Suggestions, Opinions, or Gripes

[kshultz]

Charlie,
I don't get it. On January 2nd you asked us for our input.

Quote:FILL ME IN GUYS AND GALS. ((Feel free to email me if you don't want to post a reply.))

Now it seems that we made a few reasonable suggestions and you want no part of it.

Why can't we all just get along. We are all here for the same reason.

 

[digger]

Input is one thing!
SNIDE remarks are another!

 

[proessler]

Hey Charlie, you have done one Hell of a job here. Keep up the Great Work ,keeping us linked up to IH & Cub Cadets!!

 

[digger]

Just as well get one post to see if it works.

 

[wcompton]

Do we just want to call this the vertical file?

 

[digger]

It is for now until a few things get ironed out.
I just got this suggestion,
Issue is to there are so many sections. I think most people including myself look mainly at the main forum. I've noticed too that the people that do the snapping are also people that also post off topic, but seem to get away with it.

If anything, I'd break down the series like mentioned, include model numbers and maybe a picture of that series. A just engine's section might be useful as well. A lot of sections can mean more confusion and lot of work for the moderators.

 

[digger]

Then this one rolled in, LOL
I can see how new people get confused about where to post. The only "snapping" to new members I recall a few that could get a bit sharp with their posts informing a newbie that they posted in the wrong section.

I miss the old RTFM posts...

For the most part I don't have a problem with an *occasional* off topic post in the main IH Cub Cadet forum. I'm certainly guilty of it. How about giving a month or so of no comment when an off topic post shows up in the main forum area and see what happens. Perhaps let the forum members try to police themselves a bit. And/or only gently correct a new member that isn't yet familiar with the forum (or their tractor) and include a welcome message with the correction. Dunno if it'll work or not. For a long time the IHCC forum area was the only area and it was a place where all us old timers interacted on all things Cub and many things life, so it's kind of an old habit that's been hard to break.

 

[kmcconaughey]

 

[jbaker]

In the past I have tried to correct off topic people but that created a few enemies for me here and emails to Charlie, and at one point was told (not by Charlie) I am not a moderator and to keep my mouth shut.

And yes I have been spanked by the

here for posting something wrong, but I am still here and gratefull of it.

 

[hydroharry]

Is it my turn in this new thread?

Ok, I'm gonna be real honest here.

I generally don't know beans about the off-topic stuff.

I don't like telling people they posted in the wrong place (but might give them a hint).

I'm likely "guilty as charged" in responding to off topic and maybe inadvertently posting off topic (the old red IHC wheel weights come to mind).

I don't know what the hell is best to do.

If Charlie changes the rules I'll try to follow them.

 

[digger]

Harry!
You and I both know you won't/can't!!!!!!!!

 

[wcompton]

Wayne, I know you're not referring to me, however it's been a long time since I regularly posted as well. I've posted since it switched over from Voyager, and the forum probably resided on a small computer in Bob's barber shop.

After finishing the Wheatland and having a kind note from a moderator that a couple of <strike>butthurt</strike> forum viewers complained about me, I decided that any more custom builds I'd just sort of keep under my hat regardless of what sort of positive light it would shed for some of the beginner crowd. I know who the small circle was that didn't take the high road and talk to me. I'd speak more freely, but it doesn't put myself or anyone else in a positive light, so CUB ON.

 

[jbaker]

Wyatt, We met once at Blunier plowday.

So after the Wheatland (which was awesome) you did more and didn't share?

--but I understand I've been in your shoes


Charlie on the suggestion stand point, Whats your thought on lengthening the time allowed to edit?

 

[mfrade]

Like Jeff I tried to correct an error and then recieved e-mails that really didn't help. Being called names by someone hiding behind their computer can be a "unique" experience.. I don't know how Charlie tolerates it! ROFLMAO!

I know many will howl but perhaps it's time to look at threads by series, Like 70 / 100 as a thread.. another for 73/1X6 and so on. I'm sure a simple "button" for todays post could be setup to make all the new posts available quickly and easily..

Just thinkin' out loud..

 

[snicklas]

I have thought about this for awhile before I posted, Charlie has asked for Suggestions, Opinions or Gripes, so here I shall state my opinion.

I have not been a member as long as some here have been. I am normally visit the board a few times a day and try and read all the posts, in the various sections. I try and answer questions when I can, and hopefully help others not make the same mistakes I have over the years.

I have also learned many things from this forum, including the fact that we have been missing a part for our Brinly adapter for decades. Without this forum, I would have continued having issues using the plow.

Personally, the occasional off topic posts are not a problem. The forum, is much like a group of friends with a common interest or interests (cars, trucks, etc) sitting around a campfire, talking as a group. Yes, this conversation would center around the tractors, but as any conversation, the subject will wander as any conversation would. In the campfire setting, normally no one is going to jump up and start yelling that we aren't talking about "insert subject here" because someone mentioned something else.

This viewpoint comes form the fact that I am only active on 3 forums (and facebook, but that is another barrel of worms) this, the IH Cub Cadet forum and 2 diesel truck related forums, one I am an administrator/moderator and the other I am a moderator (which does not make me one on here, and I have no illusion to that). We mainly discuss truck related things, and it is very much a community as is this forum. I have many friends that I have made, and spent time with them in person, and in a group around the campfire. We do talk about trucks, but we talk about other things in the same sitting.

For the most part, we try and keep the conversations on course in the posts, but they do wander. We have people who are friends (either via the internet or in person) that poke fun at each other (myself included) just as Art and Kraig, for example do on here. It's all in good fun, and as long as it doesn't get out of hand, it just slides and we get back on track. Don't get me wrong, I've "poofed" posts and booted users when needed. But, most of the time, things run fairly smoothly.

I also understand the now blurred lines, when it comes to the tractors and "where they belong" The newest 100% IH Cub Cadet is now going on 35 years old. Many things have happened in those years. Engines have blown, things have been repaired, and some just "fixed". I know of Magnum and other engines being swapped for the original engine. Parts moved from one generation to another. Heck, I've even seen a Cyclops with a Zig-Zag Grill and hood.....

I would like to see the forum carry on as it is, as I have learned many things from here, and still do to this day. Hopefully everything smooths back out, and we can still help each other, and new users alike.

 

[glippert]

I really don't think any change to the format is needed. I know it's easy to get off track sometimes, but Charlie is normally pretty patient. And often a forum member gets things back on track. If Charlie does have to lower the boom, MOST of the time people move on, often with an apology. It should simply be a matter of awareness when we post something; is it on topic and in the correct area? Like Mike Frade, I thought for a while that a thread for each group might work, but I've reconsidered that. Even with all the differences between the various model groups, there are also many similarities and if I'm only reading the threads for my 147, Quietlines, or IH-built 782 (re-powered with an off-topic engine), I'd miss all the info in the other threads that could help me. Like rust mitigation methods, parts removal, general wiring tips, etc. Bottom line: Like Scott N, I vote to keep it as it is and try to remember to play by the rules. And don't be too sensitive if Charlie or someone else points out that we were wrong. There's my 2 cents worth.

 

[bkattner]

So, as it is, an IH 782/mag swap should be addressed in the CCC/MTD page, correct? Myself I don't look at that page as much as the IH page at the top, which I rarely post on but I do read daily. I thought about the suggestion made earlier about adding more forums (like NF, WF, 82s, engines, etc) but that would add quite a bit more work for the moderators wouldn't it? I've never been involved in running a forum so I'm not sure how much more difficult it would be. Still, 82s (thru the 18xx's) are my favorites, and we all know they need frequent engine help.

 

[kshultz]

Scott N.
Very well put. This forum conversation is almost exactly like a campfire conversation. Good way of explaining it.

 

[kshultz]

I forgot my campfire.

 

[wcompton]

My opinion doesn't count, which doesn't bother me too much. I'm not out to make a buck off this or somehow garner influence, so anyways.....

By common interest we're a group a makers, tinkerers, varying levels of mechanical savants, and for the environmentalists, we're the original up-cyclers. By that nature we turn bolts, clean, repair, preserve, and improve.

The art of restoration, the patience to find the correct parts, the keen eye for details in black & white photographs is an extension of that enjoyment. Myself, I don't have the ability (rather, the patience) to put something back together exactly the way it was supposed to be.

International produced 29 unique models across 7 generations within 20 years. Beyond those initial 20 years, CCC maintained essentially the same design for the next 16 or so years.

None of that was happenstance. A design that accepts upward and downward exchanges of components is hallmark of product longevity.

So... for example the fact that I can take a 782 built in 1980, bolt in an engine plate from a 2284, bolt in an engine from a 2206 (with a muffler from an 1863), half of a drive shaft from a 2186, power steering and axle castings from an 1864, front spindles from a 1541, and foot plates from a 107 IS BY NO MISTAKE 100% of the design intent of a well managed product line without the so-called planned obsolescence that runs rampant in nearly all products produced today. That was the design intent of International, and regardless of whatever imaginary Mason-Dixon line in time someone chooses to draw on a timeline, the topics are 100% helpful to those. Whether they're applicable to someone's own agenda is for their own choosing.

Folks have a mind of their own, if they don't have the mental capacity to filter out what they don't want to see, the internet isn't for you.