Posted on 02/05/2022 3:29:05 AM PST by fluorescence
Scott Potmesil, a fourth-generation farmer who raises cattle in Sandhills, Nebraska, recently bought a John Deere tractor that is over 25 years old. He said he purposely went looking for the older device in 2020 because he believed it would be easier to repair than newer models, which can often be fixed only by authorized dealerships.
“I visited with my local mechanic and asked which tractor he could fix, and it was a 1995 one,” Potmesil said. “New equipment is getting so complicated and loaded with sensors. If one of them goes out, you can’t even start your tractor. You need a technician and software to identify the problem.”
A bill introduced Tuesday in the Senate could help make it easier for farmers like Potmesil to repair their tractors independently. The legislation would require agriculture equipment manufacturers to make spare parts, instruction manuals and software codes publicly available, allowing farmers to fix devices by themselves or hire third-party mechanics of their own choosing.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said in an interview that he has heard from many farmers who reported that difficulties repairing equipment hurt their businesses.
“We’ve got to figure out ways to empower farmers to make sure they can stay on the land. This is one of the ways to do it,” Tester said. “I think that the more we can empower farmers to be able to control their own destiny, which is what this bill does, the safer food chains are going to be.”
Tester said farmers often reported that company-authorized repairs were costly and could be handled only by licensed technicians who may take days, or even weeks, to show up. That type of delay can have serious impacts on the delicate harvest cycle for planting and reaping crops.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Get rid of extreme EPA requirements and the computerization is unnecessary.
Thinking my 1948 Ford 8N is looking better and better. Ford sold over a million, and you still see them in use around here. (Not just me!) There isn’t a single 8N part you can’t get, and at reasonable prices, too.
There is no free lunch. If a company will not now make the higher service revenues, then they will add that into the cost of new and parts.
Prohibits? How is that even possible?
I don’t have problems with laws like this. Having nutrition labels on food has been a good thing. Another such law should be to require labels that identify where the product was grown or manufactured.
It’s not the computerization, it’s the policies of the manufacturers. See my post above.
Dont get me wrong, I HATE STEALERSHIPS.
I think Kenmore had an exclusive at one time on their appliances. Kodak copier, too????
The biggest part is it prevents companies from insisting, in purchase contracts, that only authorized factory representatives are allowed to repair their equipment; and/or that only factory original parts may be used.
Essentially, the manufacturer owns the equipment, and leases it to the farmer, who never actually owns it.
It is hardware manufacturers attempting to use the same model of software big tech companies, where the company is firmly in charge of everything, and the customer has to beg to them for permission to do anything.
As I recall the version which I read about, it requires manufacturers to sell replacement parts; it prevents manufacturers from prohibiting aftermarket parts; and it places firmly into law the ability of owners to work on their own equipment.
It is possible, with so many chips in equipment today, to program equipment so that it will not run unless an authorized person puts in the proper code.
One of my friends grew up on a farm. He can machine, weld, paint, etc. like a pro. All because farmers were equipped to repair just about anything to keep producing.
-PJ
No company can warranty some product and also allow unauthorized repair people and/or parts. You touch it, you own it and good luck.
Right now they don't. Everything held back claiming that it's "proprietary", but it's really just so they can gouge the farmers. Like Tesla.
Not a new business model. Company I retired from 12 years ago was doing it.
I had been wanting to get a John Deere lawn mower/tractor; guess I stick with the push mower...
Allowing downloading of binary firmware is not the same as providing the source code and proprietary revealing control algorithms.
-PJ
You are correct, sort of.
The business model is outlined below.
Sale price $100,000. A service contract on said device is $10,000. or essentially 10% of the sale price. The contract comes with uptime guarantees and part availability along with service response times.
The average cost to the company to service the device is around $3000 per year (parts and labor). Thus the remaining $6000 is pure profit.
Multiply that out by the tens of thousands of units produced per year and the size of the installed base over 10 years, and you can see there is a large incentive to make the the machines serviceable only by authorized technicians.
Roght to own and repair should be a constitutional amendment.
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