Hours

[Anonymous Poster]

How would one judge a used tractor's condition in relation to the hours it has on it? For instance I see used tractors for sale and the ad will say something like "only has 2000hrs"etc. Only 2000hrs is made to sound like it is not hardly used, what is the scoop on hours and wear and tear? thanks in advance.

 

[Bird]

Airedale, it's a little difficult to correlate hours with condition with tractors just as it's a little difficult to correlate miles to condition with cars. A lot depends on how it was used and how it was maintained. I know farmers with big tractors who figure 7k to 10k hours before any major work, like an engine overhaul, is needed. One of my friends bought a John Deere from the dealer with well over 7k hours on it and the dealer had just done an engine overhaul when he took it in trade. Another neighbor bought a 25 year old Oliver with over 5k hours and as far as he knows (which ain't much of course), it's never had any major work and he's been using it now for a couple of thousand hours. An awful of the smaller tractors are owned by homeowners who are only going to put 100 to 200 hours a year on it. At any rate, personally, I'd expect a properly maintained tractor to go over 5k hours before needing any major work, and of course that's just my guess.

And welcome to the forum. Since you didn't put much in your profile, for all I know you may know a lot more tractors than I do. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[DK35vince]

I agree with Bird. It depends on how it was used and maintained.
I have seen tractors with thousands of hours in very nice shape and running condition.
I have also seen machines with 1500 hours that were JUNK !!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for the info Bird, I know that like a car it depends on how a tractor is used and maintained but I was trying to get a general idea on what is really used and what would still have a good bit of work left in it without major work being done. I guess I was trying to make a correlation to something like milage on a car, like a car with over 100000 miles is high milage to me, 50000 medium and say below 20000 low. I do not know a whole lot about tractors, I started with a AC WD 45 powerfull but an ergonomic nightmare, then got a Ferguson TO 30 which I still have and bought a Kubota 7500 recently, I am learning something every day. Also I updated my profile, again thanks Bird for the info.

 

[Carl_NH]

Airedale,

This has been discussed before, however in car/truck terms 50MPH for 100K mi would be 2000 hrs, a lot on some cars and just broken in on others it all depends on the way they have been used and cared for.

Carl

 

[frank_f15]

welcome to the forum from a western ny guy! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif remember that most hour meters on tractors use pto speeds to clock the hours. so if the machine was run at less then ptoo speed it will show less hours on the meter.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Yeah Frank,
That is what I thought too, however my tractor has both a digital and the PTO speed/tach gauge. The PTO speed/tach gauge shows more hours... go figure. I just use them for maintenance interval scheduling anyway as I do not plan on selling it/them.

BTW I have 2260 hrs on my I2444 gasser still great, no smoke, no oil usage..well front main seal leaks a bit, 1/2 quart in 100 hrs. No other drive train problems. Probably will have to replace the clutch in another year or so. I have not had it all of those hours, but know the previous owners and its history.

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue"> what is the scoop on hours and wear and tear? </font> Wouldn't it be nice if there was a "wear and tear" meter next to the hour meter? We could divide the two and come up with a tractor condition quotient.


Airedale,
I am a little reluctant to include this quote from a recent post of mine, but like you, I get a better feel for tractor hours if I can relate them to something like car mileage:

<font color="blue"> My diesel pick-up has an hour meter on it. My rough calculations equate 1000 hours of tractor time to about 25,000 miles on a road vehicle. It's a rough calculation, but I have a better feel for useage looking at road miles vs. engine hours. So, a 1000 hour tractor should have lots of life left. </font> The quote is found at this link, to put it in context.

At the time, TBNers were kind enough not to comment on (or openly scoff at) my attempt at correlating tractor hours to car mileage. In fact, there is certainly only a vague correlation. It's fine if a conversion formula gives you a little familiar ground to stand on, but take it for what it's worth...a rough calculation.

By the way, 100,000 miles on a diesel is perhaps not as high mileage as on a gas burner.


OkieG