OT Re: [AT] Generator--doing funny things, Now electronics.

[Greg Hass]

Amen to this. I have long said the same thing, that all these new machines 
will be useless in a few years. True they may  do a lot of work in their 
life but it will have to be done in a short period of time on a lot of 
acres, not streched out over 40 years on 110 acres like I do.  Yes, I have 
driven these new computer controled tractors, I sometimes help out a couple 
of relatives who own them. They are nice and sort of cool to drive, but 
when I think of all the potential problems my IH 856 seems just fine to me. 
And problems they will have. Last year one of them that I was driving had 
the alarm sound that the hydraulic oil was to low. I called one of my 
cousins and he said to ignor the alarm as it had enough oil; that he had 
replaced some senders but the problem remained. Also last year, one of the 
tractors would not shift properly ( computer shift) and they called the 
dealer who replaced several hundred dollers of sensors and mini computers 
to no avail. Finally they started to tear off the deck only to find the 
oldest problem of all (mouse ate off a wire). This same cousin just told me 
yesterday that one off their payloaders on the farm has been giving them 
fits for over six weeks. It is computerized and they just can't find the 
problem. Last week they even ordered a new $2500 computer for it which 
still didn't fix the problem. They are now thinking that it may be a 
combination of several electronic parts causing the problem, but like he 
says, there is no foolproof way to check them, as they can check good and 
still be bad.
I guess the point of all this is that, while the new machines are great 
when they work, when they don't  be prepaired for a frustrating and 
expensive time out.
Greg Hass