tractor life span?

Anonymous Poster · Mar 5, 2002

I am wondering what the realistic life span of a compact tractor is.

I had a Ford 1520 with 1,325 hours of pretty hard use, before the rear end went and required about $2,000.00 in repair. I always kept up on the maintenance and changed oil religiously at every 50 hours.

Since moving and acquiring more property, ( I mow about 8 acres, and have another 10 acres in woods.) I was considering on moving up and as fate would have it, my 1520 broke down during peak season. This and some other factors, forced me to make some uninformed decisions that normally I would have researched.

I purchased a new NH TC35D with 16LA FEL and HD bucket for $19,500.00. They also gave me @$7,200 minus the $2,000.00 repair cost for my 1520.

Although it is after the fact, I was just wondering how I did overall. I was also wondering if the failure at 1325 hours was typical or not. Since that was my first tractor, I don’t have any background to draw from, but from reading a lot of these discussions, I know a lot of you do!! Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks

s1120 · Mar 5, 2002

1325 seems short. One of my Ingersoll garden tractors has 1600. Could have been just one of those things.

Thomas · Mar 5, 2002

I think you kinda answer your own question.."pretty hard use".

I agree..tractor shouldn't be baby to the point of being scare of a scratch,but one should ask the tractor to go be on its limits time after time.
I kinda look at this way...treat your tractor right and it will treat you right.

Sounds like you did okay towards your new NH.

ecard · Mar 5, 2002

This raises a good question. I go to auctions all the time and I see big ag tractors with 4000+ hours. Does anyone have an idea what the average number of hours that a tractor will last before overhaul?

I could guess that a newer high hour tractor would be synonymous as a truck with a lot of highway miles.

When I see anything at 1000+ hours I wonder how long it will last - kind of like the 100,000 mile barrier on a vehicle.

Eric

rancar · Mar 5, 2002

Eric --

Farmers I speak to in my area say a good tractor with care and maintenance should give you 4,000-5,000 hours before overhaul. Don't know about CUTs, but my guess is life span should be a bit longer than 1,300 hours.

Youare · Mar 6, 2002

I hope to get several thousand hours out of my tractor before it needs major work. I heard somewhere that every 100 hours is equal to a number of miles you would put on a car or truck, but I don't remember what that figure is.

I would rather take an hour longer to accomplish a task with my tractor than to ask it to perform beyond it's capacity. The same is true for my body these days, I used to see how much I could get done in the shortest time. Now I have some body damage associated with that abuse.

Use it but don't abuse it./w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Randy

Mrwurm · Mar 6, 2002

My John Deere 650 has 2500 hours on it and it still starts and runs great. Everything works and it still looks pretty good too. I have recently been getting trade-in appraisals on it from several dealers. Two dealers told me that 2500 hours is the turning point when a tractor starts to lose value more rapidly. Ok, it could be 'sales hype', but that's what they told me.

Anonymous Poster · Mar 6, 2002

...Two dealers told me that 2500 hours is the turning point ...

I'd wait til 3000 hours and go back to see if 3000 hours is the turning point for trade-in.../w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

PaulinSD · Mar 6, 2002

I've got 6000+ hours on my '86 JD 1050. I've seen many pieces of heavy equipment with over 10,000 hours before needing an overhaul. There is also a great many Ford N series (2,8 & 9) tractors with countless hours still running. When we traded our 8-N in on a Ford 3000, it had been overhauled just once in its life. It was a 1954 model, and traded in 1992. I'd like to think anything with only a 1000 hours on it is just broke in.

Paul

Charlie_Iliff · Mar 6, 2002

If you put an hour meter on a car, I would bet that few 100,000 mile cars would have less than 3000 hours engine running time on them.
We have a John Deere 2240 with 5000 plus and a 950 with about 4000, with no engine overhauls and varying quality maintenance. I would be disappointed at anything properly maintained that didn't last at least 5000.

john_bud · Mar 6, 2002

Charlie,
If you put an hour meter on a car, I would bet that few 100,000 mile cars would have less than 3000 hours engine running time on them.

You are pretty close; I have just under 30,000 mile on my truck and about 780 hours on the clock. (New Chevy Silverado's have hour meters, just like our tractors /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif). So for me, it looks like 100,000 miles is about 2500 hours. Tractor engines being built much much heavier duty than truck engines should last dern near forever. Probably longer with the care given!

John Bud

Anonymous Poster · Mar 7, 2002

Thanks for all the input. I also thought that I should have seen it last alot longer. I was also told by the dealer that I should expect some other major repairs with-in the next 1,000 hours, that also contributed to the decision to make the move to upgrade. Thanks again for all the info. Jim

Woodbeef · Mar 7, 2002

Man,I sure do not know what your local farmers are running for tractors if they need an overhaul at such low hours,they must be N.A. brands.

If they had tractors from Europe,it would be more like 12500 hrs or more before rebuild. I know of Valmets,Steyrs,and Fendts going over 15000 hours and more before any work being done to them.

rancar · Mar 7, 2002

Woodbeaf,

I think what the problem is the farmers I've spoken to in my area can only afford well used machines. Yep, they think they are taking care of their machines well and maybe they are at the current time but these machines likely have a spotty ownership record and nobody knows for sure how well they were maintained or abused in the past. These machines are Olivers, Masseys, and even JD. But, I can only report what these farmers tell me. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

pennwalk · Mar 8, 2002

I was at the John Deere dealers shop chatting with one of the mechanics. They had a JD 1050 all in pieces being rebuilt. It had almost 11k on the clock. The mechanic said that it shouldn't have been there except the owner let the cooling system malfunction and the engine got too hot. The JD sales guy I know says the Yanmar Diesel engines ought to go at least 5k before overhaul except in the lawn and garden tractors which get around 3k. I wonder why the lawn and garden engines wear out so much sooner?

Chris

s1120 · Mar 8, 2002

I wonder why the lawn and garden engines wear out so much sooner?

Lack of use is the biggest abuse! Sitting is real hard on a motor. Most lawn and garden stuff sits most of the time.

RoyJackson · Mar 8, 2002

I wonder why the lawn and garden engines wear out so much sooner?

Lack of use is the biggest abuse! Sitting is real hard on a motor. Most lawn and garden stuff sits most of the time.

So do most tractors!!

Smaller displacement engines have to rev higher to make power. This does accelerate wear, somewhat. Also, diesel engines are built heavier then an equivalent gasoline engine. Most lawn and garden equipment do use single or two cylinder gasoline engines.
However, the point made about setting is valid, especially if condensation builds up inside the engine (such as short trips, etc.). There was a thread a while back on this...

rancar · Mar 8, 2002

I think I was told by someone the reason is engine blocks are smaller and they run hotter.

EdKing · Mar 8, 2002

As far as running hotter, aren't most garden/lawn tractor engines air cooled rather than water cooled ? I'm sure this is a significant factor as well.

Ed King

rancar · Mar 9, 2002

Depends on how small you go. My JD111 is air cooled. Bought it in 1984, still runs great. However, I try not running it in 95 degree temps. My JD425 is liquid cooled. Bigger engine, bigger block but I still don't like running it in 95 degree temps. Certainly, these small block engines won't give you 5,000 hours like an ag tractor or even large CUT will. But if even a CUT can give me 100 hours per year and assuming a 5,000 hour life span before overhaul, that would give me a useful CUT for 50 years. I should then have no problems with my 4710 until I'm at least 96 years old. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif