sanity check asap - buying a tractor this weekend

[fried1765]

I change the oil in 150 hour intervals, 150, 300, 450,... easy to keep up with. Air filters are changed when deemed necessary, hours don't matter, the condition does.

Curious how many people write the hours on their filters?

I write dates, and hours, on tractor oil filters!

 

[dieselcrawler]

I'm a mechanic, I write miles/hours and date on every filter I change, every time. I have kept a pocket size notebook log of fuel fill ups and mileage in my personal vehicles for years, including maintenance in that log.

So is the hours on my tractor oil filter? Yup.

 

[dickfoster]

it's down to a new mahindra 2565 or a used 1900 hour 2001 john deere 5420. both have loaders, R1's, shuttle and cab.

driving myself (and wife) crazy...anyone relate?

on one hand the JD wont depreciate much, if any. it is a bigger tractor. price is at 30k. has new tires, 2 rear remotes, ride control. it was used by a college to mow/snow.

on the other hand, the mahindra is brand new (which i rarely buy new expensive depreciating assets) at 35900. buying a new tractor always seemed counter-intuitive for me as i'm a hobby farmer/weekend warrior.

help me out guys....what to do?

No question it would be the new tractor for me. How much warranty on the new machine and how much on the old machine? How much is that worth to you should something major go wrong with either? How about dealer support? Is it the same dealer or are they different and how is he going to support either tractor? What recourse do you have on the old machine other than some feel good about a brand.
As far as holding value I think all tractors hold their value unreasonably well. At least that was my finding when I went tractor shopping recently. Used tractors regardless of brand were priced like new so I bought a new one. Why would I have done otherwise?

 

[wango tango]

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty much decided on a new one - for 15% more I can get a 15 year newer machine.

I really want a cab. That makes it pretty much 30k+ on every machine I've seen. At that price may as well get a new one.

Unfortunately - this all may have to wait as my 4 yo daughter left on a water faucet outside our house. For a week. Our basement is flooded and insurance wont pay for it, evidently. What a scam.

 

[dickfoster]

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty much decided on a new one - for 15% more I can get a 15 year newer machine.

I really want a cab. That makes it pretty much 30k+ on every machine I've seen. At that price may as well get a new one.

Unfortunately - this all may have to wait as my 4 yo daughter left on a water faucet outside our house. For a week. Our basement is flooded and insurance wont pay for it, evidently. What a scam.

All insurance is a scam. If the world were right, we'd outlaw it and and treat those selling it just like any other con artist by jailing them. It's what wrecked healthcare in this country and instead of doing away with what broke it, we threw gas on the fire and made it worse.

 

[RPW]

-dickfoster- I guess you have several hundred thousand dollars to take care of any and all problems that might come up. When was the last time you had to fix/replace a roof because of a tornado. No insurance isn't a scam it a gamble. You're gambling that something will happen and the insurance company is gambling that something won't. As far as the poster about the water damage in they're basement that was unfortunate in that they didn't have flood insurance. Or maybe didn't update their policy to include water damage etc. Just my 2 cents.

 

[wango tango]

it's a technicality. They claim the water came from 'outside'..even though it clearly came from my house. at the end of the day, they have thousands of lawyers and i dont.

 

[varmint]

Couple of comments... I write date and hours on all tractor filters, and our autos have "baby books" (wife's term) in them that notes fuel and all maintenance... date and miles. Now, insurance seems to be a necessary evil. We just had our house and barn's roofs replaced, thanks to a massive hail storm last summer. They were willing to replace the shop's metal roof, as well, but that is a Morton Building, the dents didn't really bother me, and I figured the metal roofing wouldn't be a good as the Morton, so we passed. The bill was about $28,000 total. Very high, but insurance was paying, and their adjuster had put it all together. When all was said and done, I asked the contractor what it would have cost, had we been paying out of pocket. His quick reply was "about $12,000". Contractors must absolutely love insurance jobs!

A side note: after the hail storm, there were locally lots of tent cities where paintless dent removal crews were set up to deal with the literally thousands of dinged autos and trucks in the area- seems they travel around the country, chasing storms, so to speak. One of our cars was included- 79 dents, all nicely smoothed over.

 

[TJP89]

Couple of comments... I write date and hours on all tractor filters, and our autos have "baby books" (wife's term) in them that notes fuel and all maintenance... date and miles. Now, insurance seems to be a necessary evil. We just had our house and barn's roofs replaced, thanks to a massive hail storm last summer. They were willing to replace the shop's metal roof, as well, but that is a Morton Building, the dents didn't really bother me, and I figured the metal roofing wouldn't be a good as the Morton, so we passed. The bill was about $28,000 total. Very high, but insurance was paying, and their adjuster had put it all together. When all was said and done, I asked the contractor what it would have cost, had we been paying out of pocket. His quick reply was "about $12,000". Contractors must absolutely love insurance jobs!

A side note: after the hail storm, there were locally lots of tent cities where paintless dent removal crews were set up to deal with the literally thousands of dinged autos and trucks in the area- seems they travel around the country, chasing storms, so to speak. One of our cars was included- 79 dents, all nicely smoothed over.

Yup, I pretty much got a free roof after a hail storm came through. I'm sure the roofing company made a bundle, their agent was out "assisting" the adjuster. He basically got every little thing noted, and then I was able to put it all toward the roof (which was actually damaged). After the deductible (a few K), the insurance covered the roof. That was down in TX, where they actually have thunderstorms. I find insurance a pain, usually have to go shopping every once in a while when they get too full of themselves, but I pay very close attention, have friends who know the industry, and haven't gotten really screwed over yet. It's a huge pain, and I've only had to use it rarely, but when I did, it was worth the trouble.

On another note, metal roofing is a racket around me. The pole-barn roof needed work, I almost fell over when I heard the quotes. I would have put the roof on myself before I paid that. Ended up just doing some maintenance and a new ridge cap myself. Problem fixed. My theory is that you should know all about the project before hiring someone, that way they can't spout techo-babble and have you pay twice as much. Problem is when you're having someone do a job, it's usually because you don't know a whole lot about it.

 

[whizdbiz2]

-dickfoster- I guess you have several hundred thousand dollars to take care of any and all problems that might come up. When was the last time you had to fix/replace a roof because of a tornado. No insurance isn't a scam it a gamble. You're gambling that something will happen and the insurance company is gambling that something won't. As far as the poster about the water damage in they're basement that was unfortunate in that they didn't have flood insurance. Or maybe didn't update their policy to include water damage etc. Just my 2 cents.

It's not a scam and it's not a gamble. Insurance companies don't gamble, we pay actuaries a lot of money to look at past experience and other factors and from that determine what is likely to happen in the future and what that will cost a customer to buy the coverage we are selling. In certain areas of the country they are more prone to tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, lightning, etc. so they pay more for these things to be included. Certain types of business are more prone to losses (property and liability) so they pay more. All in all, it is way more complicated than I could possibly explain and probably more so than you could understand, dickfoster and wango tango, without years of study and experience in the industry.

RPW is correct, dickfoster and wango tango, don't expect coverage for losses that you didn't buy, you likely have exclusions, lots of them, if not you could never afford to buy the policy if everything is covered. When losses are paid without the premium coming in you are cheating everyone else that is covered by that company and driving everyone's rates up. You did read your policy, didn't you? Or have your agent go over it point by point? No? ... then don't complain about what's covered or not because you don't really know. Don't like insurance? Just be sure you have the money to pay for your own losses, and you'll need way more than a few hundred thousand if we are talking liability coverage... you can easily be sued for millions, and be expected to pay it if the accident is your fault. What people don't like a most about insurance is that you are buying a promise, not something you can touch and feel. Be sure you know what promises you are paying for.

wango tango: your earlier post said the OUTSIDE faucet was left on... the water did come from the outside, not inside. Inside the house it was in the pipes. Now who is being technical?

(full disclosure: I've worked in the commercial P&C industry for 36 yrs.)