I’ll believe it when I see it. So far every right to repair compliance on their side has been met with bad faith circumventions. Like making tools available in theory but not actually.
Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
11–20 of 229 posts
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#12> Should state or federal right-to-repair legislation be enacted, both Deere and the federation have the right to withdraw from the agreement with 15 days’ written notice. Would be useful to compare the terms of this agreement with draft right-to-repair legislation which has been rejected by Deere and others.
I am sure this is meant to head that off if possible. Not unlike how the record companies gave in to the "Parental Advisory" label.
All the more reason to scrutinize the actual content of the agreement.
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#13Deere’s position on right to repair is heartbreaking to me. I paid for books (and beer) in college as a truck driver and mechanic for a custom harvest operation. We ran Deere 6602 combines from the 1970s, in the early 2000s. Deere’s tagline was “nothing runs like a Deere” but in my experience it was more like “nothing can be made to run like a Deere”. We spent a lot of time on maintenance but very little on repairs. We trusted those machines and they almost always did what we needed. Deere had good parts support locally but we did all the labor ourselves. For us and the farmers we served it would have been economically impossible to hire a Deere tech to do the work. Alienating these equipment operators is a disgrace for a once great brand.
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#14I’ll believe it when I see it. So far every right to repair compliance on their side has been met with bad faith circumventions. Like making tools available in theory but not actually.
My bet is this is coordinated with a lobbying effort to prevent more right to repair legislation.
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#15Deere’s position on right to repair is heartbreaking to me. I paid for books (and beer) in college as a truck driver and mechanic for a custom harvest operation. We ran Deere 6602 combines from the 1970s, in the early 2000s. Deere’s tagline was “nothing runs like a Deere” but in my experience it was more like “nothing can be made to run like a Deere”. We spent a lot of time on maintenance but very little on repairs.…
Another MBA'ed company.
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#16They’re only trying to delay the inevitable regulation.
Here’s hoping the EU forces them to get their shit together soon.
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
obviously they smell the direction of the wind. It's obviously better for deere to set the terms of the repairs, rather than have it be dictated to them via legislation.
It's ridiculous that we live in a world where the manufacturer is in the position to set terms of repairs. Once someone buys a piece of equipment it's theirs and they should be allowed to repair and modify it however they see fit.
It is oppression.
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
obviously they smell the direction of the wind. It's obviously better for deere to set the terms of the repairs, rather than have it be dictated to them via legislation.
It's ridiculous that we live in a world where the manufacturer is in the position to set terms of repairs. Once someone buys a piece of equipment it's theirs and they should be allowed to repair and modify it however they see fit.
Deere rose up to being one of the top equipment brands because they put extra effort into ensuring the equipment was repairable. There is a lot of equipment in the scrap heap from other brands that you can't get parts for. Theoretically you can repair them, but the cost to hire someone to recreate/design a one-off part can be extraordinarily expensive. Deere likes to boast that they have parts in stock for equipment that is 75+ years old. Hell, John Deere owns A&I Products, the premier aftermarket farm equipment parts supplier (multiple brands, Deere included). They have no problem with you repairing your equipment.
What happened, however, is that the equipment manufacturers in modern times streamlined manufacturing such that they created a whole line of equipment that is physically identical but differentiated by software unlocks. The problem is that if you were able to repair the software, you would be able to unlock features. It is access to those systems has been closely guarded to prevent piracy, just as all kinds of software has done for 50+ years. They do have a problem with you using software you didn't pay for.
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#19I’ll believe it when I see it. So far every right to repair compliance on their side has been met with bad faith circumventions. Like making tools available in theory but not actually.
Yeah. My wishlist:
- Repair manuals.
- Reasonably priced replacement parts.
- Give the owner a key to sign / certify any parts they want.
- Give the owner the ability to disable OTA updates.
- Give the government a key to sign / certify parts.
- Give the government the ability to review and delay OTA updates.
Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment
#20Seeing "to allow" and "their own" being used in that way in the title is a disturbingly dystopian sign of the times. I don't think things like this should ever need to be explicitly allowed, in much the same way as one does not need permission for many other things which are naturally assumed to be so.
For contrast:
"Government to allow people to use their own brains."