It's been my observation in numerous conversations over 25 years that a very high percentage of Americans think American Cars and John Deere lawn tractors are inch based and therefore require fractional inch wrenches/spanners. Some in fact tell me "no way are they metric" if I tell them they are. One aircraft mechanic was skeptical until he went home and used metric on his Ford truck instead of fractional inch tools. He came back and said I was correct, and commented on how he always found it hard to find the right size previously. I think this problem is endemic to the US and again wastes an enormous amount of time.
What I need to do is talk to mechanics at major car dealers and see what they have in their toolbox, I'll warrant its probably both inch and metric. Mike Payne. On 12/07/2011, at 02:24 , Martin Vlietstra wrote: > “Mechanics do indeed use metric tools; most of my home wrenches, though, seem > to be sized for bolts, nuts and pipes measured in inches” > > This smells of segregation – not on racial grounds, but on professional > grounds. No doubt supermarkets continue to foist poor quality tools onto the > home user, but the professional user knows that he wouldn’t touch any > non-metric tools with a bargepole. > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Bill Hooper > Sent: 12 July 2011 01:22 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:50861] Fwd: Cursive vs.metric > > I got this cordial reply from Mr. Bennett. I don't think he is anti-metric, > just non-metric. > > Begin forwarded message: > > > Dear Mr. Hooper, > I appreciate your letter and your thoughts, sincerely. > Metric dimensions are certainly present in our lives in many ways, just as > you pointed out. Perhaps this is a quirk of Indiana, but I do find, though, > that almost everyone I encounter in daily life here refers to sizes in > inches, feet, yards and miles (except for high school track running > distances, yet not heights or lengths); and volumes in gallons, quarts, pints > and cups (except for wine bottles, and 2-liter pop containers). > Mechanics do indeed use metric tools; most of my home wrenches, though, seem > to be sized for bolts, nuts and pipes measured in inches. > To push us over the hump toward full conversion, my guess is that the > government will have to do a more widespread public-education campaign, > similar to the one I remember from my childhood. That sort of all-out push, > in reference to my column's wording, was the basis for my use of the term > "mania." > thanks for your interest and time, > Mark Bennett > > Mark Bennett > Columnist/Editorialist/Features writer > CNHI Newspapers/Terre Haute (Ind.) Tribune-Star > [email protected] > (812) 231-4377 > >
