:thumbup1gif: been watching about ur brand of tractors on u-tube-with-Out doors with the Morgans. lots of good info there so far. i really liked the 3 pt blade-and the fact how ur design lets it sit off set of the tractor. way cool-something u would only see on a road grader--and now is on a 3 pt back blade.

also loved ur dump trailer too.

i wish i had a Rural King closer to me--its a 2 hr drive any way i go to the store so far...........i'm hoping that will change for me in the future.
i bought a tiller 2 yrs at ur store-when the 12% rebate was on-ha! still got the rebate card in my wallet -as ur mail order won't allow me to spend it that way:nunu: for me that stinks. if i could use it online-it would of been gone:laugh:

i hope ur brand does good for ya.

 

I just found some used turf tires for my JD 3720. The tires and rims came off a Branson tractor. He bought some tires and rims that came off of a JD. He said they bolted right up on his Branson.
I just did some measuring and things looked good for bolting up. We shall see , too cold today to mess with them.

 

Thanks for posting this information. I knew absolutely nothing about you guys and now I know a little. That warranty sounds pretty appealing if you guys are in it for the long-term.

 

RK Tractor Guy,


Are you the same person as RK Tracor Guy over on the other thread about Rural King tractors? If so, why did you create two accounts?

 

Probably because"tractor" was misspelled. (Tracor)

 

When is RK coming to Canada? :greentractorride:

 

I'm just wondering when they're going to update their site with some RK 74 info and pictures.

 

Soooo...it appears that "RK Tractor Guy" (AKA Doug) has quit working for RK, and the customer service is getting worse for owners. I can't say I'm surprised much, buying a tractor from any big box store never seemed like a great idea to me, I remember when TSC and Cabellas tried it too.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...s-owning-operating/418027-rk-customer-service-help-suggestions.html#post5548382


Here is another RK thread here:
https://www.greentractortalk.com/forums/non-deere-tractors/151242-rural-king-tractors.html

 

i remember the tv ads that was on tv yrs ago for them tractors from Cabellas. they really hammed them ads up to sell those tractors back then.
..........................................................
news is-that Rural King is to put a store in the empty K-mart store in Altoona, Pa..:thumbup1gif:have no real time of this to happen for sure-just gossip thru the wind for now. i have all fingers and toes crossed it does happen, as i love their store for now.

 

Awe shucks.

They still haven't managed to use their own trucks to bring any to our local RK. :munch:


They still have a good price on catfish food......

 

I looked at a TYM some years ago and it looked to be a pretty decent tractor. Nice layout sloped hood. Skid steer quick attach and even had standard rear remotes.

The main reason I went with Deere is because of parts support and the ability for consumers to easily purchase the tech manuals on CD or hard print. I do most of my own repairs so accessibility to information and parts is paramount to me.

The one issue I sometimes have with Deere is sometimes I feel they over-engineer things and then make other things such as teloscopic draft links and rear remotes add on extras.

 

According to the local news rag, one is coming to the old Sears at the Nittany Mall in State College in 2020.

 

They are using the same Yanmar engine as the 1025r and note the air cleaner orientation.......

Do you think the local RK store is up for replacing engines when the air cleaner bracket causes damage and the engine ingests the metal fragments...??

 

Brick and Mortar retailers are under tremendous financial pressure as a result of internet sales. No one is exempt from the pressure, as it has already dramatically transformed Best Buy and while Sears is on life support with their small local stores and JC Penney is just about done, even behemoth market makers such as WalMart have scaled back plans and closed stores.

Remember the days of the thriving HUGE Book Stores like Barnes and Noble and there was the other large book store chain out of Ann Arbor, which was acquired by Barnes and Noble? Now, books are read by fewer people and more and more are becoming "digitized" because of Kindles and similar technology. Retail book business is within a decade of being gone from the landscape of American retailers except on the very localized small stores owned and worked by the owners who target a specific clientel. But these will be few and far between and truth is many owners will run their stores well beyond the point where they make economic sense and either they will be carrying their stores out of a sense of loyalty or for something to keep them busy. But that too will come to and end.

It's a massive financial undertaking to launch the tractor "private label" brand for RK and to build the necessary infrastructure to establish and supply a retail distribution system. Our local RK hired as their "Service Manager" the former technician who worked in my friends small engine shop. He is a real friendly guy and talks a good game but he is one of the least talented technicians I have ever seen and he would rather tell you what you want to hear, verses dealing with the problem. As we all know, this always ends poorly because as the customer gets strung along and their issues aren't resolved, patience wears thin and eventually, things always come to a head.

RK's core business has to be their retail stores and with that under such pressure, the tractors are an expense they can ill afford. While the venture into selling tractors won't be the demise of RK, it is an expense it can ill afford and when they have to make hard decisions about uses of capital, the tractors will be the first on the chopping block. They are in the infancy of getting the tractors in their store locations and with the issues they are facing, this entire expansion into tractors is likely over within 24 months or less.

I hate to see people left in a lurch, but for anyone who owns their RK tractor, they had best locate another source for parts and service. Another interesting possible development is I noticed that they are directing people for questions about their financing of tractors to a different lender than mentioned in "Dougs" posting of "the RK facts". There are many possible reasons for this, but the reality is that lenders don't like collateral that is hard to convert to cash and a tractor brand without a distribution and support network is unappealing to all but the most stalwart tractor owners who can and do handle all service and repair issues themselves............If RK can't offer a financing source for new tractor sales, this entire experiment will come to a conclusion even sooner.

RK tractors aren't long for the world for all the reasons mentioned in this thread. Most importantly because it's simply a big box store getting outside its lane. I love RK, but after my experience with trying to buy a Stihl saw there, and meeting their "tractor guy" and seeing their "shop," they are ill equipped to sell something like tractors.

I shop the same RK that the Morgan's get their tractors from.

Someone joked about having to wait for someone to finish cleaning the toilets to get help, but that isn't far from the truth.

The young, young man that was the tractor guy there is nice enough, but he's way in over his head. His knowledge is as deep as the brochure. That's not his fault, it's simply what happens when a big box store gets in too deep.

My low hour new Deere sprung an axle leak and I imagined if it was a rural King tractor. First, they have no means at that store to pick it up. Second, there's no way that Jack of all trades "shop" could handle an axle seal. Fortunately me Deere dealer can pick up if necessary, but I also have the means to transport my own tractor if needed.

People talk about the green tax but if you buy off brand equipment, you quickly understand why that tax may be worth it.

Anyone want to take bets on when they pull the plug on RK tractors?

 

Brick and Mortar retailers are under tremendous financial pressure as a result of internet sales. No one is exempt from the pressure, as it has already dramatically transformed Best Buy and while Sears is on life support with their small local stores and JC Penney is just about done, even behemoth market makers such as WalMart have scaled back plans and closed stores.

Remember the days of the thriving HUGE Book Stores like Barnes and Noble and there was the other large book store chain out of Ann Arbor, which was acquired by Barnes and Noble? Now, books are read by fewer people and more and more are becoming "digitized" because of Kindles and similar technology. Retail book business is within a decade of being gone from the landscape of American retailers except on the very localized small stores owned and worked by the owners who target a specific clientel. But these will be few and far between and truth is many owners will run their stores well beyond the point where they make economic sense and either they will be carrying their stores out of a sense of loyalty or for something to keep them busy. But that too will come to and end.

It's a massive financial undertaking to launch the tractor "private label" brand for RK and to build the necessary infrastructure to establish and supply a retail distribution system. Our local RK hired as their "Service Manager" the former technician who worked in my friends small engine shop. He is a real friendly guy and talks a good game but he is one of the least talented technicians I have ever seen and he would rather tell you what you want to hear, verses dealing with the problem. As we all know, this always ends poorly because as the customer gets strung along and their issues aren't resolved, patience wears thin and eventually, things always come to a head.

RK's core business has to be their retail stores and with that under such pressure, the tractors are an expense they can ill afford. While the venture into selling tractors won't be the demise of RK, it is an expense it can ill afford and when they have to make hard decisions about uses of capital, the tractors will be the first on the chopping block. They are in the infancy of getting the tractors in their store locations and with the issues they are facing, this entire expansion into tractors is likely over within 24 months or less.

I hate to see people left in a lurch, but for anyone who owns their RK tractor, they had best locate another source for parts and service. Another interesting possible development is I noticed that they are directing people for questions about their financing of tractors to a different lender than mentioned in "Dougs" posting of "the RK facts". There are many possible reasons for this, but the reality is that lenders don't like collateral that is hard to convert to cash and a tractor brand without a distribution and support network is unappealing to all but the most stalwart tractor owners who can and do handle all service and repair issues themselves............If RK can't offer a financing source for new tractor sales, this entire experiment will come to a conclusion even sooner.

 

We have an ACE Hardware store nearby that started selling Yanmar tractors a few years ago. That lasted less than two years and the tractors have now vanished. The nearest dealers now are a 100 miles away.

 

So another guy named "Brian" joined TBN a few weeks ago to say he was now the new RK rep, well guess what:

[h=2]Is Brian still around?[/h]

I tried sending him an email this morning and then it was returned undeliverable!

Interesting. I hope this isn’t a trend with RK. Not making me very trustworthy.
​

 

This whole thread is just weird.

 

:wgtt:


:lolol:

 

This always struck me as "too good to be true", or as the case may be, "too good to be realistic".

It looks like they were selling very nice machines that could easily compete with comparable class JD machines feature and quality wise. And not having the overhead of operating the entire John Deere enterprise is obviously going to allow them to offer more for less. BUT, it always worried me that they would completely fail at support and service. I guess that was a valid concern. A big box store is great for sales. And producing a really nice machine at a really nice price is great for sales. But a factory 1,000 miles away and no service centers has to be a problem.

If RK accomplished nothing else with these things, they made for lots of videos on YouTube.

 

And not having the overhead of operating the entire John Deere enterprise is obviously going to allow them to offer more for less.

There is an implement retailer that uses the same business model.

 

This has nothing to do with RK, but it has everything to do with sales and service when it comes to brands other than Deere and Kubota. A couple weeks ago, I stopped in a Kioti dealership that also sells Sure-Trac trailers. No one in the showroom, so I walked around to the side of the building where the overhead doors to the service department was. A tech asked if he could help me. I said yes, where's the parts department? Oh...... we don't have a parts department. Say what! No wonder they are cheaper and you better pray that you don't need any parts or service. How can you service, in a timely manner, the equipment that you sell without a parts department? :banghead:

 

There is a place nearby that sells: Mahindra, Kioti, Massey, Yamaha, Can-am, Suzuki, Triumph, Roxor, Titan, Spyder Ryker and a few other things like trailers. You got to wonder what kind of service you would get there.

"Uh, yeah. I'm having trouble with my tractor."
Mechanic: "Let me finish with this motorcycle and I'll be right with you."

 

Oh, man. I am sorry to hear about Stanley. He was looking pretty good on a video just a couple days ago. He seemed like a happy dog!


I do know that in one video, Mike said he sold his Kubota. Will be interesting to see what he does once his two years with RK are up. Would be cool to see him go Green. I think there's plenty of room on YouTube for two great guys (Mike & Tim) with green tractors. Their videos are different from each other - I enjoy them both.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

He had cancer. It was a recent diagnosis, maybe 2 weeks ago, and moved pretty quick. You'd never know it watching him patrol and supervise them working.

 

I made the mistake of watching that video yesterday evening while sitting on the couch with my dog...

 

Quality aside, Resale value is probably disappointing on these machines.

 

No, resale will not "probably" be "disappointing", it will definitely be non-existent.

Much like aids, once you have it, you are un-able to get rid of it!

We've all seen it on these "monkey-brand" UTV's. You cannot possibly save enough money to justify such an irresponsible purchase.

 

Cabelas had a short lived line of tractors. I looked at them and they wanted as much as what I could buy a Kubota or John Deere for. So I’ve stayed away from them off brand tractors.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

heck they even showcased their tractors on tv back then. IIRC it was on several hunting shows back then--i can't remember the yrs -oh. but i remember those fellas sitting on them tractors while they showed them brush hogging and making field plots for their hunting areas.

Anyone want to take bets on when they pull the plug on RK tractors? :dunnorobably about as long as the cabellas tractors lasted.
we have been waiting patiently for RK to come to Altoona, Pa.:yahoo: been a good while since they announced it. hoping they did not cancelled it.:dunno:
i just love the store-makes TSC look very small in comparison-IMO

 

I am not a fan of the RK tractors or any others unless they are John Deere green, but didn't the JD CUT line start out as re-branded tractors? From the first 850's and 950's the smaller ones were made by Yanmar with John Deere colors. From 1978 until the end of the 2320/2520 series they were Yanmars. My 2320 serial number plate has Yanmar on it and Made in Japan. Being an elder American (old fart), I look at Made in Japan pretty much the same as Made in China. Therefore I don't look at the plate on my tractor.:banghead:

However, JD was on the ball with parts support, service support and sales aids. I well remember telling people when they asked about the Yanmar name, that the tractors were engineered and designed by John Deere. As I think about it now, that may have been stretching the truth, but I hope not. My preference is to be honest.

 

I didn't know RK approached TTWT. I'm glad you didn't do it. Since it is mostly Tim's fault I have a 1025R and shed full of implements, it could have misled me to buy something else instead!

 

Yes. Talks fell apart abruptly when I said I would not get rid of Johnny. Their insistence on exclusivity was a no go for us.

Funny how things worked out. Mike Morgan has done them a better job than I would have.

I doubt they realize how much Mike has helped them.

Mike’s approach has been perfect for the brand.

Tim

 

Just a point... I buy Deere equipment for the manuals. While I follow the "right to repair" debate, Deere does the best job of all with availability of service manuals. Pricey but comprehensive in detail. Factory Support is essential because all machines break or wear. My Deere's range from 35 years to 5 years in age. Like a Timex, they keep ticking.