Frustration with waiting on new Kubota order

[BAP]

This must be this weekends weekly thread expressing shock over back ordered tractors and implements. If you do a search there is one of these threads every few days now. This is the new norm until manufacturers get caught back up from the after effects of Covid shutdowns, dramatic increase in buying, reduced supply of raw materials due to the tariffs from the last administration and other events going on. People have become used to buying off the lot that they forget or don’t know that you used to have to order and wait for items years ago.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

'Dominio' effect due to the 'Just-In-Time' philosophy started decades ago. Manufacturers USED to have there own stockpile (inventory) of raw materials used in making their products,usually enough for xxx units or say 3 months of sales. Those days are long gone, as are their warehouses. Now, materials are 'on the road', in trailers,to be delivered 'just in time' to be added into the assembly line to make the widgets or gizmos or vehicles. Normally an OEM will have several sources of the same part,2 or more manufacturers, and several distributors to be sure the part is always available.

 

[seankirbydp]

I thought there would be a lot of people going through the same thing. Discovered something I did not expect in looking through craigslist for tractors:
There have been a number of new tractor's selling on the listing site with very low hours (virtually new). I got in touch with a couple of the people making those listings and they both confirmed they had bought multiple tractors off the lot and were reselling to make money.

 

[lynnmor]

It is not only a shortage that is causing the delivery delays, it may be the local dealer. I bought a tractor with extras that were all in stock three weeks ago. All I needed was assembly and a phone call..... still waiting.

UPDATE! Just got the call.

 

[lynnmor]

It is not only a shortage that is causing the delivery delays, it may be the local dealer. I bought a tractor with extras that were all in stock three weeks ago. All I needed was assembly and a phone call..... still waiting.

UPDATE! Just got the call.

UPDATE to the UPDATE:

Tires are mismatched, two different sizes.

 

[Dwight Bremer]

Anyone experience very long wait times on a new Kubota? I know, we are in a global supply shortage of seemingly everything.

I ordered a Grand L4060 on Feb 17th. It still has not arrived at the dealer. (supposedly due to arrive within the week). The salesman keeps telling me it is a lot of pieces, to be patient (tractor, BH, pallet forks). Seems like a really long wait, if it does stay on current schedule, it will be easily four months by the time they assemble and get it to me.

I priced the tractor through two dealers. They were within about a 1K of each other, so I went with the closer, smaller dealership. Wondering if a bigger dealer would get the tractor faster...

Thanks,
Sean

I also am also on wait duty. Drove over to the Kubota dealer Saturday just to get some of that orange feel.

 

[DocGP]

Yup, right there with you guys. 2501 with R14's and all the bells/whistles.

Fingers crossed.

Doc

 

[mcmxi]

I guess I was lucky in February when I stopped by the local dealer and they had at least three MX tractors on the lot and could have had more. They had a 5600 and 6000 ROPs and one 6000 cab model. I didn't even think about the possibility of not being able to buy one a few weeks later as I was working with the sales rep to figure out what I wanted to add. There hasn't been a new tractor out front at the dealership for weeks and possibly months.

 

[RCW]

Thousands of new Ford pickups parked at Kentucky Speedway, can't be sold

At a time when demand is at all time highs for pickup trucks, Ford is unable to sell thousands of them due to parts shortages

www.wcpo.com

Someone told me manufacturers were parking incomplete vehicles in places waiting for electronics....proves the point...holy smokes...

 

[PaulL]

'Dominio' effect due to the 'Just-In-Time' philosophy started decades ago. Manufacturers USED to have there own stockpile (inventory) of raw materials used in making their products,usually enough for xxx units or say 3 months of sales. Those days are long gone, as are their warehouses. Now, materials are 'on the road', in trailers,to be delivered 'just in time' to be added into the assembly line to make the widgets or gizmos or vehicles. Normally an OEM will have several sources of the same part,2 or more manufacturers, and several distributors to be sure the part is always available.

More still, they saved not that much money by going just in time. Those few dollars per machine made the accountants happy. But they ignored the risk associated with supply chain disruption. Of course, as it turns out when there's supply chain disruption every tractor, truck and car sells at full list price, so all the manufacturers are actually making more profit. Who'd have thunk that if you didn't over-manufacture and so didn't have to discount, you'd be more profitable. Unfortunately that means they won't learn that just in time was a bad idea, because it's not really hitting them in the pocketbook (or balance sheet).

I remember about 10 years back the story was that it was close to the same price to make many components in the USA as compared to China (different story for NZ, where I live, due to economies of scale). This was because, although Chinese were paid about 25% of US wages, they were about half as productive, there were losses due to quality control, then there's shipping and delays, and the costs of having to visit China to do business etc. All factored in it was getting close. And Chinese wages were going up 8% a year, whilst US wages were going up 1-2% a year. Problem is, it's hard to bring things back home - there's a one-time cost to re-establish things. I wonder where some of this will land once the dust settles on COVID.

 

[lynnmor]

I wonder where some of this will land once the dust settles on COVID.

Since we are well on the way of having a global economy, we are now seeing the beginning of how that will pan out, The entire globe will need to average out in terms of income and standard of living and we are not liking what that means for the US population.

 

[PaulL]

Since we are well on the way of having a global economy, we are now seeing the beginning of how that will pan out, The entire globe will need to average out in terms of income and standard of living and we are not liking what that means for the US population.

True enough, although I'm not US based. It's hard to argue about the percentage of the world population who have been lifted out of poverty in the last 50 years. Capitalism remains the most amazing system for alleviating poverty that anyone has yet devised. We spend a lot on foreign aid, but always and everywhere the best thing we can do for poor people around the world is let them sell things to the west, because that brings sustainable jobs and income.

It hasn't really stopped our own growth/wealth. It's about living on the frontier (which western countries do), where to get more productivity requires inventing new things, finding new ways to work. Because we're already pretty efficient. Whereas when you live in a third world country, catch up growth is pretty easy - just copy what the west is already doing.

All the indications are that the last 2-3 years have been pretty good for lower middle class incomes in the USA, and the next year or so may be even better - looks like it's hard to find people for blue collar jobs, but manufacturing companies (Kubota included) are selling lots of stuff at retail price. They can afford to pay their staff a bit more. Even Amazon and Walmart are putting up hourly rates. It'll be looked back on as a golden time for people who work for a living. Of course, since I'm such a cynic I reckon government has very little to do with all that - it's what normally happens about this point in the business cycle. But I'm sure governments of whichever persuasion will take credit for it.

 

[bbxlr8]

Yup, right there with you guys. 2501 with R14's and all the bells/whistles.

Fingers crossed.

Doc

I have had my 2501 TLB R14s for 4 weeks now and LOVE it. I was fortunate in that I had only 1-month wait using my local larger volume multi-site dealer who gave me a fair deal.

However, I talked to my sales guy yesterday and he told me he is now 4 months out on the same and nobody is swapping anything.

 

[B2710]

I waited about 6 months to get my cabbed LX3310...

 

[FullScalePilot]

I'm still waiting on my L2501. I was told to expect delivery this week, but the dealer told me that the loader is still MIA. He is doing all he can to get a date out of Kubota but doesn't seem to be getting anywhere...or he withholding the answer. I'm tempted to cancel the order and go back to renting if it drags out for more than a month or two.

The L2501, Backhoe, Rear Remotes, Top-N-Tilt Kit, and 3rd function are all at the dealer waiting.

 

[B737]

I'm still waiting on my L2501. I was told to expect delivery this week, but the dealer told me that the loader is still MIA.

I was talking to my dealer last week regarding an implement and he said the same thing (in NJ). He's finally getting machines in, but they have no loaders!

He also mentioned they have 30 BXs coming in, and 15 of them are sold. Its crazy what's going on.

 

[ctfjr]

In the distribution business where I work these long delivery times are very painful. We sell a wide variety of hard goods - plumbing (fixture orders out 20 weeks), heating (LP tanks NO estimated delivery times, at least 24 weeks), misc items like generators out 20 weeks.
There is a new house being built on our street. I happened to see the quote to the plumbing contractor who is buying the material from my company. I met the soon to be new neighbors a few days ago. He thinks he is going to be moving in around September. Not with the material list I saw.
We only sell material. When there is no material to sell . . .
As we are in a more or less 'free market' prices on short material reflect the availability / demand ratio. The buyer has much reduced leverage in price negotiations today.

All that said my grapple from EA will arrive 'who knows when'. Fitrite's TNT took 6 months (at least there you can make the case it's increased demand with a limited supply capability}.

A previous poster in this thread asked if more people were going back to the land during this covid mess. Well, I did. I sold my last tractor 3 years ago because I wasn't using it much any more. I found this L3800 last year with 260 hrs on it and couldn't resist. In less than a year I have 1/3 the hours on it than I had in 10 years on the L3400. Working from home for over a year ,now forever, gives me plenty of time to be productive with it.

 

[FullScalePilot]

I'm in manufacturing and we've seen containers stuck for months on end at port. We averaged 6 weeks for international shipping before this mess...we're now averaging 12 weeks on shipments. I wish Kubota would be more transparent about the delays...and provide at least an estimated ETA.

My dealer was upfront that he couldn't help on implements...and told me to buy what I can find. I'll have pallet forks, box blade, and grapple all in the pole barn Friday. No tractor though...

Patience is a virtue...

 

[denverpilot]

My dealer was upfront that he couldn't help on implements...and told me to buy what I can find.

My dealer was even more blunt... Said if it wasn't on the lot, don't expect anything in very fast. They were concerned in mid-March that last year was their best selling season ever, and this year they wouldn't have anything beyond what was on the lot to sell... going into their best season, Spring.

Love your username by the way. Hahaha.

 

[jaargh]

You are a grown ass man and you are acting like a kid before Christmas.. welcome to the club!!!