There was a time I remember when people mostly bought the equipment they needed, and no more. Most everyone I knew had OPE from Sears...
But the marketing man has been successful... the message has stuck.
I would only partially agree with that
Chris-PA.
There was a time when "homeowner" equipment from Sears far out-classed much of today's "pro" equipment... and that's the real rub. Just look at that little 1968 Custom 10XL I use as a utility tractor. Yeah, it's a bit beat-up and seen better days, but it's still at least twice the tractor of any "homeowner" one on the market... it'll out-pull and out-work my newer Husqvarna that has 2½ times the Hp. I'm bettin' it'll still be haulin'-the-mail long after that Husqvarna is scrap iron. Heck, dad buys John Deere, and the next step up from "homeowner" grade at that... he has to replace them every 5 years or so 'cause they're flat wore-out.
It ain't so much the "marketing man"... it's more the BS regulations and "throwaway world" we live in and the junk it spawns. I had a little push mower a couple years back with a molded plastic carburetor on it... really, plastic‼ No adjustment, no parts available, not even the complete carb (just try and convince me that ain't due to BS emissions regulations). But I can still get any part I need for the carburetors on that 1968 10XL, or the old garden tiller from the 60's (maybe early 70's) I own... and, like the 10XL, it's also a figgin' tank that keeps on tickin' like a Timex.
Yeah, "there was a time when people mostly bought the equipment they needed, and no more"... but at that time, when you bought something, you actually got something, likely more than you "needed" even if it came from one of the lower shelves. People are wowed buy superficial owl squat now-a-days. Gadgetry ain't quality, it's nothing but silly fluff... and that's where "the marketing man has been successful", convincing people of the electronic age that they have to have silly fluff. People even brag about their silly fluff, show it off, and pump their chests out over it. Me?? I yank or disable most all of it, toss it in the trash if I can... I'd bet I removed near 100 feet of wire, with corresponding "safety" switches, sensors and relays from my Husqvarna grass cutter.
Like I said...
Good or bad, I'm a Stihl guy... but I have no desire to own anything with the "MS" designation in the model number.
I'm less than impressed... way less.
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