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Get a Contractor's View on Brand Loyalty and Dealer Support

2:00
7:26
174K views

At 2:00 in

Caterpillar, John Deer, Toro, Stihl, Whats the best equipment for Landscaping Excavating

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What happens here

The host conducts a video call with Kimo Clark, an excavation contractor from Maui, Hawaii. Kimo articulates that there isn't a single 'best' piece of equipment and challenges the notion of unwavering brand loyalty. He compares equipment ownership to a 'marriage' with the manufacturer and dealership, emphasizing that a long-term relationship for parts and service is paramount. He highlights that all machines eventually break down, and the key is the quality of support received from the dealer. He cautions against being 'stuck in a little box' due to blind brand loyalty, as it can limit access to better solutions and opportunities. Kimo further explains that living on an island limits his options, forcing him to rely on the readily available Cat dealer, but if given the choice, he would cherry-pick different brands (such as Doosan and John Deere) based on the best machine for a specific task and the local dealer support.

Goal: Understand the long-term implications of brand choice, dealer relationships, and local market constraints.

Tools and materials

  • Computer Apple iMac — Facilitating the video call
  • Excavation Contractor — Providing expert insights on equipment brands and dealer relationships
  • Excavation Equipment — Visual examples of equipment used in the discussion
  • Microphone — Audio capture during the video call

What they say

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right guys I've got Kimo Clark from truth excavation out of Maui Hawaii and what's the best piece of equipment out there the best piece of equipment can't case Cobell go Komatsu what brand do you like Kimo well the answer to that question doesn't exist if your tree falls in the woods and nobody's there to hear it because it still make a sound of course because there is no best piece of equipment just because you rent something for a week and everything feels great and tighten and powerful it doesn't really mean it's the best thing if it doesn't impress you when it's brand new it's not gonna get any better when it's old worn-out and beat-up it just doesn't work that way on something for years when you truly determine like how good the piece of equipment is because you're basically you're you're married to the manufacturer no matter what you get whatever that brand is for the life of that machine you're gonna have to deal with the dealer and we all know some are better than others it truly is America because until you get rid of that machine you're gonna have to deal with that dealer guys becomes the loyal to a brand that they become blind to anything else and I'm guilty of that this is my 11th Ford truck and four of these haven't impressed me but I keep buying them I think it's time to try a Chevy they just go on just a cat guy or I'm just a blah blah blah guy nothing else is good all machines are gonna break down they're all gonna have issues and you're gonna have to take that in to get repaired and if the guy that's gonna repair your piece of equipment happens to be like this it doesn't matter how good that piece of equipment is at that point because it's broke down and you're still dealing with the attitude of the shop that's gonna take care of you 100% agree 100% yeah the thing with brand loyalty it's like you're stuck in a little box because you're so loyal to that brand you just you don't even want to try anything else you know or some people you know it's it kind of makes sense because you want to have the same fleet because you're dealing with one dealer you get your parts your service whatever when you're running a fleet it does make the most sense to stick with one brand as long as you like that guy obviously every brand doesn't make a perfect machine every single weight class every single year there's every brand has lemons what brands do you currently own kind of a mix sleep but not kind of mostly cat not because I like cat the best I'll say I'm…

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