Vanguard carb backorder saga continues.

[ILENGINE]

Bert this where when you have the time to do procurement you can things work out for the better. Several of my distributors sell Xtreme PTO clutches along with Xtreme selling direct. I just do my price checks and order from whoever has the best price. I can see where different distributors get different pricing plans.

I do the same thing on other parts too. One has the best on Husqvarna parts but charges more the MTD parts as where the other has better MTD part prices than on Husqvarna. Basically it is trying to the best overall prices on an order that finally wins out. They both probably hate me for working the system but it takes it to keep a small shop profitable while giving a fair price to customer and staying competitive with other shops.

Xtreme is another one that likes to sell a clutch to the dealer for $169 with a suggested retail of $249 and then sell if directly on their website for $179. And Arrowhead is the parent company of XtremeOPE which also owns, Atlantic Quality, All Balls powersports, and Stens, but if I remember correctly Arrowhead starters are also marketed under DB electrical,

 

[StarTech]

That would explain why I get the PTO clutches cheaper thru Stens.

All balls were recently noted in an Stens Email to me. I don't a whole a lot the All Balls stuff. Matter this last year was pretty dead ATV repair wise. I did several Chinese kids ATV but that was about it.

 

[bertsmobile1]

So do Ariens family have a controlling interest in Arrowhead or did they sell out of Stens ?
AFAIK Extreme are sold through Stens down here but I did a search for a customer the other day & noticed that All Mowers were selling the Xtreme clutch for $ 179 ( Aus ) which is about $ 120 US from a different wholesaler while the Stens wholesale price is $ 235 ( and the Stens clutch was not listed )
I use All Mowers as they pay a fortune for SEO so always come top is every parts search & I usually take 50¢ to $ 1.00 off their price then remind the customers that the AMR price + 15 % GST ( which I do not pay ) & $ 15 delivery on orders under $ 200 and they don't have it is stock where as I usually do have it in stock.
All Mowers also use the wholesalers part number as their SKU so I cal tell where the part is coming from and from that the potential quality of the part

 

[ILENGINE]

Bert Ariens sold Stens to Arrowhead. November 30 of 2016. Just realized they also got JThomas in the mix. Just also found out the Arrowhead also owns Trilink chain

 

[bertsmobile1]

Bert Ariens sold Stens to Arrowhead. November 30 of 2016. Just realized they also got JThomas in the mix. Just also found out the Arrowhead also owns Trilink chain

Tar that is good to know.
I met Peter Ariens when he was here after BY-Norm who were the Stens distributor went bust due to being conned by Tecumseh & paying a fortune for the Aust franchise 6 months before Tecumseh went bust ( no morals is big business ) .
I would have thought it was latter than 2016 .
Not being a franchise workshop I don't get the corperate skuttlebutt

 

[ILENGINE]

Just for an update. Received my Amazon carb yesterday and got it installed this morning. Engine runs like a champ.

 

[catman606]

Just for an update. Received my Amazon carb yesterday and got it installed this morning. Engine runs like a champ.

I don't deal with the number of engines some of you guys do, but I've bought four Chinese carbs for personal use over the years and they have all worked great. They even sent me the tool to adjust the two cycle carb.

 

[ILENGINE]

@catman606 They may be good carbs and not cause any issues. but sets up the potential for the customer to have issues due to bad fuel in the future, and then takes it to a different dealer and that dealer tries to order a carb repair kit and then finds out the OEM kit doesn't work. And in this case the Amazon carb really wasn't any cheaper than the OEM carb I am waiting on.

 

[StarTech]

This why you got to have experience techs working on the equipment. But as you said IL it does help the next tech down the road if we use only OEM parts. This is very reason I repair the wiring harnesses the way I do. Even when I did bypass surgery on the Z830A, Z950A, and the Z950R I did it in such a way that it could be easily undone if the next tech decides to replace the control modules. Also when installing rocker covers I always transfer the correct model, type(spec), and date code to the new part as I personally hate it when I get one that this is not done.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Another issue with the aftermarket carb kits is the fuel lines that come with them. The yellow stuff is a knockoff of Tygon. The stuff usually fails in a year or two and the black stuff is no better. If i must resort to a aftermarket carb i never use any fuel line that comes with it. Real tygon has white printing on the side of it.