Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
The recent tractor safety thread made me remember something. Back about 10 years go I came home to see the John Deere dealer's truck sitting in my driveway. My dad was running things back then, so I just assumed my dad had really broken something badly since we never called Deere to make service calls.
I looked around, but couldn't find the Deere guy. Then I saw him out in the field next to the 4020 working on it. I thought this was odd since I had just used the thing to cut hay and knew there was nothing wrong with it. I went over to tell him he must be at the wrong farm because there was nothing wrong with that tractor. "No" he said, "this is the right place. I'm installing a safety device so that you can't start the engine without the clutch down". "Well that sucks." I said. Then I walked away wondering why on earth my dad would have wanted to get that installed.
A couple of days later I saw my dad rummaging through the shed. "Where did you hide my battery charger this time?" he said. I found it for him and asked what had the dead battery. He said it was the 4020. "Oh, that mechanic must have screwed up the wiring then I guess." I said. "Mechanic? What mechanic? What are you talking about?" my dad said. Turns out he just wasn't pushing in the clutch. The batteries were fine.
Apparently Deere came and installed this all on their own without asking anyone. I don't know if it was a mistake or policy. The strangest part of the whole deal was that we had only had the 4020 for a few years bought at auction. We had never had it to the Deere dealer so how they found it I have no idea. Spooky.
Meanwhile, my 4010 still starts while in gear. I guess they haven't been sued over that model enough yet.
I looked around, but couldn't find the Deere guy. Then I saw him out in the field next to the 4020 working on it. I thought this was odd since I had just used the thing to cut hay and knew there was nothing wrong with it. I went over to tell him he must be at the wrong farm because there was nothing wrong with that tractor. "No" he said, "this is the right place. I'm installing a safety device so that you can't start the engine without the clutch down". "Well that sucks." I said. Then I walked away wondering why on earth my dad would have wanted to get that installed.
A couple of days later I saw my dad rummaging through the shed. "Where did you hide my battery charger this time?" he said. I found it for him and asked what had the dead battery. He said it was the 4020. "Oh, that mechanic must have screwed up the wiring then I guess." I said. "Mechanic? What mechanic? What are you talking about?" my dad said. Turns out he just wasn't pushing in the clutch. The batteries were fine.
Apparently Deere came and installed this all on their own without asking anyone. I don't know if it was a mistake or policy. The strangest part of the whole deal was that we had only had the 4020 for a few years bought at auction. We had never had it to the Deere dealer so how they found it I have no idea. Spooky.
Meanwhile, my 4010 still starts while in gear. I guess they haven't been sued over that model enough yet.
