I don't understand something.

[4570Man]

I think a lot of people are in the mindset that if they want a tool and can afford that tool then they buy that tool and use it as they see fit.

Everyones’ financial situations are different. For some, a tractor is a really expensive purchase that may take a significant chunk of their income. It may take a lot of justification on paper with pencil as to if it makes financial sense to buy or not. For others, it’s not such a financial burden and they change tractors like pants. I’d guess most fall towards the first example.

I don’t know why so many people worry about people buying tractors or $20k zero turn mowers or other equipment they probably don’t need. Nobody worries about people buying a high country trim truck, a sports car, a boat or RV. Well maybe they look in disapproval but it doesn’t spark the heated debates tractor’s do. Why are tractors so different?

 

[Pleease]

I bought a subcompact Kubota about 4 years ago to help me maintain the family lake property, which, like many such properties, is situated on a big**s hill out in the sticks. Mostly I mow with it, clear brush, and use the FEL for digging out around the dock (off-season, when the lake level is lowered) and whatever comes up, such as - right now - digging/flattening a spot for a shed.

It has, off the top of my head, like 140 hours on it. Go ahead and scoff at that low total, but it's been extremely helpful to have. I can't get there to cut grass every week, and thus it can get pretty high/thick, and previously I was always either pushing a mower/sweating my ***** off, or trying to mow the BA hill with a rider that was apparently designed for dead-level terrain, and seemed eager to kill me.

And I like it. It's fun to use, and I look forward to it - totally worth it.

 

[connaway]

OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but that's another thread.


My little squirt is approaching 4 years old (wow, has it really been that long?) and it approaching 500 hours, or around 125 hours a year.. I don't use it very much. It sits for weeks sometime between tasks if I don't have to mow.

But I keep seeing threads and posts about 20, 30, 40 year old tractors with hour readings that work out to 20 hours a year or less. Is it that they have more than one machine and each gets lesser use than if they only had one? How do you spend $20,000 or so on something you use so little?

Definitely depends on what you use them for. We operate a fairly large farm/ranch. Our big JD tractors don't get started as often but put on big hours because they pull plows/planters for long periods non stop at full throttle. On the other hand my 65 HP Kubota mainly lifts items and does some dirt work usually at low throttle. Even though it runs every week it only has less than 500 hrs at 10+ years.

 

[AcrossTheHoller]

Heres my kioti with my homemade grapple. Around here it gets so hot an humid, i dont know what i'd do without my tractor. It saves a ton of sweat! So for me, 200hrs a year, some of those hours are business use, but i have never regretted that purchase. Its my 3rd hand working arou d my 11 acres. In comparison, i never spent much more than 7k on a used mower that we put 500hrs on a year. Why destroy a 20k$ mower, when a 7k$ will do? Idk. Weird economics maybe.

 

[MossRoad]

I don’t know why so many people worry about people buying tractors or $20k zero turn mowers or other equipment they probably don’t need. Nobody worries about people buying a high country trim truck, a sports car, a boat or RV. Well maybe they look in disapproval but it doesn’t spark the heated debates tractor’s do. Why are tractors so different?

Haven’t you ever known someone who keeps buying/selling/trading toys and you wonder how/why they do that?

I think that’s the gist of the question the OP is asking.

 

[jgoodma1]

I typically put 30-40 hours per year on my Kubota L4060. I bought it with 170 hours on it and got a very good deal. I have an 800' long driveway that I maintain with it. Also, we have 11 heavily wooded acres and regularly have downfallen trees.....sometimes pretty big ones, and sometimes uprooted ones. I use my tractor to clean up my woods. I get out there with the chainsaw, cut them up, and use my motorized orange wheelbarrow to haul them out. Then I'll dig a hole with it and bury the stumps. And, as a bonus, I can move piles of dirt and gravel with it too! Needless to say, there's plenty of work I have to do off my tractor when doing these chores. I'm 67 and have heart issues, and doing physical work like this with my tractor is great exercise and keeps me out of the hospital...so in addition to being a motorized wheelbarrow, it's kind of an orange gym membership too (or so I fool myself into believing)! So, it's really a bargain!

 

[Skrizan]

After spending 24 years using a 48 inch snowblower mounted on a lawn tractor for my nearly 1/4 mile long driveway, I bought a used Kubota L3130 with cab and heat and front loader in 2017. I only have 124 hours on it, but they are worth every penny nice and warm instead of bundled of and wearing a snowmobile helmet on the lawn tractor. I added a back blade and can grade the driveway when needed, and I spread over a hundred yards of crushed asphalt I had delivered this summer. I bought some forks that attach to the bucket and with a pallet I can haul brush and tree trimmings, I used it to lift shingles to the garage roof I redid this spring also. I need to get a brush hog for a few areas around the perimeter of my yard and driveway. I got a good deal at $14700, but with what I know now I wish I had spent $25,000 20 years ago!

 

[cleo101]

Some people have more than one machine. My father's 2008 L2800 has >400 hours on it. I put that many on in two years. Yet when he bought it he also had 2 8Ns, a John Deere L, and his Ford 4400. He sold the L and one of the 8s, gave me the other because it needed quite a bit of work. Then he bought a nice running TO35 which he used for mowing and other chores.

Other people want a tractor but only use it for dedicated reasons. One person in town has an LS which he only uses for his garden. He's very frugal and intends to keep it for the rest of his life.

125 hours per year is quite a bit for a homeowner.

Funny that you say that 125 hrs a year is a lot for a home onwer I purchase a new virgin 20 acres pcs of land about 7 years ago and the very first week I also purchase a brand new B2620 Kubota with Loader, Backhoe and mower, for the next 4 years I spent every single spare time I had transforming this lot and end up putting over 2000 hours on this little machine without any issues at all.... I sold it last here for just a couple thousand less than what I had paid for it and I now have an LX3310 and it's been almost been one years since I finally got this new machine and I've already got 360 hours on it and if my new backhoe didn't come in 4 months later I probably would've had more hours yet..... I mow 18 acres a week with this thing and maintain some tree area and all other chores I do with this machine, love it and could not imaging myself just looking at it in the garage doing nothing

 

[royyme]

Have a L3400 with FEL that i bought new in 2008 and just turned over 200 hr. . Works out to about 1.2 hr. per month. Used most of the time on my .27 mile gravel road., garden work, or. moving dirt. If i were to do this work by hand it would eather take forever, not get done, or hired out. My wife does not like seeing it just sitting under it's carport but i sure do.

 

[Jstpssng]

I don’t know why so many people worry about people buying tractors or $20k zero turn mowers or other equipment they probably don’t need. Nobody worries about people buying a high country trim truck, a sports car, a boat or RV. Well maybe they look in disapproval but it doesn’t spark the heated debates tractor’s do. Why are tractors so different?

I see an awful lot of posts stating that you can't get a truck for under 80,000, yet never seem to have a problem finding them for half that. It all depends on how badly you "need" all of the bells and whistles.

 

[Jstpssng]

Funny that you say that 125 hrs a year is a lot for a home onwer I purchase a new virgin 20 acres pcs of land about 7 years ago and the very first week I also purchase a brand new B2620 Kubota with Loader, Backhoe and mower, for the next 4 years I spent every single spare time I had transforming this lot and end up putting over 2000 hours on this little machine without any issues at all.... I sold it last here for just a couple thousand less than what I had paid for it and I now have an LX3310 and it's been almost been one years since I finally got this new machine and I've already got 360 hours on it and if my new backhoe didn't come in 4 months later I probably would've had more hours yet..... I mow 18 acres a week with this thing and maintain some tree area and all other chores I do with this machine, love it and could not imaging myself just looking at it in the garage doing nothing

I based that on the average for homeowners, which I believe is around 80-100 hours per year. I believe that the OP has a house lot, much smaller than 20 acres.

 

[fishman]

I've had my b2910 now for 21 years. Some on here may remember when I went through the buying process for it. It is just about to turn over 400 hours which works out to less than 20 hours per year on it. Some may say that is foolish and the economics don't support it, but I disagree.

Maintenance and upkeep on the tractor has been less than $2k for sure, despite having to replace all of the hydraulic hoses as a precaution since two failed and replace the two front tires. The original purchase price minus what I could get right now for it is about $5k, and I'm sure it would sell very quickly at that price. So total cost would be $7k over 21 years, give or take. Sure I could put that money in investments and so forth so it's not exact, but close enough for me. Yes, I have some capital tied up in the machine, but again, it's worth it to me.

So for an actual cost of about $30 a month, I've had a tractor ready to go any time I need it. I've repaired several water leaks, graded driveway, built three buildings, mowed a bunch of stuff, helped friends with projects like fence building and property cleanup, hauled deer out of my woods, and most importantly lifted a bunch of heavy things with the FEL that didn't hurt me. The list is much longer but these are just off the top of my head. I'm so glad I did it and plan on using my tractor for a very long time.

One interesting thing is that I did delay my purchase a few months because we were about to have our second child, my son. He's now about to turn 21 and it looks like he is going to end up staying closer to family. So he probably will be borrowing the tractor as well when he gets his place. That sure didn't factor in to the equation at the time.

 

[piper184]

15 years ago I bought a new tractor in a crate complete with FEL and backhoe. $13K delivered to my door.

First task, move snow (my old tractor had developed major problems).

Second task, dig in new septic system. Backhoe paid for itself in one job. It has done many more since then.

15 years of moving winter snow, FEL paid for itself. Has only been off the tractor once but has been modified to do many tasks.

Of course neither implement work without the tractor.

My tractor is a tool, just like a hammer or the lathe. Used when I need it, sits when I don't.
I could have done by hand everything the tractor did, or I could have paid someone else to do it. I could have rented the equipment.

Renting would have cost as much money wise and been way more inconvenient. I can use my tractor any time I want for 2 minutes or a full day with no waiting.
I can't begin to estimate how much it would have costs to pay someone to do what my tractor has done or will do. Not to mention waiting for them to get to my job.
I also can't fathom how much back breaking labor it has saved me, not to mention the time factor.

All maintenance, modifications and repairs are done by me. Considering the initial costs and efforts it takes to keep it going, that little tractor has been one of the best investments I have ever made. The 20' beaver tail car trailer runs a close second. Both sit for long periods of time but when ya need 'em, ya need 'em!

850 tach hours in 15 years for a 3 acre hobby farm (and saving the neighbor's asses from time to time)

 

[HAR]

OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but that's another thread.


How do you spend $20,000 or so on something you use so little?

Me, I would be more concerned if, after 20 years, there were no hours on the tractor at all! While buying a $20K tractor and keeping it for 20 years only works out to about $2.74/day, every time you get on your tractor and it does a job for you that saves you either time or money, that in my estimation is worth the investment.

In my case, what I purchased was a steal. To this day, every time that I use it, I thank my lucky stars that I found the deal. I even have found that the routine upkeep and maintenance costs are minimal. Other than routine oil, filter, hydraulic changes, the most expensive cost that I have incurred has been diesel fuel.

As a former computer IT person, I have also owned and used computers and accounting software for years. Both can be used to call me **** at times, but it works well for me other times.

For instance, over the nearly 20 years of tractor ownership, I can do a 'search' on 'diesel fuel' using my accounting software and 'report' that I have only paid "$684.60" over that period of time. I can also report that I have only paid $2975.94 for incidental 'add-ons' and only $1090.29 for routine 'maintenance'.

Today, my tractor alone is worth at least, if not more than, what I paid for it 20 years ago. Taking that into account, what I have paid for maintenance, add-ons, and fuel only amounts to about $237.50 per year.

Then consider what I would or could have paid someone else to do the nearly 900 hours of seat time. Has anyone hired 'man and equipment time' recently? Enter the amount and do the math.

Was it worth the investment? Absolutely!

 

[Jac65]

For me it isn't about the number of hours I use the machine, it is about having the right tool available when I need it. Over time the payback is in the convenience of being able to do what I need to do when I want/need to do it, not relying on others schedules or availability, not paying for services I can provide myself and ultimately the enjoyment I get from using the tractor. Money is only one metric to measure the value you get from something.

 

[EdinLa]

A lot of people with multiple tractors have favorites, while others get very little use. I have a very old 89 hp 10,000 lb. tractor that I bought for sentimental reasons, but it is still a brute that builds adrenaline in your veins when the power is called for. It gets ,,, maybe 5 hours a year to do things smaller tractors can't do, but is irreplaceable for what it is good at. I find my uses tend to put more hours on tractors in the 50 - 75 hp range, but do find a smaller 30ish hp tractor w/FEL very useful for numerous tasks I at one time did manually. Most surprising to me is the amount of time I put on a small 17 hp tractor that I really bought because I wanted the mower that came with it. It isn't terribly effective at getting a lot of work done, but just seems to be the appropriate choice more often than not.

Most of my tractors have relatively low hours on the clock,,,, because they long ago wore out the original that came with the tractor!

 

[lunasdude]

I agree with many here, really doesn't matter how many hours you put on your tractor it's how useful or fun it is to you.
I only have a couple of acres but I also bought the smallest Kubota BX tractor I could get.
That was 4 years ago and I have less than 200 hours on it and my little beast has been invaluable to me.
It has helped me with numerous projects including maintaining my driveway dragging my property for weeds and fixing our small dirt road.
I'm getting close to retirement and I fully intend on keeping it for the rest of my life.
What's funny is I have friends and family on both sides of the issue who either understand and appreciate it for what it is or don't get it and tease me thinking it's silly to waste the money.
I think the bottom line is if it works for you and it makes you happy who the hell cares what anybody else thinks!
Just my two glow plugs worth of opinion.

 

[mgstevens]

In terms of hours per year, I suppose it depends on what projects need doing, multiplied by the fraction of time you have available to operate the machine.

I bought a 10 year old machine, used on a small lot by an older gentleman, with a total of 400 hours. I've owned it now 3 years and added 135 hours, between snowblowing 10,000 sq/ft per event, as well as 3 seasons of loader, backhoe and box blade work on my 2 acres. I can't put in any more than hobbyist hours, but even with that, the machine will pay for itself in a few years.

 

[FERLING]

OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but that's another thread.


My little squirt is approaching 4 years old (wow, has it really been that long?) and it approaching 500 hours, or around 125 hours a year.. I don't use it very much. It sits for weeks sometime between tasks if I don't have to mow.

But I keep seeing threads and posts about 20, 30, 40 year old tractors with hour readings that work out to 20 hours a year or less. Is it that they have more than one machine and each gets lesser use than if they only had one? How do you spend $20,000 or so on something you use so little?

It looks impressive sitting under the shelter and when you need it it's worth every dime it cost you. If it was actually human you could put it in the same category as your wife.

 

[JWR]

It looks impressive sitting under the shelter and when you need it it's worth every dime it cost you. If it was actually human you could put it in the same category as your wife.

Is your dog house fully ready with indoor plumbing? You are going to need it.