With great regret, The tractor must be sold.

[4570Man]

Are you saying that with the records you found you could have diverted the $5million to your accounts somehow. Seems to me it would have taken a lot of fraud for that to happen.

It would have and that’s why I didn’t. But yes commenting identity theft would have been easy. There was no clear cut option of claim 5 million or if you don’t want it turn it over to the state. I did end up finding a 3 digit sum of cash in the house, but I never took a single penny from the bank accounts. And really the house was mine and the contents had already been claimed so the small amount of cash was mine.

 

[R_Walter]

Does that include diet-Pepsi?

 

[Atchuuu]

Are you saying that with the records you found you could have diverted the $5million to your accounts somehow. Seems to me it would have taken a lot of fraud for that to happen.

It would have and that’s why I didn’t. But yes commenting identity theft would have been easy. There was no clear cut option of claim 5 million or if you don’t want it turn it over to the state. I did end up finding a 3 digit sum of cash in the house, but I never took a single penny from the bank accounts. And really the house was mine and the contents had already been claimed so the small amount of cash was mine.

Wrong! Committing identity theft and taking money out of the accounts would not have been easy. Assuming you were able to show up at a bank and withdraw the cash, which you almost certainly would not have been able to do, you would have been promptly caught and arrested. You would then be occupying another "new" home for committing a felony. In this case it sounds as if you would have been stealing money that belongs to the state.

Never steal money, the government hates competition.

 

[Atchuuu]

BFJ - Good for you! I think you are on the right track.

I can't understand all the hand wringing on this thread. It's a tractor. Nothing more, nothing less and it's not even one you are emotionally attached to. Deals on tractors are a dime a dozen. If and when you really need another tractor you can get one that fits you well now that you have some real life experience.

Since you have already determined you can do what you need with your smaller tractor it makes no sense, financial or otherwise, to let an asset just sit around being underutilized.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Well folks, today was a bitter sweet day.

It was bitter because I had to see my tractor be loaded up and off to a new owner.

It was sweet because by selling the tractor, I can pay off the tractor loan and most all other debts. I will save over $2500 in interest I don’t have to pay back now and free up over $750 a month that I was using to tackle debts. It would have been another 2-3 years at the rate i was going to have everything paid off.



I bought the 4320 for $24,000 with 832 hours on, I sold it 3 years later for $25,000 with 949 hours. I did lose some money paid in interest and I changed all the fluids and filters after getting the tractor. Financial loss was minimal after 3 years of use.

My use for this tractor was mainly on a hobby farm, my new workhorse will be a 960 Ford tractor, instead of having the loader, everything will be done with 3pt attachments. It will be less Convenient but I’ll manage. I gave $1800 for the 960. 40hp



I will get another loader tractor later down the road, but I won’t be financing that one, plan to pay cash. I have given enough money to banks/ lenders and I’m only 28.

 

[Doofy]

Kudos. Sometimes, circumstances dictate unpopular actions that can be sad and painful. Probably a wise decision and now you can get back on track. I see another TLB in your future when you are ready.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Good choice!! That is a bunch of tractor to only be used for 39 hours per year. Great looking Ford BTW!!

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Kudos. Sometimes, circumstances dictate unpopular actions that can be sad and painful. Probably a wise decision and now you can get back on track. I see another TLB in your future when you are ready.

Yeah it’s deff not an easy day, some guys have a truck they love, I have tractors lol.

I really really really didn’t WANT to sell it, **** it took me 6 months before I even came around to listing it after I ran the numbers on “what if” I sold it. I have sellers remorse now but that will fade in time after I’m not BrokeFarmerJohn anymore lol.

I might have to change my name on here lol

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Good choice!! That is a bunch of tractor to only be used for 39 hours per year. Great looking Ford BTW!!

I was using it 50-75 hours per year but this past year I used it very little, went down to one steer and didn’t really have any projects going to run up hours.

There is many times where I could have easily used a bigger tractor or this one weighted down for loader work and different chores. I liked the size of the 4 family.

The 960 was one nail in the coffin for the 4320, once I got my hands on a 40hp tractor with a 3pt lift capacity that’s enough to move round bales, I proved to myself I can still do the hobby farm with much less tractor till I save up for another.

The other nails were a few tractors I bought after my grandpa passed away, he owned them and I bought them from his estate. If I didn’t buy both these tractors I could have paid the 4320 off this year. BUT the 960 and 4320 tractors can be easily found again, the two I bought this year aren’t as readily available. Both need work to run, the GP needs rebuilt and the Massey has a few stuck injectors.

They are 1929 John Deere GP and a 1960 Massey Ferguson 98 powered by a Detroit diesel, built by Oliver for MF. I was able to come up with the cash to buy them, but had no money to do anything with them lol. Now I will.

 

[Doofy]

Yeah it’s deff not an easy day, some guys have a truck they love, I have tractors lol.

I really really really didn’t WANT to sell it, **** it took me 6 months before I even came around to listing it after I ran the numbers on “what if” I sold it. I have sellers remorse now but that will fade in time after I’m not BrokeFarmerJohn anymore lol.

I might have to change my name on here lol

"Smart Farmer John" Clint Eastwood would say: "a Mans got to know his limitations". You made a decision to get out of debt and that is commendable. The younger you can figure how your finances, the better. The hard part is not reverting back to "Bad" money habits. Good Luck.

 

[radios1]

wow, I never heard of having to buy anything from my relatives estates!.. my family was tight..

 

[ovrszd]

If the 960 replaces the JD, you absolutely needed to sell the JD.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

If the 960 replaces the JD, you absolutely needed to sell the JD.

Well besides having the bucket to move materials around. I should be able to do 90% of my chores with the 960. Just won’t be nearly as fast. For example, instead of lifting a round bale over the fence and dump it in a round bale feeder, I’ll have to pin up the cattle, open the gate, drive into the pasture and drop the round bale on the ground for the cattle. Hay Loss will be a bit more but I don’t have many cattle, right now, just one steer.

I kept a mental note of every time I pulled out the tractor to clear snow, last two years, it’s been 4-5 times per winter. So not a huge snow plow need, the 960 should do fine, HST a bit more efficient.

Just a lot of small things. At the end of the day, I can still do the hobby farm and get snow cleared with the 960 so I don’t have to fully get out of the hobby right now.

 

[hawkeye08]

Good job.. you understand the difference between sentimental property and work tools. No reason to have tight finances if you have a work tool that is no longer being used.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

wow, I never heard of having to buy anything from my relatives estates!.. my family was tight..

Surviving spouse sold some stuff of my grandpas. Whoever wanted anything of his had to buy it.

I have seen similar situations at estate auctions, where family had to bid on relatives stuff.

I can’t complain too much, grandparents were married for over 30 years and she’s got less income now. She got me pretty good on the GP, she gave me a better deal on the Massey. It all worked out.

Well of today’s prices, but price on them are dropping fast, they are changing hands more etc.

A few restored Oliver 990s and Super 99’s sold for $5000-$7000. A few brought over 18k. The Massey’s were a similar story, few nice ones brought 6k-8k, few brought over 20k. Just depends on the auction. Private sale they are fetching decent prices, at auctions it’s hit or miss.

The 4020s and JDs around that era are now bringing Super 99 and Massey 98 money of 15-20 years ago.

 

[TripleR]

I commend you, we got by with a well worn Ford NAA a few years later we added a used and abused Case 955. We were able to do this as my brother is an excellent mechanic. Debt is not always avoidable, but in many cases can be mitigated by proper planning.

 

[kenmac]

I struggle with financing things. My financial advisor explained it. Why would you pull money out of the market making very good returns, pay taxes on the money. When you can get a tractor loan for 2.5% ?
I guess because I don't want to make a payment

 

[Jim Nelson]

I struggle with financing things. My financial advisor explained it. Why would you pull money out of the market making very good returns, pay taxes on the money. When you can get a tractor loan for 2.5% ?
I guess because I don't want to make a payment

I have a good friend who used to buy and sell used cars, trucks,&equipment which he would most often finance. It wasn't unusual to sell the same piece several times. He explained it by saying "There are a whole lot of people who just can't figure out how those agonizing,re-ocurring,monthly payments work". He was right and made a good living doing this as a sideline to his main work as a portable welder.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have a good friend who used to buy and sell used cars, trucks,&equipment which he would most often finance. It wasn't unusual to sell the same piece several times. He explained it by saying "There are a whole lot of people who just can't figure out how those agonizing,re-ocurring,monthly payments work". He was right and made a good living doing this as a sideline to his main work as a portable welder.

There are a lot of people doing that with land up here. It's frustrating as all get out; just as the buy-here-pay here places drive the overall price of vehicles up, the land vultures are making it difficult to find a reasonably priced piece of land. On place on the water I was going to look at disappeared overnight; a year later the same piece was for sale split up into 8 different parcels, each selling for the same price they originally paid for it.

 

[kevinwak]

I struggle with financing things. My financial advisor explained it. Why would you pull money out of the market making very good returns, pay taxes on the money. When you can get a tractor loan for 2.5% ?
I guess because I don't want to make a payment

Why would I take money out of the market and not get tractor loan? Because the growth on my investments in the market are not guaranteed, but the money saved by not paying interest is a for sure thing. Plus the security of not having a payment.

I’m not at that point yet. Still have a truck payment and mortgage. But am currently doing the paperwork to cash in an Investment to pay off the truck. Then the $1000 truck payment will be split, $500 towards the mortgage and $500 towards saving to buy the cute little wife a new vehicle in a few years once we have enough cash to pay for it with.
I’ve been listening to Dave Ramsey the last few months, and, while I am not completely sold out on living on beans and rice until I am debt free, I do want to reduce them as quickly as reasonable and not get any new ones.