American Farmers hacking there tractors

[JoeTech]

Instead of risking there tractors breaking down in the middle of harvest season and having to wait weeks for an authorized John Deere rep to service or fix there tractors, farmers are now jailbreaking them with cracked ukranian software. Even if they were to do repairs themselves, the tractors wouldn't work until they pay an authorized repair rep $230 plus $130/hr just to come out to plug in a usb drive that will authorize the parts. Along with Apple they are also fighting to right to repair bills pretty strongly in Nebraska.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/...acking-their-tractors-with-ukrainian-firmware

 

[phaZed]

If I were a tractor owner, it wouldn't be a JD.

 

[gadgetfixup]

Impressive:

It's quite simple, really. John Deere sold farmers their tractors, but has used software to maintain control of every aspect of its use after the sale. Kluthe, for example, uses pig manure to power his tractor, which requires engine modifications that would likely violate John Deere's terms of service on newer machines.

"I take the hog waste and run it through an anaerobic digester and I've learned to compress the methane," he said. "I run an 80 percent methane in my Chevy Diesel Pickup and I run 90 percent methane in my tractor. And they both purr. I take a lot of pride in working on my equipment."