Does Anyone Buy Used Tractors?

[lman]

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????

Not for me.

 

[5030]

Just had both of my M9's appraised. The open station appraised at 30 and the cab unit (fully optioned) was at 52. 3,000 and 6,000 hours respectively and well maintained with all service records and no issues with either.

52 is 2 less than I paid for it new in 2002.

 

[Bentrim]

Small tractors are always in demand. Inflation has kept their price high.
Try checking todays prices on these:
MF 135 $4385 in 1975 Today? Usually 3000 to 7000
MF 235 $6990 in 1976 Today? Usually 4000 to 8000
MF 245 $17150 in 1983 Today? Usually 4000 to 10000
JD 4010 Farm Tractor 80 hp $5500 in 1963 today? around 12000
JD 4020 Farm Tractor 94 hp $1034 in 1972, Today? around 20000
JD 1020 $4500 in 1973 Today? $3 to 8000
JD 2020 $5800 in 1971 Today? $4900 to 10000
Ford 9N $585 in 1939 Today? 1500 to 3500
Ford 8N $1404 in 1952 Today? 1500 5000
All these as listed are two wheel drive and no loader. Of course condition can change the price.
If you would have known many years ago and had enough cash to invest!!!

Although more than "new" price they are still cheaper than new and most still have a lot of life left in them.

www.tractorhouse.com Lookup and find prices and locations of tractors. Of course there are more sites if you have the time and patience to look them up.

 

[goeduck]

I have 4 tractors, and all were bought used. Only 1 had a problem unforeseen, but $ wise after repair it still panned out. Be careful is my advice on buying used.

 

[scootr]

I have 4 tractors, and all were bought used. Only 1 had a problem unforeseen, but $ wise after repair it still panned out. Be careful is my advice on buying used.

I've owned 3 used tractors over the last 25 yrs. Kept one 15 yrs. No unforeseen expenses, just lots of $ saved. Rebuilt a cylinder and changed a hose here and there. You may not get all the bells and whistles you desire. But you can sure find a tractor to do the job. Especially considering most hobby farm/ranch operator put about 50 hrs a year on their machines.
Last year I bought a 4yr old garage kept machine with 150 hrs on it for significantly less than the dealer price. With the added bonus of it having some addons I wanted.
I buy cars the same way. Lightly used. Let somebody else take the new purchase hit.

 

[Hay Dude]

Buying used is hit & miss.
Look at it this way, most owners trade off equipment because they are tired of fixing it. A smaller percentage trade to get something newer & nicer.
A lot of defects are not revealed or understated when they sell them to you.

Of course, sometimes you get an honest seller and a solid buy.

With most machinery and vehilces I‘m interested in , I build-in a 5-10K “unforeseen repairs” budget and if the selling price plus my unforeseen repairs budget is still an attractive price, I will buy it.

When buying something that’s well used, its buyer beware big time.

I just bought a tractor about 2 years ago and even with a “factory expert technician” looking at it for $300 still cost me thousands in repairs (AC was shot, brakes needed work).

Its not easy to discover everything, especially on larger, complex equipment with a lot of electronics.

 

[scootr]

Buying used is hit & miss.
Look at it this way, most owners trade off equipment because they are tired of fixing it. A smaller percentage trade to get something newer & nicer.
A lot of defects are not revealed or understated when they sell them to you.

Of course, sometimes you get an honest seller and a solid buy.

With most machinery and vehilces I‘m interested in , I build-in a 5-10K “unforeseen repairs” budget and if the selling price plus my unforeseen repairs budget is still an attractive price, I will buy it.

When buying something that’s well used, its buyer beware big time.

Finding an honest deal is a big part of buying used. A lot depends upon your use too. Buying used for personal vs commercial use can be 2 different things. At my age I'm not wearing anything but myself out. My used Kubota will last my lifetime.
Recently bought a diesel car with 30k miles on it. Expect it to last a lifetime. lol

 

[WinterDeere]

I've sold every tractor I've ever owned (mostly garden tractors and CUT's) for nearly exactly the same price I paid when I bought it. This has held true for machines I've bought both new and used. The depreciation of tractors appears to be very nearly our average rate of inflation.

 

[jjeff]

Probably said it before but if your somewhat mechanically inclined, can make improvised backwoods repairs, don't mind a few quirks, dents, scratches etc buying used is the way to go for me anyway. It's a tractor made to be used and slightly abused.

 

[WinterDeere]

Probably said it before but if your somewhat mechanically inclined, can make improvised backwoods repairs, don't mind a few quirks, dents, scratches etc buying used is the way to go for me anyway. It's a tractor made to be used and slightly abused.

True, even if selling for equal dollars, the depreciation hit is larger as the sums increase. But finding a machine that's being sold for honest reasons can be a bit of roulette. Too many people band-aid and decide to sell after discovering internal damage or the need for an expensive repair. I am not sure what fraction of the relatively new second-hand tractors on the market fall into this category, but personally found problems with both vehicles and tractors I've bought, which would have caused me to cancel the deal if discovered pre-purchase.

 

[jjeff]

Used to be depending where you live folks would price stuff accordingly I've priced stuff disclosing known problems, quirks factoring in original purchase price, the costs of upgrades, initial repairs I performed at purchase and how much money it's saved me by using it for diy projects. Most of the time when I sell Ive gotten my money out of it just by doing projects on my own with it and can't justify keeping it just to say I own it any longer. Imo I probably wouldn't make it selling used cars or equipment cause I'd point out potential problems it has or may eventually have lol.

 

[scootr]

Due diligence. Don't buy from people you would not trust with something as valuable as your hard earned cash. Listen to the seller's story. If the story sounds fishy walk away. If you cannot assess the equipment properly or the investment is rather significant pay a 3rd party to inspect the machine. It's called a PPI. A pre purchase inspection can save you from buying the wrong car or tractor. Especially handy when the seller is not the owner.

 

[WinterDeere]

Due diligence. Don't buy from people you would not trust with something as valuable as your hard earned cash. Listen to the seller's story. If the story sounds fishy walk away. If you cannot assess the equipment properly or the investment is rather significant pay a 3rd party to inspect the machine. It's called a PPI. A pre purchase inspection can save you from buying the wrong car or tractor. Especially handy when the seller is not the owner.

We used to do this with autos many decades ago, drive it to our local garage and put it on the lift for a quick inspection before purchase, but I can't imagine arranging the same on a tractor. Hell, with stories on this forum about local dealers taking a week to tighten a loose oil drain plug, merely scheduling such an inspection on a small piece of relatively insignificant equipment seems like a pretty big hurdle, let alone the issue of transporting it to/from said dealer or mechanic.

What you're mentioning here seems like it'd be much more practical on high-value equipment, in which the cost of getting a mechanic with his equipment on-site becomes more justifiable. Not many are going to want to set aside ~10% of their purchase price to do that with a small CUT.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

In the past few years I've become more and more convinced that if you can't work on it yourself you probably shouldn't own it.

 

[WinterDeere]

In the past few years I've become more and more convinced that if you can't work on it yourself you probably shouldn't own it.

True, but that doesn’t change the cost of components or the unplanned down-time that often comes with a used machine of unknown provenance.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I used to buy used, then switched to new.

Now that new usually is worse than old I have largely stopped buying. But whoever buys my used vehicles is getting very well cared for vehicles.

 

[masseyrider]

When we were farming commercially we used to flip tractors at about 2000/2500 hrs. Get top trade, work on reliable new equipment, save all the repair expenses and down time. Now that I'm just Hobby farming/puttering I can't justify the cost of the new. I've looked at new just because I get the bug sometimes but holy crap Batman. My guys only have like 700+ hrs each and I only put on about 60 hrs a year between them.
But the new ones look so shiny.

 

[paulsharvey]

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.

Late to jump on this; my first tractor was bought about 11 years ago, 1976 Kubota L285, for $1400, most of which was gathered scrapping copper and aluminum power lines from a demo job. Fast forward to this summer; I had long wanted to upgrade; and ended up buying a new Kioti CK2610. The financing was a very large part of the reason, but also, what I was seeing for something pretty dang newish was all $15k+; and up, and often sold as a package only, running into $25k+. After I made the purchase, I did see a MF1428 for only $13,500, with loader, 4x4, and hydrostatic. I probably would have considered that, if I could have made a loan work. I also wanted to get what I specifically wanted, and I didn't want to pay 90% of new price for a 10+ year old machine. Also, although not what most would call well off; now, I'm not stripping wire to hit to dollar menu (and yes, through the years, there have been many times I hit the scrap yard at lunch time before picking up a McCheapnGreasy).

The old Kubota was never the 'right' machine for me, and always had problems; But that said, I paid $1400; used it a fair bit and sold it 11 years later for $2000. I did sink a couple batteries, a steering box, multiple hydralic changes, a water pump, and plenty of frustration into it.

Used tractors are fine, but I wanted to stay close to scrap value; the idea of a $10k machine, that something catastrophic happened to and either scrapping or paying $5k to repair makes me stay away from the mid range prices.

 

[5030]

But the new ones look so shiny.

The M9 (in the picture in my comment), didn't look like that at all when I bought it. I had my dealer pull off all the sheet metal and I brought it home, sandblasted and sanded my guts out and repainted everything and added the Tuff Top as well. My dealer pulled the dented hood off and sent it to his body shop and they pounded the dents out, filled it and painted it as well for 200 bucks and I had to buy a new grill because the one that was on it was smashed. Ditched the crappy OEM Kubota seat as well and mounted a Grammer air ride seat. Spent some time at the dealer in his shop, repainting the chassis and wheels too. He's real good about stuff like that (letting me have the run of the shop) which is why I only deal with him. Great person and a nice dealership too.

I had to buy the Kubota blue/grey enamel for the chassis because no where could I find a match but I used Rustoleum Kubota Orange which is a dead match for Kubota Orange 2. Bought a quart and a pint of hardenener and some reducer and that was that.

If you look close at the picture you will see there is no exhaust stack either. The tractor came with the very rare down exhaust pipe and a blanking plate in the hood. First M9 I ever saw like that. I kind of like it actually. Nothing to block my forward vision.

Went from a beater to a queen but it took a lot of sweat equity. Least the engine and running gear was just fine My dealer has told me in the past that the VTE Kubota engine I have in both is good for 30K hours without ever touching it other than a valve adjustment every 5000 hours. Had Dennis (the head tech at the dealership) run the overheads on both and button the pumps too. Both are outputting over 90 horses pto. Neither smoke or use any oil and both are very frugal on fuel. The other one is in my signature picture. I'm sure both will outlast me as I'm 73 now. When I pass, someone will get a couple nice pre 4 tractors.

 

[Hay Dude]

True, even if selling for equal dollars, the depreciation hit is larger as the sums increase. But finding a machine that's being sold for honest reasons can be a bit of roulette. Too many people band-aid and decide to sell after discovering internal damage or the need for an expensive repair. I am not sure what fraction of the relatively new second-hand tractors on the market fall into this category, but personally found problems with both vehicles and tractors I've bought, which would have caused me to cancel the deal if discovered pre-purchase.

I just sold a Kubota M126X with internal problems, BUT I was honest and revealed them to the buyer. Some people may think I’m crazy for doing this, but I would never knowingly sell something that way. I took a 5-10K hit on the selling price, but I believe what comes around goes around.

PTO’s are a big spot that has internal failure you need to check before you buy. Ask any tractor seller to have a heavier implement, like a bush hog, hooked up to tractor. Spin it up and make sure the PTO is running correctly.