Joint ownership of attachments

[brad_oatley]

Has anyone had any experiences with joint ownership of attachments? I was considering looking for 2 or 3 local tractor owners to split the purchase of some of the attachments that are only used "occasionally". Post hole digger, different size augers, sweeper, chipper etc. Maybe even a 3 point backhoe. I know sooner or later someone is bound to break something but even if we split the cost of repairs it should still be a lot cheaper than outright ownership of seldom used attachments.

 

[frank_f15]

i would be a little careful here! u say u would look for 2 or 3 other folks to share the price. evidently, they would be people u don't know to well. sounds good in theory, but it can cause problems.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I do have some joint ownership in some implements and it works for us. But the neighbor is a friend and we both have very similar values and beliefs about how things should be maintained. He bought a PHD, I bought auger bits. We split the cost of a tiller. Etc.

 

[JerryG]

For a lot of people, it would not work. There will be sometime or another that there will be hard feeling between the owners.

 

[jinman]

Brad, I have a joint-ownership post-hole auger and it has worked out very well so far. The neighbor who shares ownership with me has a very similar value system and economic level. I mention economic level because if you get into a situation where there are great differences, it seems there are different expectations about maintenance and repairs. Anyhow, here are my suggestions regarding joint-ownership.

1. I would not want more than one other partner. It makes sharing a lot simpler and prevents the "he said, she said" situations.

2. Agree up front that if you break it, you fix it, or to share all costs of repair. I like the first option. I broke a pto u-joint and bent the drive shaft, so I went to TSC and bought a replacement immediately. You can't put off repairs to shared implements.

3. If I want to loan the auger to a relative or friend, I ask my joint-owner if it's okay. If he says he doesn't want to do it, I honor his wish; case closed.

4. Cooperation is the key. If the other joint-owner has started a job with the attachment, you should wait until he is finished before asking to use it. Time of his job and breaks in continuous usage may apply, but unless he offers, don't expect him to interrupt his job.

5. Pick a place for the implement to stay when not in use. With my neighbor, we leave the auger with the owner who used it last. When the other owner needs it, he just comes and gets it. It helps that we are only 1/3 mile apart on a county road.

6. If there is a dispute about the implement, you need to have an up-front agreement how to handle this. For instance, each owner would agree to buy or to sell the implement to the other owner for 1/2 the current appraised used value. Sometimes discussing this issue up front will tell you whether the other owner will make a good partner.

I'm sure there are other issues, but these are just some that my neighbor and I have discussed informally. We don't have any written agreement, and truthfully, we've both far exceeded our ROI expectations, so the greatest potential loss in any dispute would be our friendship. No implement is worth that.

 

[ZJ_HR]

Jinman has nice experience.
My experience with sharing is different. I share disk harrows with neighbour for about 15 years. It function, but...I will never do this again. Why?
I'm working on 5-6 acres yearly, he 10-15acres per year + for his brother, his best man (without ask, off course)...30-40ac per year. We bought it 50-50%, I'm sensitive with machines, he isn't etc.

From my experience, my advice is: buy your own implement, let your partner buy another implement (not matter of worth) and exchange it. If partnership broke, ownership situation is clear /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( buy your own implement, let your partner buy another implement (not matter of worth) and exchange it )</font>

That's the only way I'd do it, too. I'll buy mine; you buy yours, and we can loan ours to each other, but we don't have to worry about what if one wants to get rid of his half, or wants to loan it to someone else, or who uses it the most, who repairs what, etc.

 

[brad_oatley]

You guys are like a board of directors. I've consolidated your respective advice into the following. I'll try it with one implement with one other person and see how it goes. Thanks.