Neighbor's New Tractor.

[clueless 2,976]

There's a young couple that moved in down the road from us a few months ago, they run every afternoon down our dead end road together,#younglove. A few times they've stop and talked to me about my Z turn and my tractors, they plan to buy one to maintain their acre. I told him if he is just going to cut grass a good Z turn is the way to go. They plan on putting in a large garden, and he want something that can handle yard and garden attachments. I explained the difference between a garden tractor and a riding mower, and I suggested buying an older garden tractor and a new Z turn. I could tell he liked that idea but the wife said why buy two when you can get one that does it all, so you know who won that debate #younglove. So the other day he rides up on a new Husqvarna

garden tractor he bought at the local dealers end off the year sell. It a GT and it's pretty stout, a lot of plastic though, but my man is beaming with pride. He said it was more than he planed on spending but the guy told him it would do everything he wants and then some. He was showing me everything and telling me about everything it can do, then he showed me the extra features that he really liked, cup holder, deck wash out port, metal front bumper, and of course the I/Smart phone holder . He also has an app for his phone that lets him know when the maintenance is do. As he road off, I thought of an old song:

curb feelers and fender skirts

scrub the chrome 'till your elbow hurts

pinstripes and cherry packs

grass stains on your second hand slacks

keep on bettin' think your gonna win

you can dress it up and try to pretend

a car's a car and that's a fact

but a Deuce and a Quarter aint no Cadillac

 

[ebinmaine 67,277]

Whaddya wanna bet they spent more than enough to buy 2 fully outfitted Wheelhorses with a half dozen implements....

 

 

We'll stick to our old iron.

 

[Razorback 1,035]

Good story!

I wonder if HE saw the advantage of an old GT and a new Z-turn, but got overridden by his other half? Something like, “Why would we buy an old piece of junk like that? We (you) need something NEW!”

 

I’d lay money on it.....

[857 horse 2,581]

DANG BIG RAZOR,,,,,,,,YOU READ MY MIND........

BUT A VERY TRUE AND COMMON OCCURANCE.......

 

AND LAYIN MONEY ON IT ISNT EVEN NESSESARY,,,JUST A FACT !!!!!!!

[ZXT 2,401]

44 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

We'll stick to our old iron.

 

Does he seem like the type that might have any mechanical ability? If he does, I'd be inclined to offer to show him how to change the oil and do other basic maintenance on it. If you do that and he learns that he can do some things himself, he might be more inclined to buy a real tractor when his gives up in a few years! 

Edited November 29, 2019 by ZXT

[tom2p 2,394]

Wheel Horse with a hydro is not a substitute for a zero turn - but it can bridge the gap between a Wheel Horse with a manual trans and a zero turn 
 

( and then of course you have the versatility of a garden tractor )

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by tom2p

[Lee1977 6,643]

That sheet metal wonder put together with sheet metal screws isn't going to last long if used as a garden tractor. 

Edited November 29, 2019 by Lee1977

[SylvanLakeWH 25,492]

Bumper sticker for this one would read:

 

Trophy couple...Double income...Lights on...No one home.

Edited November 29, 2019 by SylvanLakeWH

[WHNJ701 4,165]

I am taking the other side, it's his money his yard, let him enjoy it.  they are nice machines if used within its limits.  there is dealer by me that sells them.  I checked them out.  yes they are platicy and fancy.  I think alot people buy them thinking it's a sub compact and they are going to move the earth with it.  most of the world doesn't want old equipment anymore regardless of how well it works.  it's hard to find shops that even want to work on the older, out of business, power equipment anymore too.  to those reading this be very thankful you can work on your own stuff and teach all you can

[Digger 66 3,478]

15 minutes ago, jabelman said:

  most of the world doesn't want old equipment anymore regardless of how well it works

 

Funny story , as I posted in another thread , I sold my sled & trailer a bit ago .

The fella that came to look at it brought his son ( I think ) he was 16 or 17 at most .

I had to uncover and push out of the garage the 66 Ariens snowblower and the Wheel Horse .

As soon as the Tractor hit the sunlight , the kid forgot all about the sled and couldn't stop drooling over the Wheel Horse .

Maybe all youth is NOT LOST  . 

[953 nut 55,081]

10 hours ago, clueless said:

curb feelers and fender skirts

scrub the chrome 'till your elbow hurts

pinstripes and cherry packs

grass stains on your second hand slacks

keep on bettin' think your gonna win

you can dress it up and try to pretend

a car's a car and that's a fact

but a Deuce and a Quarter aint no Cadillac

I thought I knew all the COOL CAR SONGS, Duce Coupe, 409, Hay Little Cobra, GTO, Hot Rod Lincoln; but that is a new one on me.  

[clueless 2,976]

10 hours ago, 953 nut said:

I thought I knew all the COOL CAR SONGS, Duce Coupe, 409, Hay Little Cobra, GTO, Hot Rod Lincoln; but that is a new one on me.  

Dick, that song has Scotty More and Keith Richards on guitars, DJ Fontana on drums and Keith and Levon Helm singing. The CD has a lot of different groups and artist collaborating with Scotty and DJ. It's a good one to add to your road trip collection, and when your piddling around in the shop .

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

This is such a common tale in today’s world!  Get the new (because it’s “better”) use it till it breaks, throw it out into the landfill, and repeat!  I’ve shared the story here before but that was me in about 2005.  I was sick of wrenching on my 1980 Case 224 and decided to “upgrade” to a brand new Cub Cadet.  However, I couldn’t afford the $8,000 one and so what I could afford was a poor substitute.  It was great, for a couple of years...then I started to get slapped in the face with the poor quality of that lawn tractor series machine.  I’m thankful though because it led me to search out a real garden tractor which in time brought me to RS!  Now I do my best to search out things that are quality (new or old) to use in our day to day life and to share that with my kids.  Last week we had to fix our Maytag clothes dryer for the second time in a two month period.  It is a genuine made in Newton, IA circa March 1996 heavy duty machine that we inherited from Kelli’s mom when we got married.  It is an LP burning machine and we have replaced the igniter years ago. Two months ago we replaced the original drum belt and last week we replaced the blower fan.  My kids were like, “why don’t you just scrap this one and buy a new one?”  

 

WELL...that was the wrong question to ask dear old dad!!!!

 

We got into a long discussion about 24 years of steady service that this machine has supplied and that it could give us another 24 if we take care of it the way that it is built!  Then Caleb started to tell me stories about his teachers discussing their new appliances that regularly fail after just a couple of years—SOMETIMES LESS!  

No thanks, I’ll stick with the vintage ones as long as they make parts!

 

Clueless, keep on using your vintage iron, maybe after a few years the Mr “Young Love” will be down asking you questions about why yours continues to work hard year after year!!!🤔

[ebinmaine 67,277]

27 minutes ago, PeacemakerJack said:

Now I do my best to search out things that are quality (new or old) to use

My grandparents. (Remember the IHC Cub tractors). ... Lived that way their entire life. I still use some of the stuff that they did.

 

[tom2p 2,394]

20 or so years ago we updated our kitchen ; at that time we replaced the appliances with new KitchenAid appliances 

 

gave the old US KitchenAid (Hobart) dishwasher to a friend 

 

since then - 

 

we've replaced our KitchenAid dishwasher 

 

the old US made KitchenAid (Hobart) dishwasher is still going strong 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by tom2p

[MikMacMike 479]

Whaaaaa isnt that the way though eh....I too am so sick of the garbage that comes out these days. I so wish our countries got right back to all our own factories, yes they are over seas now, I know for one thing it does produce a ton of jobs....all the jobs we lost over the years along with the quality we lost. I wonder what it going to be like in another 50 years? no doupt even worse.

[Pullstart 62,795]

I’m going to go out on a limb and stick up for one manufacture that I used to work for, that my wife still does.  Most every water heater (if it was a “hot water heater” we wouldn’t need to heat the water) in North America is manufactured by either Rheem, A.O. Smith, or Bradford White.  Rheem and A.O. Have other brands they are parents of and sell to professional wholesalers and the box stores alike.  Most all water heaters have similar life expectancies, within reason.  The number one failure is the tank rusting out.  The number one complaint is “the old one didn’t do that.”  Not one place in this nation has water quality improved, the last I checked.  Now I’ll give my “why us and not one of the other guys?” answer.  Bradford White’s only product, even from the companies they own, either makes or stores hot water.  Their roots came from a tub factory, perfecting the porcelain “tank liner” that the industry knows today.  Too thin?  Poor protection.  Too thick?  It cracks and makes even worse protection.  Just right?  A somewhat flexible glass lining to keep the tank happy.  Every tank sees pressure expansion, many systems have inadequate expansion tanks.  If you had a water heater built in the 70’s or 80’s installed today’s plumbing systems, I bet it’s life span would be less than stellar.   If they were truly that good, to engineer a product that lasted just months out of warranty on a routine basis, I bet they’d be selling things worth more than a water heater!  One more thing.  I know this from experience too.  No matter what warranty you purchase, the tank came from the same assembly line, as did the rest of the components.  

 

 

[MikMacMike 479]

1 hour ago, pullstart said:

I’m going to go out on a limb and stick up for one manufacture that I used to work for, that my wife still does.  Most every water heater (if it was a “hot water heater” we wouldn’t need to heat the water) in North America is manufactured by either Rheem, A.O. Smith, or Bradford White.  Rheem and A.O. Have other brands they are parents of and sell to professional wholesalers and the box stores alike.  Most all water heaters have similar life expectancies, within reason.  The number one failure is the tank rusting out.  The number one complaint is “the old one didn’t do that.”  Not one place in this nation has water quality improved, the last I checked.  Now I’ll give my “why us and not one of the other guys?” answer.  Bradford White’s only product, even from the companies they own, either makes or stores hot water.  Their roots came from a tub factory, perfecting the porcelain “tank liner” that the industry knows today.  Too thin?  Poor protection.  Too thick?  It cracks and makes even worse protection.  Just right?  A somewhat flexible glass lining to keep the tank happy.  Every tank sees pressure expansion, many systems have inadequate expansion tanks.  If you had a water heater built in the 70’s or 80’s installed today’s plumbing systems, I bet it’s life span would be less than stellar.   If they were truly that good, to engineer a product that lasted just months out of warranty on a routine basis, I bet they’d be selling things worth more than a water heater!  One more thing.  I know this from experience too.  No matter what warranty you purchase, the tank came from the same assembly line, as did the rest of the components.  

 

 

These days they are engineered to be red light.......just like on our autos....first time you stop at a red light its time to replace......

[Tractorhead 9,064]

That‘s so called mostly „Design“

reduce to the Max and sometimes even with planned obsolescence.😎