Why are we so willing to spend other peoples money?

[oosik]

Yes, you are so right, daugen. And I too - live the Jack Daniels life on the Bush beer budget. I hate wine & champagne. Its taken me 35 years to get my property in its current shape - the way I like it. I think a lot of the recommendations are the desire to have new OP's bypass the pains we have experienced getting where we are. And, as you say, a more reliable piece of equipment.

 

[ericm979]

I'm glad that a bunch of people here encouraged me to buy more tractor than I'd what been considering for my second tractor. I've gotten much more out of it than I thought I would. My wife was really reluctant for us to drop that much on a tractor and implements but she'd been basing her thinking on what the old B7100 would do. Once she saw what the 3725 could do she was sold.

 

[ultrarunner]

It is a chance to live vicariously...

Never needed to ask anyone about buying anything... there are enough of those conversations going on in my own head... but the reality is if I can't properly take care of it/store it it is something I need to pass on.

Maybe it is a blessing I never ended up with that 6,000 square feet concrete floor shop!!!

 

[Wagtail]

I reckon that our honest advice is that 'you get what you pay for.'

Quite a lot of us have tried the less expensive (shall we say) alternatives and experience tells us that quality (or more hp/larger tractor) gets you 'more bang for the buck' in the long run.

Same goes for implements & sheds with a concrete floor.

 

[Buppies]

Wagtail is correct in this old world you do get what you pay for

One can live vicariously thru another by spending their money

 

[daugen]

this thread is a lot of fun, I went back and reread it all from the beginning. Lot of wisdom among the kidding around.

We are a product of our family and environment. If your parents had bad Great Depression experiences, that sense of
conservation and reluctance to spend money stays with you a long time. And you pass those feelings on to your kids to a degree I think.
Also, as a retired financial planner, I can say that folks have very different ideas on what constitutes good value. So there is a wide range of experiences
and financial ability. If you have two car payments and a mortgage, adding an 800 dollar tractor payment may be utterly impossible.
Those $25k combos of tractors on their trailers with a little bush hog are very appealing and seductive.
Now to convince Mom...

 

[oosik]

Both my parents went thru the great depression. Tight does not begin to describe their relationship with money. I think both my parents had the first dollar they ever made still locked up in a bank when they passed. I know the thought of financial uncertainty was very stressful for both of them.

 

[ArmyDoc]

People can try to picture themselves into another persons position and give advice from that perspective, but it never really works. The reasons are simple. First, you can't really know their position, and second, you're still basing your recommendations on YOUR experiences. That said, I think everyone does the best they can.

But there's another problem with asking / answering questions. That's when the OP doesn't really know enough to frame the question. In my own case, I asked questions based on what experience I had, and the assumptions I was making, and I stated a budget that I thought would handle it. It turns out I was wrong in all three areas in one way or another. But by asking the questions, I got feedback and learned, and now (hopefully!) I'm in a much better place to make a decision.

As to budget, I think there are four components. 1) what we are willing to pay, 2) what we can pay, 3) what it actually costs for what we need, and 4) what it costs for what we want. No one want's to spend more than they have to, so what we are willing to pay may not be enough to afford what we want. If what we are willing to pay is less than what we can pay, no problem, we can increase the budget. But if what we are willing to pay is already at the most we can pay, we may have to change what we want down to what we actually need.

 

[MoparTrucks]

What an interesting thread. I retired from the Army in 2010 and bought a small 21 acre farm in the Ozarks and had never owned a tractor before. I ended up buying a B2320 (geared) with FEL and an IH 424 and have used that combo since and enjoyed it, I also have a 1948 AC-WC row crop set up that is awaiting resto and which I will give to my SIL.

However, in my case I am tired of wrenching on the IH when something major needs done on the farm (an increasingly common issue) and the little Kubota that has served me so well is just too small to haul round bales and do the loader work I need. So I researched for the past 5 months and just bought an LS XG 3140 with the shuttle shift, a loader and filled tires. I wanted a 35 - 40 hp tractor with live PTO but as a retiree my budget was pretty fixed at around $200 a month or less and because I got a screaming deal on the LS and a good trade in I achieved that. Lots of well meaning folks told me I should get a cabbed 50 - 70hp tractor but not only could I not afford that, that would be serious overkill and the size would be a hindrance in my barnyard and truck garden.

Tractors are a tool for me and though I would love a cab, and I enjoy watching videos and helping neighbors who have such tractors, when your budget is relatively fixed you have to think realistically. I have a lot of interests and owning a tractor is but one, life for me takes balance.

 

[goeduck]

All my Dad ever asks is "Have you SOLD anything lately" ? Or sees something new and asks, what is it and can you sell it? Gets old! We are all different.

I would like to start selling some things but I am not sure how I will go about it. I am not wanting to sell on CL and have some of the CL flakes show up at my house. The house is secluded and I have lots of things that would be a good target. I have tried meeting at a grocery store parking lot but the no shows and the low ballers (after about 30 minutes or tire kicking) drive me nuts. I don’t have a lot of things I would sell since I am not a collector, but some things never get used.