Combines Dealer Service

[Case_Farmer]

40 min and 50 min away IN southern ill there are still alot of them located not too far from what i see whenever i go to different area's..

 

[Aar]

Would you care to mention the dealers nameIJ I know Bales in lowell is pretty small but other than that I don't know the others. Sad but CIH is just stubbing their toe even more. They won't put crap on a lot but drive down to Greene and they have one of every model....don't know how they expect to sell anythingIJ

 

[farmerb]

Goodland for sure and I was told by the employees there also lowell and lacrosse.

 

[mx270]

well farmerb it goin on here in Nw Il too Birkeys bought up 3 local dealers already consolidated one but moved employees to a new shop at Polo and the Prophetstown dealer will go in 5 years not sure if its closing or they moving it further south

 

[Unit_2]

Here where I'm at in KS we have three of them within 35 to 40 minutes. All the same company. They did close one store a little over a year ago.

 

[Unit_2]

The store closest to me is a block away from the New Holland dealer. I have to wonder how long they will keep both stores open that close together.

 

[chadh]

farmerb, there is rumor that a dealership is coming to our area. i guess we will have to wait and see. if you have to make a choice, we have had great luck out of the hoopston store. chad if you want some gossip on who might be coming i will talk to you later.

 

[Case_Farmer]

Isn't this not just a case problem but a problem for most companiesIJ Cat Has no Dealers in southern ill Altofer up in clinton ill is the closest So its hard for them to get farmers interested in them Also there's not really anything else some John Deere's but not many around effingham and mtvernon then no massey_gleaner ect...

 

[FarmerTom]

FROM A DEAlER'S PERSPECTIVE i have been involved in the machinery industry for 40 years and have seen many changes in that time. having been a NH and later FIAT territory salesman, a CASE_WHITE_NH dealer and now a used equipment dealer_farmer, these changes will continue. here are some of my observations: 1. each 100 hp tractor replaces 3 40 hp tractors, each 200 hp tractor replaces 3 100 hp tractors. 2. each 8010 combine replaces 10 715_815 combines 3. each 3000 acre farmer replaces 10 300 acre farmer. each 30,000 acre producer replaces 10 3000 acre farmers. 4. at a certain point, a farmer turns into a producer and a dealer turns into a business man. 5. dealers want to do business with farmers and businessmen want to do business with producers. 6. large farm equipment companies look only at numbers and follow the "hollow" structure of producers, and businessmen that only watch the numbers without regard to societal changes and needs, and good stewardship of the land. 7. each machine has a capacity_longevity relationship developed by the manufacturing company designed to keep the factory going. some things that are already happening: 1. there is a shortage of small equipment for the small farmer. 2. there is a glut of huge equipment on the market for high prices as compared to the condition of the equipment and the design of that equipment. i.e. planned obselence 3. farm equipment companies are reducing the number of accounts they deal with in favour of giving 1 account a larger "territory" that they can establish outlet stores so as to better control pricing and inventory and thus profit margin. 4. farmers will continue to increase in size and thus decrease the number of farmers in a particular dealer's trade area. 5. there is a critical point of farmer population_unitland mass that is required to maintain a certain dealer population. when this point is reached the dealer population starts to dwindle. for example, let's say a dealer needs 100 farmers to be successful, so 3 dealers need 300 customers or more. at 250_275 customers, a 3 dealer town will lose a dealer and things will be ok for a while, at 150_175 customers, another dealer goes out and when the number of farmers goes lower the last dealer sells out or amalgamates with another dealer. total service deteriorates. 6. farmer numbers, dealer numbers, farm equipment company numbers will continue to decrease. farm equipment companies will swing their focus away from the farm equipment market. farm sizes, farm equipment sizes and farm equipment prices will continue to rise. 7. as a farmer gets larger and becomes a producer_businessman, they tend to purchase less product locally when it comes to the big items, but rely on the local dealer to be there for service, warranty and parts. 8. the current system will not change until there is a total collapse. i.e. when we had the mass exodus of tractor(under 100 hp) production away from north america. 9. current continental political agreements hinder the development and importation of equipment into north america, that would improve the productivity of every farmer ( that's correct - farmer not producer). i have rambled here...............it's hard to watch the industry, one is involved in change so adversely and be able to do nothing except stand there and watch things change. my machinery life has been good to me over this past 40 years and when i see the farmer numbers reduced to the point where land is being left idle - an opportunity stares me in the face. people need to eat and people need to feed their animals. there is a place out there for a farmer - a small farmer that can make money and make a good living. my 2 cents for what it's worth FarmerTom

 

[JHEnt]

Well said FarmerTom. One thing about CNH, they won't force a dealer to close unless either he cannot pay his bills, parts or floorplan, or he cannot meet the minimum sales percentage that the company says he should have in his area. If either of these happen they will pull his franchise. I remeber seeing in a NAEDA magazine letters from different dealer owners. One was from a Deere dealer. He wrote in saying that Deere already told them that they cannot pass the franchise to his children who already work in the business. Acording to his letter he was told that HE signed the agreement not the business so when HE is gone so is their dealership. I'm guesing he is one of the smaller dealers. Deere's CEO has openly siad that Deere will cut the number of dealers in NA down alot. I don't remeber what his target number was.