Name Change of This Forum!

[PJ]

This forum has become just plain dead! The Chinese tractor crowd has dwindled as far as responding to this forum. I've mentioned this before and I believe it would be a boost if the name/theme of this forum be changed to===THE FOREIGN TRACTOR FORUM! Just being a Chinese tractor forum, isn't cutting it! Change the name and bring owners of other make tractors on board. No one listened before, so I don't really expect much of a response from this, but I tried. PJ

[bracabric]

I think it's a good idea, I therefor second you. I know it's not a democracy but at least you know your not alone PJ

Dick

[Rich Waugh]

Makes sense to me.

[PJ]

Jan 10, 2013 10:00:42 GMT -5 bracabric said:

I think it's a good idea, I therefor second you. I know it's not a democracy but at least you know your not alone PJ

Dick

Ahh yes, not a democracy! Grin. What surprises me is the fact that this site is still alive, well, breathing anyway. Who owns this site? Who could be contacted to propose a name change? There are many other foreign tractors, such as this German Deutz. PJ

[PJ]

Since I'm on the subject, this is a pretty cool tractor! Not only is it put together with top quality materials, it even has a front 3 point hitch and some even have a front PTO. PJ

[bradblazer]

I agree, but I don't care for the word "Foreign." Foreign to whom? Global Tractor Forum or World Tractor Forum sounds better to me. That second one has a catchy acronym

I think Larry has a pretty big stake in the administration. Not sure how big of a deal it is to change the name. "chinesetractor" is part of the url, not sure if that matters. I think another big reason that we aren't attracting many new members is the security setting where you have to join and log in to see the forum. Most forums I join are ones that I found doing a search for a review or a "how to". If that doesn't happen here I think we will fade away. Of course I totally understand the setting choice due to the circumstances when we were formed but I doubt anyone is still trolling for us, and so what if they do?

One more thing I've mentioned once before - While we're at it can we ditch the red light district color scheme?

[PJ]

"Global Tractor Forum or World Tractor Forum"! Catchy name. I really like either one. Ah yes, the red could definitely be replaced! Also I agree where everyone who wants to visit should be allowed, but a restriction on posting should be in effect for none members. All the forums I belong to have that rule. PJ

[quicksandfarmer]

I used to work for a company that was acquired by a foreign company. The word "foreign" quickly became foreign to our vocabulary, the word "international" was preferred.

With that out of the way, I'll say I disagree with the change. Chinese tractors are different. They seem to be manufactured in a very different way from other tractors, in that there seem to be a constantly shifting cast of component companies, who supply many manufacturers. The components that go into a particular tractor seem to depend mostly on what they had on hand the day they put it together*. My Jinma may have more in common with a Dong Feng with the same engine than another Jinma, even if it's the same model and year.

At the same time, my tractor doesn't have anything more in common with a Fiat, Belarus, Kioti, Kubota or other "international" tractor than it does with American-made ones (to the extent that such a thing even exists any more). What makes a forum like this valuable is first-hand knowledge, and broadening the scope to "international" tractors would just dilute the knowledge and make it less valuable.

It seems to me that all of the Chinese tractor discussion groups have had a significant fall-off in message volume of late. There also seem to be significantly fewer companies selling the tractors. When I bought my tractor six years ago Ebay was littered with offers for new crate tractors, as was my local Craigslist. Now they're all gone.

I can think of two explanations. One is that Chinese tractors just aren't selling any more. There are no new owners with questions like -- "I just bought this thing on Ebay and the transmission is full of brown gunk" or "I'm thinking of buying one and I want to hear from folks who have them." Those were the bread and butter type of questions for years. Now most of the questions see to be from either established owners or someone buying a used machine. The other possibility is that the wild west days are over, the frontier has been closed, and the tractors are being sold by reputable dealers who take care of their customers, so they're not going to the Internet for basic information on how to operate and maintain their purchase.

In either case, I think that allowing the group to be read by non-members would help attract new members. We all ended up here by referral from other groups, and that isn't happening any more either.

*(I used to have a British sports car and they were the same way. The Jinma nonsense of two different versions of a part with the same part number is very familiar to me. I've also noticed that there seem to be a disproportionate number of former British sports car owners among Jinma owners.)

[Rich Waugh]

I think that was a very considered and insightful analysis of the situation, Quicksandfarmer.

I agree regarding the "pedigree" of Chinese tractors. Very much like owning either a n old British sports car or almost anything International Harvester ever made. (Owned both.)

Opening readership to all is a good idea. Posting by members only seems reasonable in the interest of keeping it civil and on topic.

Now we need to see what Rob and Larry have to say.

[quicksandfarmer]

Plus, if we rename it the "International" forum we'll get a bunch of IH guys wondering how they got here...

[PJ]

Agree or disagree is the democratic process. My purpose as to a name change was to improve activity on this forum. You have to admit it's dead! A couple posts a month, usually by the same people! Let other people in, or a forum on the road of abandonment, as this one is, will wither and die. It's withering right now. But, there's always JOES forum! PJ

[Rich Waugh]

Oh yeah - good ol' Joe. Of course, most of us here are permanently banned by Joe, so that kinda shuts that door. :-)

As for a name, I've always been partial to Buford. ;D

[GuglioLS]

Whats with all the whining

I leave you guys alone for two minutes and looks what happens.

The forum was originally created for us Chinese tractor owners that were banished from the *other* forum due to the extreme limitation of our 1st amendment rights and the zero tolerance of not owning a Chinese tractor, or even no tolerance for owning something other than a Chinese tractor. Or getting kicked off "just because". Within reason we do not have those limitations here. Additionally, Chinese Tractor World was started as an alternative to TBN and all it's first amendment right restrictions, trolls and the likes. It is a no nonsense place for ANY tractor owner with the emphasis on but not limited to Chinese tractors, that still holds true today as it was in the beginning.


It is true forum activity has diminished significantly, but mostly due to fewer (very little I admit) contributions by 3 to 4 members and not due to lack of new members. Any member can contribute, please don't count on the original founders of the forum to continue posting at the rate they did at the time of forum inception (most all my major builds are accomplished and posted). The hope was the forum would be self sustaining by members to pick up where others may have left off.

If you think it will bolster new activity, I can open the forum up to viewing by guests, but will keep the restriction in place that prevents a guest from posting without joining. Allot of members seem to be timid, shy or otherwise afraid of posting - we have 643 members
253 have zero posts, 276 have <= 10 posts and so on.


As far as the color scheme..... I'll take that under advisement. If its that annoying when I have time I'll look into it and possibly make a change but no whining about any new color I pick. You cant please everyone and I will not pretend to try.

Name change - I Don't think that's going to happen, it's the forum foundation and the URL is set in stone.

Forum control and ownership is jointly and equally held by Rob, Scott, and myself. I kind have "taken over" in a sense since Robs last log on date was May 29, 2012, Scott's was Aug 7, 2011. I log in on a regular basis to keep in the loop but not posting much for no good reason other than being lazy or being busy with other priorities I suppose.

All is not lost! - the forum is still here for reference, reflection and still open to all members for posting.

Larry

[bradblazer]

It's working already! Check out all of the recent activity. Of course it might have something to do with the current cold snap & looking for something to do indoors.

I agree with "viewing only" for guests, I think it will make a big difference in the number of new members.

If more than half of our members have posted I think that's better than average. TBN has about a billion members but the number of regular posters doesn't seem so high.

Quicksandfarmer makes some valid points. I think tightening emissions standards also had a big effect on the competitiveness of Chinese tractors. I am certainly sorry the Kama brand didn't make it.

The name is fine, although WTF might have been fun.

Thanks again Larry for the effort you put into this forum.

Brad

[GuglioLS]

Hey Brad,

WTF - I assume that would stand for World Tractor Forum?

I have been messing around with the color of the skins but not quite got the hang of it yet. Knowing me I will get it set to White letters on White background or something stupid like that.

You still got that grapple? used it any?

I have not been operating the plasma cutter much since cutting out your parts. Amazingly I recently got some PM's on TBN requesting to make receiver hitches for the Bombardier Traxter. That post was at least 2 years old. I wound up making 3 sets, send out two, 1 to MA, 1 to NY and the 3rd pending to Canada.

www.tractorbynet.com/forums/atvs-utility-vehicles/106526-bombardier-traxter-hitch-mount.html


Larry