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They do! They make parts for old tractors (really, old tractor chassis once everything else has been replaced a few times). As far as why doesn't a new tractor
by structural 5y ago
They do! They make parts for old tractors (really, old tractor chassis once everything else has been replaced a few times).
As far as why doesn't a new tractor manufacturer start up, they have to compete with a few things: first, the market for old tractors and parts (if they are repairable basically forever and the amount of land used by agriculture isn't changing, this is not a growth market). Worse, it's much more difficult to design a small engine for sale that is both reliable and will pass current environmental regulations. This is a major barrier to entry that didn't exist decades ago.
So if you're a startup in the ag space, it makes eminently more sense to make small parts for someone else's platform, which is why you see companies doing things like deploying GPS, cameras, lidar, datalogging systems. There, the market opportunity is "all tractors could benefit from this", the competition is initially "other small companies", the exit strategy is "get purchased by a large manufacturer who would rather buy than develop the tech themselves", and the regulatory environment is much more friendly.
- webmaven 5y ago> Worse, it's much more difficult to design a small engine for sale that is both reliable and will pass current environmental regulations. This is a major barrier to entry that didn't exist decades ago. Do all the major farm equipment manufacturers design and build their own engines?
- throwaway9870 5y agoNo. Modern engines with Tier IV compliance are very expensive and it is hard for even large companies to develop, tool and manufacture a wide variety of engines required by diverse product lines.
- webmaven 5y agoOkay, that means the barrier to entry doesn't really exist.
- R0b0t1 5y agoDoes farm equipment need to pass environmental regulations? I didn't think it did. If it does I doubt there will ever be a startup in this area.
- s1artibartfast 5y agoYes they do. In a related area, California Phased in Tier 4 emission standards starting in 2008 for well drilling, and the market hasn't recovered in many rural areas. All of the small family owned operators simply went out of business, and the large corporate drillers have little interest in small rural markets.
- throwaway9870 5y agoYes, look up tier 4 diesel regulations. They have had a significant impact on the industry.
- mschuster91 5y agoMost farm equipment will be driven on roads, so yes, it will have to comply with emission regulations.
- R0b0t1 5y agoThat's neither necessary or sufficient -- farm equipment is given passes for most car requirements and I know does not strictly meet existing EPA regs, but I am unsure if it has absolutely no regs or not.
- bluGill 5y agoDepends on where you live. In the US farm equipment needs to pass tier 4 laws (as others have said ). Other countries have different laws. (I think tier 4 covers Europe, there has been a push to unify though that.isn't always successful)
- R0b0t1 5y agoDo you have an actual citation for this? Because as I remember there are cutouts, like if you make your own car. A workaround may be selling it as a kit. If it's a kit and not intended for road use you could probably sell whatever you want, similar to selling radio kits that are illegal to assemble. This doesn't mean it runs dirty, it just didn't pass inspection. I'm not really a fan of skirting all EPA regulations, but passing them is a huge ordeal and probably not something a startup could do without lots of VC that would tell them to just emulate John Deere. It also covers exactly one engine setup.