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Things not built like they used to be

L

lugnuts2030

Member
I have a 1963 MF Super 92 Combine that has not been started in 10 years and still holding up the 14 ft head. In fact I put a angle iron on the head lift cylinder about 5 years ago and in The Fall the oil will cool and contract and rest on the angle iron. Then in The Spring as oil warms and expands the heads rises and lifts off the angle iron. This has been going on as I said for the last 5 years. I have bought several New skid loaders over the years and none built in the last 30 years will hold the boom any length of time. Things just Not build like they used to be. Newer Things need more maintenance and much more to go Wrong.
 
Every time I hear that from one of my auto customers, I always chuckle. Things aren't made like they used to be, thank God! People look at old cars and equipment through rose colored glasses. They seem to forget that tires only lasted 10K miles or less, points that needed constant adjustment, exhaust that rusted off every year, holes rusted through the body in 2 years. Stuff that was hard to start cold, hard to start hot, leaked oil like a sieve, and that's the way things were. Older stuff may have more metal on it, and you're lucky with the combine hydraulics, and they are fun to use once in awhile. But I can't imagine having to use old stuff every day.
 
Exactly.

For instance, I wouldn't go back to carbureted engines at gunpoint.

As a kid in Michigan in the 50's and 60's, a vehicle that made it to 100,000 miles would have been on the news. Now that's literally just nicely broken in.

I could go on, but this horse has been sufficiently beaten already.
 

Look at the tires on your combine - they were junk when new but that is what they had. Count the zerks and remember having to grease every one in the morning and over lunch time. And just how wide is that header and how long did it take to cut a section (640 acres)? Yea boy, you were surely ahead of the game in the old days.
 
I still run my Farm with Tractors and combines from the 70-80's mostly and I my newest Tractor was built in the late 80's and loaded with electronics and wont function unless they work. The older stuff used electronics as monitors only, but not so much needed for machine to function. Yes there is pro and cons to both ways, its just what works for the individual. I was fixing up an 60 year old tractor recently and parts man said these newer tractors wont be going when they get that old for when they get 10 years old the companies start to loose interest in supplying electronic parts and becomes hard to repair.
 
I think reliability went up up up until 2000, then down down down...
Thete is no more reliable than a Deere 9600 and a Deere 8310 tractor (or same other brand, ih 2388, magnum 7250, Massey 8780...).
 
A guy on acres of clay you tube video log has challenger tractor 2 wh drive fairly large, not sure the model, but a large tractor. The transmission quit working this winter. This model made in Germany. To save money he & his son tore it down. Took cab off and trans cover. Hoisted out the entire transmission core unit. It has a core unit in the transmission( either IVT or CVT transmission) of valves, electronics, electric solenoids, electric wires, hydraulic lines, clutch packs, that makes the transmission work. They found a broken gear. This is just a regular farmer with some good mechanical skills. The dealer said we can't replace just the broken gear. Have to send the core transmission unit back to the factory in Germany and they will send you a complete new core unit. No one has said what this will cost. So at the beginning of planting season, his tractor is broken , out of commission, while they wait for new parts to arrive from overseas. Tractor was 8 -10 years old -- 7000 hrs on it. Newer may not always be better.
 
Some things for sure, like washing machines. I had a used sears Kenmore washer that ran for years. I am on my third washer since the Kenmore because of electronic failures.
i guess if things lasted a long time businesses would close down. Stan
 
Still has original tires and look good, Had very few grease fittings, used sealed bearings made in the USA not imports, few were ever replace if any I can remember. Been around machine last 50 of it 58 years. Has Good Year tires that would last. Later years GY farm ties were not much good.
 
Chief ..... you are sure spot on for appliances. We bought a new Maytag washer and drier back in 1989, got a deal because they were a mismatch for model and design, both pretty basic models. Still using them, a few little repairs that I was able to do myself over the years thanks to You Tube and common sense, both are still going strong. That was when Maytag was making their own stuff, not they just stick a badge on something made by Whirlpool I think who makes a LOT of those that are on the market regardless of the brand.
 
If the Super 92 is such a mechanical marvel, why has it not been started for the last 10 years? Hold on, let me guess - you have a newer, larger combine than the Super 92.

Sprint 6 said it pretty well, I don't have much I care to add today.
 
Well, like said below, some things are better. The best thing are cars/trucks. In the 70's they were really bad. Bodies would be falling apart in couple years. Who remembers tune-ups every year(or more), not to mention starting and charging systems. I love the fact that I can go out on the coldest day and the car will start (ok, I start it from in the house, and let it get warmed a little) without having to hope you don't flood it. Automotive has made many large leaps forward that are good. Other things are just throw away now. But most of that comes from what people want, they want cheap. It is the way of the United States, a throw away society.
 
I agree. Do you want to spend a lot of time driving a 50 or 70 year old truck. Not me. It is fun for a while, but gets old fast. Most of my semi tractors are automatics. It does not take too long to get used to not shifting 300 times a day. Bill
 
well some things are some things are not. just got done changing some leaking auto trams. hoses and p. s. hoses on my duramax and was thinking i like this idea of just a clip holding the hoses in the trans. pop a plastic cap off, pull a clip out and pull the hose out. same deal at the rad cooler end. but what i dont like is that no one can make a hose that wont leak in about 3 years. but ya things are basically better, i have 430,000k pretty much trouble free and there is no way some 1950's or 60's truck will do that without totally rebuilding it. but things are improved all they can so now start over with electric self drivers, see how that goes. and i did have a super 92 in the 1970's and it did a good job. slow and steady, but new fast and furious wins out.
 
Automatic or Auto-shift?,How are do the rear lower corners of your trailers look? Are they damaged for hitting the loading dock at 10 mph in reverse because you can't feather the throttle and clutch to kiss the dock gently?
 
I definitely agree with you on Hydraulics holding. I have to raise the head on my old 800 swather and run it up on a 4x4 to park it over winter on top the drill hitch so I can get shed door shut. Then it only clears it by 2. Come back in spring and it has not lost 1/4. On my new JD. sub-compact I can park it with loader 3' up. Come back in an hour and it is on the ground.
 
Ever been around a properly running 2 stroke Detroit? No leaks meant it was out of oil.

Small block Chevy with as cast valve cover rail and valve covers made out of tin foil.
 
Ever been around a properly running 2 stroke Detroit? No leaks meant it was out of oil.

Small block Chevy with as cast valve cover rail and valve covers made out of tin foil.

The list goes on.
 
Compare a 65 - 70 horsepower tractor from the 60s and 70s to one today all plastic and not enough weight to do anything without four wheel drive and then its questionable I wouldnt want to pull a 9500 pound baler with a new one
cvphoto84579.jpg


cvphoto84580.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 02:21:10 04/11/21) Compare a 65 - 70 horsepower tractor from the 60s and 70s to one today all plastic and not enough weight to do anything without four wheel drive and then its questionable I wouldnt want to pull a 9500 pound baler with a new one
<img src=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto84579.jpg>

<img src=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto84580.jpg>
Click to expand...
lastic & silicon chips are cheaper than iron, but.......neither have long life in their favor. Good for the "moment" though. :cry:
 
Yup some things are better now than then. Though there are many more throw away parts on them, that we used to be able to adjust or fix. The old iron is still better steel than now. This new steel just rusts off in big flakes and falls apart. The old iron yes it will rust but not in the big flakes like this new steel does. I've got old truck frames around for wagons with little rust on them and are in the 40-70 years old. With just small powder type rust. My 20 year old semi has the back tin on the rear end rusted through several years ago so I had to weld the hole shut. Never have had to do that with these old ones. All the electronic junk will be in the junk by the time it gets as old as some of the old equipment. Now nobody wants to go back to bouncing around like a basketball in the seat on them compared to these newer tractors either. I guess it is a personal use thing. If you're going ride in the field all day for several days you will want the newer creature comforts if just for a day the old M or A will work.
 
(quoted from post at 16:52:34 04/10/21) A guy on acres of clay you tube video log has challenger tractor 2 wh drive fairly large, not sure the model, but a large tractor. The transmission quit working this winter. This model made in Germany. To save money he & his son tore it down. Took cab off and trans cover. Hoisted out the entire transmission core unit. It has a core unit in the transmission( either IVT or CVT transmission) of valves, electronics, electric solenoids, electric wires, hydraulic lines, clutch packs, that makes the transmission work. They found a broken gear. This is just a regular farmer with some good mechanical skills. The dealer said we can't replace just the broken gear. Have to send the core transmission unit back to the factory in Germany and they will send you a complete new core unit. No one has said what this will cost. So at the beginning of planting season, his tractor is broken , out of commission, while they wait for new parts to arrive from overseas. Tractor was 8 -10 years old -- 7000 hrs on it. Newer may not always be better.
Click to expand...

Here's the problem. It's good for that guy and his son that they have the skills, equipment, and most important the TIME to tear that tractor down. Time is the most valuable commodity to most people and it's the one thing that you can't make more of or buy more of.

So for every producer like in your post, there are now probably a hundred of more tractor buyers who WANT the swappable core unit. Why? Because time = money. With the size of operations, these days and the stress producers are under to keep equipment in the field, the premium is on the speed of repairs, not on being able to spend 10 man-days tearing down and rebuilding a tranny to save money.

Also, what if those guys on the video miss something? What if it isn't "just one little gear"? 99.9% of the time guys won't own up to the fact that they just sunk hours and hours of time into something and then botched the repair by missing something so you never hear about good fixes gone bad.

You have to weigh risks, is the risk of the low-cost fix worth it if that machine gets 5 days into planting and goes belly up again? Just something to think about. Everybody thinks they represent the average customer, but in truth, the manufacturers make things the way they do for a reason.
 
(quoted from post at 17:42:14 04/10/21) Every time I hear that from one of my auto customers, I always chuckle. Things aren't made like they used to be, thank God! People look at old cars and equipment through rose colored glasses. They seem to forget that tires only lasted 10K miles or less, points that needed constant adjustment, [b:d15eb32e7b]exhaust that rusted off every year, holes rusted through the body in 2 years. [/b:d15eb32e7b]Stuff that was hard to start cold, hard to start hot, leaked oil like a sieve, and that's the way things were. Older stuff may have more metal on it, and you're lucky with the combine hydraulics, and they are fun to use once in awhile. But I can't imagine having to use old stuff every day.
Click to expand...

Come to NYS friend, we still have those problems!
 
(quoted from post at 23:57:26 04/10/21) The farm tires from 50 years ago were much better than the junk that we have today..
Click to expand...
Exactly what I was thinking reading this thread. How many farm tires we buy now will still be holding air 30 years from now? I"d bet none. I've got many implements and machines still running fine on 30+ year old tires. Goodyear knew how to build a tire to last back in those times. Some of the China and India built tires now will crack and split in 3 years. Junk!
 
It's just natural to feel like that I guess. In the years I've been around, I've heard it time and again with each new generation of tractors that came out... They're cheaply made. They're too complicated, more to go wrong. They'll never last like my old (insert tractor of choice here). I heard it about the 40-50-55-60 series Deeres. I heard it about the 86 and 88 series IH's. I've heard it about the CaseIH Magnums. I've heard it about every new generation of tractor that's come out. Time has proven them all out to be good tractors for the most part, but even the bad ones are still in use.
 
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