What is going on at MTD??

[bertsmobile1]

Part number would be nice as I could see if my distributor has them in stock.

As a business many of my distributors keep accurate reported stock levels so I know when I order if the parts are showing up a couple days. Even I try to keep an accurate in stock inventory so I depend it for my own repairs and sales but it is just the common items I use here.

Not all items are stocked and must be ordered from OEM warehouse. And yes the OEM are slow at times as they are awaiting on a slow boat from China sometimes. I just got an Husqvarna order that had to come from the Husqvarna warehouse that I ordered 05/17/2020, it took over three weeks. And I am awaiting another order from June the 2nd for v-belt, a $6 item on a $220 order. At the 5/17 had the same belt so I good to go on major rebuild of the rear tine tiller.

With this Covid-19 messing things there will be slow shipping problems. Sometimes the distributor have them in stock but not always.

FWIW
I ordered 3 kawasaki con rods 13251-0719 which fits current models FS / FR / FX 651-730
They came up NLA in March this year & I was told they were being made but just out of stock
This morning I got an email telling me they had landed & would be shipped on Wed or Thurs depending upon how quick the container is broken down.
Down side is they are being allocated on a pro rata basis so I will only be getting one, the balance should be here in August.
Kohler have no con rods either and they can not even give me an estimate as to when they expect to be getting more stock.

This is all due to world wide outsourcing in order to get the cheapest price.
In a time when global supply chain is broken your tranny could take a very long time as it could have parts from China, Mexico, Brazil , Korea & the Phillipines in there

 

[Scrubcadet10]

What is the part number(s)?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Well it is very misleading when a company like MTD says the parts are “ in stock” before you order them. They should be honest about the parts they have in stock. It would save a lot of problems with their customers. I mean “ who can you trust anymore”? Are they going to lie just to get the order then make you wait till hell freezes over before you get the parts!

That could be the difference between fully computerised warehouses with computerised picking and manual warehouses .
According to the computer, there is parts there but when the picker gets to the bin, it is "Old Mother Hubbard - Nothing In the Cupboard "
When I order on line from retail sources I always check the estimated delivery time.
If it says "ships is x number of days. I do not proceed or cancel the order because that indicates the parts are not in house and have to come in from some where else.
\
An ex house mate ran a world wide electronics warehouse dealing with microfische printers
The support / repair staff would think nothing of grabbing a 1/2 dozen boards before going to a repair to save having to come back or getting the boards sent by courier.
Naturally they could not put through a pick order because there was no actual sales to link it to.
That SHOULD have been done when they got back & replaced the boards they did not use.
Thus the margins looked very good because customers got billed & paid for boards that the computer still was crediting as being in stock in the warehouse.
Some of these boards had a 2 year lead time. and cost better than $ 100,000.00

It happesn

 

[Hammermechanicman]

An independent dealer i know quit stocking almost any engine parts. They stocks engines. They won't fix a blown head gasket. They sell you an engine.

 

[Honda Tech]

I tried ordering a new drive cable and other parts for my TB mower. They sent me the wrong cable. Their Chat doesn't do returns and couldn't get a hold of anyone with the phone. Ordered the cable from a local dealer. Had it in a few days and the correct one I might add. Shop local when you can!

 

[stanman13]

I've noticed that a lot of suppliers inventory is inaccurate when checking online, definitely not unique to this industry during stay-at-home orders. Supply chains are disrupted, no one is physically verifying inventory, buying patterns are unusual, etc. I understand all that, but I do wish that the suppliers would have better communication. If I send an email inquiry, it would be nice to get some kind of acknowledgement. Then it would be easier for me to have more patience.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I tried ordering a new drive cable and other parts for my TB mower. They sent me the wrong cable. Their Chat doesn't do returns and couldn't get a hold of anyone with the phone. Ordered the cable from a local dealer. Had it in a few days and the correct one I might add. Shop local when you can!

Because you only want to pay $ 2.50 for the cable & not $ 10.50 the warehouse employs pickers who have no idea what the stuff is they are picking.
All they know is to put 1 item from bin AX104sa into the basket.
Same story at the despatch desk .

Hopefully you local friendly TB retailer parts salesperson would have looked at it and gone "humm that does not look right ?" and if it was wrong then he would chase it up to gtet you the right one.
That is the extra service you pay for from a shop with a real person standing in front of you.

 

[Dave9354]

I've noticed that a lot of suppliers inventory is inaccurate when checking online, definitely not unique to this industry during stay-at-home orders. Supply chains are disrupted, no one is physically verifying inventory, buying patterns are unusual, etc. I understand all that, but I do wish that the suppliers would have better communication. If I send an email inquiry, it would be nice to get some kind of acknowledgement. Then it would be easier for me to have more patience.

Exactly my thoughts. Why are you not answering any emails? This is what pisses people off! We have no idea what is going on with our orders if you do not reply!

 

[StarTech]

You get a couple emails about parts you have ordered. You give the customer a timeline for completion to only have to call back with a new timeline.

Example:

First update 6/16/2020 03:08 AM

Order Details	Ordered​	​
3GD-14155-00-00 GUIDE, CABLE (Yamaha) $8.87 Available Tuesday, June 23, 2020	5​	​
43D-F583V-00-00 RR. MASTER CYLINDER (Yamaha) $88.97 Available Thursday, June 18, 2020	1​	​
43D-H3941-00-00 LEVER, STARTER (Yamaha) $21.89 Available Monday, June 29, 2020	1​

then you get this update


6/17/2020 03:04AM

Order Details	Ordered​	​
3GD-14155-00-00 GUIDE, CABLE (Yamaha) $8.87 Available Tuesday, June 23, 2020	5​	​
43D-F583V-00-00 RR. MASTER CYLINDER (Yamaha) $88.97 Available Tuesday, August 11, 2020	1​	​
43D-H3941-00-00 LEVER, STARTER (Yamaha) $21.89 Available Friday, August 21, 2020	1​	​

Boy isn't fun. The master cylinder that I need that was to tomorrow is now two months out.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Not mower parts but i have 2 $2000 PTZ cameras plus other equipment backordered for my other business. All total i have about $7k cash laid out waiting on backordered equipment. Will probably be another month before the boat arrives from asia. Business is good but the supply chain is hurting everyone. I have organizations wanting to do business but i don't want to hang more cash out for backordered equipment.