your comments have just been read by the Head Honcho In Charge through the wonders of email forwarding!!!!! And I somewhat agree with you. Big ships are steered by little rudders and sometimes don't turn as fast as we think they should ( capsizing could result if they did!) .... There is one problem. The Gleaner is built to go into all crops, all across the world, and do an acceptable, above average job bone stock. One machine. No wires to pull, no grates to change, no specialty rotors that limit quality on a crop they are not designed for, 10-15 minute change from one crop to any other, balance, simplicity of design and super e-z maintainance _ repair. Many of you can add to this list. MOST CUSTOMERS, BElEIVE IT OR NOT, WANT IT THAT WAY. SIMPlE- RUGGED - RElIABlE , not the racehorsey HYPER gear-head versions we own and promote. Most of you guys who plug in to this site are not average old guys... (Some are way off the ploting ((or plodding) graph , in more ways that one! ;-)(TW) You want to talk with service _ AGCO, you can!. (Dealers are supposed to be the first line of contact, however, as time is a precious commodity of the service guys as they wear many hats other than troubleshooters.) You want to talk with head of engineering, you can (or someone will call you if you have a serious legit concern). They will 99.9 % of the time obtain satisfaction one way or the other. Try that with the other guys.... One of our local farmers bought a 9400 Deere w_ 6 row corn head. Wouldn't shell up a 12% grade with bin over 1_2 full. They upped HP, added intercooler, changed hydro and bunch of other stuff. local dealer did everything he could. JD area service rep came out, looked over combine in the field and said "it's doing everything its supposed to do. You are asking too much. Got in his lease car and left Dealer and customer in the field -according to customers own words. Customer traded for 9500 footed all the bills in the process to get his crop out and shelled downhill till the new one arrive. Horror stories abound in the Machinery area. Depends on the point of view and author as to interpretation and you for conclusions. Fact is, any production machine can be improved upon in certain local area conditions, in the hands of knowledgable operators - mechanics. Chevy_Ford_Chrysler and others even have special divisions devoted to HYPERIZING their products for those who want them. Ever see a silver haired lil' ole lady pull up to church on Sun. with a full blown Hemi and racing slicks shaking the stained glass windows with the cam lope and base_woofers_tweeters at full blastIJ To each his own. Thats what makes the farmer the most productive person on the face of the good lords green earth....he performs, one way or the other.