why trade so much

   / why trade so much #1  

bigbull338

Elite Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
3,213
Location
texas
Tractor
7040 HDC 1153 fel
i guess im an old farmer that dont beleive in trading tractors every few years.i live by you buy tractors an equipment when you have to.so i was wondering why every1 trades tractors every 5yrs or so.is it because you can have new write offs every 5yrs.
 
   / why trade so much #2  
I guess it depend a lot on what type of tractor as well as how many hours you put on and what you do.

We tend to keep our tractors for quite a while, but we don't depend on them for our living and don't put a lot of hours on them. I also tend to get attached to them. Our grand kids will still be using our M8540 long after we are gone. Our 5030 is eight years old and I may replace it some day, but we still use tractors made in the 50's, 60's and 80's on one farm.

The family that farms our land use to keep their tractors until they wore completely out, but now trade every few years as a break down during harvest or spring planting can be really costly due to delays in getting a repair truck out into the field. Now they still keep their utility tractors a long time, just not the ones they use for production.

Some people just like new things and tractors are a hobby for them, so I can see why some trade, but I suspect some look at tractors the same as cars and trucks and really don't appreciate how long they can last.

My brother has never owned a new tractor in his life and probably never will.

Now mind you, I may buy an additional tractor.:laughing:
 
   / why trade so much #3  
Most of the guys here are not farmers. They'll trade off their tractors like they would a truck, a boat or motorcycle. It's no big deal.

Back when a guy bought a little Farmall to work his tobacco patch, his needs didn't change for 20 years and there was no point in changing. We ran this Massy in our produce fields for 25 years. There was no reason to make a change.

It's a new day.
 
   / why trade so much
  • Thread Starter
#4  
well im with your brother to some extent,we only bought 2 new tractors in 33yrs.an i beleive in running the wheels off of them.we have bought 5 used tractors over the years.an only have 1 of those left that wont be sold.if my nephew keeps loving tractors i may have to buy a cab tractor with a buddy seat so i can let him ride with me.
 
   / why trade so much #5  
I'm gonna trade my Farmall H just as soon as they make a better tractor. They got some good engineers workin' on it so I keep hopein'. Unitl then she'll have to keep workin for a living.

I've gotta admit I also have a 2005 JD 790 that is a pretty good tractor, the small tractors today just ain't made for field work.
 
   / why trade so much #6  
well im with your brother to some extent,we only bought 2 new tractors in 33yrs.an i beleive in running the wheels off of them.we have bought 5 used tractors over the years.an only have 1 of those left that wont be sold.if my nephew keeps loving tractors i may have to buy a cab tractor with a buddy seat so i can let him ride with me.

We had a buddy seat rigged up in our cabbed Case CX80 my son used for his kids, they just loved it. The cab on our 8540 isn't quite wide enough for one; he sure misses it.
 
   / why trade so much #7  
Most of the guys here are not farmers. They'll trade off their tractors like they would a truck, a boat or motorcycle. It's no big deal.

Back when a guy bought a little Farmall to work his tobacco patch, his needs didn't change for 20 years and there was no point in changing. We ran this Massy in our produce fields for 25 years. There was no reason to make a change.

It's a new day.

That sure is a great picture.
 
   / why trade so much #8  
his needs didn't change for 20 years
And I guess the way he got the job done didn't change either.:) A moldboard plow will still git 'er done, so why buy new, when the shares ain't worn down?

Henry Ford built cars to do a job, and didn't change them from year to year. Then Madison Avenue whispered in our ears , "Newer! Better! Have the latest!", and our cars became fashion items. Keep up with the Joneses.

CUTs have followed this marketing scheme; they realize that most of us deep down consider them toys, not tools, although it will take a few beers- and NO wimmen folks in earshot- to admit it.:laughing:

As for changes in farming; now we GPS in the air conditioned cab, hybrid seed, and satellite mapping of our soils. Because farming is business!
 
   / why trade so much #9  
That sure is a great picture.

Thanks TripleR, btw, that's me, on left, on my very own Massey. :D

Produce farming is in my blood, I guess. Almost 57 years after that photo was shot, I'm still at it. Changes? Far fewer than one would think. 90% of the stuff I do as we always have. There's almost nothing I'm doing today that I couldn't still do with that Massey just as well. Well, accept for one huge thing!!!

That big old bucket I can stick to the front end of the 'Bota. Oh yeah, .....and one more thing!!!! Power steering. :thumbsup:
That alone is worth every penny of a modern tractor.
 
   / why trade so much #10  
Contract harvesting outfits replace their combines every season or every other season at, what, $200,000+ each. There's a tax advantage in depreciating the equipment quickly and they don't have to take quite so much chance of downtime vs. older equipment. That makes business sense; if you're a really big farming operation, you probably also do that with other big ticket items, like tractors, spray rigs, planters, etc.

If you're not farming on such a grand scale, though, it's hard to see how frequent trades pay off. And for rank amateurs like me, the distinction between "needing" a new tractor vs. "wanting" a new one gets kind of fuzzy.
 
 
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