Does Anyone Buy Used Tractors?

[kmesr9]

I read a lot through the buying/pricing/comparison forums and see that almost everyone recommends new over used. I also see where most folks on here end up buying new. I know it is not everyone but it seems more common. I agree that used tractors are very expensive.

1. Is it because it is harder to finance and folks don't have the cash?
2. Is it because folks don't want to pay that much for used?
3. If the used market is so expensive and no one wants to pay, why does the price stay high? Or are they selling for a lot less than listing price?
4. Are the used tractors even selling or do they just sit forever and not sell?
5. I read a lot of statements about certain brands having higher resale value. Does this even matter if no one wants to pay for it because the resale value is so high?
6. This might not relate but I see a lot if used chainsaws for sale that are way overpriced as well. I guess folks pay for it and folks selling think they are worth near new prices.

Whenever I am ready to get rid off something, I usually put a decent price on it and it sells quickly. Maybe I need to up my price when selling and be willing to wait 6 months.

Hi,
Marc in Western Washington here.
I was looking for a new or used tractor within a budget but also wanted: a Kubota or John Deere, hydrostatic trans, fel, power steering, 4wd, and a 4cyl diesel. I found lots but only 1 that had the 4cyl. It is around a 1983 or 84 Kubota B2150 with quick detach FEL and came with a Belly mower. Had about 4K hours and although it had fairly new front tires it needed rears and the belly mower had quite a bit of work needed to repair rusted out holes and a new belt. The gear box was ok. The owner was asking $10k. I got him down to $9k and have had it for 3years and after bringing it home I put new tears and had them filled w/ballast, changed the oil & filter and it’s been a great tractor. There are deals out there but if you’re not mechanically inclined I’d buy new with a warranty. I am a retired sheet metal mechanic and pretty much can do anything that this tractor would need. I do suggest if you have a tractor, you need a welder and welding skills, especially a used one! Good luck!

 

[charlessenf]

" almost everyone recommends new over used.I agree that used tractors are very expensive. "

I ought mine used and had it (and FEL, auger, box lade, 4ft mower and 12' trailer) delivered from some 70 miles away. First one I ever bought. Also last one I'll ever buy. Really low hours so someone's going to get a deal after the funeral

 

[Bushbunnie]

I read a lot through the buying/pricing/comparison forums and see that almost everyone recommends new over used. I also see where most folks on here end up buying new. I know it is not everyone but it seems more common. I agree that used tractors are very expensive.

1. Is it because it is harder to finance and folks don't have the cash?
2. Is it because folks don't want to pay that much for used?
3. If the used market is so expensive and no one wants to pay, why does the price stay high? Or are they selling for a lot less than listing price?
4. Are the used tractors even selling or do they just sit forever and not sell?
5. I read a lot of statements about certain brands having higher resale value. Does this even matter if no one wants to pay for it because the resale value is so high?
6. This might not relate but I see a lot if used chainsaws for sale that are way overpriced as well. I guess folks pay for it and folks selling think they are worth near new prices.

Whenever I am ready to get rid off something, I usually put a decent price on it and it sells quickly. Maybe I need to up my price when selling and be willing to wait 6 months.

I bought a good used B7800 Kubota (830 hrs) for 17,000 a year and a half ago. When I went to the dealer six months later, to buy a tiller, the dealer asked what I paid for it and they said they would give me 25,000 for it right then. I turned them down. I'm in Canada and use it lots. Prrr's like a kitten.

 

[Kansas Terri]

I bought a used Cub Cadet, and I am seriously pleased with it. The on-line manual has all of the parts clearly labeled, and that makes things much simpler.

The previous owner had put it into repair before he sold it, and so far the only problem that we had was a split hose. BUT the parts were all clearly labeled on the on-line diagram, and so we were able to order the proper hose through a palce that sold cub cadet lawn mowers and other cub cadet machinery.

 

[Lstlk2hi]

I read a lot through the buying/pricing/comparison forums and see that almost everyone recommends new over used. I also see where most folks on here end up buying new. I know it is not everyone but it seems more common. I agree that used tractors are very expensive.

1. Is it because it is harder to finance and folks don't have the cash?
2. Is it because folks don't want to pay that much for used?
3. If the used market is so expensive and no one wants to pay, why does the price stay high? Or are they selling for a lot less than listing price?
4. Are the used tractors even selling or do they just sit forever and not sell?
5. I read a lot of statements about certain brands having higher resale value. Does this even matter if no one wants to pay for it because the resale value is so high?
6. This might not relate but I see a lot if used chainsaws for sale that are way overpriced as well. I guess folks pay for it and folks selling think they are worth near new prices.

Whenever I am ready to get rid off something, I usually put a decent price on it and it sells quickly. Maybe I need to up my price when selling and be willing to wait 6 months.

Our place got a new tractor in 1960 that I cleaned up and took to Mom's house in SJ for small orchard and rear yard acreage. Sent 4 disc offset and scraper blade with it. Great Aunt had purchased it new. Prices on tractors are like home prices in SF Bay Area, nukkin' futz. Last one was purchased in 2005, 1978 Extendahoe from original owner who'd made us living with it near Monterey Cal. Paid 5k for it and it is currently only one on ranch running. Deere John needs new rears (1500usd). To item 6: Chainsaw used to last 15 years with some care. Recently got rebuilt Poulan for $75, 2 years later no start. Younger bro got 4 years out of Husky 'rancher' and shop told him, "That is how long they last now." His hadn't been used too much. I heat with wood so...

And just sold the MF in avatar pic for $500 but with creek about 50' W and 6' deep he ain't a gonna be picking it up for awhile. Would have wanted $1000 but tried to turn motor with long handled pry on flywheel and broke 2 teeth off it. (aiiieeeeee) Found a tree had landed on top of rear(upper) yard fence for 30+ feet. Just got black smoke out of new battery chainsaw. I think 6:32PM is early but bed is looking like best though possibly not safest thing.

 

[Lstlk2hi]

I buy antique tractor for play toys, but when it comes to tractors I have to depend on daily and that cost a good amount (this also includes atv's, motorcycles etc) I prefer new.
Just because there are lots of ways people can screw things up with poor maintenance and abuse.

I'd always rather start new and do my maintenance from day one. I don't even bring my new vehicles to the dealer any more for oil changes or stuff like that. I've had to fix too many "other peoples mistakes" so may as well just do it myself. I hate that that sounds arrogant......it's really not. It's just that every dealer around me has been incompetent. Pretty sad when you bring your wife's new car to the dealer for an oil change and they put the hoist through the floor then try and tell you "your wife ran something over."

Or they figure they can get over with that kind of merde. "They" need a wakeup. Pity all the fun/interesting/pyroteknik ones are usually illegal and that ends up sucking mightily regardless of country or state.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

Why I bought new.

1. I knew next to nothing about tractors, despite researching the internet.

2. I wanted something I could securely store in a shipping container as I don't live where it would be used.

3. I wanted an HST as I assumed (wrongly) that more people than just me would be using it.

4. At my age I figured it would be the 1st and last tractor I ever owned, unless completely inadequate for the tasks.

Even thinking I knew what I wanted, I still ended up coming out of the dealership with 20Hp more than I had planned and with a cab. Neither of which I have come to regret and am glad I got.

So far so good. Although I have managed to bend a ram on the FEL probably due to something stupid I did. Having lost the use of the tractor for two months while the dealer did the initial servicing (%$*#!! covid) I have decided to do what I think I can do without them unless it's a serious warranty-related issue. BTW, all youtube videos on hydraulic cylinders don't apply to how these CUTs cylinders are put together, so don't waste your time.

Buying used I would have been at the mercy of the seller who could have told me anything and I wouldn't have known differently until I was stuck wishing it could do something it wasn't set up for.

Yes, I did shop around, a lot. And truthfully the prices used weren't all that good. So unless this tractor turns out to be a lemon I should be O.K.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

Pretty sad when you bring your wife's new car to the dealer for an oil change and they put the hoist through the floor then try and tell you "your wife ran something over."

Ain't just on new cars. We bought a lifetime oil change from our local stealership (lifetime until ownership of stealership changes). They gave the vehicle back to her and 10 minutes later are calling me in a panic to have her bring the vehicle back. Seems they forgot to put the oil back in.

I'm truly surprised at how far she got before she panicked and pulled the vehicle off the road. Jokers showed up with oil, took her back to the stealership, and then let her go on her way. I got home that night and after listening to it run told her to take it back, it's toast. They wheedled and wined but finally caved in and put a replacement motor in (which took over a month to do). We did get a loaner in the meantime at their cost.

The problem is these places are set up for quick turnarounds. If the book says 2 hours for an alternator replacement and the tech gets it done in one hour he gets paid for two. If he breaks a bolt and it takes 4 hours to get the job done, he gets paid for 2. Do it fast and move on to the next, that's how mechanics make money. Speed vs quality.

I would have loved it if they'd discounted the value of our vehicle on a new one (we needed a new one) but sales and service are run like independent businesses and never the twain shall meet.

 

[Hay Dude]

When buying a used tractor from a DEALER, don’t be afraid to do these 2 things:

1. Ask for a 50/50 warranty for 3 months 100 hours on the drivetrain. Some dealers already do this. Some will if you ask. Deere Country in Mount Joy, PA gave me one on a JCB.

2. Always get and bring asking prices on comparable tractors. Print the ads out and bring them. I did that with a Kubota. Dealer was asking $94,000 and just by saying “I found a cheaper price at XXXXX dealer” they took off $10,500!
They are hoping you will just pay what they are asking. Never give them asking price!

 

[MarblemountLane]

I’m retired and past my days of buying just about anything new. If you have old enough cars, trucks, tractors, guns, tools, etc. and you take care of them, they appreciate in value.

What is your budget? What do you really need (as opposed to what you want)? Are you in business and putting lots of hours on a tractor? Or are you just a home hobby owner putting a few hours on it?

For me, a tractor helps harvest firewood (my favorite chainsaw is the Homelite I bought new in 1984), move dirt a yard at a time (LoadHandler in my 1986 F250 is the poor man’s dump), move brush, clear snow, etc. But life would go on without it (I have a couple of 4x4s and winches). So a 60+ year old MF 204 is fine, simple to maintain, gets the job done, and I’m not worried about the count on the hour meter. Going my route gets you a lot more tractor for $2,500 than you’d get for $25,000 buying new or near new. The picture changes if you plan to put a lot of hours on it, but I won’t buy anything new enough to have electronics and emission controls.

 

[Paystar]

Ain't just on new cars. We bought a lifetime oil change from our local stealership (lifetime until ownership of stealership changes). They gave the vehicle back to her and 10 minutes later are calling me in a panic to have her bring the vehicle back. Seems they forgot to put the oil back in.

I'm truly surprised at how far she got before she panicked and pulled the vehicle off the road. Jokers showed up with oil, took her back to the stealership, and then let her go on her way. I got home that night and after listening to it run told her to take it back, it's toast. They wheedled and wined but finally caved in and put a replacement motor in (which took over a month to do). We did get a loaner in the meantime at their cost.

The problem is these places are set up for quick turnarounds. If the book says 2 hours for an alternator replacement and the tech gets it done in one hour he gets paid for two. If he breaks a bolt and it takes 4 hours to get the job done, he gets paid for 2. Do it fast and move on to the next, that's how mechanics make money. Speed vs quality.

I would have loved it if they'd discounted the value of our vehicle on a new one (we needed a new one) but sales and service are run like independent businesses and never the twain shall meet.

Well that sucks, but at least they gave you a new engine. And I agree with what you said.

I never even got an apology from that VW dealer or VW corporate, so therefore even though I like some VW vehicles, I will never own another.
I even advertise for them now. I modified all the VW shirts they gave me. They now all say VW SUCKS. LOL

 

[mo1]

Ain't just on new cars. We bought a lifetime oil change from our local stealership (lifetime until ownership of stealership changes). They gave the vehicle back to her and 10 minutes later are calling me in a panic to have her bring the vehicle back. Seems they forgot to put the oil back in.

I'm truly surprised at how far she got before she panicked and pulled the vehicle off the road. Jokers showed up with oil, took her back to the stealership, and then let her go on her way. I got home that night and after listening to it run told her to take it back, it's toast. They wheedled and wined but finally caved in and put a replacement motor in (which took over a month to do). We did get a loaner in the meantime at their cost.

The problem is these places are set up for quick turnarounds. If the book says 2 hours for an alternator replacement and the tech gets it done in one hour he gets paid for two. If he breaks a bolt and it takes 4 hours to get the job done, he gets paid for 2. Do it fast and move on to the next, that's how mechanics make money. Speed vs quality.

I would have loved it if they'd discounted the value of our vehicle on a new one (we needed a new one) but sales and service are run like independent businesses and never the twain shall meet.

That's why I always change my own oil. Changing oil and mounting/removing wheels is the lowest rung of mechanical work and a lot of shops and dealerships have the lowest-skilled people doing that work. Sometimes you get somebody who knows something and is "working their way up," other times you get the dropout whose tox screen would light up like a Christmas tree if he was ever tested, and he is working at the oil-change place precisely because they didn't make him pee in the cup.

Unless a tech is a shop owner, they nearly always get paid by the time-clock hour, not the book hour. If they do two hours of book labor in one hour, they get paid for one hour. If their average time to complete jobs doesn't "beat the book" by enough of a margin, they get fired.

 

[Lstlk2hi]

I think if you know what you need and you can look at a tool for a job and know what will work.. if you can a couple of compromises and you love to bargain hunt you can find a deal. A lot of people here need the security of a warranty or the buying power of a loan. SO new is the only option. I have both new and used cars as well. My wife's car and truck are dealer new. Mine are all used now although the FORD was new to me in 2016. But I don't need a new one every couple a yrs either. What's that? YEs dear, no dear, yes dear....

I love my yellow wheelbarrows, 1975 JD 300B and 1978 Case 580CK extendahoe. Nothing beats a self propelled wheelbarrow. (laughing at the thought but dam, they sure do beat a single wheel push by human motor) Old Massey Fergy decided it was too tired and sold it for $500 to a hobby mech. The pic I took after catching a tree root and nearly bouncing into uncontrolled roll down steep hillside. Skeered the snot outta me.

 

[Texasmark]

Within the last couple of months upping my corral to 6: 1981 Ford 3600 and 1991 Case-IH. Reason being at my age and working alone, I am tired of mounting and dismounting implements. These last 2 are specific purpose and will stay with the selected implements, not changing. The other ones have either expandable lift arms or Pat's and they are easy enough to change.

Both run strong, start in a heartbeat (good compression), rubber excellent, have new or nice paint and other than fluid changes, a few little things that I wanted changed......in particular , Instrument clusters that are sunbaked have to be replaced. Having a new panel is like having a new tractor.

Both are in the 45 hp range with PS, diesels, one Ind. PTO the other Live. The Case-IH was $7800 and the Ford $6000....very economical for what I got.

 

[masseyrider]

Within the last couple of months upping my corral to 6: 1981 Ford 3600 and 1991 Case-IH. Reason being at my age and working alone, I am tired of mounting and dismounting implements. These last 2 are specific purpose and will stay with the selected implements, not changing. The other ones have either expandable lift arms or Pat's and they are easy enough to change.

Both run strong, start in a heartbeat (good compression), rubber excellent, have new or nice paint and other than fluid changes, a few little things that I wanted changed......in particular , Instrument clusters that are sunbaked have to be replaced. Having a new panel is like having a new tractor.

Both are in the 45 hp range with PS, diesels, one Ind. PTO the other Live. The Case-IH was $7800 and the Ford $6000....very economical for what I got.

A friend of my father's in the way back machine had a tractor for every implement.
His health wasn't the best and he was a small man to begin. He didn't want to be changing things all the time. He had about a 100 acres for some cattle and hay.
As a kid he'd give me a few bucks to fuel his tractors so he wouldn't have to lug the fuel cans.
When he died he had 14 tractors and a backhoe. None had over 700 hours.

 

[LouNY]

Dang it sounds like I've got a bit of catching up to. I've only got 4.
The newest is a Kioti CK2620SE, then the Branson 8050, Then the New Holland 8160 and the oldest now is the IH 574.
Poor old 574 hasn't been unhooked from the generator is a couple of years.

 

[5030]

Changing oil and mounting/removing wheels is the lowest rung of mechanical work

Changing oil maybe but wheels at least on my tractors require a mobile service truck and technician. They weigh more than I want to deal with, least the rears do.

Just had a tube replaced on the open station (had a tear in the tube) and it was 185 bucks. Nothing beats a mobile tractor tire service with on board compressor, air powered bead breakers and jacks to lift it up plus a jib crane to move new tires and mounted ones around with. Don't load my tires either, never have.

 

[LightningCamaroGuy]

Why not? The only way to get a small MERIKA made tractor is used. Or maybe you want an old Ford, or International, or pre-CNH CIH or NH, or old Allis Chalmers are the bomb, or you want to experience the joys of using ether to cold start an old JD with a I6, or maybe you like the Farmall M vs JD Model A rivalry, or your grandpa owned an Oliver, or maybe you've built a case to buy a Case, or maybe you think 9N's or 8N's are cool, or maybe you just don't want to ***** around with emissions.

All these are good reasons for a used tractor.

 

[Bentrim]

Most of the older TO Fergusons and Massey were built (ok assembled) in Detroit. 35, 135, 230, 235, 245 for the smaller tractors then about in the 80's production was moved to England or France, then they went more worldwide. Even the larger tractor of that era were built in the US. Hard to believe but also in that time MF was the #1 in worldwide tractor sales. The best part of those older tractors design did not change much and a lot of parts interchanged between models, used parts are usually readily available, used parts are usually affordable, the diesel was the very efficient Perkins, and parts for them are very reasonable (about $350 for a 3 cylinder out of frame overhaul kit)


As posted i the last post good reasons for a used tractor.

 

[WVH1977]

So, I have been looking at used tractors. Mostly 2005 and up. Prices seem to be 10,000 dollars more than the tractors were worth when bought new. Example, are folks really paying 45,000 for a 2009 John Deere 4720 wit 600 hours? Seen Kubota's with similar prices. Lots of tractors in the 40 to 90 HP range, all in the 30-35,000 dollar range. Is this the new normal????