Tractor hours - why so low?

[Baucom]

One thing to remember about people that buy a new tractor and don't put very many hours on it though...these low hr. like new tractors hold their value very well and after 8-10 yrs or so, they will still bring very close to their price when new due to the cost of new tractors rising (I realize this isn't quite holding true in our current market due to the economy, but it has been pretty much the norm). For example: Dad bought a new Kubota L series in 86 and traded it with 190 hrs for a new L series in 2000. The dealer allowed him the full amount of his original purchase price 14 yrs earlier on his trade in. When he traded the 01 L series in 07 for a new L series, the dealer allowed him about 2800 less than he paid for the 01 new, so it only cost ~500 per year to have use of the tractor--you can't rent one that size many times and come out ahead of those figures. Some people need to have one around for the times they need them, but don't put many hrs on doing their tasks so the hrs. don't rack up like people who use them to make a living or who have to blow snow all winter.

 

[EddieWalker]

I bought my 35hp tractor brand new in 2002 and have less then 400 hours on it. I used it allot when I first bought it, but now only use it for mowing and the occasional post hole. It's rare that I drive it for more then a few hours at a time. My mowing is broken down into four areas, and I mow each one in the evening when I get home, once a month for about 8 months out of the year. If I did it all in one day, it would wear me out and take away a full day of doing something else. But, if I did it that way, I could conceivably only run that tractor 8 times a year, and put less then 80 hours on it in that year.

When I bought my zero turn mower, the salesman told me that they took out the zirk fittings for the front tire spindles because they were having issues with people over greasing them. I didn't know this was possible, but he said they only want them greased every 100 hours. At first, I thought that was stupid and that I'd be unscrewing the plug and screwing in a zirk fitting all the time. But when I did the math and how many hours it takes me to mow my front yard and how often I mow it, I'm still under 100 hours a year.

I was at an auction a few weeks ago and thought there was allot more low hour tractors there then I've seen before. It might be the time of the year, or the way the economy is going, but either way, it seems like a very good time to be buying. My guess is that if a person loses his job, or is worried about less income, the tractor might be the first thing to get rid of.

Eddie

 

[JoelD]

I've had my tractor for about one year.

I've put 50 hours on it.

Here's my theory.

Many homeowners, with the low financing and the footloose and fancy free attitude of a few years back purchased big dollar machines for what they thought at the time to be reasonable monthly payments (fortunately I bought mine used and paid cash).

Now that the XXXX is hitting the fan in the economy many are selling to stem the bleeding.

Many of these people, if not for the low financing and the monthly payment mentality probably would never have purchased a machine in the first place.

Now you are seeing them coming to market.

I don't find the low hours hard to believe at all.

My 2 cents.

Good luck,
Joel

 

[newbury]

Well hopefully I'll find my dream toy pretty soon - I've missed out on two because I initially were afraid they were scams.

 

[LarryD]

I've got an '03 that I bought new in early '04 with less than 450 hours today. It was the D model and a good price due to the DA model change.

My hours have increased annually as I've added more implements of destruction but I'm just around 100 hours yearly right now. I can see that going down as my landscaping plans come to completion and manure management/mowing become the primary use.

The main cause for limited hours is my day job interfers with seat time.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

Well hopefully I'll find my dream toy pretty soon - I've missed out on two because I initially were afraid they were scams.

I suspect that a good number of tractors 35 HP and under, purchased by individuals - not business, fall into the category of "giant yard toys" and / or "it's never too late to have a great childhood". IMO many would see less than 100 hours per year and most of that would not be hard hours - mowing, snow plowing, maybe some digging. When these come on the market for whatever reason, many will be good as new and may well have spent all down time in a shed, possibly even heated. they may not be real cheap, but mechanically should be a good buy.

On the other hand, I'd be a bit suspicious of a "real farm tractor" with low hours.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Low hours are typical for compacts...

I was mowing approximately 3 acres 8 months out of the year with a Yanmar 1700 and 5 foot Landpride finish mower...

I purchased the tractor in 1992 with 667 hours on it and traded it in 2006 for a Ford-New Holland 1720...

The Yanmar had 1250 hours on it when I traded her in so I was averaging around 42 hours per year on the tractor...

My 1720 had 245 hours on her when I got it...

It was a 99 model, so the original owner averaged 35 hours per year...

Right now I've put 130 hours on the 1720 in 2-1/2 years, so I am averaging around 50 hours per year...

I guess the low usage is due to the fact that I only mow with my unit...

I've increased the acreage up to 5 acres but upgraded to a 6 foot Woods finish mower that reduces the cut time...

 

[jas67]

I second that. Having a FEL eliminated a lot of work previously done by wheelbarrow. Even used the Payne's forks when building a 12'x16' deck by myself. Lifted and held a 16' pressure treated 2x10 in place so that I could level and screw it to the house.
I also used it to lift a 10'x12' loft into place until I could get some legs bolted to it in my steel building.
If you have the machine, you'll find ways to use it that you would never have thought of before.

I'll second JJZ's story. I bought my tractor last year, because we had a good bit of landscaping to do (which is about 1/2 done). Between that, a (very) little snow removal, and moving firewood around the property, I've managed 72 hours since last July, and 21 hours on the gear-driven B7100 that I owned from May until July. I don't use the B7100 to mow, it is too big (actually, more of a steering radius issue) for many of the areas of my small 1 acre property, so I have a G1800S (all wheel steering). I only put about 30 hours/year on that for mowing.

We've only had a few snows this winter, and it only takes about 10-20 minutes to clear our driveways with the back blade (didn't have a snow deep enough to use the 3pt blower), depending on whether I bother with the part that goes to the barn. It doesn't sound like much, but that same work takes 45-90 minutes with the walk-behind snow blower.

Now that I have the tractor, I've found out the same as JJZ, you'll find ways to use it htat you never would have thought. I have a set of forks ordered from Everything Attachments that I'll use for moving small pallets of firewood around (to avoid handling each individual piece several times).

The FEL is the tool I use the most on it, and once the landscaping is done, the forks will probably be what is on it most. The bucket will probably then only get used for distributing mulch, and some snow duty.

I guess that once the landscaping is done, I might only put 20-30 hours on per year, but that 20-30 hours will save me 120-150 hours of sometimes backbreaking work (I'm not getting any younger).

I have a 1998 B7100HST, which I purchased last year with only 455 hours on it (less than 50/year), the previous owner also had a larger tractor on the farm that did mouse of the work, so the B7100HST was only used where the other one was too big. So the hours/year were similar to mine, but for different reasons.

It also gives me a tool to do barter work for a friend of mine that does welding for me when I need it (I don't have a welder, or the skill).

 

[jas67]

Understanding the meaning of the hours indicated by those dashboard indicators can be tricky.

The hour meter on my 1964 MF-135 diesel is part of the mechanically-driven tachometer. It registers accumulated engine hours at an average 1875 engine rpm. I rarely run the engine as high as this. In fact, 540 rpm on the pto corresponds to 1700 rpm on the engine. So the actual engine running time (the wall clock time) can be considerably more that what's indicated on the hour meter.

The digital hour counter on my 2008 Mahindra 5525 operates electronically by pulses coming from the alternator. I would be surprised if that counter is smart enough to factor in engine rpm so that the indicator shows the actual wall clock time that the engine has accumulated.

The Kubota B7100 has no tach, just an hour meter that is clock hours.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Once upon a time, it was considered average for a farm tractor to accumulate around 400 hours per year. Compared to a 40-hour per week full time job, and the approximately 2080 hours that would bring, 400 is not a lot. And that was a full time farm operation.

I'd be astounded if I was to see a "typical homeowner" with a few acres that accumulated even 100 hours per year.

Tractors being used in a commercial/industrial setting have been known to accumulate hours pretty dag gone fast. (I've got one that clocked over 2000 hours IN 6 MONTHS on a mowing crew)

As a "for instance", I use my trusty old MF150 to take care of my 45 acres. I cut hay off more than 20 acres, bush hog, work 2 big gardens, push snow, mow grass around the house, ect, and just BARELY accounted for 70 hours of use last year.

I've ran on to several tractors that were bought new, used to build a lawn around a new construction, then left sitting for a while before being sold. There's a Kubota for sale near me that's 3 years old and has 22 hours on the clock.

 

[Solo]

I've had my TC18 for 8 years and have only put 46 hours a year on it. I take care of my driveway and bushhog 10 acres with it twice a year. I think that alot of my hours come from idleing while i'm loading up my carry all with brush.

Solo

 

[LBrown59]

As a "for instance", I use my trusty old MF150 to take care of my 45 acres. I cut hay off more than 20 acres, bush hog, work 2 big gardens, push snow, mow grass around the house, ect, and just BARELY accounted for 70 hours of use last year.
[/ quote]
That's a lot of work for 70 Hours.

 

[jas67]

As a "for instance", I use my trusty old MF150 to take care of my 45 acres. I cut hay off more than 20 acres, bush hog, work 2 big gardens, push snow, mow grass around the house, ect, and just BARELY accounted for 70 hours of use last year.
[/ quote]
That's a lot of work for 70 Hours.

Yes, it is, and that is with ONLY ONE TRACTOR!

 

[JayDavis]

The 90hp Hesston we use out here has 2770 hours it has accrued in 22 years. That is about 125.9 hours a year, which is about right considering what I've done the past 2-3 years I've taken operation of it over. It's main duties are to stack/put out hay in the winter, shred 100 acres 2-3 times a year, and plow the garden as needed. The rest of the hours are filled in by stuff that just comes up.

I feel I should also add something I've heard told to me several times. Letting machinery sit for long periods of time between uses can be harder on it than running it a lot. With regular use fluids get circulated, changed out. Some equipement can go months between uses and years between services. It will run ok, but the minute you start really using it things that were marginal but operational at low use will start to go out. In other words, time whether ran or not still has an effect. Nothing you should be scared of, but still something to consider in your search for a tractor. If it is older but has low hours check it over just like you would if it had a lot of hours, time wears on all things whether it is running or not.

 

[firemen122]

I usually average around 200 hrs a year. It would seem better to rent a tractor if you put less than 30 or so hours a year to me.

 

[jas67]

I usually average around 200 hrs a year. It would seem better to rent a tractor if you put less than 30 or so hours a year to me.

A CUT rents for about $200/day around me. I often only need to put a an hour or two on my machine on a given day. The $200 + having to go get it, and drop it off is not worth it. I paid $6500 for my machine used, with a snow blower and mower deck. That $200/day only covers the tractor, no implements. I won't take long for my investment to be cheaper than having rented. I used it almost every weekend last year from July until Nov., but sometimes only for a few hours. At $400/weekend that would quickly be more than I spent in buying. Plus, if I decide I'm not using it any more, I can probably sell it for what I paid for it (or more).

 

[newbury]

A CUT rents for about $200/day around me. <snip>

I was figuring I'd be using one for about 80 hours a year or so, but with my job/travel schedule I can't plan on getting to use one for more than 1 weekend a month. However I do need the training, my back is not getting any stronger, and I've got those ditches to dig and stumps to pull.
It's good to see the value of the CUT's maintain themselves, or even rise.
I put off buying an L39 from Brady for 19.2, and the price went up to $21.5, but it's bigger than I need.

 

[Zephrant]

Don't underestimate "convenience". I live in the country at the end of a 1/4 mile drive. I have to be able to clear it when needed, and can't always wait for a hired plow to get up here. (That worked for a few years...) The good people have bigger jobs to do then drive out here and do a driveway...

I bought my tractor because my Jeep/blade was getting tore up. Safety and time was a big consideration too. I figured I'd wreck the Jeep some day by rolling it off the hill trying to push back berms, so needed something safer. A walk behind would be too much for me. I almost got a small 300/500 series with a blower, but the lure of a loader and a PTO was too much.

So instead of updating my 22 year old car (which was next on my major purchase list), I got a used tractor, and I'm having more fun with it than a newer car would have been.

But as mentioned above, if I should become unemployed it's the first toy to go.

 

[Soundguy]

I agree. there's alot to be said about convienience.

Personally I'm working on not having to change rear impleements on a tractor too much.. ( just takes a few extra tractors to accomplish this! )

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

As a "for instance", I use my trusty old MF150 to take care of my 45 acres. I cut hay off more than 20 acres, bush hog, work 2 big gardens, push snow, mow grass around the house, ect, and just BARELY accounted for 70 hours of use last year.
[/ quote]
That's a lot of work for 70 Hours.

Advantages of not using a toy tractor. You can actually get a fair amount of work done in an hour with a full sized tractor. Combine that with the fact I'm not trying hard to justify spending time on a tractor just for the sake of spending time. I've got enough time in over the years where I'm looking to get done, not spend time playing.