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View Full Version : Why can't I buy precisely what I want?



Roger Feeley
10-28-2019, 11:26 AM
I have a John Deere X304 lawn tractor. The 'hitch' is really just a little bracket in back with a 3/4" hole. That's fine until I want to turn. This tractor has 4 wheel turning with a radius of about 15" and whatever I'm towing tends to run into the rear tires. I have to be careful with my little lawn cart but it's not too bad. It got really bad with a dethatcher last weekend. that has a sort of V shaped attachment. So I looked around on the internet for some sort of extension to the hitch that would extend the attachment point back past the rear wheels. I found one product but the reviews weren't very good and I could see why.

I guess I'm spoiled. Here I am with my wallet out and I can't find something that I want that, "surely, other people would also want". We tend to think of our universe of available goods and services as nearly unlimited but it's really not.

I couldn't find what I needed. So, like any good Creeker, I made one.

You can see in the photo below a 2" piece of square tubing bolted to my tractor. A 3" piece of bar at right angles keeps it from shifting right and left. The turnbuckle keeps the whole thing from bending down. You can see my lawn cart attached to another piece of plate. A smaller piece of tubing would have sufficed but I did it all with scrap on hand.

This project is sort of emblematic of the answer I give to people when they ask what I make in my shop. I tell them that I make "Precisely what I want". Back in Kansas City, my old doctor has a wood shop and he makes rocking horses. Somebody has a baby, they get a rocking horse. Charity auction? Rocking horse. This weekend it was a hitch extension. Next weekend, I will be laser engraving 200 Christmas ornaments.
418442

Mark Blatter
10-28-2019, 5:08 PM
Maybe it is just me, but I find that too often I cannot find what I want and I have to settle for what I can find. Manufacturers tend to make what the largest group of consumers want, not the small groups. Perfect case is socks. I wear a 13 shoe, but socks are for sizes 8 -12. Don't ask me how a size 8 can wear a size 12, but that is the expectation. Anything outside of that range, tough luck. I am sure I could find a specialty store that perhaps has larger socks, but main stream not a chance.

In a world of specialization, most things have become designed to fit the 'normal' group and not the edges.

Rant done.

Jerome Stanek
10-28-2019, 5:27 PM
Why not have a shop make a new hitch plate for you

Flamone LaChaud
10-28-2019, 5:36 PM
It would seem to me that the better you are at making, the less you're willing to settle for 'good enough'. At least for me, I wind up being dragg . . . errr . . . accompanying my significant other to stores in order to get something "now" that is (in my opinion) disposable after being used for about a year. At the prices that are being asked, and the quality of materials . . .I just can't do it. Mark, I'm sure if you found someone that wove, knit, or otherwise made clothing and said "I really would like some nice size 13 socks", and they were able to deliver . . . . every other sock company would have just lost your business. I know many people who find fabric that they love, and the next week they're wearing a new jacket, or vest, or shirt of that very same fabric.

On the flip side - like Roger did - if you can't find something that is exactly what you want . . . and you have the skills, sometimes overbuilt, not exactly refined to the eyes, and inexpensive but absolutely works is just what the doctor ordered. All depends on the need to motivation to ability ratio.

Ron Selzer
10-28-2019, 7:24 PM
Maybe it is just me, but I find that too often I cannot find what I want and I have to settle for what I can find. Manufacturers tend to make what the largest group of consumers want, not the small groups. Perfect case is socks. I wear a 13 shoe, but socks are for sizes 8 -12. Don't ask me how a size 8 can wear a size 12, but that is the expectation. Anything outside of that range, tough luck. I am sure I could find a specialty store that perhaps has larger socks, but main stream not a chance.

In a world of specialization, most things have become designed to fit the 'normal' group and not the edges.


Rant done.

look on ebay just ordered 12 pair of white work socks (knee high) size 13-15 https://www.ebay.com/itm/12-Pairs-Pro-Trek-Over-the-Calf-Knee-High-Comfort-Boot-Work-Socks-Made-in-USA/182039407842?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=482820702068&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
other vendors have black also
have been buying all my socks, made in USA, off of ebay for past 15-20 yrs, can't find them in a store

Steve Fish
10-28-2019, 7:50 PM
Kane11 makes socks in individual sizes. Lol this thread is now about socks. Roger, I like your approach. I remember my dad always cobbling stuff together to get something done. Back when there was no internet to search out solutions or materials. I find myself in a place now where I have to make do with limited resources as well unless I find something that’s worth paying huge shipping fees for. I just try to find reward in overcoming the challenges, keeps life less stressful

Roger Feeley
10-28-2019, 9:48 PM
Sometimes I farm out work. I recently paid a guy in Idaho to make some really great legs for a bench. I also farmed out a stripping job because I hate stripping furniture. But I do a lot of things myself simply because I can’t find what I want or it’s too much trouble to hunt.

Roger Feeley
10-28-2019, 9:50 PM
Sometimes I farm out work. I recently paid a guy in Idaho to make some really great legs for a bench. I also farmed out a stripping job because I hate stripping furniture. But I do a lot of things myself simply because I can’t find what I want or it’s too much trouble to hunt.

also this is inside the beltway. Lawyers are easy to find. Metal fabricators are not.

James Waldron
10-28-2019, 10:36 PM
[snip]

also this is inside the beltway. Lawyers are easy to find. Metal fabricators are not.


So we'll soon be reading about your suit against John Deere? Easy money!

Jim Koepke
10-29-2019, 1:07 AM
Is your equipment made specifically for your lawn tractor? My guess is no. If it is, then there is a big problem.

This is the dark side of manufacturing where if your tractor dies, then you may have to also get new accessories to go with it. This of course is compounded by the X304 having all wheel turning.

As you mentioned, others may also find a need for such an item. How much would a fabricator charge to make such an item and how much could it bring on the market? You might be able to make some money or even sale the idea to John Deere.

jtk

Roger Feeley
10-29-2019, 7:01 AM
So we'll soon be reading about your suit against John Deere? Easy money!
Ha! Generally not that kind of lawyer. I live with two of them. My son in law is a director at the Cato Institute. My daughter is an assistant general counsel for the US House of Representatives. Another lawyer across the street runs the superfund at the EPA. Lady down the street supervises the legal team for trademarks at USPTO.

You never know who you are going to meet around here. I met this nice old lady at the bank and gave her a ride home. Turned out that she was Janet Reno’s personal secretary when she was attorney general.

Tom Bender
10-29-2019, 7:19 AM
It's good to realize that not all lawyers are ambulance chasers, in fact most do respectable work.

Bill Dufour
10-29-2019, 9:43 AM
[QUOTE=Mark Blatter;2961987]Maybe it is just me, but I find that too often I cannot find what I want and I have to settle for what I can find. Manufacturers tend to make what the largest group of consumers want, not the small groups. Perfect case is socks. I wear a 13 shoe, but socks are for sizes 8 -12. Don't ask me how a size 8 can wear a size 12, but that is the expectation. Anything outside of that range, tough luck. I am sure I could find a specialty store that perhaps has larger socks, but main stream not a chance.

If your foot is size 13 you needs socks that are size 15 because of course shoe and sock size are different.
Go to oddball.com Their socks start at size 14 and up. They often have 20% off sales codes

https://www.oddball.com/socks

Roger Feeley
10-29-2019, 11:14 AM
Is your equipment made specifically for your lawn tractor? My guess is no. If it is, then there is a big problem.

This is the dark side of manufacturing where if your tractor dies, then you may have to also get new accessories to go with it. This of course is compounded by the X304 having all wheel turning.

As you mentioned, others may also find a need for such an item. How much would a fabricator charge to make such an item and how much could it bring on the market? You might be able to make some money or even sale the idea to John Deere.

jtk

The attachments are generic. The cart came from Cub Cadet (real workhorse) and the detchatcher is some cheap $69 thing off Amazon. I think the problem is that my particular tractor has 4 wheel turning. A traditional front-wheel only steering might not have the tight turning radius that would be a problem for the cart. The dethatcher would be a problem for just about anything but a straightaway.

Roger Feeley
10-29-2019, 11:17 AM
[QUOTE=Mark Blatter;2961987]Maybe it is just me, but I find that too often I cannot find what I want and I have to settle for what I can find. Manufacturers tend to make what the largest group of consumers want, not the small groups. Perfect case is socks. I wear a 13 shoe, but socks are for sizes 8 -12. Don't ask me how a size 8 can wear a size 12, but that is the expectation. Anything outside of that range, tough luck. I am sure I could find a specialty store that perhaps has larger socks, but main stream not a chance.

If your foot is size 13 you needs socks that are size 15 because of course shoe and sock size are different.
Go to oddball.com Their socks start at size 14 and up. They often have 20% off sales codes

https://www.oddball.com/socks

I wear all Thorlo socks so I don't have to hunt in the dark. I just buy 8 pairs of gray hikers every 5 years or so and rotate em. I wear size 13 shoes and Thorlo makes size 13 socks.

Mark Blatter
10-29-2019, 8:28 PM
[QUOTE=Mark Blatter;2961987]Maybe it is just me, but I find that too often I cannot find what I want and I have to settle for what I can find. Manufacturers tend to make what the largest group of consumers want, not the small groups. Perfect case is socks. I wear a 13 shoe, but socks are for sizes 8 -12. Don't ask me how a size 8 can wear a size 12, but that is the expectation. Anything outside of that range, tough luck. I am sure I could find a specialty store that perhaps has larger socks, but main stream not a chance.

If your foot is size 13 you needs socks that are size 15 because of course shoe and sock size are different.
Go to oddball.com Their socks start at size 14 and up. They often have 20% off sales codes

https://www.oddball.com/socks

And this is what I enjoy about this web page. You can go, make a comment while giving an example, and ten people jump in and solve your unrelated problem. I used to do that to my wife, but learned early on it was a good way to get into trouble.

Thanks for all the suggestion on socks. I will check them out.