My dad and I run a small independent repair shop here in Westcentral Wisconsin and I'll tell you what. I don't really care too much about how badly the dealers treat people becuase it all comes back to us anyway
My father actually worked for a Deere dealership for 7 years and quickly made it to head mechanic (as well he should of); it was sad to watch as he went from most valuable asset to "unproductive" and "defiant". All because the owner decided to get a new shop manager that had no clue how to deal with people. They lost dozens of customers and ultimately their entire experienced repair crew (as well as their best parts person).
But, we are seeing the effects of "Go big or go home" in that all the smaller farmers are having a hard time finding the money to repair their aging equipment and cannot get a bank to help them because they "cannot produce enough cash flow with their current size of operation"; should that be herd size or acres run. Which also bewilders me that the local dealerships have all raised their shop rates when (local) farmers are cash strapped. That's why we've kept our shop rate at $50/hr (compaired to anywhere from $80 to $120/hr) and yet we are still barely keeping the bills paid
On another note:
All this my green tractor is better than your red tractor stuff is BS. It's just the same as my Chevy/Ford/Dodge can beat your Chevy/Ford/Dodge... My opinion, from someone who works on the stuff day in and day out: RED... Magnum and older; the new stuff is just too complex/unreliable (IMHO). Easy to work on, relitively cheap, good power to weight ratio, pleanty of parts availability, quieter cab (86 series and up that is), easier to start in the winter, my list goes on and on, so I won't ramble (too much).
If I were to buy anything new; McCormick. Cummins and perkins powered and the chassis are all based on older designs with a few updates. The 110-250hp models are basically an old magnum with new tin and a few other transmission choices. The 40-110hp models are the same as the old Beltham (english built IH) tractors just with perkins power. That's just what I looked into anyway because that is what I am interested in, I know that they have many more "modern" designs and other lines of tractors with many more features as well.
That's just my opinion though FWIW
