Parts Guys??

[Howard H.]

Called the local JD dealer looking for a bearing for my old 8820 combine variable speed chaffer fan drive.

The first guy that answered scratched around for a while and kept talking about the engine fan. I kept trying to explain what I was talking about and he finally said "I only have old, grainy black and white pictures to look at and can't see what you want. If you want to come by and look, come on in...".

So I told him I'd find a part # and call back. Armed with a JD part # (off of jdparts.com ), I called back 5 minutes later and a second parts guy answered. Before I could even give him the #, he launched into how he had been a JD parts guy for over 6 years and he'd NEVER sold any parts for anything as old as an 8820. He then began to inform me that there was no variable drive speed control on the engine and and the only bearing was the idler pulley.

I explained to him that there were TWO fans on the combine and the chaffer fan is what I was talking about and that I'd also tried to explain the same concept to his compadre. I rattled off the part # as he seemed mystified - and he finally said, "oh... yes, I can order that".

If he was a newbie, I'd give him a break, but I'd be embarrassed to claim to be a JD parts guy for over six years and not know the difference on the two fans... Regardless of how old the machine was... lol Maybe these new combines don't have fans at all - and use AI to pick out the kernels from the chaff... ha

Not sure if I am just getting old and grumpy, or if my old iron really is that far out of date, or if the youngsters of today really are that far out of touch... At least I can work on my old iron myself... lol

Howard

 

[wore out]

Called the local JD dealer looking for a bearing for my old 8820 combine variable speed chaffer fan drive.

The first guy that answered scratched around for a while and kept talking about the engine fan. I kept trying to explain what I was talking about and he finally said "I only have old, grainy black and white pictures to look at and can't see what you want. If you want to come by and look, come on in...".

So I told him I'd find a part # and call back. Armed with a JD part # (off of jdparts.com ), I called back 5 minutes later and a second parts guy answered. Before I could even give him the #, he launched into how he had been a JD parts guy for over 6 years and he'd NEVER sold any parts for anything as old as an 8820. He then began to inform me that there was no variable drive speed control on the engine and and the only bearing was the idler pulley.

I explained to him that there were TWO fans on the combine and the chaffer fan is what I was talking about and that I'd also tried to explain the same concept to his compadre. I rattled off the part # as he seemed mystified - and he finally said, "oh... yes, I can order that".

If he was a newbie, I'd give him a break, but I'd be embarrassed to claim to be a JD parts guy for over six years and not know the difference on the two fans... Regardless of how old the machine was... lol Maybe these new combines don't have fans at all - and use AI to pick out the kernels from the chaff... ha

Not sure if I am just getting old and grumpy, or if my old iron really is that far out of date, or if the youngsters of today really are that far out of touch... At least I can work on my old iron myself... lol

Howard

I just order the parts on-line and pick them up at the dealer. Saves a lot of aggravation trying to educate the parts folks on old, out-of-date stuff!

 

[Gambles]

The last time I wanted parts for an Oliver, the parts man didn’t open any book or look on his monitor. He just told me that I’d have better luck getting my Oliver parts online instead of going to his dealership. I took his advice.

 

[trackrat]

i have a new holland 488 haybine needed sickle bushing the parts guy told me there was no bushing of any kind on that machine i pushed him to look better and he said that he found it and it is a ball bearing i told him it was a rubber and steel bushing he told me i did not know what i was talking about i told him i had been using nh haybines for 60 years and they had always had that bushing I GIVE UP called diferent dealer he had the part

 

[Fixingfarmer]

We have a couple new ones here that have improved very rapidly I bet both of them have only been here 3 years the old parts guy is a very good teacher and last I checked here there were still a couple 20 series combines when I went past the combine shed. Although not as many as years past

I hadn’t stumped them in awhile until I asked about some breakers for a 24v 4020 update and that got them. the old guy had to pull out the correct old (massive)book with notes that I hadn’t seen since I worked there 15 years ago. Still could purchase them boy were they pricy I planned on doing the backhoe and the 4020 but I decided just the 4020.

It’s not any fun to stump them when it’s not a challenge then it gets irritating

 

[Bob Bancroft]

Called the local JD dealer looking for a bearing for my old 8820 combine variable speed chaffer fan drive.

The first guy that answered scratched around for a while and kept talking about the engine fan. I kept trying to explain what I was talking about and he finally said "I only have old, grainy black and white pictures to look at and can't see what you want. If you want to come by and look, come on in...".

So I told him I'd find a part # and call back. Armed with a JD part # (off of jdparts.com ), I called back 5 minutes later and a second parts guy answered. Before I could even give him the #, he launched into how he had been a JD parts guy for over 6 years and he'd NEVER sold any parts for anything as old as an 8820. He then began to inform me that there was no variable drive speed control on the engine and and the only bearing was the idler pulley.

I explained to him that there were TWO fans on the combine and the chaffer fan is what I was talking about and that I'd also tried to explain the same concept to his compadre. I rattled off the part # as he seemed mystified - and he finally said, "oh... yes, I can order that".

If he was a newbie, I'd give him a break, but I'd be embarrassed to claim to be a JD parts guy for over six years and not know the difference on the two fans... Regardless of how old the machine was... lol Maybe these new combines don't have fans at all - and use AI to pick out the kernels from the chaff... ha

Not sure if I am just getting old and grumpy, or if my old iron really is that far out of date, or if the youngsters of today really are that far out of touch... At least I can work on my old iron myself... lol

Howard

I'm 70 years old and I told a couple of life long JD parts guys who are younger than me that they can't retire. They didn't listen. We are really hurting for local JD parts people who know anything.

 

[ss55]

Called the local JD dealer looking for a bearing for my old 8820 combine variable speed chaffer fan drive.

The first guy that answered scratched around for a while and kept talking about the engine fan. I kept trying to explain what I was talking about and he finally said "I only have old, grainy black and white pictures to look at and can't see what you want. If you want to come by and look, come on in...".

So I told him I'd find a part # and call back. Armed with a JD part # (off of jdparts.com ), I called back 5 minutes later and a second parts guy answered. Before I could even give him the #, he launched into how he had been a JD parts guy for over 6 years and he'd NEVER sold any parts for anything as old as an 8820. He then began to inform me that there was no variable drive speed control on the engine and and the only bearing was the idler pulley.

I explained to him that there were TWO fans on the combine and the chaffer fan is what I was talking about and that I'd also tried to explain the same concept to his compadre. I rattled off the part # as he seemed mystified - and he finally said, "oh... yes, I can order that".

If he was a newbie, I'd give him a break, but I'd be embarrassed to claim to be a JD parts guy for over six years and not know the difference on the two fans... Regardless of how old the machine was... lol Maybe these new combines don't have fans at all - and use AI to pick out the kernels from the chaff... ha

Not sure if I am just getting old and grumpy, or if my old iron really is that far out of date, or if the youngsters of today really are that far out of touch... At least I can work on my old iron myself... lol

Howard

Not sure if I am just getting old and grumpy, or if my old iron really is that far out of date, or if the youngsters of today really are that far out of touch... At least I can work on my old iron myself... lol

Looking up your own parts numbers saves a lot of time and aggravation. Bearings are easy to cross reference to find the numbers etched on the actual bearing.

What year is your 8820 combine? The 8820 was built between 1979 and 1985, the Titan II between 1985 and 1989, so it is somewhere between 36 an 46 years old, probably older than the parts man and nearly to twice as old as a beginning parts man. Back when we were starting out, say around 1975, a machine that old would have been from the 1930s.

Maybe it is a good time to invest in a second machine as a backup or for parts while running machines are still available?

 

[spacechem]

Called the local JD dealer looking for a bearing for my old 8820 combine variable speed chaffer fan drive.

The first guy that answered scratched around for a while and kept talking about the engine fan. I kept trying to explain what I was talking about and he finally said "I only have old, grainy black and white pictures to look at and can't see what you want. If you want to come by and look, come on in...".

So I told him I'd find a part # and call back. Armed with a JD part # (off of jdparts.com ), I called back 5 minutes later and a second parts guy answered. Before I could even give him the #, he launched into how he had been a JD parts guy for over 6 years and he'd NEVER sold any parts for anything as old as an 8820. He then began to inform me that there was no variable drive speed control on the engine and and the only bearing was the idler pulley.

I explained to him that there were TWO fans on the combine and the chaffer fan is what I was talking about and that I'd also tried to explain the same concept to his compadre. I rattled off the part # as he seemed mystified - and he finally said, "oh... yes, I can order that".

If he was a newbie, I'd give him a break, but I'd be embarrassed to claim to be a JD parts guy for over six years and not know the difference on the two fans... Regardless of how old the machine was... lol Maybe these new combines don't have fans at all - and use AI to pick out the kernels from the chaff... ha

Not sure if I am just getting old and grumpy, or if my old iron really is that far out of date, or if the youngsters of today really are that far out of touch... At least I can work on my old iron myself... lol

Howard

In fairness, part of the disconnect is you didn't use the best nomenclature in describing what you want. If the counter person searched for "chaffer fan drive" there is no listing. If he started by looking for the chaffer, he would have found the chaffer and nothing to do with the cleaning fan. If he was knowledgeable enough to look for "cleaning fan", he would have found the fan, and not what's on the other end of the belt.

The Cleaning Fan is driven from the Secondary Countershaft. Since you mentioned fan "drive", I guess you mean one of two bearings on the secondary countershaft: either the carrier bearing on the shaft itself (JD8593) or the thrust bearing on the sheave (AH87207).

Parts counter people cannot reasonably be expected to learn the (incorrect) lingo of each and every old-timer. Certainly, the guys you talked to should know a combine has more than one fan, but if you have access to a parts catalog, then you also have access to the correct terminology to make yourself understood.

Second guy told you he's never had a call for parts on a machine that old. That's a mere statement of fact and you shouldn't take that as a personal slam on you. You found the part number yourself. Not sure why you didn't do that in the first place.

Yes, you are getting old and grumpy. Yes, your old iron really is that far out of date. I'm glad I got out of the parts business when I did- 17 years, a hernia operation, and a 401k which was practically unheard of back then. Glad I don't have to try to keep up with the ever-increasing speed of new machines and updates, let alone remembering/learning all the old stuff. For me, digging into the old stuff was a fun challenge on a slow day, but that wasn't what kept the doors open...

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I needed new front wheel felts for my A and went to a new AgPro. I had the part number and none in stock of course. I stood at the counter for at least ten minutes with two young guys at the computer going back and forth about what to do. Finally an older guy said "Just put in a parts order, we'll call when they come in." No idea how long it will take, but they were in in three or four weeks.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

Called the local JD dealer looking for a bearing for my old 8820 combine variable speed chaffer fan drive.

The first guy that answered scratched around for a while and kept talking about the engine fan. I kept trying to explain what I was talking about and he finally said "I only have old, grainy black and white pictures to look at and can't see what you want. If you want to come by and look, come on in...".

So I told him I'd find a part # and call back. Armed with a JD part # (off of jdparts.com ), I called back 5 minutes later and a second parts guy answered. Before I could even give him the #, he launched into how he had been a JD parts guy for over 6 years and he'd NEVER sold any parts for anything as old as an 8820. He then began to inform me that there was no variable drive speed control on the engine and and the only bearing was the idler pulley.

I explained to him that there were TWO fans on the combine and the chaffer fan is what I was talking about and that I'd also tried to explain the same concept to his compadre. I rattled off the part # as he seemed mystified - and he finally said, "oh... yes, I can order that".

If he was a newbie, I'd give him a break, but I'd be embarrassed to claim to be a JD parts guy for over six years and not know the difference on the two fans... Regardless of how old the machine was... lol Maybe these new combines don't have fans at all - and use AI to pick out the kernels from the chaff... ha

Not sure if I am just getting old and grumpy, or if my old iron really is that far out of date, or if the youngsters of today really are that far out of touch... At least I can work on my old iron myself... lol

Howard

The various manufacturers spent a ton of money making the online parts guides and online ordering systems. I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone expecrts a random dealer employee to know wvery machine and part,particularly for the stuff older than just a few years. Serve yourself and skip the aggravation!

 

[GChief]

Change, it triggers some

I can't remember the last time I used a parts counter person for anything. As already mentioned the online look ups work great. I look up what I need, order online and pick up at the parts counter or have it delivered to the house.

If you can post an old fart rant on a forum you have the ability to find exactly the part you need from to comfort of your lazy boy.

 

[NDIHC]

In our dealership we have some pretty good parts people. But they don't know every part of the cars we work on. Add to that the fact that the service manual and parts catalog often call the same part 2 different names it can be a challenge to get the right parts. We have the benefit of being able to walk to the parts department to show them what we need. We also have access to an online parts catalog we can use to look up part numbers ourselves. I'd hardly expect a 20 or 30 something year old parts person to know much about a 40 or 50 year old vehicle.

 

[rrlund]

Is there any other field where you guys want to give a pass to somebody who's bad at their job?

 

[cjunrau]

Change, it triggers some

I can't remember the last time I used a parts counter person for anything. As already mentioned the online look ups work great. I look up what I need, order online and pick up at the parts counter or have it delivered to the house.

If you can post an old fart rant on a forum you have the ability to find exactly the part you need from to comfort of your lazy boy.

I know a lot of old farts that don
t have internet or a cell phone.

 

[cjunrau]

Is there any other field where you guys want to give a pass to somebody who's bad at their job?

I agree with you 100 present. you better know how to look up and understand if you work in that field

 

[GChief]

Is there any other field where you guys want to give a pass to somebody who's bad at their job?

The same pass the people expecting a different result from a known problem get

 

[caterpillar guy]

Deere used to be pretty easy to find parts to do the part number thing. then a couple or 3 years ago they changed the whole website and it has sucked every since. I all but quit using it, and if you're not sure if it is the right part I don't want to order it then have to pay them to send it back. I go in and they still have trouble with some things and the Fiat site is even worse to me. I quit looking at it to find anything .All I could get to come up was lawn mowers and junk like hats or suburbanite junk. Agco is no better either.I've looked and tried them all over the years and lately like this spring. they all suck just some worse than others. I usually wind up going in to order things for anything we have in there .We also have a couple pretty good guys for parts there and a couple not so good guys .I usually go to my local truck parts guys for most things even for the combine like filters and belts. About all get is machine specific parts. They know we run a bunch of old stuff and tease me that we need to get a newer of whatever we are working on at the moment. Good parts guys are worth their weight in gold though for expediency and knowledge of things.

 

[moresmoke]

Keep in mind the parts counter people are typically the lowest paid employees at a dealership, running the highest returning department. I’d be grumpy too if I had that job.

To the OP’s story, while a 8820 is old, they must not sell many combine parts as the cleaning fan drive is still similar today.

To those complaining about finding their particular model on a manufacturer‘s site, most work best with a serial number. Search the serial and the right section comes up.

 

[caterpillar guy]

This is heresay but one of the mechanics from the local dealer claimed the last dealer change here for our Deere dealer told the crew that the old stuff had to go. And kind of shocked the staff since the 4440 and such were the shops bread and butter work with a lot of those models still being used. The owner told them those are goone if none are on the lot they would/the farmer have to buy the newer equipment which they would have parts for and work on. they were not going to work on the older machines or something to that effect. Pushing the new equipment and moving the old out. You don't see anything older than about 5 years on the lot and very little used equipment at all.

 

[rrlund]

I agree with you 100 present. you better know how to look up and understand if you work in that fiel

This is heresay but one of the mechanics from the local dealer claimed the last dealer change here for our Deere dealer told the crew that the old stuff had to go. And kind of shocked the staff since the 4440 and such were the shops bread and butter work with a lot of those models still being used. The owner told them those are goone if none are on the lot they would/the farmer have to buy the newer equipment which they would have parts for and work on. they were not going to work on the older machines or something to that effect. Pushing the new equipment and moving the old out. You don't see anything older than about 5 years on the lot and very little used equipment at all.

"I'm buying a John Deere 'cause I know I can always get parts for it!"