New Tractor??? Maxium hours on meter????

[stonebase]

I have been starting some research on a tractor purchase in the next 6 months. I've briefly stopped into a few dealers to see some tractors with very little dialogue between the sales people and myself.

I have noticed that some of these tractors that I assume they are selling as "new" have like 10 or 12 hours on them. Is this normal? What is the reasonable amount of time a tractor could have to be sold as new?

 

[Hambone]

Mine had less than 1 hour.
10 to 12 hours would seem to me it was out on a demo or been on the lot for a while.

 

[RoyJackson]

There was another thread on this a few months back. Can't recall the tractor model, but it had around 14, 15 hours on it.

I think you guys are comparing equipment to what you expect in a car or truck. I think you're expecting too much.

If this tractor had ...say more then 30 hours. Reckon I'd question that.
But anything less then that just isn't anything to concern yourself with.
If the dealer uses a piece of his stock for a yard jockey every now and then, or another potential buyer puts a little time on it; is that a big deal? Not in my humble opinion...

 

[Bird]

I agree with you, Roy. I guess "new" means different things to different people. Ought a buy a "new" motorhome sometime. They're likely to have up to 1000 miles on the odometer being delivered from the manufacturer to the dealer and/or moved around on the dealer's lot and/or to and from trade shows. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[AndyMA]

I agree with Roy & Bird. Probably under 25 hours wouldn't bother me a bit. If a tractor did have 20 to 25 hours I would probably ask for a free or discounted 50 hour service. It might actually be nice to pick up a 50 hour tractor with service done so it would not have to be serviced until 300 hours.

Andy

 

[monkeybreath]

My 3410 HST had about 16.5 hours when purchased and about 17.8 when delivered after a FEL was installed and I assume the additional hours were put on as the FEL was tested. I purchased it used for $13,600 for the tractor alone which I think was abour a 2-3 thousand discount as it was not the most current model, the latest model would have been the 3430. The 3430 the dealer had on the lot had about 24 hours - it was a rental return - but would have cost $3000 more. To me they both looked brand new.

 

[Henro]

Both my tractors had less than an hour on the hour meters when delivered.

I had asked the dealer to get one in a crate rather than one that had been sitting in a show room some where. In both cases the dealer did not have one on hand when I ordered. These were Kubota B2910 and BX2200 tractors.

The only thing I wanted to avoid was getting a tractor with a couple hundred cold starts on it before I turned the key the first time.

Just made me feel better. Really don't know if a couple hundred cold starts would make any difference to the tractor or not... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

My Kubota and my NH both came with under 2 hours on the meter. But it wouldn't have bothered me if they had more, anything over 10 and I'd probably have asked for a discount on the 50 hour service, but not fought real hard to get it. At 20 hours on the meter I'd have pushed hard for a free 50 hour service and settled for 50% discount on the service, with them picking up/delivering the tractor.

To make some comparison to cars, I bought a "new" 2002 Mercury Mountaineer with 8000 miles on it and a "new" 2001 Volvo C70 Convertible with 5500 miles on it. In both cases the dealer made massive price consessions, I got $1 a mile from the Mercury dealer and almost $3 a mile on the Volvo. Both cars were obviously driven by the dealers sales people, but came with fresh titles, etc.

 

[JDgreen227]

Concur with you on wanting to avoid the multiple cold starts on your new tractors. My JD had 3 hours when delivered and because 4210's are not usually seen on the lot I was pretty sure mine didn't set outdoors for long. If a purchased a new tractor with more than 10-12 hours on it I would question the reason for that. Asking for a discount on the next service is a very fair and reasonable request to settle the issue of too many hours on a "new" tractor. I never would have thought of suggesting that. Great idea !

 

[frank_f15]

i would not worry about it, althogh u might want to ask if the tractor had been out as a demo? not sure if i would like to buy a NEW tractor that had been worked by somone , not sure how they treated it.