American made stuff

[motorrefurb]

I hope all of you get to read this, it is long, but very important.

I have noticed that lawnmowers these days are all made for looks and not quality. What seems like many years ago, mowers and whatever else was equipped with an engine was made here in the United States, land of the free. This land of the free has turned into a land of people who are controlled by foreign made products which lack desired quality, making us not so free. I found a post on GardenForums that made me want to repost it here

Is a Chinese engine necessarily "bad?" Doesn't it come down to oversight and quality control Ariens requires. Come on now, do you think Ariens says to some fly by night company operating along the Yangtze River, give me 1000 engines sight unseen? All you Walmart shoppers, 80% of the items you buy in there are from China.
I guess we need to live with the reality that we need to accept Chinese products. We as a nation do not care and we allowed manufacturing to leave. We do not have it in our character anymore and have zero pride to defend what was once great in the USA. What a joke, yeh, Americans standing up and boycotting Chinese or Japanse products. Those days are long gone. Sad thing is, it is our power to control this...the purchaser has the power...but not the will.

Lets all look in the mirror now.

If any of you have some extra cash, I strongly suggest making a business that makes lawn equipment here in the USA. I am sure you will get backed by other members in the forum with ideas or financial backup. I know if I had the money I would have made one a long time ago. I think we need to bring pride, quality, and workmanship back here. I know lawn equipment will not completely solve this, but its a very big step, because lawn equipment is very costly. Most of you guys will probably agree here, and I think someone on this site has the power to do that :smile:

 

[benski]

Well, we are seeing the global market at work here. Corporate taxing structure, labor rates, cost of manufacturing are a small component of what we are facing in this country that we call the United States. Ninety nine percent of us are descendants of folks that came overseas for a brighter future, and there still is some glimmer of hope on the horizon, as far as I can tell. If there was a percieved need for another US made bit of lawn care equipment, it would probably be in the works by now. The market forces that make our very own nationally made equipment are working against us, however. The popularity (and affordability) of offshore manufactured equipment is tough to compete against. I'd just as soon buy US made as anything else, but I, like millions of others in this country, frequently vote with my wallet. Perhaps this topic needs to get moved to the Front Porch?

 

[motorrefurb]

Actually I have been watching a show (I forget what it is called) about them making a house from all American products. Everything from the nail in the wall to the pillow was made here, and they found it was cheaper than it would have been from foreign products. I just hope someone reads this and catches on

 

[benski]

Actually I have been watching a show (I forget what it is called) about them making a house from all American products. Everything from the nail in the wall to the pillow was made here, and they found it was cheaper than it would have been from foreign products. I just hope someone reads this and catches on

I just hope we as a nation can get the clue quickly enough we don't revert to being a third world country.

 

[motorrefurb]

Oh don't worry! We will be here doing nothing productive but having most of the children play Call of Duty on Xbox and not knowing how to build or fix anything and care less and less about pride. Now I say most children not all, because I know some of you are amazing parents. But back to subject, someone please! Make a company that makes domestic lawn equipment!

 

[jenkinsph]

I just hope we as a nation can get the clue quickly enough we don't revert to being a third world country.

People in the US need to get off their high horse and recognize they need to work to get paid. I would much prefer everyone to work harder make a good living with fewer extravagances and survive. Much better than what I see coming if we keep our heads stuck in the sand.

 

[ILENGINE]

The thing is most of the lawnmower and engine makers have factories overseas and make certain engines there for the american market. Kohler and Briggs both have chinese plants. Certain Kohler engines were made by Suzuki. The new smaller Kohler consumer engines are made in China. Small Dolmar chainsaws are assembled in china at the Makita plant using parts imported from Germany. the Briggs vanguard big block engines and the three cylinder gas and diesel engines are a diahutsu design.

 

[reynoldston]

My mower is a Ferris, made in NY state USA. Best mower I have ever owned, well made and no problems. My motor cycle is a Harley Davidson same thing well made bike no plastic. My ATV is a American made Polaris and will out perform any Japanese Honda. etc.---

Being a x Chevrolet mechanic of over 20 years never owned any thing else but Chevy. The car before the one I have now was a Chevrolet Malibu. This was a American made car and it was the worst car I have ever owned in my life. It just had one problem after another. My daughter had the same make and model car with the same problims I had. I was so mad that I bought a Toyota Camry for my next car. Japanese made. I have over 60,000 miles on this Toyota and so far the only thing I have spent money on is oil changes and tires. I pulled the front wheels to check the brake pads and they looked like new yet. My question is why is American quality going backward on cars. This is just a sad thing that the Japanese can get ahead of us in car quality.

 

[BKBrown]

VENTRAC is made in Ohio and they use mainly American made products in and on their equipment. :thumbsup:

 

[motorrefurb]

Sorry for all you Chevy guys, but Chevrolet is getting worse with domestic parts year after year. Also a Chevy Malibu is not one of the higher end ones, its more of a consumer car