Bring-A-Trailer is a wonderful place to see all sorts of exotic, unusual, rare, offbeat, bizarre, impossible to find, and otherwise drool-worthy machines. I’m on the site far too many times every day for sound mental health. It’s fantastic entertainment, like watching the Barrett-Jackson auctions.

“On the other hand though, many people are out of touch with modern farming.”

There’s a difference between “it broke while harvesting and I need it back in service ASAP” and “it stopped while harvesting because the cabin air filter reached its service hours limit and an authorized service tech needs to come out and replace it with an OEM filter and reset the timer to get it working again.” And…

The issue is that John Deere’s proprietary tech is ridiculously invasive. If you have to wait for a tech every damn time you have a breakdown during harvest - and all of your neighbors have to wait for a tech too - that’s a ton of lost time. And techs aren’t cheap either.

Yeah, but why does the tech have to be from Deere? Do you have a problem with autoparts stores with code readers?

We’re talking about video games here. You can slice and label genres any way you want, and it will never been adequate to cover the complete range of possible interactive experiences. All genre labels are approximations.

I didn’t read the linked articles. I didn’t realize how locked down they were. Yeah - John Deere can go fuck themselves with that shit.

The issue is that unlike the automotive world where I can take my Mercedes to my favorite small independent mechanic who has access to the proper software, in the tractor world you literally cannot do this. Only the manufacturer has the software. PERIOD. If I had to take my 15 year old Merc to the dealer everytime it…

The 18 wheeler world is getting to be much of the same. Fortunately for big rigs there’s way more of them and way more aftermarket and skunkworks garages willing to work on OEM workarounds. Farm equipment, they’re at the mercy of the OEM. I've heard of dumb shit like if a sensor went out and the farmer calls John…

Did you read the article?  The biggest part of the problem is that you can’t just plug in a reader.  The tractor and software is so locked down that you’ve got to call the dealer/manufacturer and have them send out a certified technician.

You’re not wrong, but the issue here is that John Deere doesn’t want to release the tools to do that to the farmers.  On the automotive side we can just plug in our own scan tool if we want to own one.  That doesn’t seem to be an option here. 

The new systems literally will NOT recognize components, unless a John Deere Representative comes out and runs their recognition USB key to unlock the tractor.

This would be like if you needed to change the brakes on your car and could only go to the dealership, because the moment you removed the wheel, the engine…

Well I think the issue specifically with farm machinery is that “a computer” means “a computer from a John Deere authorized technician because Deere has made it impossible to repair your own item on your own because nothing will work without that computer that the authorized tech has with the USB key that will let you…

I think the problem isn’t just ‘needing a computer’. If I remember right, it’s like dealer only diagnostic tools with cars. It’s that it has to be a Deere authorized mechanic with a proprietary set of hardware that they won’t sell you, and you can’t just use any old laptop.

Yeah, here’s a quote from one of the earlier…

It’s a magical realist point-and-click adventure game with an emphasis on narrative and atmosphere as opposed to the complex or obtuse puzzles usually found in the genre.

I don’t drive in the leftmost lane as a rule, and this seems to happen no matter which lane I’m in. And if it does happen while I’m in the #1 lane, if it is safe to do so I will gladly let them by so they can get popped for speeding first.

I do move over, but the point is that a majority of the vehicle types on the road who seem to be in the biggest hurry in vehicles not meant for high speed seem to be the most frequent asshole about this in the first place.

It’s just a pickup thing. I’m usually getting tailgated by any size pickup while driving a full size pickup. And I second the other guy, it’s mostly Ram pickups. 

“Look At Other People’s Blindspot Warnings In Traffic”

I see Rams more often, living up to the name I guess.