Be on the alert if you intend to do business with Harv's Tree Service, Inc. in Michigan or Worldwide Construction Equipment. Both have serious customer complaints outstanding.

Apparently, Cat the 1,000 lb gorilla has realized how much revenue is flowing to all the salvage operations around the country and has decided to compete in a big way. There are even hints that it might even eliminate some of its competition by purchasing the inventory of some the existing salvage operations.

Worldwide Recall Issued on Ford Model T's - All Model T's ever manufactured and still in existence today are being recalled. The recall is, of course, voluntary and all part of the fun of the 2008 Model T Ford Centennial T Party being held at the Wayne County Fairgrounds and Exposition Center in Richmond, Indiana. This weeklong event runs from July 21-26, 2008, and is being called the "party of the century" for the "car of the century". While over 15 million Model T cars were built between 1908 and 1927, it is estimated that only about 500,000 have survived. This is expected to be the largest gathering of Model T's since they left the factory.

Kobleco America - Used and sometimes new Kobelco products, originally intended for sale in Japan and other overseas locations, are being imported into this country. These "grey market" units were not designed for sale in North America. They were designed and manufactured for the Japanese and rest of world markets and imported into North America by individuals or entities independent of Kobelco Construction America LLC. These "grey market" units are different in several important respects from the products that Kobelco manufactures for the North America market, and which authorized Kobelco Dealers sell in the United States and Canada. What this means to a purchaser of a "grey market" product is the usual after sales support structure is not in place for these machines: such as replacement parts, technical reference material and dealer technical training on these products. There is no responsibility whatsoever either by Kobelco Construction America LLC or its authorized dealers for these "grey market" units to provide parts, service or any warranty support for Kobelco "grey market" machines in the United Sates or Canada.

Chinese Tractors - Anyone considering buying a Chinese tractor should FIRST thoroughly research the Chinese Tractor Owners Association and read this article published by JohnsTractor.com!!

Please note also this quote on the Kama Tractor website:

"During a visit to China in December of 2006, Chip Uren, founder of ARTRAC visited several plants and after careful consideration, selected a Different factory to build a new line of tractors that we will market as part of a AGTRAC INTERNATIONAL LLC".

That quote most certainly does not inspire any confidence in the quality of the Kama tractors. Chinese tractors are imported under the following names: Kama, Foton, Dongfeng, JinMa, Jinma, or just JM, Agtrac, and many others. Jinma tractors are sold under many brand names in the USA including Agracat, FarmPro, Farm Boss, Ag-King, Emerybuilt, SmartTrac, Nortrac, Plantation, Iron Horse and Rebel.