Big Box Store Lawn Tractors

Rickcin

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Not sure if I misinterpreted a comment in a thread so I need to ask the question.

Are the lawn tractors being sold by Lowes and Home Depot being manufactured to a lower standard to minimize the pricing? Thanks
 

bertsmobile1

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Where they can get away with it.
In many cases the Big Box mower will be a lower spec so it looks the same but is cheaper.
 

SeniorCitizen

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Not sure if I misinterpreted a comment in a thread so I need to ask the question.

Are the lawn tractors being sold by Lowes and Home Depot being manufactured to a lower standard to minimize the pricing? Thanks

**********************************************************************
If the numbers are identical good examples of this are seldom provided and it's mostly people that are filling the atmosphere with smoke.
 

csmlet

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Not sure if I misinterpreted a comment in a thread so I need to ask the question.

Are the lawn tractors being sold by Lowes and Home Depot being manufactured to a lower standard to minimize the pricing? Thanks

Talk to your local dealer, I talked to the John Deere and Cub Cadet dealer and both told me they were the same mower. Only difference is when it needs warranty work and you take it to the dealer it is put on the back shelf until they have all their "customers" repair work completed.
 

Boobala

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I may be wrong .... but THEE only "Big-Box" store I know of that performs maint. & serviceing of the equipment they sell is a place
named Rural-King ..... at least here in the Ocala, Fl. area they do .. Others may ... but I am not aware of them . .....Boobala
 

Jack17

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Up here if they have 'tool rental' they'll have 'repair shop' right next to it.
 

bertsmobile1

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When you start repairing a lot of big box store mowers you start to notice a lot of things are cheaper.
Some of the things that I have noticed.
1) deck is pressed from lighter grade of steel
2) blades are lighter
3) cables are lighter
4) strengthening plates are omitted
5) smaller diameter self tapping fasteners used in a lot of places
6) fewer fasteners on body panels.
7) frames made from thinner steels.

I have noticed this mostly on mowers from the AYP factory.
Now AYP make a lot of identical looking mowers for a lot of different companies so light weight parts are usually found on low end brands, because they are cheap low end brands designed to compete against the cheap Chinese mowers.
However I also see the cheap low end brand parts fitted to more expensive brands .
And mostly these came from a discount department store not a brand franchise dealer.
Now I am in OZ so things might be different here.

The local push mower assembly plants all made cheaper versions of their products for the discount department stores.
 

Boobala

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Shamefully true ....
When you run across a lot of mechanical items , mowers, cars, guns, outboard motors, common hand-tools, garden tools etc., etc., etc.
I find it easy to recognize the difference in quality , and craftsmanship. The days of "pride" in one's work has become ...
how much can I get for it & how fast !! True tradesmen / craftsmen are disappearing rapidly, perhaps our military with an
increasing inventory of "outdated" items and a numbered few of financially solvent companies is the last stronghold of our "ancient" principles and methods that were handed down generation to generation .
Granted, THERE are still many things out "there" today bearing the marks of a craftsman ...meticulously precise , born of dedication to ethics of a person with high standards , brought forth with little or no regard for the amount of time required for it's evolution, most likely it's arrival was prompted by necessity, but more so by desire . And the persons, able to differentiate between quality
and garbage, is also beginning to wane. I'll easily agree modern technology has given us many great things and the "tools" to build
them , BUT ... do we build things to last a PERSONS lifetime or that... of a guess, of the constructive materials lifetime ???
It is unfortunate that todays things of quality have to compete with "garbage" in the price of "goods" ...... Boobala
 

RDA.Lawns

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Wal Mart power tools are made cheaper for the exact same model you could purchase at a mom n pop store.If a big box store comes to you. I'll buy 1 million units at x price to sale for y. Because y is lower than their competition they will sale . The manufacture will retool just to complete the order for x price per units and still be profitable.
 

Rickcin

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Wal Mart power tools are made cheaper for the exact same model you could purchase at a mom n pop store.If a big box store comes to you. I'll buy 1 million units at x price to sale for y. Because y is lower than their competition they will sale . The manufacture will retool just to complete the order for x price per units and still be profitable.


Yes, I know for a fact that many plumbing fixtures sold at the big box stores are built to a lower standard than those sold at a plumbing supply shop, that is a fact!

Today I bought the same size (6gallon) Cherry Laurel from Lowes and bought the same exact shrub and size from a Nursery yesterday at a much higher price. The difference, the big box shrub had a tiny root ball in the 6 gallon pot that was filled with mulch while the Nursery shrub root ball filled the 6 gallon pail. So, you're paying less but getting less. It just so happens that my circumstances allowed me to see the difference while most others will not and never realize it. The focus is on the shrub, above the pot!

That be said, I still have no info to indicate if this is true for Lawn Tractors???
 
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