Combines AutoTrac for combines comments

Thats an old idea. You can buy a uni harvester any time you want. I had auto steer on my cat combine they charged me 4000 to put it on and they never did get it to work right. Once again proving that you can have the fanciest stuff in the world and still have nothing . I thought we had come to a conclusion that cat was no longer a player in the harvesting business. That means you can only write about them on the more obscure boards with companys that they can compete with. Even though I think they should merge the massey gleaner cat white oliver and new idea brands into one page. That way no ones time will be wasted chatting about grand Ideas that did not pan out or had no follow thru. Kind of like a hayrack on a farm sale. Where all the junk is in one spot and you can group it toghether to make something if you have to.

Dont get me wrong all your points are valid. I think claas makes a fantastic combine. But they married the wrong girl when they hooked up with cat. It looked like a match made in heaven,worlds largest heavy equipment dealers ,large dealer network the list of good is long. In my opinion it appears to me that cat dealers for some reason think they have to opertate on higher sales margin than all other ag dealers. In all my dealings with cat I would have to say I never met a person who seemed to be a point man. Its a rudderless ship.They are making so much money selling construction equipment I just do not think ag impresses them. What do you thinkIJ

I agree

Comparing the Uni-harvester to the XBR2 Bi-Rotor _ Versatile Power System is not a valid apples to apples comparison. The Uni-harvester was not a balanced centerline design. It had its cab and engine on its left side. Subsequently, they often rolled _ tipped over on its left side when driven with the attachments removed.(Strike 1) The attachments were generally targeted to fall harvest activities, ie corn sheller, thresher, etc. and this resulted in utilization conflicts. (Strike 2) Change over was too difficult and took too long with many cables and drives. The attachments were unstable on their storage jack stands. (Strike 3) The overall capacity of the units were limited to smaller farms. No wonder the Uni-harvester was not a long term success. The Bi-Rotor was a balanced centerline design. Attachments would slide out the front (rotor _ spray tank _ planter distributor unit). Most valuable aspect is that the GPS receiver on the cab roof would have been in the same relative position for all field operation functions. The main three functions, plant, spray and harvest are spread across the growing season, leaving adequate time for changeover, which in reality could be completed in hours. No wonder Deere bought it up and put it on the shelf for now while they sell 9000 Tractors, 4700 Sprayers, Commodity carts and 9050_60 combines. Interesting photos, models and video presentations available during winter meetings.

I tend to agree also. There are parts of the country where the Cat dealers do have a strong and separate Ag focus and do a good job with product, parts and service support for their ag products. I agree that there are many other Cat dealers do not have a strong focus on agriculture because of their larger industrial opportunity. Similar variations in dealer strength and commitment to products exist for other major brands, but to different degrees. location makes a difference and may be more noticeable in the Cat dealer organization because of their larger _ statewide territories.

Winter meetings whereIJ

Still working on the locations. Perhaps with NFMS, NCGA, ASA, NAWG, FB or other farm shows and expos. Have good road show and will travel.