[AT] N-Complete, a bit disappointing...

[Ron Cook]

There seems to be too much of that sort of "almost" anymore.  The new 
operators have probably been using up the inventory to make a profit and 
now they have started running out of "good" used inventory.  It is 
probably getting harder and harder to find good used replacement 
inventory for a place like that.

Ron Cook
Salix, IA

On 8/22/2015 4:29 PM, Indiana Robinson wrote:
> I have made occasional trips to N-Complete at Wilkinson Indiana for a fair
> number of years mostly for parts. They are only maybe 45 miles from me. I
> had not been for several years due to health reasons and a few years ago
> the company changed hands. I went yesterday for a couple of small parts and
> also out of curiosity. The first thing I noticed was that there was only a
> handful of used tractors out in the lot, where there used to be dozens. Not
> a big deal, I was just always impressed with how many were always on hand.
> As we went in I noticed that they no longer had a selection of common parts
> out in the small showroom. Again not a big deal, I had just always liked
> walking over and grabbing common parts. The friendly young lady at the
> counter was helping a customer who was buying a complete new exhaust system
> including clamps and a hanger for an NAA or later tractor. She was working
> very hard at being sure he was getting all the right stuff he needed. There
> were three completed tractors sitting in the small showroom and he was
> comparing each part to a tractor sitting there to be sure he would have
> everything he needed. She was doing a fine job and we were all talking and
> joking a bit. He made a price inquiry and it was around $80 at that point.
> Not bad at all and he was pleased. When he got down to the hanger at the
> very end of the pipe and she headed into the back to get one I joked that
> that last hanger mount was going to be $300. Turned out I wasn't far enough
> wrong... I think it was about $60... And it was nothing like the one on the
> tractor. He rather quickly decided that he didn't need one after all and
> that he would just make one out of a 2" piece of strap iron. She was
> finishing up his paper work and he was just looking at that tractor
> closely. Suddenly that tractor starter engaged and the tractor which was in
> gear started moving forward, starter only, not firing. It was about 5' away
> from and headed for a shiny restored Ford/Ferguson... The young  lady ran
> to place herself between the two... I guess she was planning to cushion the
> low speed crash? The guy was trying to hold the thing back and finally
> pushed down the clutch and I grabbed the shifter and knocked it out of
> gear. About then the starter stopped. The guy said that he had just taken
> hold of the starter to solenoid wire and it started moving.
> The young lady was quite shaken (normal) but we all had a relieved chuckle.
> The guy rolled it back and insisted it be in gear to keep it from rolling
> and I insisted that it be in neutral and the brake locked or it could do it
> again. The girl kept saying "All I could see was $14,000 rolling at
> $10,000"...
> I wanted a preformed oil line that runs from the fitting on the block to
> the oil pressure gauge. I would normally make my own but I was being nice
> to myself. I showed her on a 2N that was sitting there and she went back
> for it and my other item. When I got home I looked at it and realized that
> she gave me the line that runs from the filter to the governor instead. I
> won't make a trip back, I will eventually need one for my other 8N since
> someone had removed the oil filter from it. Just an annoyance. It was
> tagged with the right number. I looked it up when I got home and saw it was
> the wrong one. In her defense she was still pretty rattled.
> Now for the "disappointed" part...
> I had time to look those three "re-manufactured" tractors pretty closely. I
> had in the past looked at N-Complete tractors very closely, both at shows
> and in their showroom and shop. I was always very impressed. These three
> were just "OK"... but not what I was used to seeing...
> The Dotson gang and some other list members here have done far better work.
> One thing I had noted when trying to set the brake on that NAA was that on
> the locking pawl on the passengers side was tightly stuck... I don't think
> just paint stuck but tightly rust stuck. I could not move it at all with
> the little flip over lock / unlock lever. The pin that holds the lever was
> in wrong and as a result even if the pawl was free the lever would not have
> locked it. Beyond that some parts of all three tractors simply did not show
> the level of "finish" that I always saw in the past. Generally "OK" but not
> "excellent". One little example: On one tractor the rear end of the radius
> rod on one side was very deeply pitted and just painted over. It was
> clearly visible from some distance back. The old N-Complete would have not
> have passed that... One of the two 9N/2N's had a "V-bar" drawbar attachment
> on it. The pin hole in it was badly wallered out and elongated but not
> repaired as it would have been in the past. The burr was just ground off.
> One of them had one of the lift rods from the upper lift arm down to the
> lower arm with quite a bow in it.
> Most of these things are things I would not give much notice at all on a
> tractor an individual brought to a show or as with mine that are done with
> use rather than show in mind but as the young lady mentioned these were
> $10,000 and $14,000 tractors said to be fully re-manufactured...
> She also mentioned that the one with the starter/solenoid problem (and the
> bad brake lock) was just sold and heading for Canada soon. BTW, on that one
> I had noticed as I walked in that sitting at rest with neither brake locked
> that the pedals were not at the same height, maybe an inch or more
> different from each other...
> I didn't dare mention any of this to the young lady for fear of a total
> meltdown after the starter incident.
> I did note that the paint work seemed good on all three, no runs, smooth,
> well masked.
> I was just expecting more attention to detail like under the previous
> owner. Maybe if I had not previously seen the fine work of the old shop
> these would have looked better to me. (shrug)
>
>