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Tractor hacking and Right to Repair

2K views 23 replies 10 participants last post by  tkv000 
#1 ·
#2 ·
Simple. Don't buy Green. I've been following this story for some time, GM is in with Deere on the position of "you licence the software for the life of the tractor/car/truck" when you buy.

JD used to have a very large hold on the market in my area, lots of Orange now, Red (CASE), and others in the fields last few harvests. I'm sure the other manufactures will (and most already do) eventually (possibly) follow suit. Maybe.

And ad's like this everywhere:
 

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#4 ·
.............. "you licence the software for the life of the tractor/car/truck" when you buy. ..................

:
Yes, and who decides what the lifetime of a tractor is ??
Will they still support it when that tractor is 30+ years old ? I suspect not !
Microsoft is the company that has redefined "ownership" of software and it sucks ! As the article points out - if the tractor stops, JD is not liable for loss of crops........even if the software is buggy ?That is a MS copout and should be illegal.
Here is hoping the lawmakers exercise common sense.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I don't know how much my 2 Star systems are "clones'. On both of them the transducer box that goes between the 14 pin plug in the U500 and the laptop look like original equipment - MB logo, part #, etc.
I wish I could advance the injection timing 4-5 degrees with the Star system. I've looked and I don't think it is possible without removing the ECU. I do know a shop in eastern Quebec that can do it.

Charlie
 
#7 ·
Yeah, my JD compact unit is from 1997 and has none of that crap. It can be fixed in the field with a pipe wrench, hammer and bailing twine just as Deere and Son would want.

No way I would have a new one...
 
#8 ·
Heck in many states perfectly good vehicles are getting crushed if the On Board Diagnostics has a fault during the yearly inspection. I have chased bad codes on older vehicles that are set mostly because they are old and the harness connectors are getting dirty. When the original legislation got passed in my state NH, there was supposed to be an exemption for older vehicles where the owner had to make an attempt to repair up to certain dollar value which would give them one more year but that policy went away quickly an its a case by case process that each owner has to prove financial hardship. I think the auto dealers are in on it as it drives more folks into dealerships.

The state of VT is switching to an inspection process which requires hooking up to the diagnostic port and querying the OBD along with querying the VIN. Previously the mechanics made the call and more than few were willing to overlook emission issues. I expect a whole lot of winter beaters are going to be getting junked and a lot of folks are going to be forced to buy new cars. Supposedly many mechanics are just getting out of inspections and the one who remain are going to ask for lot more money.

That said I owned a GMC Syclone for a few years and its prom chip was sealed with a tamper seal. There were all sorts of firms that could reprogram the chip for a lot more power but it tended to grenade the motor. Dealers were getting hauled into court as the owners would insist that the dealer replace the engine. If the seal was broke GMC wouldn't honor the warranty. Lots of used Syclone's ended up on the used market with the seals missing. I traded mine in through a dealer with the seal intact and about 6 months later I got a call from someone who bought it who asked me about what modifications I made as he had bought it from another dealer on a Friday and grenaded the motor on Sunday, it had been chipped for more power.

As VW found out, they are ultimately responsible for emissions performance so they argue giving access to the code to anyone else takes it away from their control. Of course in their case it also allowed third parties to catch them cheating. I expect this will become an issue again when they start reselling the high end V6 diesel, Touregs, Audis and Porsches retrofitted with new emissions equipment. I expect very quickly that an industry will spring up to strip off the equipment and reprogram the software to get the performance back.
 
#11 ·
:crying

Only two of us.
 
#24 ·
Rekt.

I'd clean it up but meh, I think we can self moderate and just all steer away from the politics, plenty of other forums for that. Back to our regularly sceduled program where we discuss (mostly, UHN and UGN aside) CPU free Unimogs will be the only thing to save agriculture once all the DEF and DPF machines die mid-field from a solar flair. Or whatever we were talking about. :)
 
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