Thread: Is someone killing Triton ?

Originally Posted by jmk89

they are not really tools that hardware stores are suitable to sell! I think that working on distribution through stores like Just Tools in Melbourne and Sydney Tools (guess where) and improving availability and pricing of accessories and spares (also through those channels) may be a good place for GMC to start.

I wonder if Jeremy has stumbled on to one-half of the truth here? Maybe GMC are trying to get Triton out of the likes of the BigB and into the more serious tool shops, where they can ask for more serious prices for them, because there isn't a near-equivalent GMC just a couple of feet away for half the price, and with a better warranty to boot... Maybe that's why they've been releasing quite a few more Triton-branded power tools in recent times...

The other half of the truth might be that it might just suit the BigB to get Triton out anyway, because it looks like they're going to start pushing the BigO (as in their very own brand, Ozito) more upmarket. I recall another forumite (a BigO "Insider" by the sound of it back then) not too long ago saying to watch Ozito this year as they had a swag of trade quality gear scheduled for release...

Cheerio,
Batpig.

Perhaps, but if you want to get out of Bunnings, then as a supplier it isn't hard - stop supplying.

Think the second point looks more on the money - given the recent rationalisation by Bunnings that killed many of Triton's product lines being in-store. (And a significant number of GMC ones as well).

Ozito is going to have to work hard though - what I've experienced of their tools in the past has left me pretty cold.

Gentlemen and others...
Re OZITO.. have a couple of mates and some work collegues who went down that track... spend half their time (when doing what I consider basic DYI stuff) going back and forth to the Big Green Shed to swap over the broken down machines.... Unless I experience any positives, and they would have to be good recommendations.... I will never give their gear a go.. Reputation at present in my circle of acquaintances is stay well away.... maybe that will change but as for me - no go.

Just hope the TRITON powers to be realise the potential again and get behind the ORANGE - back to basics and back to promotion and back to having it readily available, back to upgrading the little things that have been identified as needing to be done.

Originally Posted by Aberdeen

Matt
WELL DONE ! You have restored my faith in some of the younger generation.... thank heavens there is hope for the future of men and sheds )

I am assuming that if you hadn't worked in the hardware store and weren't exposed to woodwork equipment you may not have the pleasure of this experience today ???
Keep up the good work and spread the word....

No, i did woodwork at school before i started work at the hardware store, in fact i asked about work at the hardware store because i enjoyed wood work, i was one of the kids who did wood work because i enjoyed it, not because i thought it was a bludge. I just so happened that i got the job and learned alot about tools, timber and paints etc. I have since continued wood working because i enjoy it, the cypress kitchen i just fitted was for a work colleague who mentioned they wanted a timber kitchen so i jumped at the opportunity to have a go, i will some pics of it up.

I'm not sure that Triton is quite dead, with so many new tools sporting the Triton brand and painted in Telstra Gold. But maybe the good old days of innovative, tough and reliable products are indeed long gone.

I'm pretty sure that the tools in the new range are of lesser quality than the old main-liners - they just have a different feel to them - and what's more: they look and feel remarkably like their GMC equivalents. For example, the big Triton scrolling jigsaw and the big GMC scrolling jigsaw have remarkably similar body shapes and sizes, and have their knobs and switches in the same places, and the tilting bases are exactly the same on both machines - go to Bunnings and have a look for yourself. Same body, different skin. The thing I really want to know is: whose motor is in it?<STYLE type="text/css">.wysiwyg { background-attachment: scroll; background-repeat: repeat; background-position: 0% 0%; background-color: #fbfbfb; background-image: none; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; font-size: 10pt; line- normal } p { margin: }</STYLE><STYLE type="text/css">.wysiwyg { background-attachment: scroll; background-repeat: repeat; background-position: 0% 0%; background-color: #fbfbfb; background-image: none; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; font-size: 10pt; line- normal } p { margin: }</STYLE>

Stuart, what a pity they didn't release that version with a better top!

Frankly, I'd prefer aluminium to cast iron. Lighter, easier to move around, NO RUST. I like the aluminium top of the BT3100, with Triton had done something like that.

Similar I'd think - not ever seen the design etc, but that's what I'd imagine. Designed by the same engineers that came up with the other innovative Triton products, so I can only lament the other special features we don't even know we've missed out on.

Think though, that the market moved on, and the influx of cheap overseas products probably had as much to do with the end of that development line as anything else.

Originally Posted by jmk89

Triton gear sells quickly and at good prices in the second-hand market (look at eBay, as recently attested by Stuart). This suggests that there is a significant demand that is not being met by current retail options and also that the gear retains its reputation for being good value for money.

Triton WC's etc have good resale because firstly people see it in hardware stores and want it but find it too expensive at retail. Secondly, they know it has a reputation for good after sales service.

As it disappears from hardwares, brand awareness will go and that will diminish second hand value. Also, the older generation who remember the heyday of Triton won't be buying forever.

Secondly, the truth is though to run Triton well you need parts: to make jigs, and to fix bits that get broken. As after sales service runs down and down, people will become less willing to buy an old WC when word gets out that if something breaks it will take you months to get the part.

I'm not quite ready to sell my Triton yet and upgrade to a TC for space and transportation reasons, but I'll be doing it as soon as I can before the second hand market figures out what's going on.

I wonder who else had that same thought occur to them recently....

Originally Posted by princhester

........I'm not quite ready to sell my Triton yet and upgrade to a TC for space and transportation reasons, but I'll be doing it as soon as I can before the second hand market figures out what's going on.

Too late! You've let the cat out of the bag now.

Mick

Why don't GMC import TS's made in China and put a Triton sticker on them. Presto! instant success and Triton lives again.

If they chose a saw worthy (which is what I meant by painting a TSC-10HB orange), I'd welcome it. Even better, if they spent a little time with it ensuring that anything stupid was improved - low cost fixes that people would be prepared spending that little bit extra.

As much as some mock Triton, it isn't the original 2 powertools that get included - the saw and the router, for bloody good reason. They are good tools, and whether they were designed from the ground up (router), or based on and improved from a pre-existing model (saw), they are what Triton was all about - quality and innovation. As much as things need to be affordable, I never saw Triton as a cheap tool. They were something to aspire to - a normal saw, or an extra $100 (or more) and get the Triton.

You bought orange tools knowing that - even if you knew very little about tools they would at least be a damned fine example. I bought the saw knowing little about saws, and it turned out to be an amazing beast. I bought the orange router because I was starting to trust that orange was a good choice, despite the high price and I ended up with a router that is one of the world's best, particularly for table-mounting. When I wanted a bandsaw, I went looking for an orange one, again because I trusted that without knowing anything about bandsaws, it would be innovative and right up at the sharp end, but at that stage there wasn't one. Not that today's Triton doesn't have good tools, but that emphasis on best of the best despite the price has changed.

Recognising that, there are enough members here who swear by the TSC-10HB that I'd think anyone who bought one simply because it was orange wouldn't feel misguided.

Looking back again for a sec - when I was buying these tools, this was a company who's product was so good there were demonstration nights at Bunnings just on their tool range - WOW! They must be some fine tools that I'd be proud to own!

Triton needs to discover some self-pride again. The brand is worth protecting from rebadging ordinary crap. It is worth advertising. It is worth demonstrating. It is worth the customer service of old that was some of the best I'd seen of any company, with knowledge and spares at the drop of a hat (and at very reasonable price). It is worth being innovative. It is worth being proudly Australian, being built and/or designed in Australia, and supporting local industry. It needs to continue to grow, including online spares ordering (with 24 hour turn-around).

That sort of stuff shows pride in a product, and the customers will be proud to own it, and will buy other orange products because the know Triton is worth owning.


I'll shut up now!

New it the moment I buy one there goes an chance of spares

I mean the sawtable top now thats hard to replace a piece of sheet steel a fold here a fold there or as others have done some from ply.
The leg frame Metaland same for fences

Carriage might be a bit tougher to do but no worries a few bits of angle & flat

switches well electrical supplies will be able to sort that out

Ok the riving knife a bit harder and the plastic cover

Knobs and bolts surely a supplier has those or being bright Aussie's etc we can improvise

Ok so the electrical gear motors is a bit more of a worry

Originally Posted by Stuart

Triton needs to discover some self-pride again. The brand is worth protecting from rebadging ordinary crap. It is worth advertising. It is worth demonstrating. It is worth the customer service of old that was some of the best I'd seen of any company, with knowledge and spares at the drop of a hat (and at very reasonable price). It is worth being innovative. It is worth being proudly Australian, being built and/or designed in Australia, and supporting local industry. It needs to continue to grow, including online spares ordering (with 24 hour turn-around).

. Spot on.