What to do with wrecked tractor?

[nimblemotors]

sorry to hear of your misfortune.
It looks like the tractor is fixable. Personally, I'd use it to build another one that doesn't use original parts to fix it, you can see lots of projects that people build. But people like this are rare, so if you don't have the time or interest in repairing or rebuilding it, I'd bet you could sell it to a repair shop for a lot more than scrap prices. they could part it out over time, or find other damaged units to get replacement parts for it. The rear tires are worth over $1,000 itself. You can part it out, but having done this for a few cars, it can take a while if its not a popular unit, and a tractor isn't compared to say a corvette or mustang, etc. hope that helps.

I guess from bouncing down the hill the loader bucket was bouncing too and was up as it hit the tree.

The brakes were always stiff and and seemed like they were glazed. They would grind sometimes about the time the tractor stopped. Not metal on metal but that glazed type of thing.

So, I was coming out of the back field and got off to open a gate. Had my back to the tractor and undoing the chain when something hit my leg and knocked me on my butt. Then the rear tire hit me in the shoulder and pushed me aside.
Watched it go down the hill just wishing it was all a nightmare.

I had set the parking brake but I guess I didn't give it that last click. I know now I should have put my bucket down and should of got the brakes fixed.

So learn from my mistakes and be careful out there.

 

[Dutch445]

sorry for your accident, glad you are around to tell
us the story, i can imagine you were only a few inches
from incurring heavy personal injury or the worst.

looking at the pic of the tractor on the blocks,
it looks like the front of the engine is mounted
to the front axle assembly, incorporating the oil pan
as part of the frame??? other than that obvious
broken oil pan part, do you see other damage to the
front of the engine? (not counting pulleys/fan etc)

how about from the engine back? the transmission/rear end
all look intact, and maybe they are fine.

i bet the loader carried the tractor up the tree, and when the momentum
stopped the tractor crashed back down onto the wheels and that's what
broke out the front axle. don't be too quick to condemn it, you may
find that it's more repairable than you initially thought. even a new
complete engine for a couple grand may get you the parts you need to
remount that front axle.

again, i'm on the outside looking in, but take a good look at it.
good luck

:thumbsup:

 

[jonyyuma]

Thanks for the photos, I would still fix it..It was a nice rig and looks good, even wrecked..l.JY.

 

[AGGIE00]

No doubt fix it. It may take time to find deals on the parts, but worth it. The only thing I would suggest, is get an oil pan on it as soon as possible to prevent rust to the crank and contamination to the lower engine. Good luck making her new again.

 

[ray66v]

I Have rebuilt many total losses in the automobile business.

I learned to expect the unexpected. It does not take much unknown, or hidden damage, to make it a financially bad decision to repair one. You have to be able to foresee the potential of a big margin for profit. Otherwise, you can end up saving little or nothing, vs. just going out and buying one. Especially, if you figure in your time, which is dumb not to do, because you could be getting paid for your time, if you do something else.

I think the salvage offer is pretty fair, I might be inclined to take it, if I were you.

Or, you could part it out yourself. But, you could be waiting a long time for the money.

 

[blueriver]

I too vote to rebuild it ...

 

[nimblemotors]

now that I look back and the salvage offer of $2,800 isn't really too bad,
that is a lot more than scrap metal prices. Given it was probably worth, what $8-9k before the wreck? Negotiate it over $3k, and might be the best option, then buy an older one for $5-6k? and the loss isn't so bad and you're back in business.

I Have rebuilt many total losses in the automobile business.

I learned to expect the unexpected. It does not take much unknown, or hidden damage, to make it a financially bad decision to repair one. You have to be able to foresee the potential of a big margin for profit. Otherwise, you can end up saving little or nothing, vs. just going out and buying one. Especially, if you figure in your time, which is dumb not to do, because you could be getting paid for your time, if you do something else.

I think the salvage offer is pretty fair, I might be inclined to take it, if I were you.

Or, you could part it out yourself. But, you could be waiting a long time for the money.

 

[crazyal]

I think I would pull that oil pan and bring it to a good welding shop and see what they think about repairing it.

 

[Mike476]

I would definitely want to take a closer look at it before scrapping it. 90% of the time, as Ray said, the total losses I've rebuilt are more money than they're worth, but there is that nagging 10%.......................

 

[AGGIE00]

I think I would pull that oil pan and bring it to a good welding shop and see what they think about repairing it.

Given that the oil pan is the frame of the tractor, I wouldn't play with a weld. If it were me I would be crawling off the tractor every 5 minutes looking for a crack.