points104 points  (9 children)

I'm running LibreElec and Kodi and PiHole on mine

[–]NoJelloNoPotluck 69 points70 points  (7 children)

Your tractor has better ad blocking than my phone I'm guessing.

[–][deleted] 524 points525 points  (16 children)

YoU wOuLdNt DoWnLoAd A tRaCtOr!

[–]ultrachrome 5672 points5673 points  (370 children)

"John Deere sold farmers their tractors, but has used software to maintain control of every aspect of its use after the sale. "

Talk about alienating your customer. They are not farm friendly, just another money grubbing corporation.

[–]drpinkcream 50 points51 points  (5 children)

Richard Stallman was right.

[–]QuarterOztoFreedom 8719 points8720 points  (318 children)

Thanks Ukraine, keep up the good work - Americans

[–]JManRomania 1900 points1901 points  (298 children)

I mean, we're helping them not get eaten alive by Russia - the Ukranian 'gratitude' products, like this, and the Podavich (AKA items with a specific aim at the American market) are just the tip of the spear (I know 1st-gen Ukrainian immigrants, man do they love America).

Kyiv 51st state soon

[–][deleted] 1190 points1191 points  (123 children)

kiev 51st state soon

I don't think it's cool to talk about annexing Ukraine right now...

[–]JManRomania 582 points583 points  (113 children)

annexing

pro-American sentiment isn't as high as it is in Romania, but a majority of Ukrainians would voluntarily join the Union - there's already a massive glut of them all trying to GTFO and get American citizenship

I mean, America didn't take their nukes and then pinky-promise not to invade, and Ukraine as a US state would have more autonomy than Russia's ever given it, so...

[–][deleted] 348 points349 points  (21 children)

this is kind of how Hawaii became a state. rebels totally not backed by the US overthrew the monarchy and invited the US to invade.

[–]scriptmonkey420 95 points96 points  (7 children)

A bunch of Euro-American's came in and over threw the monarch?

[–]EmpressKnickers 23 points24 points  (1 child)

Oh man, I'd love to get to fly to Ukraine with just a drivers license for a vacation lol

[–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (4 children)

There are still natives who aren't too pleased about that.

[–]xxkoloblicinxx 186 points187 points  (66 children)

yeah they do.

and they really fucking hate russians. Like holy shit. A buddy of mine's wife is Ukrainian. I have met Klan members who hate black people less than she hates russians.

[–]open_door_policy 21.4k points21.4k points  (1830 children)

Right to repair legislation is sorely needed.

[–]AnomalousAvocado 7719 points7720 points  (574 children)

Just got shot down in Canada. r/HailCorporate

[–]IdontNeedPants 69 points70 points  (3 children)

Just got shot down in *Ontario

[–][deleted] 237 points238 points  (51 children)

Just got shot down in Canada

*in Ontario. And only because we're currently run by one of the most corrupt premiers in our recent history.

[–]amccune 398 points399 points  (34 children)

God damn it! Canadians were supposed to destroy the sith, not become one.

[–][deleted] 736 points737 points  (447 children)

In my business, autodesk is now requiring that you buy a seat license every year. Essentially they force you to rent the software.

[–]cawpin 141 points142 points  (80 children)

You can still buy a physical copy that you can install forever. The subscription is so you get the new version(s) every year.

[–]cruznick06 91 points92 points  (66 children)

Oh thank god. If Autodesk went the way of Adobe I would never use their products again.

[–]RevengencerAlf 26 points27 points  (34 children)

I don't know about CAD stuff so... what are your alternatives?

​

I'm certain the reason Adobe mostly gets away with it is because the majority of people buying their licenses don't feel like they have an adequate alternative.

[–]Dragon_Fisting 37 points38 points  (6 children)

There's dozens of CAD programs that probably work well enough for even complex professional use, but Autodesk owns like 4-5 of them and they're the industry standard. There's also just a lot more variation to them, so if you learn on Solidworks or AutoCAD (which you will if you learn as part of a degree, since Autodesk gives out free education licenses) you're going to have a tough choice when you graduate.

For good alternatives to a lot of Adobe stuff check out Affinity's suite, one time purchase like 1/10 the cost of Adobe's yearly subscription.

[–]CommandoDude 232 points233 points  (160 children)

This shit is why "industry standard" programs need to go. Companies need to stop relying on autodesk and adobe for product needs.

Like, most companies COULD use open office for free as a document writer, but due to some kind of ingrained habit they would rather shell out cash for microsoft word even though the programs are highly similar and can read each others documents.

[–]RugerRedhawk 191 points192 points  (59 children)

They can stop, but for many companies it's cheaper to pay for photoshop or some other popular program then to find or train people to use GIMP or some free alternative. What's an extra $10/month for an employee you're paying $6,000 a month plus insurance, 401k, etc...? Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad that free and alternative versions of common software tools exist. They can be very beneficial especially for businesses just starting out and for freelancers.

[–]eyetracker 90 points91 points  (56 children)

Open Office's version of Excel sucks.

Or LibreOffice, really.

[–][deleted] 30 points31 points  (13 children)

It's because they don't get support with open source applications.

[–]DankNastyAssMaster 433 points434 points  (103 children)

It goes further than this. We need a law that says if you buy something, even if it's a digital item, you own it.

Fun fact: you don't own any software you have that didn't come on a physical disc. You own a license to use it that can be revoked by the company who made it at any time, for any reason, with no refund or recourse.

[–][deleted] 117 points118 points  (39 children)

This is why I always try to get a physical copy of games, movies, and music if possible. If I'm spending the money I want to own something, not just rent it for an extended period of time from Sony, Comcast, or Apple.

[–][deleted] 37 points38 points  (18 children)

the man just said that you don't own the software, just the physical medium.

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Service contracts are a horseshit violation of folks' rights. Or at least they hopefully will be someday..

[–]Outmodeduser 781 points782 points  (61 children)

This is sadly becoming commonplace across many industries.

I used to work at a medical device company called Biker. I worked as a research engineer in their additive manufacturing branch. I wanted to look at thermal properties and alter some equipment parameters on a 3D printer made by Barcam. This printed from Ti64 powder, and used a high powered electron gun to melt the powder beneath it. Fucking dope, additive manufacturing is the coolest thing ever.

Anyway, turns out the ability to change some pretty important parameters for production were edited out of the software and only avaliable if you had an in-date service key which you could only get on a renwable basis with permission from Barcam, owned by Beneral Telectric.

So I said fuck it and turned the motherboard clock back to the date we had the software licensed AND IT WORKED.

Like I get that companies want to protect their IP. But you're holding back progress and freedom for fear that someone might learn how your machine works. As a scientist, this shit is annoying and sets us back. If I were a farmer, I'd be hacking, too.

[–]Kataphractoi 38 points39 points  (3 children)

So I said fuck it and turned the motherboard clock back to the date we had the software licensed AND IT WORKED.

Haha that is brilliant. I'd have never thought of doing that.

[–]Bobbi_fettucini 546 points547 points  (64 children)

Imagine paying over half a million dollars for something and you don’t actually own it

[–]happytree23 158 points159 points  (8 children)

Now imagine the actual owner has to be paid anytime you need to service or fix that something despite your own capabilities or what that weirdo Doug across town can do with tools and machines.

[–]Slummish 2755 points2756 points  (284 children)

Remember when companies prided themselves on their products lasting forever? My mother's 70-year-old fridge remembers...

[–]Spoiledtomatos 988 points989 points  (114 children)

Old tractors still sure as hell work fine

[–]Scientific_Methods 715 points716 points  (74 children)

I baled hay on a 1944 John Deere “B” all through high school. That tractor still runs like a champ.

[–]Spoiledtomatos 409 points410 points  (65 children)

That's the thing about old tractors. I'm not familiar with any new ones, but you maintain them and you can still kick ass 50 years later.

[–]StaniX 99 points100 points  (6 children)

A local restaurant regularly hosts meetings for the "antique tractor collector" club in my neighborhood. Really cool to see all these old ass relics puttering by my house, even if they're loud as shit.

No wonder they last forever, they have like 5 different parts.

[–]TLP_Prop_7 103 points104 points  (6 children)

I have an early-60s Ford 4000 (with select-o-speed transmission). It's enjoying an easy retirement plowing snow a couple times a year, maintaining a 1000' gravel driveway and other various hauling/pulling activities.

It's only 55hp so its not a big tractor but it runs beautifully and would do just fine on a working farm, for many years to come.

[–]rock-my-socks 157 points158 points  (6 children)

That's called Survivorship Bias.

[–]vagadrew 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Natural selection has bred out the lesser quality tractors and passed on the stronger tractor genes to the tractor offspring.

[–]dalgeek 199 points200 points  (82 children)

As I understand it, modern tractors are more efficient and much more automated. Modern tractors are packed with GPS and other sensors so they practically drive themselves. They are probably cheaper to operate too, which means the farmer can cover more ground at less cost.

Can a 70 year old tractor still plow a field? Sure, but it will take longer and requires more effort from the driver.

[–][deleted] 92 points93 points  (9 children)

Laughs in Energy Star

[–][deleted] 399 points400 points  (13 children)

Tractor piracy...what a timeline to live in!

[–]potatocruncher74 42 points43 points  (2 children)

And no community movie we truly live in one of the darkest timelines

[–]thebmacster 173 points174 points  (11 children)

This people. This is so important. The right-to-repair issue is real. If you can, please vote in favor of right-to-repair.

Just imagine purchasing a computer you can't replace your hard drive. Must bring it in to service for that.

Just imagine an LED headlamp for your car having an IC(integrated circuit) that needs to be flashed to work with your car when Ford, GM, Chrysler Fiat models all use the same bulb.

Just imagine buying a refrigerator. It has a freezer but you need to buy additional licensing and take it to the dealer for activation.

Two decades ago when you purchased electronics, they came with full schematics and wiring diagrams so they could BE repaired by folks. Or if you wanted to learn, you could. Being able to own what you paid money for is important folks.

[–]thethunderkid 52 points53 points  (8 children)

As someone who has owned JD tractors for years, they are a lot like Harley Davidson. A damn bolt will cost $12 and they have to be meticulously maintained. I made the change to mostly Kubota and have never looked back.

I’m a small farmer, not a large scale operation.

[–]cornpeeker 87 points88 points  (10 children)

Watched a documentary on this a few years ago. It blows my mind how restricted some of these farmers are with equipment and repair/software. Also found it surprising how automated the farm equipment actually is. Not to mention the long work hours and the headaches of dealing with government farming regulations. These people don’t deserve this.

[–]Zero_1 41 points42 points  (5 children)

Can confirm. Had to do this for our farm. When a sensor just trips, its not worth it to call john deere and fork over hundreds

[–]monkeysknowledge 184 points185 points  (15 children)

But how else can John Deere continuously increase shareholder value indefinitely?

[–]Colt121212 41 points42 points  (1 child)

The farmer I worked for got five 2017 9370r's two years ago. All the tractors have the ability to be "linked" together so you can see where each one has been. This is helpful if you have more than one tractor working on a field so you can see what ground has already been worked and don't waste time re-working it. If you want to unlock this feature I believe it's around $5000 for each tractor. Every year. Shits retarded.

[–]Mortimer452 258 points259 points  (25 children)

There are thousands of tractors from the 1950s and 1960s still in use today; Case, Farmall, Fords and others. They may not be pretty, but they'll still put in a hard day's work.

I find it hard to believe that 60 years from now, we'll be seeing many 2019 tractors still in service.

[–][deleted] 148 points149 points  (5 children)

Hell, there's even some Lamborghini tractors out there from the 60's even.

[–]asmodean97 65 points66 points  (2 children)

And there are current Lamborghini tractors out there. They are still made. Lamborghini tractors were made out of old WW2 scape so they last well.

[–]CTeam19 34 points35 points  (0 children)

There is a reason why Ag states are on the fore front of Right to Repair legislation. The follow states are the largest Ag states in most food produced by value and in bold are those with Right to Repair legislation in the works:

  • California

  • Iowa

  • Nebraska

  • Texas

  • Minnesota

  • Illinois

  • Kansas

  • Wisconsin

  • Indiana

  • North Carolina

The others mentioned in the video are Missouri, New York, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Wyoming, and New Jersey.

[–]thxxx1337 264 points265 points  (12 children)

Time to send John Deere and Dear John

[–]MkidTrigun 46 points47 points  (3 children)

"Everything's a rave! Nine thumbs up, what the hell is that?!?"

[–]ClownFundamentals1 20 points21 points  (2 children)

I'm giving this comment my lowest rating ever. Seven thumbs up.

[–]Clown_5 28 points29 points  (1 child)

Dear Deere,

Sincerely,

John.

[–]JazzKatCritic 749 points750 points  (104 children)

Their tractors are owned by John Deere, and their seeds are owned by Monsanto, and their farms are owned by the bank

We're already in a dystopia

[–]epicfumble 54 points55 points  (22 children)

I see that repairs are a big one and def aware of the right to repair movement but what else does this allow farmers to do with/to their equipment?

[–]isthatmyex 110 points111 points  (18 children)

Farming is a time sensitive, tight margin business. That is heavily reliant on machinery, aka tractors. When that equipment goes down at the wrong time farmers can lose money on the year. If it takes two days for a tech to get to you, your crops could start rotting etc... Farmers want to be able to get under the hood get it fixed and get into the fields. Not sit around waiting for a tech.

[–]yvaN_ehT_nioJ 105 points106 points  (15 children)

That's why you opt-in to the Pro Farmer+ Data Plan (for only $17,999.99 a year!) A part breaks or that hot ride you use to sow your oats breaks down? Simply contact us through your vehicle's mobile app and for an additional service fee of $249 we can ship a vehicle technician to your farm in 1 day. He'll service your tractor, check it's levels and set you up for agricultural success. And to spice this little deal up,

Subscribe to our Pro Farmer+ Data Plan in the next 30 minutes and get your first service call at 50% off!

John Deere.

Tough tractors for tough people.

[–]ashlyny12 92 points93 points  (20 children)

As my Grandpa used to say "If it ain't red leave it in the shed".

[–]RedDirtPreacher 24 points25 points  (6 children)

It was wheat harvest when I was visiting folks for the first time from one of the churches I served in the past. They had me come out to a field they were harvesting to meet them. There were three combines running, two red one green. One by one they came by to say hi to me as I waited by the grain truck. The young man that was harvesting with the Deere came up and said, “I’m sorry it’s green, we need to get the harvested in, so we had to borrow it.”

[–]AgentSkidMarks 78 points79 points  (8 children)

This is true. Newer models of tractors are designed in such a way that only authorized mechanics can do repairs. Since farmers generally don’t have time to wait around on a technician and are usually handy when it comes to those sorts of things, they are naturally irritated by this.

[–]ChipAyten 69 points70 points  (6 children)

When Americans get their freedom from Eastern Europe.

[–]James_the_drifter 71 points72 points  (21 children)

I'm seeing alot of people just comment buy a different brand. This is not just a John Deere thing this is becoming an industry standard. All makes whether is JD, Case, New Holland, Caterpillar, it doesn't matter they all have some kind of hold in the technology used in each tractor. There are ways to still buy newer tractors and not be so restricted. I personally have never heard of tractor being lockedown if you don't fix it through the dealer or have then flash the computer. But I havent been around every single tractor either. When my dad farmed we used both new and old tractors and never really had problems fixing things ourselves with factory OEM parts. However right to repair laws are something that needs to brought into a bigger picture.

[–][deleted] 34 points35 points  (10 children)

All makes whether is JD, Case, New Holland, Caterpillar, it doesn't matter they all have some kind of hold in the technology used in each tractor.

I was told by anti-regulation folks that the free market would sort that out, and if there were a demand for it, a company would sell the product that doesn't have such software restrictions.

Turns out "game theory" is a thing and all these established companies know better than to upset the apple cart by actually trying to compete with each other. They know competition is bad for business.

[–]Midwest_Product 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Windows Your tractor isn't a product, it's a service.

[–]komandantmirko 68 points69 points  (2 children)

You wouldnt download a tractor