dryfly@Neat Hat wrote:
I won’t buy anything but Deere. I got the crappiest one they make, and it is better than a huge chunk of mowers out there.
The large Deere riding mowers are still made by Deere – been in those plants too. I believe their crappier low budget ones are frequently private label. I know for a fact they don’t make the engines – been in those plants too. Kawasaki, Kohler, B&S. Some better than others. In fairness though they do have pretty good supply chain management – don’t buy ‘blindly’. So not like they buy on price and just fling them out there.
Honda is about the only truly vertical manufacturer anymore – making most of what they sell top to bottom. But I am sure if we lifted the skirt we’d see they outsource a lot too. [EDIT: I guess Toro some too – not sure about their engines – I know the commercial mowers have lots of outsource].
Not saying outsourcing is terrible – I sell into the biz – just not as ‘brand loyal’ as I used to be unless I know they actually control who they outsource to. Deere is mostly okay.