Combines Disappointed with Agco

My guess is the reason for the lack of availability of certain things is because of the move of Gleaner production from Independence, MO to Hesston, KS. I would venture to guess that nothing "Gleaner" is being manufactured at this point. But that is still no excuse for not having new heads available - better planning should have taken place to assure enough of them stockpiled to cover sales before production ceased. I also think these companies are keeping inventory very tight these days with the ag economy the way it is. Good luck!

good luck getting a hold of anybody at agco. From what i understand they are running on a skeleton crew. In the last year they have gotten rid of some very very key people out at ColdWater, OH and Independence, telling them either they move to hestton or look for new jobs. Most chose the latter. 2 years ago I could give you the name of who to call but not anymore, he works for Monsanto. My advice is to call down to Duluth GA and drop Bob Ratliff a line. He is a very respondant person and doesnt take to kindly hearing about people in your position. Usually heads will roll

It is my understanding that many manufacturers build products only when there is a signed order for them. That order can come from a dealer or end user. The days of building for stock and hoping to sell out of a full warehouse are probably gone forever. The last new equipment I bought was in 96 when I bought a pair of heads. I ordered them in January and they came off the assembly line in July and arrived at the dealer in September. Everyone warned me to get the order placed early and I did. As far as parts go, I havent had any problems, but then I havent had to order anything either. like my other equipment, the R60 seldom breaks down. Now where is that piece of wood to knock onIJ Tom in MN

I make no excuses for AGCO's moving problems of the plants. However we also went through a move. We thought we had covered all bases...We were wrong. We made a bunch of mistakes we are still working out. Agco is human like we are, not many rocket scientists with crytal balls ( I will refrain from another ball comment at this point) . The demise of CIH and HFI caught AGCO at a bad time. They had to move the Coldwater plant and lockney plant to Hesston to get the manhours of production to the point of possible profitability. They missed their forcasts of sales of headers and attachments and the shipment of same. It will take the balance of the year to get everything straight. Change is seldom painless. They do have the dedicated people that eventually WIll get the mess straightend out. In the meantime it is tough times for all of us.

As a dealer I understand your pain. Please let me clarify some points from the dealer point of view. I also was looking for a new Hugger 8R30 cornhead and 825 Flex head. They were out at the factory but that was planned for the move to the Hesston plant. They wanted to ship as much inventory as possible to dealers before the move which only makes sense. Just because they were out (at factory) does not mean there isn't inventory in the field which was the case for what I wanted. I found all I needed. I do know that some attachments were short but that is temporary. About the used or demoed heads AGCO has discounts for demos and the dealer should discount for that. Any rental head also has discounts in the amount that was charged out to renter. I think your problem is more with your dealer than AGCO. AGCO can not control the condition of equipment that is in dealer hands. We rent_demo equipment all the time and we discount it accordingly. It is the only fair way. If your dealer said it was new it should be. That is dealer responibility. If it was rented it should be rental reduced.

You describe what seems to me has been standard operating proceedure for AGCO. I just got news this morning from my dealer that the parts I need to repair one wheel of my 1988 machine have been discontinued by AGCO. So I guess the only future it has is the scrap yard. Thanks Allis!!!

Ed, Bryant Combine in Bryant, Indiana might beable to help you. It it a HUGE combine junk yard in East Central Indiana. The two major combines in their yard are Deere and Gleaners. The area code is 765. You will have to call information to get their number. Sorry I don't have the phone number at home.

Tom i am quite satisfied with our dealer, he is a great guy that we have been doing business with for many years. His serviceman is the greatest, i mean this guy gives 110%, we had a shaft go one time and Rob the service manager was out at three in the morning and had us up and running by seven that morning, came in and had breakfast with us and then back to the shop for his regular day at work, thats what keeps us coming back there time and time again. Agco on the other hand told our dealer when he inquired that there were new heads available at the time of us making the deal, once our dealer had the deal signed he needed serial numbers and that is when Agco told him to get the flex head from another dealer, might not be demoed much but none the same looks slightly used and quite rusy and Agco is not allowing for any discount on this head. The 8 row hugger poly head is the same deal yes there are some available and then it too must come from another dealer and it has been demoed and has about 15 - 20 seperator hours on it with no discounts from Agco to date. like i said our dealer is good, i love the machine but when i pay for new i expect it, for the prices that are charged for new equipment it should come gift wrapped. Sorry to vent it out here but i was wondering if any others had the same experiences or not.

Well, I still say it is dealer responsibility to make sure the equipment is new. When we look for a flex or whatever we start out at AGCO and find out what dealer has what we are looking for. We then contact the dealer about rental_demo_condition and any demo or rental credits or setup_freight charges. We then have to trust judgment of the dealer or ask their district sales mgr to look and verify condition.This is where the problem can arise. If we don't whant used we go elsewhere. Also it is easy to e-mail pictures w_ digital camera to verify condition to be safe.