I bought a DR Power Wagon a few years ago -- an expensive piece of gas-powered yard equipment with a spring-loaded throttle grip. When I uncrated the wagon and started it up, the engine immediately raced. The centrifugal clutch engaged, and the thing took off. Fortunately, I was able to grab the brake and stop it safely.
It took all of 45 seconds to find the culprit. Where the throttle cable attaches to the carburetor, there is a return spring on a bracket. The bracket is held to the engine by one screw. If this screw comes loose, the spring tension rotates the bracket until the spring is loose. Voilà: no throttle return spring tension.
The fix was easy. It took longer to find the right wrench than it did to rotate the bracket into position and tighten the screw.
So, a simple quality issue, right? The screw was left loose, or it came loose in shipping. In my industry (automotive), we would never leave something as critical as a throttle spring with such an easy failure mode. The bracket needs two screws so it can’t rotate, or a notch or tab or something, even a self-locking fastener. Or the design engineers could have put the spring someplace where the support can’t come loose. There are a number of easy ways to solve the problem.
This entry was submitted by Erik Kauppi and edited by Rob Spiegel.
Tell us your experiences with Monkey-designed products. Send stories to Rob Spiegel for Made by Monkeys.
I have to confess that it makes me a little crazy to hear stories like these. It's almost as if a bit of the collective design consciousness and experience has been erased. Reliable, well-engineered mechanical contrivances have been around for generations. Why not use that as a starting point and go from there?
The answer to your quandary has been cited numerous times in previous posts regarding deficient or ineffective designs. It's NOT the engineering in MOST cases, it's the direct result of the "bean counters" who have taken over the reins of governance in many large companies. When science introduces a new product as a raw material into the marketplace, there is a great urge to manufacture an end product using this material. When the product fails because the full extent of the material was not known at the time, then the blame gets pushed onto the engineers' shoulders. WHY did the engineers choose this material? Because the "bean counters" suggested that the product COULD be made "better" and less expensive by its adoption. Too many times products have been shown to be deficient in design because a cast part was replaced by a plastic part, where one would almost conclude that the same mold used to form the cast part was used to form the plastic part. Now, BEFORE someone corrects me, I'm well aware of the fact that metal casting molds are NOT the same as plastic injection molds, so don't bother to criticize that aspect of my comments. My point is that when going from one material to another it is usually NOT a 1:1 relationship in design or dimension.
The DR is made in America. Chinese stuff certainly has its issues but that's not the problem here.
I called the DR folks to inform them of the issue, and did not have the feeling they were really paying attention. But I was not trying to buy parts or get a warranty claim, so I can't say if their customer service is good or bad.
We have a DR field & brush mower - basically a walk behind self propelled bush-hog. It will eat blackberry vines, kudzu, Johnson grass and 2" diameter sumac all day long. Give it a small patch of hazel nut bushes and all bets are off. The machine pushes the tough stems over and chops up the tops, leaving a sharp stub. This stub springs back upright after the mower deck passes over, unfortunately there is no protective cover over the drive mechanism so the stub jabs into the mechanics, flipping off the drive belt, breaking the wheel drive chain or jambing the wheel clutch. This inevidably happens in some remote corner of the property, forcing one to drag the now inert piece of machinery back to the shop, or lay down in a mass of chigger infested sawbriers and attempt a repair. I have spoken with the DR people about providing a guard over the exposed drive mechanism on several occasions, didn't get the sense that their was much interest in improvement.
Yes, I too, have seen the ads. I have also spoken with many, many unhappy JD customers who emphatically state that they will never do business with JD ever again.
I guess that the slick marketing folks at JD are planning the growth of their company by preying on unsuspecting "first time" customers, who may be unaware of the very, very poor "customer service" provided by JD.
As a member of the adjunct faculties of some some local colleges, I have the opportunity to work with students who are studying for their engineering degress and/or graduate degrees. I try to use case studies from the "real world" for our discussions in the classroom. Over the years, I have assembled quite a number of stories, similar to the JD tractor story, which I share with them.
I was recently contacted by my local JD dealer, who was complaining that my students were sharing the stories with some of their friends. The net result of this "sharing" was that he is losing sales to the other dealers in town, who represent other brands. He asked me not to use the JD tractor story with future classes. When asked for a reason why I should comply with his request, he stated that the story was creating a bad reputation for his business, which was translating into lost revenue.
When I reminded him that his lack of cooperation cost me significant "revenue" because I had to purchase another tractor (a Kubota), he replied that I should not feel slighted, as he was only following JD policy and, as a result, could not be held responsible for the failed drive unit. He maintained his position even after I reminded him that he personally recommended the tractor after inspecting my lot!
I was stunned and speechless by his mindset!!! "Made by Monkeys" doesn't even begin to scratch the surface!!!!!
The good news is that my JD story has been enhanced by the dealer's continued cluelessness. I doubt that I will ever run out of material for my classroom discussions!!!!!!!
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