New Tractor Sales Are Declining

[ArlyA]

I think the people who claim there 25yo tracker is the same as those overprice atv's or utv's, are simply jealous that don't have one.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

Meh I'd like a nice utv. I have a rhino 660.

I also have a 95 mitsubishi mini cab

We ride our 4 wheelers the most. For work, the tractor does everything the others do other than heat and air

 

[Cycledude]

What do you think is driving the demand? Snow?

Dealers seem to be able to get new tractors a little easier this year and buyers seem to have plenty of money to spend.

 

[scootr]

Sometimes the undisciplined consumer just can't wait any longer and the shiny object calls them to the finance office. My neighbor just spent $50k on a Yanmar tractor. I spent 30K on a 150 hr Kubota and sold my old tractor for 15k and sold a car for 13k profit. Almost a wash in equity. I'm looking for ways to reduce spending in this economy not increase it. I think that will be the mindset of most people.

 

[jyoutz]

I've vacationed in the Rocky Mountain high country of Colorado for 35+ years. SxS are the worst enviromental thing that has happened to the high country. Extremely hard on trails because they are always spinning and tearing up the fine material on those trails which causes severe errosion. This Summer I was on a couple trails that I hadn't been on for 8 years. The damage was horrible. To imply they are better for the environment is simply wrong.

A SxS will make the trip quicker than a Jeep or Sami. But it required a heavy duty pickup and a trailer to get there. At the end of the day this combination is not environmentally friendly. Handy, but not better.

What you say is true. Indiscriminate uses are tearing up land. SxS are still a lighter footprint on the land than a truck or Jeep. Repeated travel over the same corridors will destroy vegetation and cause erosion trails. Game retrieval that I described isn’t repeated use, And there’s no doubt that SxS use on old skid trails is a lighter footprint than a Jeep or truck.

 

[2manyrocks]

The Geo trackers also have a following although my impression is the Samurai is more of a true off road 4x4 sport vehicle.

Back in the day, small farmers had a tractor and a pickup truck. And a late model car to take the family to church on Sunday.

 

[ovrszd]

What you say is true. Indiscriminate uses are tearing up land. SxS are still a lighter footprint on the land than a truck or Jeep. Repeated travel over the same corridors will destroy vegetation and cause erosion trails. Game retrieval that I described isn’t repeated use, And there’s no doubt that SxS use on old skid trails is a lighter footprint than a Jeep or truck.

The weight has absolutely nothing to do with it.

 

[rScotty]

The weight has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Walking is the answer?

 

[deezler]

Sure the weight has something to do with it. 100 Horsepower in a lightweight SxS means you can spin the tires on command. Spinning tires is what tears up the trails and land. As well as having locked up rears for traction, meaning turning drags the inside/outside wheel or both a bit.

A much heavier jeep, samurai, tracker, with similar power available, doesn't necessarily spin the tires as much. Or at least people drive them more calmly, because you have to. A lightweight plushy SxS is ready to rip; that's the fun of it.

 

[Milo]

Idiots spinning the tires, doing donuts, power slides, etc are what erodes trails, not the SXS itself. The (typically wet) soft trails on my property here in WV are fragile compared to most places in the west and there is no erosion and rutting! It's because I'm the one who uses them. My SXS with 10 psi of ground contact, an open differential, and not ever spinning a tire is pretty easy on the terrain, much easier than the ATV's with no differential I used to have, 4,000# tractor, the kids bicycles, or my neighbor's horses who use a short section of one of the trails. One of my SXS's is a Honda Pioneer 520 which does not have a differential so I have to be careful when I use it and even still it will skid exposing bare dirt on sharp corners so it only gets on certain trails and then only when it's dry. From now on I will only buy a SXS or ATV that has a differential.