and where you can they still make it almost impossible to get OEM replacement parts by forbidding sales from their parts suppliers to second/third parties
Posted on 02/23/2021 8:48:44 PM PST by linMcHlp
The Nebraska Legislature will once again look at a bill on the Right to Repair.
Introduced by Senator Tom Brandt of the 32nd District on Jan. 19, LB543, entitled the Agricultural Equipment Right-To-Repair Act, will, if passed, offer farmers a way to repair their equipment without having to wait on a dealer.
A similar bill had been introduced in 2017. Lydia Brasch of the 16th District introduced LB67, “Adopt the Fair Repair Act,” but the bill was indefinitely postponed in 2018.
Brandt said he spoke with other senators and decided the previous bill had been too broad.
“The opposition it faced at that time was primarily from consumer electronics, Samsung, Apple, Dell. Our constituents want ag, right to repair, so that’s how we fashioned the bill this time,” Brandt said.
bttt
Help me understand this. In Nebraska you DON’T have the right to repair stuff now? That’s crazy...
Modern farm equipment has a lot of chips, software, etc. Manufacturers want to force farmers to use expensive factory service and not get repairs done locally.
Same concept as software companies working to prevent you from selling your used software. Same for owning a Tesla.
They see the farmers as licensees, not as owners of the farm equipment.
Someone else will have more detail, but that’s the broad brush answer.
What DesertRhino said.
And, speaking for a friend, he had to repair a computer in order to run the maintenance manual (DVD had a specific app), in order to repair something.
Friend thereafter followed some tips in some YouTube videos.
Carefully, friend worked his way around the necessary mechanical repairs -— without disturbing the electronics.
Lesson 1, in all that: BEFORE doing anything, DISCONNECT the machine’s batteries. (YMMV)
That's why my equipment's most advanced systems are only GPS and performance recording. All of the actual mechanical/physical systems are, in essence, under my control for maintenance.
PS. The PDF file (re Deere) in my reply 3 above, is worth a look.
and where you can they still make it almost impossible to get OEM replacement parts by forbidding sales from their parts suppliers to second/third parties
I’m sure real farmer Bill Gates won’t have any problems having his equipment repaired.
All of you plebe farmer wannabees can just suck it.
What you need is a 1967 Chevy 427 with 3 deuces pulling a combine behind it. No more computers needed.
Damn Skippy! I bet that setup would haul (pun intended).
“...Lesson 1, in all that: BEFORE doing anything, DISCONNECT the machine’s batteries. (YMMV)”
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Cheater. ;-)
There was a bill that made selling car parts illegal except from the dealer. Knowing how expensive those parts are the dealer was usually the last place I looked . Just another special interest trying to use the power of law to make you only buy their stuff.
In farming, time is *everything*.
Modern farming is extremely computerized now in order to max out productivity and minimize cost. The capital equipment $$$ are enormous. Computerized controls are extensive. The size of tractors has grown to match increasing loads. Where a few decades past, a tractor would pull one implement at a time, now the tractor will be pulling two or three different implements making a long train. Each of the implements has sensors and often control actuators and pumps.
The cab of the tractor can easily have a half dozen flat screen controllers. Each equipment manufacturer seems to have their own system. It's a big mess. Farming electronics is sort of in the same level of discombobulation as the marine electronics of 15 years ago.
The marine industry pulled out of their mess by adopting an international communications standard that has proven to be very robust. This simplified controlling things very well. There is is not much to repair on these systems. There is LOTs to diagnose and replace. About the only thing that can be repaired are loose connections. Wiggle wires stuff.
My solutions...
Get rid of wires and go with fiber optics.
Implement a standard communications protocol. Hey! These already exist in industry and marine.
Best suited for HMI and computing horsepower are the marine electronic manufacturing. Hey! Furuno, Raymarine, etc. want to 10X your customer base?
Improve onboard diagnostics.
Reduce if not eliminate proprietary SIM chips and flash updated ROM to reduce need for specialized techs and their equipment.
My opinions....
There is no reason any equipment that relies on software to operate can’t include self diagnostics to aid the end user in resolving problems other than greed.
I suspect many, if not a majority, farmers lease/rent equipment due to serviceability issues of the electronics. The life cycle of some electronics is measured in months before obsolescence forces upgrades, costly upgrades.
That implies that the right bit of malware, inserted at harvest time, has the potential to damage US food supplies.
That implies that the right bit of malware, inserted at harvest time, has the potential to damage US food supplies.
You are not wrong. I hadn’t really thought about it from that angle. Scary to think about. Good insight my friend.
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