Hours

[Kitz]

2 identical tractors 1 has 2600 hours 1 has 1700 hours what are the hours worth?

 

[jeff9366]

Well maintained, inside stored, owner-operated, diesel engine compact tractors often run 10,000 engine hours without requiring major maintenance.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Well if you rent that tractor how much would you rent it for ? depending on the size it would vary but lets say 25$/h, they have 900h difference so 900x25 = $22500

Dose the tractor with 2600h is worth $22500 less then the other one? no but you have the potential to buy and rent the one with 1700h for 900h and put $22500 in your pocket ... grand scheme of things they both have low hours but 900h is 900h that 75 days straight at 12h of day, I would always choose the tractor with the lowest hours when there is this much of a difference long as the asking prices are within the same ball park.

 

[Tinhack]

No single feature can be used to value a tractor. As Jeff mentions, the sum of the parts are what matters. I would put more weight on overall condition rather than hours. If the owner takes care of the tractor it will show by date and/or hours marked on filters, small amounts of grease from joints and the cleanliness of the operator station and engine.

 

[Rockbadchild]

No single feature can be used to value a tractor. As Jeff mentions, the sum of the parts are what matters. I would put more weight on overall condition rather than hours. If the owner takes care of the tractor it will show by date and/or hours marked on filters, small amounts of grease from joints and the cleanliness of the operator station and engine.

There is one thing tho you can clean your tractor, repaint it and change your oil and filters before you sell it, lie about what you used for and where it was stored it but the hour meter never lie... but yes the over all condition matter and there hours is not all it matters, maybe the 1700h was beat up with no maintenance and the 2600h ran idle to run a PTO wood splitter most of its life and the owner did regular maintenance who knows ... judgment is required, but I would not put the 900h differences in consideration.

 

[sea2summit]

One man using a tractor for 10 hrs could put the equivalent of 1,000 hrs damage on it compared to a skilled operator. Less than 5k I wouldn’t be concerned about hrs as much as use and maintenance.

 

[Tinhack]

There is one thing tho you can clean your tractor, repaint it and change your oil and filters before you sell it, lie about what you used for and where it was stored it but the hour meter never lie...

I guess it would depend on the hour meter. My 1986 Ford 3910 meter has 28.4 hours on it. I just put four of those hours on it this morning cutting the side field. It didn't even have a dash much less a meter the first 12 years I've owned it. I put a new gauge cluster in it as part of the restoration.

But, be assured, there's other ways to tell the age of a tractor besides the hours. You just have to look.

 

[5030]

Not that I buy many used tractors but I did 2 years ago and first thing I do is look at the tires and compare that to the hour meter. That will always tell you if something isn't Kosher. That and old grease. I want to see old grease where the fittings are. Then I'll pull the dipstick and have a look see at the engine oil but more importantly I look at the transmission oil. People will change the engine oil but not the transmission oil because it's more difficult. I see a lot of for sale units with fresh paint via rattle can. I run away from those.

 

[GeneV]

2 identical tractors 1 has 2600 hours 1 has 1700 hours what are the hours worth?

All a matter of which one more beat to shitaki. You could have a 3k hr machine that's well taken care of, or a 100 hr machine that was regularly ridden hard/put away wet (but cleaned up prior to sale).

 

[5030]

Bent and wonky fel bucket is another good indicator if the tractor was flogged. Bent up buckets or a smile in the cutting lip means it was used hard and probably abused.

One thing people don't know about Kubota's (at least) and that is when you buy a new one, you can opt for either a light gage material bucket (which is what 95% of the come with) or a heavy duty excavation bucket. The light duty material buckets will get wonky pretty easy I have them both.