Parts, parts and more parts

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,348]

This will come as no shock to you, but I received the following note from a dealer in VT, so if you're thinking of getting NEW, time's ticking.

 

FYI

we just sold our last front wheel rim for a 312-8.........Toro discontinued them this year.........Toro in the past 12 months has discontinued a large part of their wheel horse part supplies.......A week ago we installed our last 73400 wiring harness...73400's were produced from 1993-1995....which makes them current in our eyes as we still service vast #s of them,,...toro no longer produces these harness's either..which is becoming an issue as the newer tractors have much more complex wiring......unfortunately parts are going to become much scarcer very soon as our stock and other large dealer stocks deplete.......

 

Thanks.......Roger

New Haven Power Equipment Inc. 

3065 Ethan Allen Highway 

New Haven, VT 05472 

 

Phone 802-453-2175 Weekdays 9am-5pm EST – Eastern Standard Time

Serving VT , NY and the rest of the USA for over 35 year

[Achto 27,902]

Unfortunately this is the new era. Old product is not some thing that most manufacturers choose to deal with. I have actually been surprised at how long Toro continued to make parts for a company that they acquired. A lot of companies have gone to the belief that 5yrs is long enough to back their product, after that they want you to buy a new one. Not all companies have gone to this way of thinking but a quite a few have. I don't like it but, not much we can do about it.   

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,513]

What we have here is somewhat of a catch-22.  I see posts all the time here on "what's a cheaper alternative to OEM parts", etc.  Parts are by supply and demand.  When demand is seemingly drying up (and when we buy aftermarket parts, the dealers are seeing a lack of demand), then the supply will dry up also.  We all want to buy the least expensive part, which usually are the aftermarket parts, but we also want Toro to continue to make parts.  Going aftermarket may save you a few bucks, but it also means that the manufacturer and the dealers aren't selling as many of the OEM parts, so they will discontinue the parts and the supply will go away.  To them the demand isn't there, so why keep making parts that aren't in high demand.

 

The other part of the problem is this, when the quality is high as it was with the Wheel Horses, things don't break, so parts aren't as needed as much if the parts break more often.  The other part is, of course, companies aren't interested as much in making parts for 20-30 year machines as much as they're interested in selling new products.

[GlenPettit 1,717]

This situation opens up the opportunity for members to start manufacturing replacements themselves, as many of us have.  The quantities will be small, much too small for the big boys to reproduce.  Many of us may have special knowledges to do this, it does provide an opportunity to make a little extra money and "stay out of trouble" with the spouses.  It does not take a big investment if we start small and conservative, utilizing just what we may have.

 

Red Square and the Venders Section provides a great opportunity to advertise and we have a great community to help promote our replacements.  From someone who has been happily doing this for 17 years now; start small, very small and listen to input. You're not going to get a lot of sales the next week, it takes time for people to start purchasing your items.    Good Luck . . . .

 

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,348]

You're one of the best at it too Glen!

[Racinbob 11,278]

23 minutes ago, GlenPettit said:

This situation opens up the opportunity for members to start manufacturing replacements themselves, as many of us have.  The quantities will be small, much too small for the big boys to reproduce.  Many of us may have special knowledges to do this, it does provide an opportunity to make a little extra money and "stay out of trouble" with the spouses.  It does not take a big investment if we start small and conservative, utilizing just what we may have.

 

Red Square and the Venders Section provides a great opportunity to advertise and we have a great community to help promote our replacements.  From someone who has been happily doing this for 17 years now; start small, very small and listen to input. You're not going to get a lot of sales the next week, it takes time for people to start purchasing your items.    Good Luck . . . .

 

 

12 minutes ago, nylyon said:

You're one of the best at it too Glen!

 

I couldn't agree more. I've dealt with several of the vendors here and without exception every one is top notch.

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,513]

22 minutes ago, GlenPettit said:

This situation opens up the opportunity for members to start manufacturing replacements themselves, as many of us have.  The quantities will be small, much too small for the big boys to reproduce.  Many of us may have special knowledges to do this, it does provide an opportunity to make a little extra money and "stay out of trouble" with the spouses.  It does not take a big investment if we start small and conservative, utilizing just what we may have.

 

Red Square and the Venders Section provides a great opportunity to advertise and we have a great community to help promote our replacements.  From someone who has been happily doing this for 17 years now; start small, very small and listen to input. You're not going to get a lot of sales the next week, it takes time for people to start purchasing your items.    Good Luck . . . .

 

I also was thinking of this also, but the profit margins aren't that great to make a living on it - it would have to be as a side job or as a hobbyist filling a need without looking at the bottom line.  On the John Deere side, HAPCO started a business making reproduction parts for the round fender 110 and 112 (with JD's blessing, of course). http://hapcoparts.com/  This led into the magazine that they sell today.  Xtreme Motor works provides parts for Cub Cadet  http://www.xtrememotorworks.com/  And there are others, including those in our vendor section.  My hats off to them, because the profit margins are small, if any, and getting parts into production, with very small production runs, is expensive and hard to do.

[ohiofarmer 3,277]

 I think that also when an entire tractor can be bought for 300-500 dollars, the temptation to buy another parts tractor is strong. I was after some decent mower deck shells and wound up with both shells with 90% of what belonged to them and a FREE roller sans engine 1075 with straight sheet metal. $99.00 Harbor freight engine and she runs and drives as a yard tractor I just blew up a wheel hub on the work tractor and the hubs off that tractor work fine to repair it. An adapted wheel hub from a mini bike store and a golf cart wheels i had laying around and the 1075 will still make a great little tractor for a kid or maybe a single purpose yard sprayer

 

 Where I am going with all this is there are guys buying and parting out whole tractors to make the hobby affordable. That is good and bad at the same time because it makes survivors more rare but kills off the NO$ parts being manufactured.

 

  I think we [meaning most of us] would not hesitate to find cheaper aftermarket bearings and blades and parts like that even when you can buy OEM. That kills off Toro's desire to keep making them available.

 

 

Edited May 9, 2017 by ohiofarmer

[GlenPettit 1,717]

Making repro parts or selling off Parts from parters is not going to get anyone rich, it's just a part-time fun-time occupation, to make a significant profit is very unlikely, you'll just make a few extra bucks . . . . To make a profit, you have to factor in: transportation/travel time (gas & wear), trailer & related equipment like storage & covers, electricity, workshop & tool use and biggest of all, your time (when you could be doing something else constructive too).  Time from family and spouse must be factored in, and customers always want something at an inconvenient time.  Most people really appreciate what you may be offering, but them sometimes someone will let you know they are unhappy & you need a thick skin.   The only 100% full-time Wheel Horse person I'm aware of is Gene Strickland in KY, selling parts plus restoring Wheel Horses to perfect original, but then he is really hustling and probably working at least 60-70 hours/week (www.WheelHorseStables.com).

 

For me, there is a lot of satisfaction in making people happy, especially when they say so and proudly show off their projects (baby).  For me to go to the Big Show in PA in June will easily cost $1,000 in expenses (gas, motel, food, thank gosh I have my wife to help), but the rush of happy eager faces is worth it.  In the end, I'm having a lot of quality fun and enjoying it.    I've seen many people offer a needed item, maybe sell a couple, and then cease, -- most items will be a very slow low-volume sell and take time.    

Re: HAPCO, Brandon, the owner is mainly a fun-time big-time farmer, but Kate & Mike do run the magazine and the business full time for him.  They have taken a risk on having some needed items remanufactured (seats & toys), I would think they are doing OK but are not big profit makers.

 

FYI:  I did check in on having some 1:24 scale Wheel Horse 312 tractors made in China, like ERTLs are;  it was $25,000 up front for 1,000 pieces.  Any item remanufactured by a big business will have a significant up-front price or a large minimum order, again, paid upfront, if anyone of us is going to take a big financial risk, we want a guaranteed significant RTO, which may put the retail price up to $100.  Some members have access to a machine shop at work and may be able to use on their own time, that can save a ton of cost.  Sometimes a Wheel Horse part is the exact same as also used for another brand of garden tractor or something unique, and a inventory is found somewhere for cheap.  (for example: K-91 engines were used in oil fields, and lots of spare parts are being found now).

 

[Donna Tripp 0]

Hello help need i need 7/16 stud that goes in my pto on my 1975 B80 wheelhorse  can not found  this any where was able to get the spring  compression   race thrust  and the thrust bearing but can not find the stud any help would be greatly  appreciated  i not even sure what this stud looks like no pictures  any place 

[953 nut 56,107]

I am unfamiliar with that style clutch. Probably if you start a new post asking about the PTO clutch on a B-80 someone can help.

 

[Lee1977 6,857]

 It's not needed it was removed on later models with the thrush bearing, washers and spring.  I'm not sure when, none of the 300, 400 or 500 tractors has that. 

The PTO is the same on the later models with out those parts and works just as well.

I did away with mine in 1989 when I installed a Briggs Vanguard on my C-120.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Lee1977

[squonk 41,613]

Throw those springs washers and studs away.

[Jeff-C175 7,203]

1 hour ago, Lee1977 said:

It's not needed it was removed on later models

 

14 minutes ago, squonk said:

Throw those springs washers and studs away.

 

12 hours ago, Donna Tripp said:

not even sure what this stud looks like

 

That might be why Donna doesn't know what they look like!  Someone already threw them away!