Letting the neighbor borrow your tractor...

[ultrarunner]

Eddie... sounds like people from America's heartland.

 

[Creamer]

Eddie... sounds like people from America's heartland.

Agreed! Good people are out there.

 

[Creamer]

The real issue is whether each of you values the relationship more than things. I loaned my tractor out once to a friend who used it hard. Scoop was bent a little when it came back but no big deal - I straightened it and life was good. Having him as a friend was more important than how he used my tractor. I love my little tractor and it has done very well for me but a good friend is more important.

BTW -the guy who bent the scoop apologized but said he did not know how to fix it. I told him it was no big deal that I'd take care of it. It was raining when he brought it back and I didn't want to fix it in the rain or he would have helped me. Would I lend it to him again - absolutely.

 

[dieselcrawler]

One of the times I borrowed my friends tractor with reasonable new loader, I bent the bucket, didn't realize it, and returned it. Aside from hearing him give me a good natured ribbing, he has expected nothing from me in return. I even was employed by him for almost 2 years after that... no hard feelings, and he is far more likely to do damage to his equipment than I.

 

[RaydaKub]

There can only be ONE owner of something. The ONE owner may decide to rent/loan or not, but once you have more than one owner there WILL be problems.

My dad and a neighbor farmed separately, but owned a combine and swather together. At one point, they had to rebuild the main driveshaft for the swather. Both took turns being the machinist instead of buying a $500 replacement for the 20 yr old $500 swather. They traded off the worn out JD55 combine and bought a JD6600 combine. They had matching wagons and would trade labor back and forth during harvest. When the combine broke down, they both worked the repair. At the end of the year, the gathered all receipts and split the repair bill costs (perhaps slightly weighted by acreage). This arrangement worked for almost 20 years.

Granted, that is rare. But it can work great.

 

[ultrarunner]

My grandfather was part of a small local co-op... not for tractors but for things like a big chipper and specialize farm equipment...

It worked well for the old-timers... not so good as the younger generation started to take over...

 

[2ndhalf]

Take your time looking.. its your money

 

[grm61]

I would not do it.....no way no how., would not want to be involved with a cheap assed habitual borrower.
Always looking for another angle to get something for nothing.

 

[grm61]

Okay. I've never really been one to let people borrow my stuff. Well, I let people borrow my truck, trailers, tools, etc., but in the past my tractor and other motorized equipment have been tricky to operate and I never felt comfortable letting someone use them. I always offered to operate it for them.

So I have a neighbor that I've somewhat become friends with and after my last tractor broke he asked me if I would be interested in going into a partnership of some kind buying a replacement for it. He suggested working up a contract, etc. and splitting all the costs down the middle. I really didn't like the idea that much because I've owned my own tractor for the last 10 years and want my own tractor. I've been looking and found a great deal on a really nice tractor and got it this weekend.

The guy has owned his own tractor in the past when he lived in a different place and regularly borrows another tractor but he has to trailer it back and forth every time he borrows it and so he would prefer not to have to do that. I discussed various options on how to work it out and he seems like he would prefer to pay something for it rather than borrow it.

One thing I discussed was just charging a flat $25 per hour off the meter or something like that. Not sure I want to mess with keeping a log of the hours though.

He would be willing to sign a contract on who is responsible for repairs and maintenance or anything like that, he is more handy with that kind of thing than I am anyway.

He has already asked to borrow it to do some post hole digging tomorrow and for now I told him to just borrow it for free and he said he would go over it and grease all the zerks, check the fluids, etc. He has been borrowing my implements to use with the tractor he has been borrowing and I don't mind that, he has used my post hold digger more than I have. Last time he borrowed my box blade he graded my 1/2 mile long driveway since my tractor was broke at the time. He's in the process of building a new barn and house but he only has 2 acres and just doesn't really need his own tractor, especially once he has it all built.

I've owned a tractor for 10 years and over that time I put a whopping 326 hours on it so it's not like I am using it all the time or anything. It can go a month or more sometimes without even getting fired up.

All that lead in to just ask if anyone else has some type of arrangement like this.

Do you just do it on a handshake and go with it? That's what I'm leaning toward. I don't really need the money, my thought was kind of that if he has to pay for it he might not borrow it quite as often. He does have access to the other tractor so if he needs to use it and I'm already using it he could borrow that one.

Thoughts? Thanks, Nathan

Would you ask to borrow someones tractor??? You have a tractor so I'm assuming your a self sufficient kind of guy?
The guys a pile, and user, don't loan yours out, and don't get involved. JMO

 

[Gary Fowler]

Well so far it sounds like your neighbor is a trustworthy guy that will take care of your equipment like his own. You do need to work out some form of payment though, Fuel is not cheap and tires wear out even if they aren't punctured. You should discuss a charge fee for hours used based on local rental rates, fuel surcharge or have him get his own fuel so the tractor leaves full tank and comes back full tank. You will have to buy components for 50 hour service and required surfaces later that will need to be paid for and will come more frequently with neighbor using them. It sounds like he is willing to pay a rental rate so I would work that out now rather than after he has borrowed it a few times without pay.

Even if he does service it after use, there is still wear and tear that needs to have a "KITTY" established for use in maintenance and repair or even upgrading your implements.
Personally I would rather go with my tractor and help a neighbor than to loan (wont loan to anyone). I do small chores for neighbors at no charge but these are not hours long chores. If they wanted say bush hogging 20 acres, there would have to be some money involved or some type of compensation. For instance, My brother in law just bush hogged neighbors place that was being neglected by previous "renter" who was in the hay business but didn't cut the acreage last year. Neighbor approached my brother in law about the deal and he took over the deal same as the previous renter did, using the place for a hay field with stipulation of keeping it mowed to control weeds. This allows him to fully graze his acreage and cut enough hay from the 25 or so acres to feed all his cows in the winter. A pretty good deal for both since the neighbor had no use for the land and keeping the weeds cut made the land much better.

Sometime today I am going to go move a few tons of landscaping rocks for my neighbor because they no longer need the rocks. I get to keep the rocks which I can use and neighbor gets their place cleaned up. A pretty good deal for both of us.
Yesterday, I fixed the battery cable on their Jeep because it wouldn't start. As usual, Husband was out of town for the day and daughter needed the Jeep to get to work. I do most of the repairs around their house as a good neighbor favor because I can and have all the tools. I do it for no expectation of reward, but it seems we get invited to dinner a lot at their place or to a restaurant at their expense.

I have always been one to buy any tool I needed rather than try to borrow and I would rather fix something for someone than lend my tools so I always know where my stuff is at.