So, what can we do to revitalize this forum?

[zippy1]

Originally Posted by johncub7172

"Faceplant" will never come close to what is here at OCC! Though, I was thinking how we as enthusiasts would help the younger generation of enthusiasts, promoting and encouraging. Also, I think through out the years, there have been some pretty good "how to's" documented, and that we ought to take another look at them and bolster up our Tips section, as I feel it's getting out-dated. I know how ever simple they maybe, they would count and make a polished impression on new members. I have a narrow frame front axle squeeze thread I thought was decent, but fell short of Glory Land, lol!

"Will never come close", but as anything else. Things change. I for one don't use faceplant, but from what I read, it's "full" of know it alls, and sheep, that follow along.

[Terry C]

Originally Posted by johncub7172

"Faceplant" will never come close to what is here at OCC! Though, I was thinking how we as enthusiasts would help the younger generation of enthusiasts, promoting and encouraging. Also, I think through out the years, there have been some pretty good "how to's" documented, and that we ought to take another look at them and bolster up our Tips section, as I feel it's getting out-dated. I know how ever simple they maybe, they would count and make a polished impression on new members. I have a narrow frame front axle squeeze thread I thought was decent, but fell short of Glory Land, lol!

You have a pretty good idea there. Not so much about the outdated thing ( they are 50yr old tractors you know ) but a way to draw the attention to the tips better. Seems like people ask questions before doing any research. That might just be laziness. IDK.

[jbrewer]

Good discussion!

I agree that a lot of the questions are repeats. It's the nature of the forum topic that folks are going to ask about the same things, and let's face it, people can be lazy (me included).

I work with databases, which this forum is a type of . In order to make searches effective, there's gotta be "metadata"--- which is a fancy term to indicate "what search topics or summary words are best associated with this information" as targets for searches. That's over the top for a forum, but it's helpful to remember when describing a topic to stash some keywords in there that people might be searching for .

Another idea (I'm just thinking out loud). When folks ask the same question, let's point them (with a link?) to the answer if it exists in the "how to " section. Maybe if that's done enough times this will help, rather than just saying "go search for it".

I was interested in wheel size for a 123 recently. I did try searching but came up with no pertinent info, and a lot of extraneous noise. Again, keywords would have helped this, but it's a lot to ask whenever we post, I know.

Just some more ideas....

I'm not a facebook fan either, but there's reasons people go there. If we want to have/keep this forum an active dynamic one, we'll need to make it so.

[johncub7172]

Originally Posted by zippy1

"Will never come close", but as anything else. Things change. I for one don't use faceplant, but from what I read, it's "full" of know it alls, and sheep, that follow along.

Well, I've been around these IH Cub Cadets since I was around 11-12 years of age. My first was a Original with all the bells and whistles. I never gave up on these awesome garden tractors through out the years. The best thing I done was give up on that race car and super truck stuff and stick with these tractors.

But I will tell you I'm no expert! While things change, change is not for everybody. I enjoy the group here, and the variety of how enthusiasts care and maintain their tractors. I've handed over hundreds and hundreds of dollars to folks here because of the trust and loyalty I find here. No need for faceplant ever, for anything in my life and that's fine with me! You have to draw hard lines in life, and stand for good things. This is where and why I like being around OCC

[clay1811/44c]

I think this site will keep rolling along. I see fewer and fewer people everyday that can work on and repair anything. They are products of our throw away society. A lot of the newbies here need a few kind words and encouragement. I know I've asked for help in the past after searching and other people find what I didn't. My Dad (RIP) used to get mad at me when we talked on the phone while searching for something. He couldn't understand why my search was different from his. If we typed the same words it had to be the same results. He'd get so mad and hang up on me. So my point offer kind words and lets all get along. I've spent many of hours looking through old posts, and I saving threads for future projects.

[johncub7172]

Originally Posted by jbrewer

Say more, I'm not sure I understand?

John

Not much to complain about here at OCC! While some folks responded by noting a end of the year slow down in group activity, I went on to mention a few notes of my own. This really is the best forum around. Look at other sites, they are plagued with ad's, or you have to be of select few to understand how post pictures, and much of their FAQ's are so out dated and don't allow for other member's to participate in well documented experiences with these tractors. So, I for one, suggest we look back at some threads, and list them in the Tips and How-to sections, for many good reasons! Also, the encouragement and promotion to the next generation of Cub Cadet enthusiasts.

[drglinski]

I've been having a hard time checking in- busy time of the year..and I have a 3 MO daughter. Don't get me wrong I've used my cub plenty of times this month. We've got dumped on multiple times- I even got to use it yesterday morning before Christmas mass. Went to start it up today but it hadn't been plugged into the charger overnight and with it being 11 degrees she didn't want to fire.

[Jeff in Pa]

Originally Posted by drcjv

The previous answers and list are all great. I would just simply say treat everybody with respect and realize we do not all look at things the same way but that does not mean some one is wrong. Also as far as new posters go we only get one chance to make a good first impression.

Some folks who ask for ideas on how to fix "X" want the easy fix. You could have five different forum members offer insights on what may be wrong and the original poster will only do the easy ones.

Sometimes one must get dirty to get something corrected. Not everyone wants to dig into a dirty or thought provoking repair.

Can we make things better? Yes we can but we can can only do so much.

Jeff

[Leadslingingdaddy]

If you want a site to sit and BS go to FB.... Winter time = Less seat time
Brevity is the real sign of intelligence.
Don't need old threads opened up or rehashed....Its called a search...
The ones that need to know, know what I'm doing...

Like I tell my employees...

Be Brief
Be Brilliant
Be Gone

This site is another tool in the tool box... Some wrenches are better than others... : - )

[Rescue11]

Originally Posted by Leadslingingdaddy

Be Brief
Be Brilliant
Be Gone

This site is another tool in the tool box... Some wrenches are better than others... : - )

Perfect .... 10 characters