Elementary questions .. My rant

[moresmoke]

Much of it comes from the dumbing down of schools so everyone passes. I had calculus in high school where I learned everything covered in Calc I and II at college. Most schools have eliminated shop etc. My daughter wouldn’t get past algebra 1 in high school if she wasn’t taking online classes.

Also, and this will sound racist even though it is not meant to be, and I’m going to say it anyway. Most white kids have no reason to do anything mechanical or any reason to be exposed to it. They are busy with sports and other games that have very little use in life.

There are still plenty of people that fix their own cars, tune them up, put in killer sound systems and all. You just generally have to visit a minority neighborhood to find them. Which I’m guessing most people on this forum don’t.

Oh and by the way, I use my phone to fix cars now days.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I swear that the owner's manual for my riding lawn mower has more "warnings" in it than actual instructions on how to operate the mower!

How true. We recently acquired a few battery operated tools. The instructions contained numerous pages of warnings about the Li batteries and only a couple of pages of actual instructions and most of that was 'return to dealer for service".

 

[wp6529]

Then why aren't there very many (if any) independent shops around to repair these high dollar machines. Most everything I have read is manufacturers, JD especially, do not sell (or lease) anything to independent shops for repairs/computer "adjustments", etc. "Right-to-repair" hasn't happened in the farming equipment area, as it has around the automotive area. Independent shops, and you, can repair the automotive equipment all day long, at not too much cost. Farm equipment, nada.

Around my area I have seen quite a few of the green machines sitting in fields, half harvested, for a few weeks. That implies that independent shops don't have the equipment to fix, and it is dealer only, at the dealers' convenience.

Spend some time watching western truck and tractor repair on youtube. You will see an independent mechanic servicing a large variety of modern tractors and semis, using scan tools and reprogramming modules where necessary. The reason you don't see a lot of them is that they have to really bust their butts and work vs. the "easy life" of a dealer mechanic in an air conditioned shop.

 

[Fred Werring]

I believe there are still a bunch of people that can replace parts. We've had parts replacers forever.
What I don't see are many who can think and diagnose.
Saw a bunch of people that passed a test to get in an apprenticeship, but appeared to have never held a tool in their life. If they're going to be a decent tradesman, they've got a steep hill to climb.

 

[bc]

I remember the days when the farmers had to take things to the town blacksmith to get it fixed. Hung around the blacksmith shop as a kid.

 

[Koolaid]

Congratulations - all of you complaining about the young whipper-snappers have become the old people complaining about you when you were young!

 

[DoubleO7]

In the last 40 yrs the mechanical mentality of the average Joe seems to have reached a extreme low... True , Technology improvements have made great steps . But the total lack of common sense , sound reasoning , and dead reckoning of some are nearly non existant ,,. But ,If You DO find one with those that has retained those lost qualities ,, They are most interesting to talk with and to learn from .

The above rant has appeared in hundreds of Letters-to-the-Editor in newspapers ever since they were invented.

 

[Swamp Dweller]

we have always lived in a world where most people are NOT gurus of any sort, and are dependent on a small handful of people who ARE.

i've got a dead Macbook here that someone asked me if i could look at it. whaddya think? can YOU fix it? if not, you're ranting into the mirror.

 

[zuhnc]

western truck and tractor repair

AUTOMOTIVE again. NOT farming equipment. It is anybody's game in the automotive world, depending on how your funding is. Try to get one of the truck and (over-the-road) tractor repair guys out to fix your JD combine; not going to happen. Farm equipment is, for the most part, wait until the dealer, with proprietary equipment, can get to you. Don't conflate one with the other; two different areas. zuhnc

 

[kencombs]

In the last 40 yrs the mechanical mentality of the average Joe seems to have reached a extreme low... True , Technology improvements have made great steps . But the total lack of common sense , sound reasoning , and dead reckoning of some are nearly non existant ,,. But ,If You DO find one with those that has retained those lost qualities ,, They are most interesting to talk with and to learn from .

 

[kencombs]

Then there are exceptions.
I have an 18yo Great Granddaughter living with me. Recently got her license, got a job and wanted a car. So I cosigned for her, all the money was hers. The second day after she got it I told her I'd show her how to check the tires and oil. Her response, 'I've already done that', and by the way, do you think I need a set of jumper cables to carry in the car?

There is a glimmer of hope!

 

[JMOR]

Then there are exceptions.
I have an 18yo Great Granddaughter living with me. Recently got her license, got a job and wanted a car. So I cosigned for her, all the money was hers. The second day after she got it I told her I'd show her how to check the tires and oil. Her response, 'I've already done that', and by the way, do you think I need a set of jumper cables to carry in the car?

There is a glimmer of hope!

Then there are others..............

 

[DoubleO7]

Then there are others..............

Staged for youtube purposes, i.e. clicks to earn $$

 

[JMOR]

Then there are others..............

Staged for youtube purposes, i.e. clicks to earn $$

No! Surely not! What a surprise!

 

[olgentdc]

All im I’m gonna say is remember that the current generation is the offspring of the kids raised by your generation. It’s all a cascading effect.

Well Thank You for being a " A "double s ... My Kids and grandchildren are part of the solution,THANK YOU , Make Sure You are not part of the problem or your offspring dont grow up smart mouthing, to be the problem. Not even to be cute ..

 

[olgentdc]

All im I’m gonna say is remember that the current generation is the offspring of the kids raised by your generation. It’s all a cascading

How true. We recently acquired a few battery operated tools. The instructions contained numerous pages of warnings about the Li batteries and only a couple of pages of actual instructions and most of that was 'return to dealer for serv

 

[oliverkid]

Well Thank You for being a " A "double s ... My Kids and grandchildren are part of the solution,THANK YOU , Make Sure You are not part of the problem or your offspring dont grow up smart mouthing, to be the problem. Not even to be cute ..

Typical. Wants to sit on the porch pointing fingers and name calling like a 5 year old. Doesn’t want to admit that our current situation didn’t just “happen” all of the sudden, and it takes years to fall apart to this extent. Thanks for proving the point.

 

[wp6529]

AUTOMOTIVE again. NOT farming equipment. It is anybody's game in the automotive world, depending on how your funding is. Try to get one of the truck and (over-the-road) tractor repair guys out to fix your JD combine; not going to happen. Farm equipment is, for the most part, wait until the dealer, with proprietary equipment, can get to you. Don't conflate one with the other; two different areas. zuhnc

I take it you haven't bothered to check out Western Truck and Tractor Repair. He most certainly repairs combines, swathers, big m.f. tracked tractors, numerous Deere tractors, balers, dozers, hay squeezes, etc. as well as OTR semis.

As for automotive, I most certainly service my "modern" 2016 F350, the 2009 F350 that came before it, etc. I use a scan tool as needed and I think, analyze, troubleshoot and get to the bottom of whatever the issue is, be it a damaged CAN bus connection or suspension parts.

 

[jimg.allentown]

As I recall, when I was working as a dealership mechanic, I went to several training schools at the manufacturers' facilities. One such school was a school on driveability concerns.
As I entered the classroom, there was a table at the front of the room. On that table was a 4-barrel carburetor completely disassembled and arranged just like a parts blowup diagram. Next to it sat a single fuel injector.
The instructor entered, introduced himself, and began the class.
He pointed to the carburetor parts and told us that this is part of a fuel delivery system. Then he held up that single injector and said that this also was a part of a fuel delivery system. Which is more complicated?
He went on to explain that fuel injection was not harder to work on, just different. That goes for every system on cars, trucks, tractors, or whatever.
Granted, manufacturers try to "lock out" third party repairmen, but even that fades away after a while. Manufacturers are not going to be willing to support 40-year-old equipment, so as your proprietary equipment ages, the locks begin to disappear hopefully.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Every generation says the same thing about the one that follows, and somehow the world keeps turning. The truth of the matter is that "common sense , sound reasoning , and dead reckoning" have been the exception, and not the rule, since time began.

"Oh but it's getting worse. Believe me, I can tell." No, you're just being exposed to more of it because the world is so much smaller than it used to be. You can turn on the television, computer, or phone and see evidence of someone being incredibly stupid at any time of the day. Of course it's going to seem worse. Every old timer can recount stories of the town dunce. Most listening to the story laugh along nervously...

Oh, and they're not all for real. Some, many of them, are staged. Like the one posted previously in this thread of the woman pouring oil on her car's engine. The smart people are too smart to be out front and center. They're behind the scenes cashing in in the stupidity, and/or pulling the strings.