[greenpower]

Last week I ordered me a brand new 9670 STS Bullet rotor corn combine with SLS and all the bells and whistles. Building it the end of August in Moline and I Plan to take the GK tour. Spoiled a llittle better than a quarter million dollars real fast. Had to get one bought before they break $300k... Now, I find this web site to complain on!
Have a goodie guys, I am bleeding green right now.

 

[combiness]

Green, I sure wish you and the new combine many great years and harvests together. After all, she should live a long, long time on your farm, for the capital investment put into her. As with other makes, the John Deere combines just keep getting better and better and even prettier with each new generation.

 

[greenpower]

Thank you combiness for words of encouragement on this new purchase. Was also considering trading for a new 608C corn head, but, I need to digest this purchase first! Sure cannot wait to try those self leveling sieves on some of the hills I farm. They look like the cats meow. I wonder why they didn't figure that sieve design out and offer it for sale sooner?
Have a safe Xmas! We have 6" of snow and blowing gusts of 40mph here. ~~~~EVERYTHIng is closed~~~~~~

 

[combiness]

Thanks, Green. PM me sometime, and I will share some of the stuff on the SLS.

As for the price, I'm really surprised it was under $300,000 in the first place.
Yesterday's sudden, unexpected blizzard has this state rather well shut-down. I left work early due to worsening road conditions and while there was still daylight to clearly tell road from non-road, but many, many wrecks on the news, along with a few deaths. I'm not leaving my "burrow" today, either. The office I work at, which normally never closes, is closed. I was originally scheduled to even work there today. I think it would have happened, even if it was not Christmas.

 

[greenpower]

Yep. My area, the Western half of Iowa is shut down too. 6 to 18" forecast by Sunday with winds gusting to 40. Interstates and highways are closed. Looks like a stay home inside Christmas.
As far as the price, well it was north of $300k by a ways on the list price, but dealer had a good discount program. He had only 2 left which were scheduled to build in late August. After those 2 are sold, you take your chances if it will arrive in time for late Sept soybean harvest or not. So, in spite of the downslide in farm incomes, in my little neck of the world there still is plenty of money left. I can't believe how they have jumped in price the past 4-5 years. Maybe this is an indication of what our dollars are really worth?
Stay safe, warm and dry!

 

[jd9600guru]

welcome to the board greenpower - your profile says you're 109 years old so I think you deserve to have a new rig!! LOL

Do you deal with a&m green power in the SW corner?

jd

 

[greenpower]

Thank you and yes, they are getting to be a large area dealership with several area stores even into Neb. I'm old enough to know better, but don't!

 

[colesfarmer]

The tour is very interesting. A retired worker will be the one most likely to do it. They'll tell you that they will answer any questions except for salaries and production numbers. You'll start YOUR combine as soon as its filled with all the liquids. After the tour, they'll have you go to the World Headquarters where they'll give you a tour of that facility and feed you. Then someone sit with you and ask what you feel JD is doing right/wrong. Btw, if your unable to go when yours is scheduled, you can go a different time and you still be the first to start a combine and get the gold key.

 

[greenpower]

Yes, I plan on touring the plant when they are building my combine. Looking forward to that, and If I get to talk to a JD VIP wheel, the first thing I am going to ask him is why are they ignoring the small single family farmer market by not offering a new 6620 size machine to the marketplace with accompaning smaller heads selling for 1/2 of what I had to pay.. The demand is there for one, why are they ignoring that market?
We farmers cannot and will not all be farming thousands of acres to justify such a large machine. There are and will continue to be a lot of small farms, and their only choice if they want small is to buy something old and worn out, or hire it done. They are being ignored. Strange what now is considered small, 6620 size, 15 years ago was considered a good size machine. But, what the hel do I know. I am not in the JD planning department. I'm looking forward to the trip the end of August 2010.

 

[colesfarmer]

I asked basically the same question, but also said that not everyone needs all the high tech equipment. The response was that for the expense of what a new combine/tractor would cost like that, a person can buy a bigger and therefore better dealer reconditoned machine for the same price. I looked straight at the guy when he said that and said " thats the biggest bullshit answer you could give. "

 

[Hans Schwarz]

The funny thing is that Deere has small affordable walker combines(like the 1470/1570 or the more advanced W or T series) in their programm for the rest of the world,they just dont offer them here in northamerica,all they want to sell here is the STS,even the T670 walker combine doesnt get very much support by dealers.
Here is a link to the uk website:
http://www.deere.com/en_GB/products/agriculture/combines/index.html

 

[larry]

Different markets have different demands and specs = added costs to reconfigure, at a higher rate than if sold domestically

Cost of parts and service support and training ramp up and maintenance + import costs = cost prohibitive.

 

[105diesel]

Different markets have different demands and specs = added costs to reconfigure, at a higher rate than if sold domestically

Cost of parts and service support and training ramp up and maintenance + import costs = cost prohibitive.

You have a point, but there's nothing so complicated about Deere's small range of walker machines that couldn't be overcome in North America. The two smallest sizes are built in Brazil, and those machines are exported to Europe, so I don't see that export/import costs would be a particular problem. Plus, in most of Europe, they offer the whole range: cylinder/walker in a number of sizes, cylinder/twin rotor (with enough horsepower, for a change) and the STS. I suppose the thought is that in the near future, everyone will need 500-600 hp single-rotor machines with 12-18 row cornheads and 50-foot drapers, all those irritating little farmers will be gone by then. They may be right. I hope they are not.

 

[bent]

I'm with Muddy. Most farms with small enough acreage for a 6620 size machine are simply hobby farms. They do not generate sufficient profit from cash flow to purchase new equipment. Some exist because SWMBO has a job in town.

Yes, they may be highly profitable on a net present value basis due to inflation of farm land. But that profit is not available to buy new equipment. And anyone who farmed from 1978 to 1986 knows farmland values can decline 60% in a couple of years.

And why does everyone think they must own a combine to be a farmer? Given a choice between outsourcing planting, spraying, or combining, my combine would be the first to go.

 

[Hans Schwarz]

I hope the smaller sized family farms will be always competitive enough to survive.As much as i like big machinery,i always enjoy to see guys with older and/or smaller equipment having success.Its not the sheer size that counts.And btw. there are many mixed farms which cant justify new,big equipment anymore,there IS a demand for smaller machines.

 

[tombine]

You might want to study the "economy of scale" and understand why it doesn't work.
It may appear to for a short while but is not sustainable.
Big never worked, doesn't now and won't in the future.

Tom

 

[greenpower]

Amen on that. If the truth were known, the reason they don't come out with a brand new bare bones 6620 sized machine with a 1/2 sticker price is THEY DON'T HAVE TO! Maybe in time the Chineese will enter the US combine marketplace with one or two models copied off the old reliable 4400 and 6620. Then they would have to step up to the plate and play ball. Until then, it just sucks. They will hear it from me too.
thank you cole

 

[larry]

Look up the definition of Economy of Scale and you will understand why no one produces for diminishing market segments.

 

[greenpower]

You need to be careful thinking business models of economy of scale are "the thing" when applied to farming, especially family farming. I can blow holes right thru that crap. How do you think most of today's large operations got started? And what makes you think no one is left to start up new ones when todays die off? I started farming hiring my combining done and worked in town. First year I had my soybeans all hailed out while waiting for my custom guy to show up. That winter I purchased a 4 year old MF410 and got off that custom operator's list. My acres no way justified the 410 purchase, but, my crop harvest done in a timely manner did. Gradually I have grown to where financially I can purchase the 9670, but, in reality I probably could get buy with something much smaller, say a 7720 size, but Deere doesn't offer it. This is where they are missing the boat.
I think the dealers are probably fighting the importation of small combines from Brazil since they can make so darn much money servicing and programing the old ones for the smaller guys. I'd like to know the break down on dealer service income from programming an old combine and charging the customer $6 or $7 grand, plus helping during the season with emergency breakdowns, verses service income doing warranty work on new combines. Besides, if Deere suddenly offered a smaller, economical, bare bones, cylinder combine for a significantly cheaper price then the bullet rotors, think how that would drop the value of used dealer combine trade in inventory. Guys would say "why pay $100k for a worn out 9510 when I can buy a brand new ---- with factory warranty Deere cylinder for
30% more. I think it is the dealers that are holding Deere back on introducing a small bine in the US, along with all the sales of the 9000 seies they are enjoying.
Training and parts don't have a dam thing to do with it.
And there are and will forever be small farms all across the corn belt. Just the bigger ones seem to be crowding out the smaller ones right now, but wait for a down turn and those big highly leverged guys will suddenly become truck drivers and carpenters. And the little family farming guy that does all his own work and maybe holds down a part time job in town will be going to and bidding on the former BTO's iron. I saw it happen in the 80's, and history always repeats itself.
So you keep on studing your economic models of scale and pat yourself on the back thinking you have it figured out. I prefere to go on life experience in production agriculture.

 

[larry]

You might want to study the "economy of scale" and understand why it doesn't work.
It may appear to for a short while but is not sustainable.
Big never worked, doesn't now and won't in the future.

Tom

Funny, economy of scale has been the means of operation for the credible business world since the measure began. It is the practical way to explain real world phenomena such as patterns of international trade, the number of firms in a market, and how firms get "too big to fail".