Last year when I was a member of the Yahoo Case forum, the promoter of the Rockford Colt/Case/Ingersoll tractor Show announced that top management from Eastman was going to attend. Upon reading that post, I replied by saying that their participation would be a farce. That stance did not sit well with many of the members of the Yahoo group but once the show was over and the dust settled, I was proven to be right.
Anyone who attended that Show knows this to be true. The presence of Eastman was practically non-existent in comparison to the level of hype uttered prior to the Show taking place. In truth, it gave me no pleasure to be found right because it just made me even more disappointed in Eastman. It was similar to being a long-time Yankee’s fan and knowing in your heart that they would lose the game you just paid money to attend. You are cheering your guts out for them but as inning after inning passes into history, the hits are few, the runs even fewer and the errors continue to mount.
For some totally inexplicable reason, Eastman paid a company to design a new website to replace the existing one. When it was first released, I was dumbfounded and so were many other enthusiasts. I was highly critical; not only about what was done but also about what was not done. Others said that I wasn’t being fair and I needed to give them a chance to install all the missing information that any decent manufacturer’s site should have. As the months rolled by, not a single change took place. Today, the site is still the same piece of useless garbage it was nearly one year ago. The irony here is that the old site that they scrapped was ten times better than the replacement. Eastman took one baby step forward and 20 giant steps backward while spending money to do so.
In recent months, we learned that Eastman no longer had any inventory of the “wings” used to widen the snow blowers by 4 inches nor are there any plans to make them. Recently we found out that gaskets for the headlamps are now obsolete and we have a fresh thread talking about the famous “banana plate” for the 600 Series tractors being NLA (no longer available). Under law, a manufacturer is obligated to produce replacement parts for a minimum of six years after the date the item was manufactured. When the OPE (outdoor power equipment) division was under the control of Case, parts were not a problem for any model they made.
When Jack Ingersoll ran the show, parts were still not a problem and even when the Rothenberger Group took over, I don’t recall hearing about a shortage of parts. In all fairness to Eastman, the problems allegedly began during the Rothenberger era on many fronts. They changed they way the division was run and parts that used to be made “in-house” were farmed out to machine shops in nearby towns and cities. The tooling needed to make those parts was loaned to these shops for that purpose. However, when Rothenberger’s allegedly fell further and further behind in paying their bills, production stopped in those independent machine shops and the tooling was apparently held for ransom.
When Eastman took over the failed company, one would think that the existing employees at Winneconne told senior management of these problems. Perhaps it was too little, too late and the tooling got sold for scrap years earlier. Perhaps Eastman made a decision to not recover that tooling because the outstanding invoices were far too high and they were certainly not under any legal obligation to settle those old accounts. At this point, it is all speculation other than the fact that the main source for new replacement parts is now drying up more and more. I think that the time has come for everyone to come to grips with this issue. There is no way that I would suggest Eastman is in financial difficulty. But….factually speaking, Eastman is a small player when you compare them to Deere, MTD, AYP, Murray and some others out there. Add into that reality, the current state of the US economy that is struggling to pull itself out of a recession.
On one hand, Eastman disappoints me. On the other hand, I have empathy and understanding for their predicament. I believe that many parts that are currently sitting in Eastman’s various warehouses will not be replaced once existing inventory is depleted unless it is still a current part number. It would not surprise me to see a total recall of all “obsolete inventory” with a view to placing it in a single warehouse facility. And if it shrinks to a certain level, I visualize it being sold off for pennies on the dollar because the annual sales do not justify the overhead to hang onto it.
Adding to that problem is the proliferation of the backyard tractor dismantlers that sell parts on e-Bay and elsewhere. If there is a good supply of used parts, then the demand for new parts drops accordingly and manufacturers are not interested in doing a production run for 100 pieces. It just isn’t cost effective unless you jack the part prices way up. Of course, if you do that, then you create a demand for good, used parts. It is a vicious circle. The other factor is that most of you guys are so cheap, you squeak when you walk…….and I am one of you. We try to keep our costs to the bare minimum whether we are restoring one of these tractors or we are just repairing one so that it will cut our lawn or blow the snow in winter. We seek out alternative sources of new parts because we are repelled by some of the prices charged by Eastman’s dealer network.
In other words, all of us are part of the problem and no one has a viable solution. I predict that things are only going to get worse between now and 2020. Those of you wanting to keep their tractor in tip-top shape should consider doing a full restoration of it as soon as possible. I don’t see the Kohler engines being much of a problem but I do forecast Onan prices continuing to climb to the point where re-powering will be the only economical choice. I also see that the supply of affordable tractors will begin to shrink. More and more tractors will get dismantled and we are seeing the 4 digit models being parted on a regular basis. As for new tractors, I would be surprised if Eastman builds more than 1000 units per year these days.
Therefore, that huge bubble of 70’s and 80’s tractors that many of us have been feeding off is being depleted at a rapid rate and the one’s from the 90’s and early 2000’s are the next to get exploited. Then what?
Think about it.
Anyone who attended that Show knows this to be true. The presence of Eastman was practically non-existent in comparison to the level of hype uttered prior to the Show taking place. In truth, it gave me no pleasure to be found right because it just made me even more disappointed in Eastman. It was similar to being a long-time Yankee’s fan and knowing in your heart that they would lose the game you just paid money to attend. You are cheering your guts out for them but as inning after inning passes into history, the hits are few, the runs even fewer and the errors continue to mount.
For some totally inexplicable reason, Eastman paid a company to design a new website to replace the existing one. When it was first released, I was dumbfounded and so were many other enthusiasts. I was highly critical; not only about what was done but also about what was not done. Others said that I wasn’t being fair and I needed to give them a chance to install all the missing information that any decent manufacturer’s site should have. As the months rolled by, not a single change took place. Today, the site is still the same piece of useless garbage it was nearly one year ago. The irony here is that the old site that they scrapped was ten times better than the replacement. Eastman took one baby step forward and 20 giant steps backward while spending money to do so.
In recent months, we learned that Eastman no longer had any inventory of the “wings” used to widen the snow blowers by 4 inches nor are there any plans to make them. Recently we found out that gaskets for the headlamps are now obsolete and we have a fresh thread talking about the famous “banana plate” for the 600 Series tractors being NLA (no longer available). Under law, a manufacturer is obligated to produce replacement parts for a minimum of six years after the date the item was manufactured. When the OPE (outdoor power equipment) division was under the control of Case, parts were not a problem for any model they made.
When Jack Ingersoll ran the show, parts were still not a problem and even when the Rothenberger Group took over, I don’t recall hearing about a shortage of parts. In all fairness to Eastman, the problems allegedly began during the Rothenberger era on many fronts. They changed they way the division was run and parts that used to be made “in-house” were farmed out to machine shops in nearby towns and cities. The tooling needed to make those parts was loaned to these shops for that purpose. However, when Rothenberger’s allegedly fell further and further behind in paying their bills, production stopped in those independent machine shops and the tooling was apparently held for ransom.
When Eastman took over the failed company, one would think that the existing employees at Winneconne told senior management of these problems. Perhaps it was too little, too late and the tooling got sold for scrap years earlier. Perhaps Eastman made a decision to not recover that tooling because the outstanding invoices were far too high and they were certainly not under any legal obligation to settle those old accounts. At this point, it is all speculation other than the fact that the main source for new replacement parts is now drying up more and more. I think that the time has come for everyone to come to grips with this issue. There is no way that I would suggest Eastman is in financial difficulty. But….factually speaking, Eastman is a small player when you compare them to Deere, MTD, AYP, Murray and some others out there. Add into that reality, the current state of the US economy that is struggling to pull itself out of a recession.
On one hand, Eastman disappoints me. On the other hand, I have empathy and understanding for their predicament. I believe that many parts that are currently sitting in Eastman’s various warehouses will not be replaced once existing inventory is depleted unless it is still a current part number. It would not surprise me to see a total recall of all “obsolete inventory” with a view to placing it in a single warehouse facility. And if it shrinks to a certain level, I visualize it being sold off for pennies on the dollar because the annual sales do not justify the overhead to hang onto it.
Adding to that problem is the proliferation of the backyard tractor dismantlers that sell parts on e-Bay and elsewhere. If there is a good supply of used parts, then the demand for new parts drops accordingly and manufacturers are not interested in doing a production run for 100 pieces. It just isn’t cost effective unless you jack the part prices way up. Of course, if you do that, then you create a demand for good, used parts. It is a vicious circle. The other factor is that most of you guys are so cheap, you squeak when you walk…….and I am one of you. We try to keep our costs to the bare minimum whether we are restoring one of these tractors or we are just repairing one so that it will cut our lawn or blow the snow in winter. We seek out alternative sources of new parts because we are repelled by some of the prices charged by Eastman’s dealer network.
In other words, all of us are part of the problem and no one has a viable solution. I predict that things are only going to get worse between now and 2020. Those of you wanting to keep their tractor in tip-top shape should consider doing a full restoration of it as soon as possible. I don’t see the Kohler engines being much of a problem but I do forecast Onan prices continuing to climb to the point where re-powering will be the only economical choice. I also see that the supply of affordable tractors will begin to shrink. More and more tractors will get dismantled and we are seeing the 4 digit models being parted on a regular basis. As for new tractors, I would be surprised if Eastman builds more than 1000 units per year these days.
Therefore, that huge bubble of 70’s and 80’s tractors that many of us have been feeding off is being depleted at a rapid rate and the one’s from the 90’s and early 2000’s are the next to get exploited. Then what?
Think about it.