Buying Advice New Tractor Delivery Hour Meter

[Maxify55]

Does it "look" new, run like new? If it's got 50 hours on it, has the dealer done the first service on it? Oil, filter, hydraulic filter, etc. Is the dealer giving you a new tractor warranty? I understand some wanting as new as possible, so maybe I'm different, but if they've put some hours on it, they should have found any problems, if such even exist, so if the answers to the questions is "yes", then I wouldn't worry about it.

There you go!
There's the other side of the coin.
I've got this idea that maybe I'm just expecting far more than
what is reasonable.
I'm gonna work the tar out of it on a horse farm in Florida's worst heat and rain.
So what's a few hours on the meter as long as the warranty is solid.
The guys in the shop are great.
It's a small town dealership that doesn't move a lot of units.
So the factory doesn't cut them a whole lot of discounts anyway.

Guess it all boils down to:
"Just how big of a mules backside am I willing to make myself over a
few bucks?"

I still hafta walk into the place to buy filters, belts and hydro fluid.
Gotta love small town life and I try, as much as possible, to
spend my money in that same small town.

Know what I mean, Bird?

Max

 

[Maxify55]

It'll certainly be an interesting meeting when they pull up with the new unit, Monday.

I didn't know that they only came out with the model this year.

Nice information to have.

Thanx, RWork

Max

 

[Maxify55]

My tractor had 5 hours on it when I got it new, I would get nervous 10-15 hour range and up. At 50 hours you are talking your first service interval.

I'm thinking a minimum of 15-20 hrs on the clock.

Could go higher. I'm not sure what I'll do but I'll give it my
Academy Award performance to the driver.

I've waited 2 weeks. What's another couple of days for a few hundred bucks.

I'd already offered to let them deliver a 4000 Series for a modest increase...say $500.
Me being a generous kinda guy, Ya Know?

 

[DavesTractor]

I think most floor plan finance companies see anything under 15 hours as brand new, and above that would be questionable. So that is one point of reference.

5-10 hours would find any assembly leaks or any other new tractor issue, and that is not a bad thing if the tractor is still sharp. 10-15 hours and you could ask for a free set of filters or a free first service. At 25 hours or more....a discount is in order, they have received some value out of the tractor by using it as a demo or something and can pass a little of that on to you.

 

[tractchores]

Another random point of reference - I bought my tractor used, it had a bit over 50 hours on it and was around 1 year old. The discount VS brand new was significant... If you want it, but it has lots of hours, maybe try to negotiate on things like getting the first service done free or extras, which are easy for them to give and expensive for you to buy....

 

[bigbull338]

when i got my new tractor in july it had 10 hours on it.an since the 1 your getting was hauled to trade shows id say 10 hours or tad more might be on it.

 

[grsthegreat]

the difference with a used tractor with 50 hours on it and a new tractor with 50 hours on it is the warranty. A used may or may not have the warranty. I dont know if tractors follow the same rules as autos. you can find a used car or truck with 10 miles on it. These were cars/trucks that were registered then fell thru due to whatever. once its been registered...its used. Since tractors dont get registered, im not sure what determines weather its used. I got my new Kioti and it had 25 hours on it. The dealer told me that he had driven it to clear snow on his lot. Since it was the dealer, and hes a very knowledgeable guy let me tell you, i had no issues with it. But i did get a heck of a deal, and its sold on paperwork as new with Kioti's full warranty. I have 350 hours on it now, no issues.

 

[Sysop]

Mine had 6 hours on it when I purchased it. It had been on the dealer lot for almost two months. Where they are located is somewhat dusty near the main road, so they rotate stock around the lot often and wash stuff in back during the rotation. Mine probably had a half dozen baths in the two months it was there. Between the time I bought it with 6 hours, and the time it was delivered and my butt first hit the seat to do some work, it had 8 on it. I assumed these two hours were time spent running it to load the various implements, do final dealer prep, and then it took the delivery guy about 40 minutes to get everything unloaded and handed over to me.

There were no scratches on any part of the machine and no evidence of ever having been in dirt, and the tires showed no evidence of ever slipping or spinning. To me that is what makes a machine new.

If it's been to shows, I would think it could have as much as 6 hours per show-day when figuring in all the load and unload time as well as doing any demonstrations.

In your situation, I would honestly hope it is at the 50 hour mark. It takes no time at all once you start working to clock up 50 hours on the machine and then you have to do the first service. If it's past that 50 hour mark, or near enough to it, the dealer should cover that cost for you. I'd prefer have a "new" machine delivered ready to do 200 hours work than only 50 (or less than 50 with having some hours off the clock).

To be honest, the 50 hour service for many tractors isn't difficult. For me it was $100+ in two filters I changed in the field while working when the clock hit 50. I used a plain oil change drain pan to catch what little gets lost in taking the HST and Hydraulic filters off and inspected what came out. If it was dirty or had any particulates in it that were visible I was going to put the old filters back on and take it to the shop and do a full fluid change. It looked and smelled exactly like the new fluid in the jug with no sort of particulates or discoloring, so I just tossed the new filters on and put in about a half gallon of fluid back in to replace what was lost in removing the old filters.

 

[grm61]

Mine had 1 hour on it.
New is new.
I think I would start to be unhappy about paying new price after about 7 hours, the norm seems to be up to 10 or so.
If your getting a demo with hours on it I would expect it to be heavily discounted.

 

[GManBart]

Mine had 1.2hrs on it when it came off the trailer. If it has more than 10hrs on the meter, I'd ask for them to throw in the 50hr service free, or at least give me the filters, etc to to it myself. At 25hrs I'd start talking discount with them.