[creekhed1]

If this is in wrong section please help get it to it's rightful forum

I LOVE Case/Ingersoll tractors. So much in fact that I often think about the future of that company...that is...if there even will BE a future!
In a world where Home Depot and other Big Box Stores dominate Lawn and Garden Tractor sales, can Ingersoll survive?
I must be naive, but It does not appear from my point of view that they are even TRYING to be...or GET...successful!

If SOMEONE...anyone...or a TEAM of people could help get EASTMAN's Sh!t together they might actually survive and flourish!
I worry about the future of the company. My goal (one of many) is to EVENTUALLY get a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW 4221PS! (or something along those lines)

But if they fold...or veer in that direction I might think twice

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at one of their board meetings!

I wonder if they ever have a game plan for the tractor division that involves the word SUCCESS!!!

Seems to me they could increase market share dramatically by taking a few small steps in the right direction with Marketing, dealer expansion, etc...

Anyone here ever talk to an Eastman Rep about these type of things? I know that over on the MTF (cough cough!!!) Case forum one of the members is a dealer. Any of you kids ever chat with him about this?

Small, High-0End niche' type companies CAN be successful...there are plenty of examples in many different industries, so it's not like success is impossible! All it takes is BRAINS and a Quality product. They have the quality product part of the equation, but the Brains part I am not so sure about!

Thoughts?

 

[fragraf]

I became familiar with the Ingersoll brand back in around 92 or 93 when I moved out here to Michigan and was clerking at auctions for my x-wife's grandfather. In 92 I thought Ingersoll was very innovative, and I have since learned that JI Case and the Colt people were the innovators.

Don't get me wrong, they make a great tractor. Two things they could do would be to come up with a compact tractor and a quality zero turn. I've been cutting grass with a Walker 20 hp mower. If they were thinking ahead, and wanted to stay in the quality end of the market they would be looking at what the needs will be 10 years from now and start working towards that....and maybe they already are working towards that...

Research suggests that Millenial or Gen Y would rather live in urban areas, have smaller living spaces and limited amounts of lawn to worry about.

The Wall Street Journal reports, "Outdoor space is important-but please, just a place to put the grill and have some friends over. Lawn-mowing not desired." Given this, maybe Ingersoll is well placed for the next generation by concentrating on a high end walk behind mower and their reel mower line. In any case, having an innovative culture is needed to stay in business.

Wall Street Journal Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/ ... llennials/

 

[creekhed1]

The Wall Street Journal reports, "Outdoor space is important-but please, just a place to put the grill and have some friends over. Lawn-mowing not desired." Given this, maybe Ingersoll is well placed for the next generation by concentrating on a high end walk behind mower and their reel mower line. In any case, having an innovative culture is needed to stay in business

I dunno...I think they are WRONG! As space becomes harder to come by, having property will become important for a growing portion of the population. As this happens, they will need a quality tractor to maintain their lawns and property.

Making a quality walk behind is a good idea though!

 

[WVshooter]

I doubt we see a walk behind anytime soon with the hover mower around.....

 

[mikebramel]

The Wall Street Journal reports, "Outdoor space is important-but please, just a place to put the grill and have some friends over. Lawn-mowing not desired." Given this, maybe Ingersoll is well placed for the next generation by concentrating on a high end walk behind mower and their reel mower line. In any case, having an innovative culture is needed to stay in business.

Wall Street Journal Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/ ... llennials/

No thanks. This is coming from people in NYC. Enough said

 

[skiveller]

So, Eastman Industries is not going anywhere. I live and work in Portland, ME, home of the manufacturing center that produces the Ingersoll tractor. I frequent their property on Ingersoll Drive to consult as an engineer for a tenant of theirs.

If they do go out of business, it is a forum like this that is going to help these tractors run for another half century anyway.

 

[Hydriv]

I was kinda hoping to stay out of this thread. :sidelaugh: Fat chance of that happening.


But I see a need to try and put things into perspective in the interests of fairness. Eastman Industries was already a successful company prior to picking over the ashes of the former Ingersoll Tractor Company. Eastman makes several other lines of turf equipment. How well those lines are doing is something I have no knowledge about and refuse to speculate on. They also do sub-contract work for other firms, Ingersoll used to do subcontract work too. They made snowcasters for Kubota, tractors for Massey Ferguson as well as Gutbrod and some Japanese company who's name escapes me at the moment.

It's not about Eastman going out of business that concerns me. I don't think that will happen. However, Eastman is a business that is often forced to make business decisions just like all other businesses do. Car companies drop certain models when sales falter to a point where it is no longer profitable to produce them. Without a marketing plan that will expose the tractor to potential buyers that are YOUNGER than the crowd that was dedicated to the old Case and early Ingersoll units, then I would have to say that Eastman's tractor is in a shrinking market.

In the late 60's, Case was a well-established corporation with a huge presence in the marketplace. Even so, they certainly understood the need to put their GT's in front of Joe Public instead of just Joe Farmer and Joe Contractor. They did not have to sell those two Joe's on CASE TOUGH. But Joe Public needed a first-hand experience with the product. Case did that beginning in 1971 with their Demonstrator program that continued until 1976 finished up. If Eastman brought back the old Demonstrator program, then some of these dealers who refuse to stock any tractors would have an opportunity to put one on their floor and then take it out to customer homes for them to try. So what if they break even on the cost issue, that's still better than throwing huge bucks at magazine ads.

 

[creekhed1]

If Eastman brought back the old Demonstrator program, then some of these dealers who refuse to stock any tractors would have an opportunity to put one on their floor and then take it out to customer homes for them to try. So what if they break even on the cost issue, that's still better than throwing huge bucks at magazine ads.

Ya... that would be great!

That...or do something...ANYTHING... other than NOTHING.

Eastman is a business that is often forced to make business decisions just like all other businesses do. Car companies drop certain models when sales falter to a point where it is no longer profitable to produce them

That's actually what I was referring to... Eastman DROPPING or selling off the Tractor division. VERY poorly worded and thought out on my end.
To b honest I DONT see the division lasting...ESPECIALLY given that Eastman has so many other irons in the fire. It's pure specualtion on my part, but I see the Ingersoll Tractor division as the red-headed stepchild of the company. Certainly they MUST HAVE had a business model in place prior to the acquisition right? RIGHT????????
Maybe it's because I am just a GT enthusiast in upstate NY, but I don't see ANYTHING in terms of Eastman trying to promote the line. ALL I have noticed is a Price Hike. A BIG price Hike...on the tractors and on their parts.

Tell ya what, heading up that division is my FANTASY CAREER!!!!!!!!!! I'D Love a stab at making Ingersoll a household name for Garden and Compact TRACTORS. Think they're hiring? :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh:

 

[Hydriv]

To b honest I DONT see the division lasting...ESPECIALLY given that Eastman has so many other irons in the fire. It's pure specualtion on my part, but I see the Ingersoll Tractor division as the red-headed stepchild of the company. Certainly they MUST HAVE had a business model in place prior to the acquisition right? RIGHT????????

I really don't know what sort of plan they had. Realistically speaking, I don't think that anyone in 2004 could have forecasted what has happened in the American economy in the past 8 years. So it doesn't much matter what plans Eastman had in 2004 for this division they were about to buy because the economic reality tossed those plans in the toilet.

Maybe it's because I am just a GT enthusiast in upstate NY, but I don't see ANYTHING in terms of Eastman trying to promote the line. ALL I have noticed is a Price Hike. A BIG price Hike...on the tractors and on their parts.

Other than a three or four issue run of ads in LAGC a few years ago, no one has reported on any forum I read about seeing ads from Eastman.

Tell ya what, heading up that division is my FANTASY CAREER!!!!!!!!!! I'D Love a stab at making Ingersoll a household name for Garden and Compact TRACTORS. Think they're hiring? :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh:

It's not a job you should ask for. Jeff Wright was fully capable of instituting a marketing campaign for the Ingersoll line but was apparently stymied at every turn due to financial restraints. That's my understanding. I do not have anything official but the fact remains that Jeff parted company with Eastman about 3 to 4 months ago. So getting a job there might be possible but if Nick isn't going to give you any money to work with, then what?

 

[Rockdog]

The best way to "support" the tractor line is to go out and buy a brand spanking new machine or start buying lots of new parts from dealers. If "supporters" of the brand arent buying machines and parts then why think 'joe public' is going to.

 

[creekhed1]

I did my part just the other day... in a small way

New Ign Switch and Solenoid from the Ingy dealer.

If I had the scratch (or even the credit!) I'd already HAVE a spankin' new 4000 series!

 

[oefveteran]

The best way to "support" the tractor line is to go out and buy a brand spanking new machine or start buying lots of new parts from dealers. If "supporters" of the brand arent buying machines and parts then why think 'joe public' is going to.

Very true.

One of the biggest problems Eastman is facing is their own reliability, why spend $8k that many people don't have when you can buy a used machine for thousands less that still run like new?