That’s an interesting question because the answer is really a bunch of things.
I am in my early 30’s. I don’t rely on my tractor for income. It’s a tool/toy that I love working with. For me, working with the tractor is decompressing. it’s a break from the stress of corporate America and just this crazy world. I guess you could say it’s “theraputic”. It also gets me outside doing stuff rather than the alternative. With that said, between my job and family stuff, I don’t have a ton of time to myself. Which is one of the main reasons I pursued a new tractor rather than an older used. I really don’t want to be constantly wrenching on it, because the time I have - I want to be using it, to its fullest extent, and I want to enjoy it. Now I know that there is plenty of good used equipment out there, some still under warranty, but right now those pieces cost just as much as new. It’s agonizing enough for me to buy a new tractor because it is sort of a selfish purchase. But I can’t imagine the feeling of spending a little less on a piece that’s out of warranty and having something go wrong and you have to dump more money into it.
I loaded the tractor up with options. I got the air ride seat, loader, grapple, rear remote, stereo, pallet forks. I figure if I’m spending this amount of money, get what you want. Again, fun factor is
I price shopped for nearly 3 months before finalizing the deal. Some dealers had different finance terms. Some dealers were willing to add in different things and others weren’t. In the end, I probably have 15 different quotes from different dealers and different colors. My local dealer was able to match the best aspects of the other dealers quote. The final price I settled on was a fair one. Sure, it’s high by standards set 3 years ago. Yes, I have the cash to buy it but with a small family I wanted to finance. And with the rates I got, it makes sense to do so.
hope that makes sense.