The Frisky Bison

[Tarw Coch]

I think there were a couple in our group who probably deny all knowledge

So they should, what goes on tour stays on your

 

[DrWazzock]

The best bit of new kit I ever bought was made by Rolmako in Poland.
The very worst bit of new kit I ever bought was made by a different firm in Poland.

You can't generalise about the quality of Polish kit in my experience,

 

[Scribus]

I was surprised. Maybe it's not a rumour?

As chance would have it I was with a German friend and a former JD dealer today. The German friend suggested that JD are always moaning about the cost of production in Germany while the dealer was less than polite about the company's management style, noting that it's all run from America and the suits at Mannheim are now nothing but puppets. JD have culled a lot of local dealers in the UK so why not downsize a factory as well? They wouldn't appear to give a tinkers cuss over in HQ, just so long as they keep making money.

 

[snipe]

The best bit of new kit I ever bought was made by Rolmako in Poland.
The very worst bit of new kit I ever bought was made by a different firm in Poland.

You can't generalise about the quality of Polish kit in my experience,

My self and a couple of other members on here bought folding sets of discs from Poland and they have been full of problems some minor and some major. To start with the manufacturer was helpful but very slow with parts. Now they don’t answer there phone or return emails. Beware buying direct from abroad as you have very little comeback. Luckily I got mine from an English importer so they are covered by English law. I think the polish machines are great for simple things like 3 meter cultivators, but not so cleaver when things become a bit more technical. The agri linc kit looks ok as agri linc have had a lot of input with the build quality.

 

[Scribus]

My self and a couple of other members on here bought folding sets of discs from Poland and they have been full of problems some minor and some major. To start with the manufacturer was helpful but very slow with parts. Now they don’t answer there phone or return emails. Beware buying direct from abroad as you have very little comeback. Luckily I got mine from an English importer so they are covered by English law. I think the polish machines are great for simple things like 3 meter cultivators, but not so cleaver when things become a bit more technical. The agri linc kit looks ok as agri linc have had a lot of input with the build quality.

I always think that the quickest way to judge a machine is by the quality of the welding. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's 100% reliable but its a good indicator of how much care is taken in its construction.

 

[Scribus]

I was there in 1979, we too were surprised to see beer available, I cannot imagines many British companies supplying it in a place with such obvious dangers! The beer actually caused the only strike they ever had. After WW2 in the American sector to get things moving again The US Governement invited US companies to take over firms which they could have an interest in. For John Deere this meant the old Lanz tractor plant. Lanz tractors had been a large manufacturer before the war but after conversion to military output had suffered obliteration from bombing.
JD sent a team to recover what they could and put a plant back together. when it was up and running the workers reverted to standard Germanic practices of hard work with beer to keep them going. This did not please the JD people they were from a methodist background and hugely disapproved of drinking , so they banned beer from the site.
The men walked out only to return after the beer was allowed back in.
The other thing we noticed was there number of Women in heavy labouring work, this was because these ladies had taken over these jobs in the war and were not keen to give them up
Ps did you continue your education in the Frankfurt nightlife

I rather fear that the mists of time are already shrouding the events of last century with a consequent fading of the sharper details.

The story, as recounted in W.G. Broehl's history of the company, is that JD were approached by the bank holding a large chunk of Lanz's stock in 1953. Lanz had been bombed out during the war but rather than start afresh they rebuilt the factory as it was and still continued to make the rather tired looking single cylinder Bulldog. Deere themselves were little better with a range of models centred around the horizontal twin configuration they had inherited with the purchase of Waterloo Boy in 1918.

The main difference was that Lanz was still headed by family member Heinrich Lanz who was something of a stickler for detail while JD had broken with the direct family dynasty and recently appointed William Hewitt as MD, a navy veteran very expansionist and forward looking in nature. He had though married into the Deere family.

The initial response was to politely ignore the offer in favour of a merger with Massey Harris Ferguson. This proposed deal fell through so JD struck out on their own in Mexico and Europe. The European venture being to revisit the Lanz proposal and the eventual purchase of 51% of its stock. This was finalised in 1958 and Deere took over the Mannheim plant as well as a holding in a Spanish factory which they now own totally.

It was not a happy ship to begin with and it took many years for the German factory to start making money, indeed, there were serious proposals to simply walk away from the investment altogether. The New Generation tractors with their inline multi cylinder engines saved the day and were in fact first produced in Europe rather than America.

Not sure about the beer aspect but something along those lines certainly did occur at the Munktell works in Eskilstuna, Sweden, now the Volvo Construction museum. To help limit the vodka intake of his workers Theofron Munktell started a brewery so that the overall alcohol intake declined as they drank ale instead of spirits.

 

[caveman]

Doubt the bit of kit in the op would last more than half an an hour in wealden clay, pulled by a couple of retired 25 year old polish pit donkeys.

 

[Exfarmer]

I rather fear that the mists of time are already shrouding the events of last century with a consequent fading of the sharper details.

The story, as recounted in W.G. Broehl's history of the company, is that JD were approached by the bank holding a large chunk of Lanz's stock in 1953. Lanz had been bombed out during the war but rather than start afresh they rebuilt the factory as it was and still continued to make the rather tired looking single cylinder Bulldog. Deere themselves were little better with a range of models centred around the horizontal twin configuration they had inherited with the purchase of Waterloo Boy in 1918.

The main difference was that Lanz was still headed by family member Heinrich Lanz who was something of a stickler for detail while JD had broken with the direct family dynasty and recently appointed William Hewitt as MD, a navy veteran very expansionist and forward looking in nature. He had though married into the Deere family.

The initial response was to politely ignore the offer in favour of a merger with Massey Harris Ferguson. This proposed deal fell through so JD struck out on their own in Mexico and Europe. The European venture being to revisit the Lanz proposal and the eventual purchase of 51% of its stock. This was finalised in 1958 and Deere took over the Mannheim plant as well as a holding in a Spanish factory which they now own totally.

It was not a happy ship to begin with and it took many years for the German factory to start making money, indeed, there were serious proposals to simply walk away from the investment altogether. The New Generation tractors with their inline multi cylinder engines saved the day and were in fact first produced in Europe rather than America.

Not sure about the beer aspect but something along those lines certainly did occur at the Munktell works in Eskilstuna, Sweden, now the Volvo Construction museum. To help limit the vodka intake of his workers Theofron Munktell started a brewery so that the overall alcohol intake declined as they drank ale instead of spirits.

Thanks for correcting me, as you say mists of time

 

[AgriLinc]

Proforge's spring-back skimmer costs £6,750; its identical equivalent via Jaskot was £3,017

Many thanks for comparing prices with our Proforge machines and I’m glad you are pleased with your purchase direct from Poland.

If you are quoting like for like prices on the open internet please take care to ensure you are quoting an ‘identical equivalent’, as you are a long way adrift on the skimmer cultivator. As can clearly be seen in the photos below, different packers options, and whether you have a standard or ‘plus’ machine (higher underbeam clearance, heavier frame etc) all make a substantial difference to your cost price of £4067.00 (£3017 + £1050 Transport).

I’m sure everyone would also be interested in seeing in work photos in due course as opposed to the generic Polish photos you’ve posted out of the Rolmako Catalogue.

 

[Scribus]

Thanks for correcting me, as you say mists of time

Companies are not completely innocent of laying down such smokescreens themselves. PR departments do like to control all aspects of a company's image and that includes its legacy as well. Two recent examples are Ford's centenary in Ireland and John Deere's centenary of tractor production.

Here in Ireland Ford has a tremendous following, the Cork plant was Ireland's only major vehicle factory and the company is still well regarded for all its products, so a 100 years would be something to celebrate one would have thought. Not a bit of it, the Ford Motor Company in Ireland (the very same entity that built the factory) still exists as the importer and distributor of Ford cars but they wanted nothing to do with the various celebrations organised by vintage and classic clubs. Towards the end of the year they did get involved with one particular event but it was hardly full hearted. I don't think this was the preferred policy of the local Ford management but it came from further up the command chain.

Likewise with John Deere, they held a bit of a bash at Langar but one attendee I spoke to came away rather underwhelmed by it all, it didn't help that 2018 wasn't, strictly speaking, the actual centenary of JD tractor production, but one is left with the impression that neither company wanted the past examined or dwelled upon.

To consider the past diverts attention away from the present and future and confines the companies activities to a tighter fame of expectations. It also allows them to, if not actually rewrite history, then certainly imply a more accommodating interpretation of their legacy that not only airbrushes out less fortunate decisions but can also reinforce present policies.

 

[bumkin]

well said walt a good read, i have not had the courage to buy abroad the farthest i get is england, the eastern counties farm sales to buy the crumbs off rich mens tables, anyone who knows me will tell you my usual rant is the failure of british business is the management, one of the problems we have is spare parts if we go to the dealer and he can get them we are relieved and just order never asking the price, but if you shop around there is a fortune to be saved ,some of the price differences are criminal.we bought a similar machine this year british made cost a fortune and it fell apart in the first field ,the nuts and bolts were only finger tight , the break backs hit the frame the manufacturer says the break backs are different from the ones they normally use, so that's ongoing its one of the few new machines we have bought and its a big disappointment