Does Anyone Buy Used Tractors?

[Hay Dude]

Back in 2017, when I decided I was going to get rid of my two Toselli crawlers and the Kubota B7000, I was dead set on buying used. There wasn't really a need to spend a whole bunch of money on a new tractor to put maybe 100 to 150 hours a year.

I spent a bunch of time looking for used tractors. Ended up on a New Holland dealer looking at a 2005 New Holland TCE45 (not to be confused with the TC series). A very nice European specked tractor, built by Landini. Front and rear diff locks, 45HP, R1 Radial tires, 2 sets of remotes, etc. It had 3000 hours and the dealer was asking €13.000 for it. Now the cons, the tires had maybe 10% tread left and being Radials, that meant another €1500 to €2000 to replace those tires, plus some cosmetic stuff here and there that would be easily fixed.

Anyway, had the dealer cared more about the costumer instead of his phone (spent 30 min waiting for him to finally finish with his call), I would've probably went for it regardless.

Ended up driving towards home, literally 2 miles away from the NH dealer, is the Case/Branson dealer (former big NH dealer as well). Long story short, ended up with a brand new Branson F36Rn with 2 year warranty for only €500 more than the NH one, plus the Branson dealer actually spent some time to come at my house (only 12 mile drive) and look at my tractors. Ended up taking two with him.

Needless to say, the used market only got crazier ever since.

I remember when Kubota dealers used to treat customers great. Gotten real cocky in last 10 years.

 

[ptsg]

I remember when Kubota dealers used to treat customers great. Gotten real cocky in last 10 years.

I went to a Kubota dealer too. The guy didn't even bother to leave his desk that sits about 5 ft behind the counter and to take even 10 words out of him was a major pain. This adventure lasted maybe 4 minutes in total.

They had a nice used 35HP Shibaura there at the time. They were asking over €14000 for it with 1500 hours if I recall correctly.

On the new tractors, I really like the new Kubota B2650 they had at the time. Shuttle shift 9x9 transmission, Bi-speed but with an asking price of around €16000, it was just way too much for what it is.

 

[5030]

Guess I have a good dealer then. Great attitude, always personable and attentive to customers needs. Must be why they sell a lot of tractors and parts and service too. Now the JD dealer west of here does have that attitude issue so I avoid them. Probably why they changed hands a couple times now.

 

[jwmorris]

Good used tractor can last a lifetime in homeowner use, if looked after & maintained properly.

Well two of them we have lasted more than one owners lifetime. However, I am not sure such will be the case for modern tractors.

An engine from the ’70’s and earlier are pretty easy to keep running, from a mechanical and electrical standpoint because they simply didn’t rely on electronics much. These days, everything is electronic and once they are no longer supported, your out of luck without a lot of changes.

Planned obsolescence.

 

[mo1]

Did Deere make a five cylinder in house?

There’s a lot that goes into product planning decisions that really aren’t technical issues.

Volume of a particular model, factory utilization, engineering costs to meet emissions for low volume engines, product cost, packaging, and a hundred other considerations. These things also come into consideration for make / buy decisions. Engineers usually lean towards make, but bean counters run the company.

Apparently they do, and they made a four-cylinder version too that they used in the 4x20 compact tractors.

 

[finn1]

Apparently they do, and they made a four-cylinder version too that they used in the 4x20 compact tractors.

Is it an in house engine or purchased from an outside vendor?

edit.

I looked it up. The 2.4 and (3?) liter engines are (or were?)made by Deere, in Mexico, for smaller Deere equipment, and, I presume, loose engine sales. The design has been out since the early/mid 2000s. The latest brochures don’t list them , though. There is a PowerTech 2.9, and a new series, the JD4. Both are common rail engines.

They are a modern parent bore engine, and replace the old wet sleeve 179 three cylinder engine for all markets except India.

Now that I think about it, I knew that, but forgot!

A lot of you guys fixated on ten or twenty year old technology are going to eventually have to enter the modern age. Like it or not, those old mechanical engines will eventually wear out. Not many Johnny Poppers doing much more than parade duty anymore, and pretty sunr the tractors from the early 2000s will be antiques, too.

 

[LouNY]

There are a lot of mid 90's tractors still out there and working. Just look at the CIH 7100 and 7200 series Magnums, a great many of them are still out working as primary tractors. And while many of the 66 and 86 series IH's are semi-retired and used as play things a great many are still being worked daily.

 

[Hay Dude]

There are a lot of mid 90's tractors still out there and working. Just look at the CIH 7100 and 7200 series Magnums, a great many of them are still out working as primary tractors. And while many of the 66 and 86 series IH's are semi-retired and used as play things a great many are still being worked daily.

Lou is right. I’m still making money with a 2000 Case-IH Magnum 270. Pulls a baler just as fast as a new tractor that costs 10 times as much!
Farmer friend of mine still running a 90’s Boxcar Magnum 7120 from the 90’s and raking hay with an old 70’s International. He hays more acres than me! lol

I don’t buy that old tractors are obsolete AT ALL. New tractors maybe be more comfortable and safer, but they still don’t farm much faster. In fact, I bet when they break down, the time to fix them takes longer and may even average out to be slower. New ones are a little faster over the road, if you need that.

I always take note of the old tractors out there still working and add them to my “wanted” list because I realize they may have been built to last a lifetime.

 

[Hay Dude]

Is it an in house engine or purchased from an outside vendor?

edit.

I looked it up. The 2.4 and (3?) liter engines are (or were?)made by Deere, in Mexico, for smaller Deere equipment, and, I presume, loose engine sales. The design has been out since the early/mid 2000s. The latest brochures don’t list them , though. There is a PowerTech 2.9, and a new series, the JD4. Both are common rail engines.

They are a modern parent bore engine, and replace the old wet sleeve 179 three cylinder engine for all markets except India.

Now that I think about it, I knew that, but forgot!

A lot of you guys fixated on ten or twenty year old technology are going to eventually have to enter the modern age. Like it or not, those old mechanical engines will eventually wear out. Not many Johnny Poppers doing much more than parade duty anymore, and pretty sunr the tractors from the early 2000s will be antiques, too.

Clearly, you don’t understand the economics of farming, land clearing, logging, etc for profit. Except for those on a large or national scale, they do not allow for “entering the modern age” as you put it.

Let the older mechanical engines wear out…..they can be rebuilt.
Even a $20,000 engine rebuild in a well used tractor is cheaper than a $300,000 replacement.

 

[deserteagle71]

A lot of you guys fixated on ten or twenty year old technology are going to eventually have to enter the modern age. Like it or not, those old mechanical engines will eventually wear out.

Cost me $3100 to do a complete rebuild on the engine in my ancient John Deere 2020 in 2018. Been using the heck out of it since. By the time it needs another rebuild I won't be around to worry about it.