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Buy American - No Chinese products ever again!

xjx said:
Didn't the Japanese buy John Deere back in the 80's? I'm fairly sure they still own it. .
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Just wondering, where did u hear that from?
As far as i know, John Deere always has been and continues to be American owned.

I can't find any evidence to the contrary.....JD is a publicly owned company and according to the JD paperwork from the last meeting, the 4000 and 5000 series are running Yanmar engines and for the most part assembled in Japan. 790 and 990 models are completely built by Yanmar and assembled in Japan. According to some sources, you can not purchase a US made new tractor under 80 HP; Deere is Yanmar, NH(now CNH or CaseNewHolland) is Shibaro, MF(AGCO) uses some Mitsubishi engines as does Cub Cadet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Deere

Confused yet ? Here's some more.......

List of tractors built by other companies;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tractors_built_by_other_companies

Sadly, even the Japanese products are made in China, too.
Go to Home Depot and look at the generators made by "Yamaha" - yep, made in China.
 
SteelChip said:
Sadly, even the Japanese products are made in China, too.
Go to Home Depot and look at the generators made by "Yamaha" - yep, made in China.
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They make it so damn hard to find out where something is made nowadays, it's maddening.
 
SteelChip said:
Just wondering, where did u hear that from?
As far as i know, John Deere always has been and continues to be American owned.

I can't find any evidence to the contrary.....JD is a publicly owned company and according to the JD paperwork from the last meeting, the 4000 and 5000 series are running Yanmar engines and for the most part assembled in Japan. 790 and 990 models are completely built by Yanmar and assembled in Japan. According to some sources, you can not purchase a US made new tractor under 80 HP; Deere is Yanmar, NH(now CNH or CaseNewHolland) is Shibaro, MF(AGCO) uses some Mitsubishi engines as does Cub Cadet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Deere

Confused yet ? Here's some more.......

List of tractors built by other companies;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tractors_built_by_other_companies

Sadly, even the Japanese products are made in China, too.
Go to Home Depot and look at the generators made by "Yamaha" - yep, made in China.
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I'm currently supporting those dirty Swedes with our Husqvarna mower. Aside from a broken weld on the mower deck from driving it off a curb last summer....which is now bungeed together, that thing still runs like new after a decade. You can't kill that ******.
 
I must say Husqvarna is pretty awesome. Used to work in the construction materials distribution business, and the conventions they had out in Vegas had Husqvarna coming out with some excellent and innovative stuff. Top notch.
 
Steelworth said:
Since I was laid off, I've been getting back into cooking and updating some of my culinary instruments, and I wanted a good quality knife set. Saw this "Dalstrong" set that had a lifetime warranty and apparently excellent customer service and they made it sound like they were manufactured in Japan, when actually it's just another China-based company. No way.

If anyone knows of a good quality knife set made in the US or elsewhere but not China, let me know. Thanks.
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I recommend Wusthof knives, made in Germany. They’re not cheap but I don’t think you need a whole set. Just a chef’s knife and a paring knife are pretty much all I use.
 
I was disappointed to find out (too late) that my new Champion generator is from China. Then I found out that they all are, or all I could find anyway.

Champion portable generators are known to be affordable and dependable. Established in 2003, this relatively new entrant operates from the American shores but has its production units established in Zhejiang district of China.
Here's what the company has to say...
Champion generators work similarly as well. Champion Power Equipment is a company based in USA. Most of the research behind how these generators will work, which parts and what technology to use is researched and decided in the research cells of America. It is only in China that the orders from USA are taken and a physical product is manifested accordingly. Champion generators at core are very much an American product which is made in China due to the lower production costs. It is eventually this cost advantage that allows Champion Power Equipment to offer such competitive prices for their generators.
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Some Generac are made in China but will run anything. These generators seem to have been all made in the same place as they are very similar but are branded different.

Honda produces approximately 46 thousand compact gasoline generators ranging in capacity from 0.9 – 12 kVA in Japan, China, France, India, Thailand and US and supplies them to North America, Europe and various other countries around the world.

Briggs and Stratton is the world's largest producer of gasoline engines for the outdoor power equipment market and the headquarters is located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. They were founded in 1908. Briggs & Stratton now manufactures its products in 13 facilities in the United States. Like many companies, Briggs and Stratton sees money to be made in the emerging economies of south and east Asia. Briggs and Stratton's new plant will be located in one of China's fastest growing areas.

Probably the engines with the most American content are the Kohler and Generac. The small Kohler engines are built in China.

The Chinese engines which Toro is using are built by the Loncin corporation in Chongqing, China.

The manufacturer of the Westinghouse portable generators is Westpro Power Systems, LLC, in Pewaukee, WI. You might assume that the engine is therefore US made, which many think it is. It is from what I understand made by MTD in China

All WEN generators are assembled in China. The engines are apparently the same as the ones used in Yamaha generators

DuroMax generators are the most popular conventional generators on Amazon.com. ... And their product is 100% made in China – this is not a bad thing – Champion and Westinghouse have their gensets made in China and they're highly praised (as are DuroMax).

Think we got a problem ?

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Steelworth said:
Since I was laid off, I've been getting back into cooking and updating some of my culinary instruments, and I wanted a good quality knife set. Saw this "Dalstrong" set that had a lifetime warranty and apparently excellent customer service and they made it sound like they were manufactured in Japan, when actually it's just another China-based company. No way.

If anyone knows of a good quality knife set made in the US or elsewhere but not China, let me know. Thanks.
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Cutco?
 
Cutco knives are expensive but they have a lifetime guarantee. They are still made in New York I believe. We have some that are 20 years old, we just purchased a few new ones recently. We also sent the old ones in to be sharpened for free.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys.
 
Steelworth said:
Since I was laid off, I've been getting back into cooking and updating some of my culinary instruments, and I wanted a good quality knife set. Saw this "Dalstrong" set that had a lifetime warranty and apparently excellent customer service and they made it sound like they were manufactured in Japan, when actually it's just another China-based company. No way.

If anyone knows of a good quality knife set made in the US or elsewhere but not China, let me know. Thanks.
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Old Hickory Knives Are Produced With The Finest Cutlery Grade Carbon Steel And Hardwood Handles. Each Knife Is Manufactured In The U.S.A. And All Component Parts And Raw Materials Are Purchased In The U.S.A. The Old Hickory Knife Is Made With Fully Heat Treated And Tempered 1095 Carbon Steel.
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https://www.knifecenter.com/series/ontario-knives/ontario-old-hickory-kitchen-knives

My favorite for all round kitchen carving....here's a good review from an Amazon customer ...
This is not a regular stainless steel kitchen knife that you buy from Bed Bath and Beyond and let your wife use whenever she wants. This is the "cast iron skillet" of knives that need a little TLC, but will outperform darn near a anything else. This is not a maintenance-free beginner knife to get for a college student living on their own for the first time, this is a knife for someone who knows what their doing with it and knows how to take care of it.

The carbon steel blade is extremely hard, so it will take a little work to put an edge on. But once it takes that edge it very nearly becomes a razor blade.

DO NOT AIR DRY. Soap and water won't hurt it, but dry it right away. Carbon steel will rust if you let it. After it's dry rub a couple drops of vegetable oil into it to protect it from moisture. Don't freak out if it develops a patina, it's perfectly normal for carbon steel. If you have a problem with that, use Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda to scrub it off.

With some very minor TLC this is an amazing knife that will outperform anything from a big-box store and will outlast its original owner.
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https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-Knif...sprefix=old+hickory+kinfe,sporting,203&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=old+hickory&i=sporting&ref=nb_sb_noss
 
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SCSteeler4life said:
We also sent the old ones in to be sharpened for free.
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Yeah that little tidbit seems to get lost on people. And if not for free, it's very inexpensive typically.
 
Steelworth said:
Yeah that little tidbit seems to get lost on people. And if not for free, it's very inexpensive typically.
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Cutco is really selling you their sharpening services, which are ok. If you use their sharpening services, then it's worth it. Otherwise, the knives aren't worth the cost. The knives are really shiny, and this means they are high in chromium.

$125 is a lot of money for a knife but if that isn't a deterrent, why not.
 
https://www.american-giant.com/

Now, don't yell at me...the clothes are expensive but they last forever and they don't stink after a few wears (yes, I find that cheap clothes stink after a few wears).

My hoodie is the best hoodie ever. The flannel shirts are perfect.

https://www.couchguitarstraps.com/

If any of you need a damn nice guitar strap, I recommend Couch. USA handmade and great quality. They also make camera straps and wallets. Love this company. Been using them for years.
 
Nice find, guru. American made clothing is the most difficult to find. Jesus, Levi's are made in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
 
Steeltime said:
Nice find, guru. American made clothing is the most difficult to find. Jesus, Levi's are made in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
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Well...yes and no. Let me explain what I witnessed while on a field trip in Tampa some years back.

We were on a fact finding trip to see various companies to how they operated. One such company was a marketing company over on Waters Ave ( forgot the name ). As we entered the lobby, we saw different types of slacks and jeans on display. As it turns out, we watched them take stacks of material nearly a foot thick and use this wire like cutter to cut out different pattern pieces of jeans. All the different pieces were then boxed up and sent to a sewing destination somewhere in the third world somewhere.

Once stitched together, the jeans were then returned to the marketing company boxed by size and specific material. A random sampling with pattern jigs usually generated about a 10% abnormal reject of some of the boxes and they were then separated into their own category.

Then we entered the real work area. A row of sewing machines ( 30 or so ) and a couple pickers with rolling carts. As companies such as LL Bean, Levi's, Jordache...whatever, ordered their jeans, they were picked by size and material and fed to the sewing machines for specific brand labels, rivets, stitching or whatever the customer requested.

The rejects were sold the same way but at a discount to big box brands like K-mart etc. Some of the imperfections were not all that bad..... pant legs with slightly different diameters or a crocked seam.

To this day I still laugh at my daughter who insists on paying top dollar for blue jeans, even after I told her that they all come from the same hut in Sri Lanka....lol


images
 
mightyguru said:
https://www.american-giant.com/

Now, don't yell at me...the clothes are expensive but they last forever and they don't stink after a few wears (yes, I find that cheap clothes stink after a few wears).

My hoodie is the best hoodie ever. The flannel shirts are perfect.

https://www.couchguitarstraps.com/

If any of you need a damn nice guitar strap, I recommend Couch. USA handmade and great quality. They also make camera straps and wallets. Love this company. Been using them for years.
Click to expand...

Kind of like that western strap, guitars seem to reproduce in the house, or it may be an addiction.
 
SteelChip said:
Well...yes and no.

Then we entered the real work area. A row of sewing machines ( 30 or so ) and a couple pickers with rolling carts. As companies such as LL Bean, Levi's, Jordache...whatever, ordered their jeans, they were picked by size and material and fed to the sewing machines for specific brand labels, rivets, stitching or whatever the customer requested.
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Had to laugh at this Chip, because it's true. When I was in college, I had a summer job with General Tire in Jeannette making tennis balls. The only difference was the name stamped on the ball in the process. Penn, Spaulding, Wilson, they were all the same damn ball!
 
Also..seriously, I would love a Chevy Camaro SS 1LE...American made and dogs cars twice the price.
 
ZonaBurgh said:
Had to laugh at this Chip, because it's true. When I was in college, I had a summer job with General Tire in Jeannette making tennis balls. The only difference was the name stamped on the ball in the process. Penn, Spaulding, Wilson, they were all the same damn ball!
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It's really hard to say how many products are like that but rest assured...it's a lot. During my retail phase in life, I discovered the same scenario for ceiling fans. Same fan mfg facility, different customer specs and packaging.

04439-veley-web.jpg
 
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