Cosmetic Condition and Resale Value

[MikePA]

Mike,
A bent bucket is just that. A bend here or there is not a terminal thing.

I did not say a bent bucket is a terminal thing, nor did I say a bent bucket indicates the tractor is 'junk'. All I said was it's not a cosmetic issue for me. It indicates someone used the bucket, even a light duty bucket, and perhaps the tractor, in a manner it was not designed for. If you believe a bent bucket is a cosmetic issue, and nothing more than an annoyance, good for you. We have different opinions.

 

[chh]

Dings and scratches in the paint are pretty meaningless to me. Grease and dirt tells me the story of what's working and what's leaking. Some of it is from good PM, and other times it shows a problem that might be the true reason for the sale.

What scares me more then anything when looking at a used piece of equipment is a new paint job. That sets of several red flags. Why did they put the time and money into painting it? To get a higher price? to hide or cover a known problem? or are they just generous to the point of spending extra cash into making it look pretty?

Eddie

I've owned several tractors over the years and the worst one I ever bought was one of the best looking. The back rubber was worn slick and the dealer selling it said it was perfect except for the rubber. They had painted it and put a new seat on it. Showed just over 3000 hrs on the tach(which they claimed were correct) which for a 75 hp JD wasn't bad. Started and ran like a top, but I had a bad feeling about the whole deal. By them time I'd had it 2 weeks I knew it was a junker. The drain on the bottom of the tranny was plugged and painted over. When to paint popped off the leak from the rear main became evident and it went downhill from there. Used it lightly as a backup tractor(I had a newer 4243 MF also). The quote on repairs from the dealer totaled over 1/2 what I paid for the tractor and I still hadn't changed the tires. Needless to say I haven't had any dealings with that JD dealer since. I took it to the local MF dealer and told him upfront what was wrong with it. He gave me average auction value on it (nearly what I had in it) on a discounted 481 he had for a demo. He dumped it thru an equipment auction because he wouldn't sell it off his lot. I've bought quite a bit of equipment since then and he gets most of my business.

 

[Builder]

I did not say a bent bucket is a terminal thing, nor did I say a bent bucket indicates the tractor is 'junk'. All I said was it's not a cosmetic issue for me. It indicates someone used the bucket, even a light duty bucket, and perhaps the tractor, in a manner it was not designed for. If you believe a bent bucket is a cosmetic issue, and nothing more than an annoyance, good for you. We have different opinions.

Mike is right, a bent bucket IS more than cosmetic. If the bottom lip is bent, you'll never backdrag a straight line and you'll never scrape material straight off of a hard surface.

 

[john_bud]

Actually, a bent bucket is at the least a sign of overloading the bucket. Typically, even LD buckets can withstand normal hydraulic pressure in break out mode. Bending one usually requires abusive operations. At a guess, slamming into a pile or other "tricks" to operate faster.

Maybe just bad luck one day too. Hard to say from here.

The deciding factors would be after a crawl under, around and through the machine. First look is at all of the grease zerks. Before you go, visit a dealer of the machines and ask the service guys where the PIA grease fittings are located. If those ones look dry, they probably don't get regular care. There is one zerk on my truck, it takes nearly as much time to hit as the others all put together - but it still gets greased.

jb

 

[davitk]

OK here's what started the thread. While waiting arrival of my new machine it started to snow, the dealer dropped off a loaner to get me by. I briefly considered buying it and trading up in the spring, but was able to dig deep and find just enough patience to wait. It's a B7500 and tons of fun to knock around - guessing that's why bucket is beat up.

Not a good picture but left of the bucket (right side of machine) shows some of the ugly.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

davitk, those are probably just snow plow bumps. I would not let that be the determining factor for me

 

[billbill1]

Appearance plays a huge role in how something was taken care of in my book. Farm's old MF is a perfect example of a well taken care of machine, it looked very good before he repainted it and it's obvious that it means a great deal to him. I wouldn't buy a car or truck that was neglected and a piece of equipment is the same. I try to take care of my stuff and only try to buy items that I feel have been taken care of like I would have taken care of it.

 

[john_bud]

OK here's what started the thread. While waiting arrival of my new machine it started to snow, the dealer dropped off a loaner to get me by. I briefly considered buying it and trading up in the spring, but was able to dig deep and find just enough patience to wait. It's a B7500 and tons of fun to knock around - guessing that's why bucket is beat up.

Not a good picture but left of the bucket (right side of machine) shows some of the ugly.

I take back what I said.

That tractor is not beat up and the bucket is not messed up. Not so much as to notice, anyway. If the top was bent down 3-6" and the sides were bend in 1-3", then it would have been abused.


jb

 

[Soundguy]

I agree.. A bent bucket means the tractor is putting some real pressure on the loader, front end.. etc.

Soundguy

I did not say a bent bucket is a terminal thing, nor did I say a bent bucket indicates the tractor is 'junk'. All I said was it's not a cosmetic issue for me. It indicates someone used the bucket, even a light duty bucket, and perhaps the tractor, in a manner it was not designed for. If you believe a bent bucket is a cosmetic issue, and nothing more than an annoyance, good for you. We have different opinions.

 

[flusher]

OK here's what started the thread. While waiting arrival of my new machine it started to snow, the dealer dropped off a loaner to get me by. I briefly considered buying it and trading up in the spring, but was able to dig deep and find just enough patience to wait. It's a B7500 and tons of fun to knock around - guessing that's why bucket is beat up.

Not a good picture but left of the bucket (right side of machine) shows some of the ugly.

Gee, that could be a photo of mine and my neighbor's tractors. I have a little 21-hp B7510HST with LA302 FEL and he has a brand new 46-hp L4630 gear tractor with a 6-ft wide FEL bucket.