Colorado becomes 1st to pass 'right to repair' for farmers

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

DENVER (AP) — Sitting in front of a hulking red tractor, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Tuesday making Colorado the first state to ensure farmers can fix their own tractors and combines with a “right to repair” law — which compels manufacturers to provide the necessary manuals, tools, parts and software.

Colorado, home to high desert ranches and sweeping farms on the low-and-level plains, took the lead on the issue following a nationwide outcry from farmers that manufacturers blocked them from making fixes and forced them to wait precious days for an official servicer to arrive — delays that imperiled profits.

While their increasingly high-tech tractors or combines sit impotent, a hailstorm could decimate a crop or a farmer could miss the ideal planting window, farmers said.

“Farmers have had to wait three or four weeks to get repairs done to equipment when they can do repairs themselves. That’s just unfathomable,” said Bill Midcap, whose son is a fifth-generation rancher on Colorado’s eastern plains.

https://apnews.com/article/colorado-right-to-repair-farming-equipment-1da00ea957fd1057bf522cb4725e62d4

[niyad]

1. KNR

[liberal N proud]

2. My dad had a 1947 Willys Jeep Sedan Delivery

It came with a complete service manual and a set of tools that were sufficient to do major repairs.

That was before corporations learned to make a profit off poor quality

[Phoenix61]

3. Corporations brought this on themselves.

Reminds me of the McDonald’s ice cream fiasco. You have to use their repair people but there aren’t enough of them so… no ice cream.
If they had an adequate repair force this wouldn’t be necessary.

[MichMan]

4. Tools?

which compels manufacturers to provide the necessary manuals, tools, parts and software.

I'm having trouble understanding what this means. If someone doesn't have the tools to perform a repair, the manufacturer is required to supply them all? What if it is an expensive piece of specialized machinery?

[flying rabbit]

5. Sometimes special tools are required to maintain certain parts.

Therefore you cant fix it yourself (unless you have access to a good machine shop). I believe this grants access to the tools. I could see a group of farmers pooling their money for the expensive ones. Think of a wrench needed to take off a proprietary fastener.

[MichMan]

6. That was the basis for my question

The OP states manufacturers must provide (instead of saying must be available).

If I read this statement literally, it seems to say they must be provided free of charge, which seems unreasonable. If so, for example, would that mean the John Deere would need to provide all the tools and equipment required to completely rebuild an engine?

[flying rabbit]

7. I think it is more about making it available for purchase

They hoard their software. They hoard their tools.