metrics

[Anonymous-0]

I posted this on JD board but got no responce. Anyone know why they built the 2800 plow with metrics? I didn't think there was anything more American than apple pie, ice cream and John Deere. But then they come along with a metric plow. I really like the plow but now have to buy another set of wrenches.

 

[Janicholson]

We live in a metric country (since the 1800s) but fail to realize it. Big corporations are almost all metric. The military sure is. And so is most plywood and sheet material (in thickness) no big deal. I train all my students in metric only because we (will need to compete in the world). JimN

 

[Anonymous-0]

You'll have to buy a set of JD wrenches from the dealer for that plow. Regular ones won't work.

 

[Walt Davies]

Augh!! just get two good Crescent wrenches and a big hammer.
Walt

 

[phillip d]

Metric is the simplest measurement system in the world.Each measurement starts with a micro measurement,then multiplied by 10 to become deci somthing,them by 100 to become centi somthing then by 1000 to become kilo somthing.Simple as that.Heck it must be idiot proof,they used it in france for years lol.pd.

 

[Anonymous-0]

France is not the only country that uses metric measurements. I had a 1978 El Camino that was built in Mexico that had metric nuts and bolts. It appears that the USA is the idiot that still uses SAE tools.

 

[Spook]

Short answer - I am guessing that Deere didn't make the plow in the US. If it was built in Canada or Europe, metric fasteners would be normal.

 

[Steven f/AZ]

Metric makes sense - I wish the US would go metric and get it over with...

Just buy another set of wrenches and sockets. Perfect excuse to buy more tools!

 

[37 chief]

Make sure they are metric cresent wrenches. I actually saw a metric cresent (adjustable) wrench it was marked with lines to indicate the MM opening on the jaws. Stan

 

[farmer boy]

It's So simple. Multiply or divide it and you get the next biggest or smallest measurement. i hate metric wrenches because I can't look at a nut and say that 12mm but I can do that with standard.More tools to lose!

 

[504-2]

Any company that does business with the feds must use metric specifications, GM went metric about 1977 or 1978.

 

[motorv8N]

I'm one of those poor slobs who got caught in the metric switchover when I was going to school in Canada in the seventies. As a result, some things I have to deal with in one measurement and some in another.

For instance, when someone tells me they're getting 20 mpg combined city and highway mileage, I get it. But a dealer sticker on a car that says mileage is 9.7 litres per 100km? Can't relate at all.

Going the other way, I get that something is 7 milllimetres thick. But ask me to mark off 11/16ths of an inch on a ruler and I'll just stare at ya like a dummy.

I do agree with previous comments that it's nice to have an excuse to buy more tools!

 

[msb]

Deere said the government mandated going to metrics and we service guys were told to get used to it. It is the coming thing, they said, like it or not.Of course you have to remember Deere equipment was built almost exclusively in the U. S. (except for a few pieces of equipment in Canada) at that time. Deere also exported a lot of equipment back then and that wasn't received too well by the importing countries. I always figured that was the real reason because Deere knew metrics pi$$ed American farmers off big time. It still does me to this day.Like most things,it was all about money.
Guess it worked out for Deere and everybody else since a lot more equipment is now IMPORTED !Thanks to UAW and John Deere.

 

[Walt Davies]

The old Honda shops had crescent wrenches that were mark MM on the handle. An Idiot friend of my nephew's went in one day an ask if the had any Crescent wrenches that weren't Metric. You had to keep that kid away from water he would always find some way to fall in.
Walt

 

[RAB]

You should have turned it over..... if you were lucky the Imperial markings would have been there.
RAB

 

[Tradititonal Farmer]

JD started importing tractors back in the 60s
not surprising some of their equipment is also imported.

 

[Anonymous-0]

My 8310 and 7810 JD tractors are mostly metric. They were built in Iowa.

 

[msb]

I think the first Deere import was the 820 3 cylinder and that would have been in about 1970.