Why American Farmers Are Hacking Their Tractors With Ukrainian Firmware

Motherboard ^ | 3/21/17 | JASON KOEBLER

[Rebelbase]

To avoid the draconian locks that John Deere puts on the tractors they buy, farmers throughout America's heartland have started hacking their equipment with firmware that's cracked in Eastern Europe and traded on invite-only, paid online forums.

Tractor hacking is growing increasingly popular because John Deere and other manufacturers have made it impossible to perform "unauthorized" repair on farm equipment, which farmers see as an attack on their sovereignty and quite possibly an existential threat to their livelihood if their tractor breaks at an inopportune time.

"When crunch time comes and we break down, chances are we don't have time to wait for a dealership employee to show up and fix it," Danny Kluthe, a hog farmer in Nebraska, told his state legislature earlier this month. "Most all the new equipment [requires] a download [to fix]."

[wally_bert]

I know I haven’t.

My best friend is a die-hard Ford guy just like his dad and they might be hard pressed to know one like your folks had.

[wally_bert]

An XR-7 was always good looking.

There is a guy at the factory I’m at that has a fairly nice looking works in progress 68. He drives it in once in a great while.

He won’t sell and I don’t blame him.

The guy has a really nice 71 Chevelle too.

I liked the 67 best.

[Larry Lucido]

Speaking of bad puns, the headlight on mine is busted. I wonder if I can get a tractor beam from Rebelbase?

[exit82]

The ‘67 is cleaner looking without the side markers added in ‘68.

It looks like a small T-Bird of that year, which was also a very good looking car.

I hope you get one again,wally bert.

[wally_bert]

Tempting but not this round, my pocket book couldn’t take that now.

I’ve been getting nickled and dimed to death lately by various elements of the medical community for a recent ER visit.

Besides my old Jeeps and Blazer have priority. I have an Ebay search set for Cougars like that and look at it once in a while to remind myself.

[meyer]

I wonder if I can get a tractor beam from Rebelbase?

I hear from a good source that they're not using the one on the Enterprise any more.

[wally_bert]

It’s on the wishlist.

Thanks for the moral support. That’s more than I’ve gotten. The spousal unit didn’t care for it at all.

My old Jeeps are tolerated at least.

I like to think that Cougars don’t have the draw of the Mustang (which never did much for me), my chances might be at least decent one day.

Once I am done with the jeep rehabs, no more. I’ll get something that is in fair to good shape and bite the bullet paying for it.

[HKMk23]

Dang. Not ‘60 Torino — a ‘69 Torino.

Last in a line of bad car sales decisions.

Before that was the Fairlane they sold — can’t recall if it was a ‘62 or ‘63.

But that’s not nearly as egregious as Ma & Pa selling off her ‘56 T-Bird.

Turns out it was hereditary. Gramps & Grams had temporary custody of a ‘63 Galaxie 500 convertible that my uncle had brought out from the Twin Cities to sell in sunny California. They didn’t keep it.

When I was young they drove a ‘67 Buick Skylark that — they got rid of in the mid ‘70’s. Just thankful it wasn’t a Hurst model.

[HKMk23]

Oops. Meant to ping you on this Reply

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3537109/posts?page=108#108

[HKMk23]

I understand.

Just don’t wait too long.

Saddest story I know is an old neighbor who’d collected the major parts he needed to build a ‘30’s Ford coup: steel body, custom box steel frame, engine, “top loader” transmission, rear end.

He never put it together. It all set in the third slot of his garage and gathered dust. He got old and frustrated and cranky, his wife left, his boys grew up & moved out, and the old dream just withered up & died.

Made up my mind to NEVER be that guy. Wait for the right car, but put a time limit on the “wait for it” part.

[4FreeSpeach]

First of all, under federal law, a vendor can not refuse to service or install non OEM parts if they meet manufacturers specs. The issues with protecting firmware on heavy equipment are primarily good. I was briefed by someone involved in a project to prevent firmware from operating on unauthorized heavy equipment replacement parts because of a Chinese subcontractor to a respected American manufacturer somehow loosing their defective parts that were then being resold in the grey aftermarket. The only stopgap in preventing the defective parts from being used was the OEM authorized firmware. Also the manufacturer had headaches with equipment at “the edge of the world” failing and after flying in a service tech at great expense, they could not even diagnose the equipment because a firmware hack had been installed by a rogue service tech. This is not fair to everyone involved.

[wally_bert]

That 65 Willys Jeep has definitely been a parts hog but I make some progress every so often.

Jeep stuff is high, doubly so if Willys.

Willys did a great job of making sure that nothing non Willys would adapt without a great deal of difficulty.

Mine as a 32/36 Weber which was an adventure for non-machinist me.

I went with it because those aftermarket Indian one-barrels were crap. The reproduction boat anchor fuel pumps are lousy too. I went with a $20 electric pump, check valve and Holley regulator to get it close to right.

Friday I hope to tackle the worn out steering box. I think I have all the parts in.

The steering wheel at present is somewhere to put one’s hands. The jeep will wander wherever the universe wills.

After steering is suspension and brakes. All that stuff is old. The springs have no life in them.

Then tires.

I acquire small things for the CJ7 and throw resources at it periodically. Ditto my old K5.

[wally_bert]

My dad is holding on to a vintage landcruiser for a widow lady that was fine with letting it rust in a field.

The deceased did a lot of nice interior work and some sprucing up. It’s missing an engine.

She will not sell it. The lady has some deluded idea that her son will do something with it. He doesn’t care about it from what dad can find.

Even if he did, the guy would probably destroy it.

[Tucker39]

That’s what I meant. Who could have imagined? But Kubota, in its own way, has taken over the small tractor world to some degree.
Thanks.

[minnesota_bound]

Plastic engine covers are for noise reduction.
In some cars you would think there was no engine.

Engine Covers Are The Devil’s Work
http://jalopnik.com/5439414/engine-covers-are-the-devils-work

Do engine covers have a practical purpose or is it just cosmetic? (luxury, vehicles)
http://www.city-data.com/forum/automotive/2177996-do-engine-covers-have-practical-purpose.html

[redfreedom]

‘Who could have imagined?’

It’s not surprising to me. Japanese engineering and manufacturing standards surpassed the US in the late 70’s & early 80’s when US manufacturers purposely reduced quality to shorten “planned obsolescence” time frames.

It backfired big time, and the Japanese got a foot hold in the US auto market. It’s only natural Americans would also sample tractors and other Japanese products.

We own a Case IH DX25E, which is a 25 HP diesel 4WD tractor. It’s made by Shibaura. It’s tough as nails, takes beating after beating. It looks like it’s been through WWIII and survived. A JD never would have lasted like this Shibaura does.

[BudgieRamone]

You and me both. Volkswagen beetle was close, but collusion between auto manufacturers and government have conspired to rob people of the ability to work on their own stuff.

[IamConservative]

I understand why they are dong this. Up until just recently, one could use EFI Live and manipulate the engine control module on many cars and trucks. I did it on my 2009 GMC Duramax. On later models, Bosch encrypted the code and last I knew, it was still locked.

[Tucker39]

Hey, I’m proud of what Japan has accomplished. Any advantage they got over the U.S. they got by outsmarting the dweebs running our import/export regs. There’s also the fact that in the 80s and 90s their cars actually started and ran in conditions where Detroit stuff wouldn’t.

[HKMk23]

That Willys is a great keeper. Glad to hear you've got a restoration going.

I was able to go more mainstream & had backing from my wife. SHE and my daughter (pictured) saw this '63 Impala 4-door "no post" hardtop setting for sale at a local gas station. PRETTY car, and about $6000 below appraised value so she was OK with breaking the piggy bank to scoop it up.

The OEM 327 V8 and Powerglide slushbox are long gone, now powered by a modern "Stage 1" Vortec 350 pushing about 325hp out the 3.55 rear end through a kitted TH400 with a 1500rpm stall converter. Previous owner had the interior nicely restored, so it's pretty clean. I think the carpet is original, though.

I need to rebuild the wiper motor/gearbox assembly, install new weatherstripping around the windows, and get seat belts and anchors put into the back seat. The car didn't come from the factory with any; a pair of seat belts in the front was a dealer-installed option back then. I found some online that match the OEM look. Just need to crawl underneath, do some drilling, and get them anchored in there. From what I've read, I might even need to get the car up in the air and tack weld the factory anchors to the underside of the floorpan. Maybe a $20 for my local muffler guy would do the trick, since I need to see him about extending the exhaust tips, anyway. Prior owner dumped the exhaust on each side just ahead of the rear tires, but the tips set back a few inches from the rocker panels, and I'm getting some exhaust staining on the paint.