New Tractor Sales Are Declining

[ArlyA]

I think the people who claim there 25yo tracker is the same as those overprice atv's or utv's, are simply jealous that don't have one.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

Meh I'd like a nice utv. I have a rhino 660.

I also have a 95 mitsubishi mini cab

We ride our 4 wheelers the most. For work, the tractor does everything the others do other than heat and air

 

[Cycledude]

What do you think is driving the demand? Snow?

Dealers seem to be able to get new tractors a little easier this year and buyers seem to have plenty of money to spend.

 

[scootr]

Sometimes the undisciplined consumer just can't wait any longer and the shiny object calls them to the finance office. My neighbor just spent $50k on a Yanmar tractor. I spent 30K on a 150 hr Kubota and sold my old tractor for 15k and sold a car for 13k profit. Almost a wash in equity. I'm looking for ways to reduce spending in this economy not increase it. I think that will be the mindset of most people.

 

[jyoutz]

I've vacationed in the Rocky Mountain high country of Colorado for 35+ years. SxS are the worst enviromental thing that has happened to the high country. Extremely hard on trails because they are always spinning and tearing up the fine material on those trails which causes severe errosion. This Summer I was on a couple trails that I hadn't been on for 8 years. The damage was horrible. To imply they are better for the environment is simply wrong.

A SxS will make the trip quicker than a Jeep or Sami. But it required a heavy duty pickup and a trailer to get there. At the end of the day this combination is not environmentally friendly. Handy, but not better.

What you say is true. Indiscriminate uses are tearing up land. SxS are still a lighter footprint on the land than a truck or Jeep. Repeated travel over the same corridors will destroy vegetation and cause erosion trails. Game retrieval that I described isn’t repeated use, And there’s no doubt that SxS use on old skid trails is a lighter footprint than a Jeep or truck.

 

[2manyrocks]

The Geo trackers also have a following although my impression is the Samurai is more of a true off road 4x4 sport vehicle.

Back in the day, small farmers had a tractor and a pickup truck. And a late model car to take the family to church on Sunday.

 

[ovrszd]

What you say is true. Indiscriminate uses are tearing up land. SxS are still a lighter footprint on the land than a truck or Jeep. Repeated travel over the same corridors will destroy vegetation and cause erosion trails. Game retrieval that I described isn’t repeated use, And there’s no doubt that SxS use on old skid trails is a lighter footprint than a Jeep or truck.

The weight has absolutely nothing to do with it.

 

[rScotty]

The weight has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Walking is the answer?

 

[deezler]

Sure the weight has something to do with it. 100 Horsepower in a lightweight SxS means you can spin the tires on command. Spinning tires is what tears up the trails and land. As well as having locked up rears for traction, meaning turning drags the inside/outside wheel or both a bit.

A much heavier jeep, samurai, tracker, with similar power available, doesn't necessarily spin the tires as much. Or at least people drive them more calmly, because you have to. A lightweight plushy SxS is ready to rip; that's the fun of it.

 

[Milo]

Idiots spinning the tires, doing donuts, power slides, etc are what erodes trails, not the SXS itself. The (typically wet) soft trails on my property here in WV are fragile compared to most places in the west and there is no erosion and rutting! It's because I'm the one who uses them. My SXS with 10 psi of ground contact, an open differential, and not ever spinning a tire is pretty easy on the terrain, much easier than the ATV's with no differential I used to have, 4,000# tractor, the kids bicycles, or my neighbor's horses who use a short section of one of the trails. One of my SXS's is a Honda Pioneer 520 which does not have a differential so I have to be careful when I use it and even still it will skid exposing bare dirt on sharp corners so it only gets on certain trails and then only when it's dry. From now on I will only buy a SXS or ATV that has a differential.

 

[ArlyA]

Idiots spinning the tires, doing donuts, power slides, etc are what erodes trails, not the SXS itself. The (typically wet) soft trails on my property here in WV are fragile compared to most places in the west and there is no erosion and rutting! It's because I'm the one who uses them. My SXS with 10 psi of ground contact, an open differential, and not ever spinning a tire is pretty easy on the terrain, much easier than the ATV's with no differential I used to have, 4,000# tractor, the kids bicycles, or my neighbor's horses who use a short section of one of the trails. One of my SXS's is a Honda Pioneer 520 which does not have a differential so I have to be careful when I use it and even still it will skid exposing bare dirt on sharp corners so it only gets on certain trails and then only when it's dry. From now on I will only buy a SXS or ATV that has a differential.

We run 5 to 7psi in our 6x6.

 

[ovrszd]

Walking is the answer?

Not in the areas we are talking about. They are public lands that are used for entertainment of the public, i.e., us.

There are plenty of Wilderness areas designated for foot traffic only.

 

[TimberFarm]

Current inflation is grossly understated in the media. I'm 44 and it's the worst in my lifetime. My grandfather is 85 and says he's never seen things in general as bad as they are today.

So, if you're deciding between gasoline, groceries, and daily needs versus buying a new tractor, chances are the tractor is going to lose that decision. It makes perfect sense to me. Families are getting to the point where they are picking and choosing where the money goes.

I personally think tractor sales, home sales, vehicle sales, anything that typically gets financed will not recover in 2023. And probably not in 2024. It's going to be a LONG time before we get back to the 2016-2020 land of milk and honey.

Nothing was worse than 18% mortgage rates in the '80's.
Early '60's gas was .15cents. by late '70's-early '80's... $1. That is an enormous rise in price.

 

[YanmarFever]

In 1969 I use to fill up our Bronco (both tanks) for 25 cents a gallon.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

The economy is strong as hell.
Lets see if that ages as well as his other proclamations. (Poorly)

 

[Milo]

In 1967 my father bought a new 8 hp John Deere 110 garden tractor, paid $1,100 for it. That's about $9,700 in todays inflated dollars. I always get a kick out of people, who buy a cheap $2,500 lawn tractor that the transmission goes out of in 8 years, complain "they don't make them like they used to."

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

In 1967 my father bought a new 8 hp John Deere 110 garden tractor, paid $1,100 for it. That's about $9,700 in todays inflated dollars. I always get a kick out of people, who buy a cheap $2,500 lawn tractor that the transmission goes out of in 8 years, complain "they don't make them like they used to."

That’s why I paid $10k

 

[ovrszd]

Nothing was worse than 18% mortgage rates in the '80's.
Early '60's gas was .15cents. by late '70's-early '80's... $1. That is an enormous rise in price.

Interest rates killed a lot of self employed people. In the farming community where crops are planted using borrowed money it was devastating.

 

[jyoutz]

The weight has absolutely nothing to do with it.

I didn’t say it did. I said a lighter footprint, as in low pressure floatation tires. I work in land management every day and understand the effects that vehicle usage has on the land. Dozers actually have a lighter footprint on the ground than Jeeps and pickup trucks because even though they are much heavier, the tracks disperse the weight and lighten the footprint far better. Trucks and Jeeps are the absolute worst at tearing up the ground.

 

[ovrszd]

I didn’t say it did. I said a lighter footprint, as in low pressure floatation tires. I work in land management every day and understand the effects that vehicle usage has on the land. Dozers actually have a lighter footprint on the ground than Jeeps and pickup trucks because even though they are much heavier, the tracks disperse the weight and lighten the footprint far better. Trucks and Jeeps are the absolute worst at tearing up the ground.

We'll just agree to disagree. SxS tear up mountain trails horribly. And it has nothing to do with weight. And it has nothing to do with dozers.