Posted on Aug 26, 2023
Midwest farmers aren't allowed to fix their own tractors. And many right-to-repair bills are...
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Farmers and ranchers across the Midwest say regulation is the only path forward to fixing their own equipment. But there’s been strong opposition to right to repair legislation, as manufacturers argue they’ve provided pathways for quick repairs.
It’s 2 a.m. and Clint Stoutenburg has been planting sugar beets on his family farm in eastern lower Michigan for 18 hours.
But a transmission code lights up and locks his John Deere planter at a fixed speed. Stoutenburg doesn’t know how to fix the software problem and the dealership isn’t open.
It’s supposed to rain in an hour. He needs to get the seeds in the ground.
Moments like these, Stoutenburg said, make him feel like he’s handcuffed because he’s unable to access the resources necessary to fix these problems.
“The times have changed so rapidly that you can't just put a piece of tape over the sensor and get by,” he said. “It's holding us back. I mean, I bought the machine. I paid for the technology.”
It’s 2 a.m. and Clint Stoutenburg has been planting sugar beets on his family farm in eastern lower Michigan for 18 hours.
But a transmission code lights up and locks his John Deere planter at a fixed speed. Stoutenburg doesn’t know how to fix the software problem and the dealership isn’t open.
It’s supposed to rain in an hour. He needs to get the seeds in the ground.
Moments like these, Stoutenburg said, make him feel like he’s handcuffed because he’s unable to access the resources necessary to fix these problems.
“The times have changed so rapidly that you can't just put a piece of tape over the sensor and get by,” he said. “It's holding us back. I mean, I bought the machine. I paid for the technology.”
Midwest farmers aren't allowed to fix their own tractors. And many right-to-repair bills are...
Posted from kcur.orgPosted in these groups: 
Farming
Agriculture
Farming Agriculture
Posted 9 mo ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel sounds like bullshit...
"An industry group, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, tells NPR these kind of right-to-repair bills, they permit illegal tampering and create safety and environmental risks. And that's why states have rejected such bills in the past. But those right-to-repair bills, they keep coming."
..."URI BERLINER, BYLINE: Walter Schweitzer is a third-generation Montana farmer. He never expected to get political in the middle of haying season, but there he was last summer on his John Deere tractor, hustling to cut and bale his hay while the weather was still good. And then at the worst possible time, he says his tractor kept shutting down, randomly.
WALTER SCHWEITZER: Kind of did all the things that a farmer or rancher does to try to troubleshoot the problems.
BERLINER: But he couldn't do much because he didn't have access to the software that would help him diagnose what was wrong. Only a John Deere dealer could do that - not an independent mechanic or Schweitzer himself, the guy who owns the tractor.
SCHWEITZER: It's not like they didn't know that this was an issue. It just became personal. You know, when you're staring at a hay crop that needs to be in a bale and your tractor's not working, you get real nervous.
BERLINER: Schweitzer wound up sending his tractor to the dealer. He says it took about a month for the repair to get done. His bill to replace the fuel sensor? Nearly $5,000. He says a local independent mechanic would have charged only a small fraction of that. Schweitzer was fortunate he had an old backup tractor, so his crop didn't get ruined, but the experience made Schweitzer eager to fight for change.
SCHWEITZER: Equipment manufacturers are not supposed to hold you hostage, and that's what's happening here. These equipment manufacturers are holding me hostage to them, forcing me to use their dealerships to repair my equipment - on their schedule, on their time and at their rates. That's wrong."...
"An industry group, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, tells NPR these kind of right-to-repair bills, they permit illegal tampering and create safety and environmental risks. And that's why states have rejected such bills in the past. But those right-to-repair bills, they keep coming."
..."URI BERLINER, BYLINE: Walter Schweitzer is a third-generation Montana farmer. He never expected to get political in the middle of haying season, but there he was last summer on his John Deere tractor, hustling to cut and bale his hay while the weather was still good. And then at the worst possible time, he says his tractor kept shutting down, randomly.
WALTER SCHWEITZER: Kind of did all the things that a farmer or rancher does to try to troubleshoot the problems.
BERLINER: But he couldn't do much because he didn't have access to the software that would help him diagnose what was wrong. Only a John Deere dealer could do that - not an independent mechanic or Schweitzer himself, the guy who owns the tractor.
SCHWEITZER: It's not like they didn't know that this was an issue. It just became personal. You know, when you're staring at a hay crop that needs to be in a bale and your tractor's not working, you get real nervous.
BERLINER: Schweitzer wound up sending his tractor to the dealer. He says it took about a month for the repair to get done. His bill to replace the fuel sensor? Nearly $5,000. He says a local independent mechanic would have charged only a small fraction of that. Schweitzer was fortunate he had an old backup tractor, so his crop didn't get ruined, but the experience made Schweitzer eager to fight for change.
SCHWEITZER: Equipment manufacturers are not supposed to hold you hostage, and that's what's happening here. These equipment manufacturers are holding me hostage to them, forcing me to use their dealerships to repair my equipment - on their schedule, on their time and at their rates. That's wrong."...
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Right to repair absolutely, though with recognition that it would void any warranty.
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