Although I have a lot of work to do outside, I’m stuck inside and I’ve been thinking about two things that I read pretty regularly on this forum and others about outdoor equipment. One is that machinery built 30-40 years ago was much better and that manufacturers should return to that quality level rather than the disposable consumer equipment. The other relates to BCS equipment in particular, that is the comment is often made that the equipment is first rate, but too expensive to be seriously considered.
I live on 8 acres of land and a few years ago I started to implement my plan of becoming more self sustaining through increasing my gardens by bringing back some parts of the property that had become overgrown. For a number of reasons I wasn’t interested in compact utility tractors or the like. Initially I was going to buy a DR mower and a Troy-Belt tiller, both of which I had positive experiences with years ago but discovered that each of those companies had changed ownership and changes had been made to the quality of those products that were undesirable to me.
After much research I discovered BCS tractors and ended up purchasing a BCS 852 tractor with a tiller, rotary plow, snowblower and brush mower. The quality is first rate and it reminded me of the Gravely two wheeled tractors that were once so common here in rural New York. This made me think that the two systems were comparable, how much would a contemporary Gravely cost if they were still made. Also, what would a new vintage Troy-Belt tiller cost compared to a present day BCS. I found some historic price information on-line and discovered the following:
2021 BCS 852 Compared to 1972 Gravely Commercial 12
BCS 852 Tractor (pricing from earthtools.com website)
Tractor $4436
32” Brush Mower $1235
Rotary Plow $1330
30” Tiller $765
28” Snow Thrower $1044
Total = $8810
Gravely Commercial 12 (pricing from January, 1972 price list rounded to nearest dollar)
Tractor $932
30” Rotary Mower $194
Rotary Plow $140
Rotary Cultivator $106
26” Snowblower $316
Total= $1688
Inflation adjustment from BLS.Gov $11,158
That gives the BCS system a price advantage of 26% or $2348 over the hypothetical Gravely system.
This also holds true looking at a 1981 Troy-Bilt Horse Tiller compared to a basic BCS machine today:
BCS 710 Tractor with 20” tiller: $2280
Troy-Bilt Horse with 7hp Kohler engine and 18” (I believe) Tiller
1981 price: $1039 (from a Mother Jones article of the time)
Adjusted for Inflation: $3245
The contemporary BCS system comes out 42% cheaper with a savings of $965.
This is just a quick look based only one type of cost comparison based on information that I could find on my computer this afternoon. I have only a passing familiarity with the Gravely system, so if someone who knows more about those classic tractors sees a mistake, please let me know. Also the prices quoted are for the basic tractors and implements, there are most likely other costs like shipping, fittings and others that are not included.
I live on 8 acres of land and a few years ago I started to implement my plan of becoming more self sustaining through increasing my gardens by bringing back some parts of the property that had become overgrown. For a number of reasons I wasn’t interested in compact utility tractors or the like. Initially I was going to buy a DR mower and a Troy-Belt tiller, both of which I had positive experiences with years ago but discovered that each of those companies had changed ownership and changes had been made to the quality of those products that were undesirable to me.
After much research I discovered BCS tractors and ended up purchasing a BCS 852 tractor with a tiller, rotary plow, snowblower and brush mower. The quality is first rate and it reminded me of the Gravely two wheeled tractors that were once so common here in rural New York. This made me think that the two systems were comparable, how much would a contemporary Gravely cost if they were still made. Also, what would a new vintage Troy-Belt tiller cost compared to a present day BCS. I found some historic price information on-line and discovered the following:
2021 BCS 852 Compared to 1972 Gravely Commercial 12
BCS 852 Tractor (pricing from earthtools.com website)
Tractor $4436
32” Brush Mower $1235
Rotary Plow $1330
30” Tiller $765
28” Snow Thrower $1044
Total = $8810
Gravely Commercial 12 (pricing from January, 1972 price list rounded to nearest dollar)
Tractor $932
30” Rotary Mower $194
Rotary Plow $140
Rotary Cultivator $106
26” Snowblower $316
Total= $1688
Inflation adjustment from BLS.Gov $11,158
That gives the BCS system a price advantage of 26% or $2348 over the hypothetical Gravely system.
This also holds true looking at a 1981 Troy-Bilt Horse Tiller compared to a basic BCS machine today:
BCS 710 Tractor with 20” tiller: $2280
Troy-Bilt Horse with 7hp Kohler engine and 18” (I believe) Tiller
1981 price: $1039 (from a Mother Jones article of the time)
Adjusted for Inflation: $3245
The contemporary BCS system comes out 42% cheaper with a savings of $965.
This is just a quick look based only one type of cost comparison based on information that I could find on my computer this afternoon. I have only a passing familiarity with the Gravely system, so if someone who knows more about those classic tractors sees a mistake, please let me know. Also the prices quoted are for the basic tractors and implements, there are most likely other costs like shipping, fittings and others that are not included.
