While you may not be in the fields during the heart of winter, there’s no downtime when it comes to planning for the next season. During the winter, John Deere service departments are busy getting you ready for the season ahead with inspections and maintenance.
The Multi-Use Account from John Deere Financial is a useful tool in helping defer payments for the cost of inspections and parts while also providing you a way to save money on multi-unit discounts.
Why Inspect
According to Ryan Unruh, Corporate Service Manager at BTI in Bucklin, Kansas, there are two really good reasons to take the time to have your equipment inspected and serviced in the winter. One has to do with cost and the other has have to do with time management.
“A winter inspection completed by John Deere-certified technicians can catch failures in the beginning stages and address those issues before they become bigger issues,” explains Unruh.
He explained that catching a bearing that may have excessive wear and tear before it completely fails and damages other items will help you avoid additional costs.
Another advantage of a winter inspection has to do with downtime – something no one ever wants to deal with.
“If we can fix a problem during the winter, it’s much easier and cost effective than doing it in the middle of planting or harvest,” said Unruh.
Schedule Now
Unruh said winter inspections are becoming more popular and scheduling as early as possible is important.
“There’s several advantages to booking early,” said Unruh. “Dealerships often offer discounts or incentives for booking early.”
According to Unruh another popular choice is to complete the inspection on the farm. Often this is easier since equipment does not need to be hauled into the dealership.
During an inspection, Unruh said his team of John Deere-certified technicians will go through a machine and put together a quote that shows the repairs needed for a machine. He said you can look at it as a Red – Yellow – Green sort of situation. The red areas are critical repairs that are needed to keep the machine going. The yellow are recommended repairs that show wear and tear on a part and need to be monitored if you determine to not get it fixed. Green areas are those that pass an inspection.
“Whether an area is red or yellow, we always put together an estimate up front so the customer knows the repair costs,” explained Unruh.
Repairs and maintenance are costs that can be challenging to the bottom line. Using the Multi-Use Account from John Deere Financial helps manage those costs and, in the long-term (just like an inspection), may save you both time and money.