Tractor Life Expectancy?

[mathey]

I was watching RFD-TV's show "Living the Country Life" last night...it was the episode that had a segment about buying a used tractor...when the segment came on (sponsored by JD, and not sure if the guy was JD or just had the shirt)... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

It was interesting till he said "keep in mind, the average life expectancy of a tractor is 1200 engine hours" Are engine hours anything like dog years to a human? As in the hour meter on the dash has some magical ratio to convert to human hours? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

WTH? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Is this consider to be true? I certainly hope my tractor is not 1/3 of its way through life at 400 hours. I seem to recall some one saying an older used tractor that only had 1200 hours was considered pretty low.

I say most of this with tongue firmly in cheek...It was just one of the strangest things I've heard

 

[kossetx]

If that's the case, my tractor died a year ago and I missed it. I've only had ane small tractor, so I'm not an expert. I had a tractor mechanic tell me one time 4-5000 hrs is when they start to have problems.

 

[JerryG]

The TV guy is on some really heavy medications. If they just last 1200 hours there is something bad wrong with the engine.

 

[QRTRHRS]

1200 hours? I have around that on my little Massey and it burns no oil and does not knock. I am surprised I have not broken it in half with the work it has done.

I don't think these compact diesels will go the 6000-7000 hours or so that the big ones do with proper maintenance. But, change the oil and keep the radiator free of debris and they should go 3000 anyway.

I can tell you that my big Case is a whole lot easier to maintain then my little Massey. I can get by with cleaning the Case radiator once a year but need to do the Massey (1260) sometimes a couple of times a day due to plugging up with "duff".

 

[IslandTractor]

My Sears riding lawnmower might die at or before 1200hrs but a modern diesel engine, properly cared for, will go 5000 hours between major overhauls. A 1200hr life span estimate on a tractor is just evidence of the commentators ignorance. To be kind, what he might have been saying is that tractors get traded in regularly after 1200hrs. I don't know if that is true but it is at least plausible. Those 1200hr tractors are turned around and sold again without any problem.

 

[cp1969]

As long as parts are available, I would guess the life expectancy to be indefinite.

Twelve THOUSAND hours isn't even a whole lot....there are airplanes with 100,000 hours on them and I would consider a tractor to be more solidly built than an airplane.

I still see a lot of two-cylinder John Deere tractors in daily service, same with H Farmalls and 9N Fords.

 

[Spiffy]

Was he talking about full sized tractors (AG, UT), CUT/SCUTs, or lawn tractors?

For the former [assuming "low" RPM diesels] I'd say he was off by a factor of 5 or 10 and nothing unusual about an overhaul kit at say 5K, then good for years again.

Higher RPM diesels, I don't know as much about, but I'd hate to see less than 2 or 3K out of a CUT.

Lawn tractors on the other hand: high RPMs, gasoline, air cooled, often cheap built, often poor maintenance = bad combination! I had a dealer tell me that 1200 was the life they expected even from their mid-range garden tractor engines and over 1500 was doing really good! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[hudr]

I can't see that in even a poorly maintained tractor. We have a 2cyl JD 720 built in '57. When you start it after a heavy rain it only runs on one cylinder until it pumps all the water out of the other one. It has been doing that for years and has yet to use any oil. And this tractor gets used almost daily moving hay, pulling a box blade, a 6' offset disc, etc. No idea how many hours are on it. most we have done to it is change the points and plugs (its LPgas) and adjust the clutch pack.

 

[deere755]

I am happy to buy one with 1200 hours. We had a 4430 that had 7000 hours on it and had never been touched when we got rid of it. If you take care of them you can run them for a long time.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Was he talking about full sized tractors (AG, UT), CUT/SCUTs, or lawn tractors?)</font>

Either he was talking about lawn tractors or he meant to say 12,000 hours.

Actually, the average is 10,461 hours and 15 minutes.

Cliff

47.639 percent of all statistics on the internet are made up.

 

[Logan]

I saw the segment on RFD last night too. I laughed when he said that, figured he just wanted to sell a new tractor. He basically said to buy used if you didn't have to depend on the tractor.

 

[Farwell]

Cliff,
Did you make that up?
Tee! Hee!
Farwell

 

[HGM]

Guys,

I might be interested in taking one of your worn out tractors off your hands.. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Better to sell it before it lets go, if its still running at 1200hrs /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Back in the "Glory Days" of farming, (1950's, 1960's, 1970's) it was considered "normal" use on a tractor to accumulate around 400 hours per year. The average farmer back then would up-size and buy a new tractor on the average of every 7 or 8 years. That alone wound mean about 3000 hours (+ or -) And the "replaced tractor" would usually go on to be the barnyard tractor for another 15 or 20 years. There's a few tractors in my family that have been used since the early 1950's that have over 15,000 hours AND ARE STILL GOING STRONG.

I'd venture a guess that the 1200 hour figure was based on average hours for smaller "lawn mower" type "tractors". (I hesitate to use the term tractor with regards to lawn mowers)

Currently, I own 3 full-sized tractors. Two, I bought new. One was bought when it was just a few years old. They're 32, 31, and 27 years old. The 32 year old is in fairly good condition, with almost 9000 hours. The 31 year old is ready to be put out to pasture, but with an engine overhaul, would plug on for another few years. It has almost 12,000 hours. The "new" tractor, the 27 year old, has right at 2200 hours, and is like new.

I'm sure Deere, CNH, Kubota, ect... would like nothing better than to see everyone trade in their "worn out tractors" with 1200 hours. To me, that's just about broke in. (and a few thousand hours from the end of their life cycle)

 

[daTeacha]

I think the guy was a JD salesman and he was trying to get people to come trade in their machinery while it was still running. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

If you figure the typical tractor engine is run at fairly high rpm while it's working, you could equate it roughly to a car engine running at freeway speeds. Thinking like that, each hour is about the same as 50 to 75 miles on a car or truck. Semi's last well over 500,000 miles, and 200,000 on a gas engine car or truck is not uncommon -- I do it all the time.

I had the gas engine in a 1972 Cadet finally die 2 years ago after being overhauled once. That tractor mowed lawn, pushed snow, mowed fence lines, and made trails in the woods for me. It also hauled brush and a trailer full of rocks that weighed more that it did while I was building a stone wall about 75 feet long and 6 feet high. (Boy, an FEL sure would have been nice for that job!) I'd estimate I put over 250 hours a year on it, but have no real way of knowing. I put a new 12 hp engine in it to replace the frozen up 10 hp and still use it.

The new lawn "tractors" that are built to a price point will not last that long. The Cadet guy at my tractor dealership figures the typical $1000 mower/tractor with a name brand is good for about 4 or 5 years before it needs repairs that are sufficiently costly to make the owner opt for a new machine instead. The work on my old Cadet, which involved a new driveshaft and some other stuff, came to about $1800, which at first seems nuts. On the other hand, it'll probably last another 30 years being used the way I've used it. I don't think a $1000 mower would last 1 year under those conditions, if it could even do some of the work.

I don't know how many hours are on my little 16hp Kubota. The hour meter was disconnected at 1500 when I bought it. It was made in the late '70s, was used for barn cleaning and other less than glorious tasks. I've had it for about 4 years now and work it pretty hard. It starts in single digit weather with no major difficulty, bush hogs, plows snow, cleans the barn, hauls manure, hauls firewood, hauls logs, hauled a trailerload of lumber that my Dakota couldn't bring up the hill, moves dirt, rips out multiflora, and generally does everything I ask of it. All I do is fuel it and change the oil and filters a couple of times a year. Oh yeah, it gets a bath about once a year whether it needs it or not.

 

[HGM]

daTeacha,

I think you made a very good point there....

Any internal combustion engine, will last longer if it is used as intended. Meaning, when the engine is used at operating temperatures most of its lifetime you will also increase the life expectancy assuming regular maintenance is followed.

Most will agree(I think) that a low mileage(hr) engine in an old vehicle will likely have more issues because of the time it has set. Also, the grocery getter that may be run for 10-15min each way to the store once a week would have much more wear created because of inconsistant heat cycles and excessive moisture deposits in the oil.

In short, an engine that is run at reasonably higher RPM, after proper warm up,will be cleaner and have better wear characteristics than one that is left to idle and have a short run time. Therefore producing longer lifespan.

Hope this made sense the way I meant it to.

 

[tpost]

<font color="blue"> the average life expectancy of a tractor is 1200 engine hours </font>

I bought my JD 4400 new in 2000 and I am the sole operator of it and I have 1500 hours on the clock,it runs fine although I have worn the linkage out on the hydro,and 2 years ago I actually wore out the place on the axle housing where the lower lift arms are attached from using the back blade so much and had to replace the housings ( JD made a better housing on the replacement) I hope to be able to keep using the tractor for another 10 years.

 

[slowrev]

There is mor to a tractor than just the engine, what about the life of a hydro tranny ?
Ben

 

[Ray2210]

My 2210 has a 3 year 3000 hour power train warranty from JD. I don't imagine many get that kind of hours on in 3 years but if it's warranteed for 3000 I'm guessing they are confidant that it'll run that long. For me that'll be about 30 years.

 

[Jay4200]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( It was interesting till he said "keep in mind, the average life expectancy of a tractor is 1200 engine hours")</font>

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that was either a typo/misspoken error on the commentators part (likely), or a misheard word on yours (no offense intended). I'd expect that twelve THOUSAND hours was the intended time period.

At least I hope so, otherwize I just tossed a big pile of money into a machine that's about to die...for the second time /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif.

Jay