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.