Tractor your best money ever spent?

[dragoneggs]

I'm a homeowner subcompact tractor owner on less than two acres. I have about 400hrs and if you conservatively figure $75/hr. I have already paid for my tractor 1.5 times over.

Best money ever spent? It ranks right up there. I know I have a still have a lifetime of use for my BX and strike me dead, if she needed to sell... the money is all gravy.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I had a chance to buy 160 acres for $50,000 with a house, saw mill and barn 6 years ago, so I bought it, and in terms of investment it was pretty good.

I have several houses, but the one I live in now started out as a 2 car garage at 18 years old. Now it is almost 3000 sq ft and has always been fully paid for. It has a value of over $200,000, but I am not sure what I have spent on it over the years to get it to that value making it hard to calculate its return on investment. A person would have to calculate in building material, but subtract tax-write offs and money saved in rent too, so it is hard to calculate, so I put it at #2.

A tractor is right up there. Typically they are worth what they were paid for at retirement if you keep them over the whole life of the tractor. So my Kubota now is worth what I paid for it in 1999. Then calculating all 3000 hours of work it has done, and it becomes a great investment.

As for the wife, I have done the return on investment on her, and her cost per "fun" is slightly more than a one-night-bar-find, but less then an escort. Of course, quality was not factored in.

 

[fried1765]

Most homeowner tractor owners don稚 use them for a lot of hours but how much would it cost to get the job done without it?

Exactly correct!

I bought my 1970 Ford 3400 TLB in 1986 for $10,000.
I owned it for 33 years, and only put 500 hours on it.
That 500 hours equated to my two septic systems, my large circular shell driveway, my refurbished very large yard, one of my barns constructed, as well as many stumps removed, and numerous additional tasks.
I estimate that I did a minimum of $20,000+ of my own work.

As some here know: I sold the Ford 33 years later for $9,000.
Even considering the 33 years time value of the original $10,000, I certainly feel that I got good value.
Plus......I had the convenience of having the machine constantly at my disposal, and the enjoyment of owning it.

250 hour Kubota L48 TLB is mine now!
Cost 32K, (used) and I certainly will not live long enough to put 500 more hours on it.
Such a shame that we often cannot afford the NICE toys when we are young!

 

[PILOON]

I live rural.
My CUT set me back in the $2500 range some 20 years ago.
While I haven't put more than 1000 hrs on it , it owes me nothing.
As a renovation/contractor guy I used it occasionally on job sites earning some $$'s. possibly enough to actually recuperate the investment, but not counting.
The real benefit was my own usage.
Landscaping, backfilling, cleanups etc., with my own snow removal being the big winner.
20 yrs back a snow contract was in the $500, range and today's price range is $1000+.

For sure I believe my CUT owes me nothing, in fact I could probably sell it for more than I initially paid for it.
Can't complain at all.
Convenience, however outweighs savings IMHO.
Not counted was the challenge and satisfaction of DIYing many mods that worked out as I hoped, like my heated cab, snow plow, log splitter, back up camera etc.
Did I say I like tinkering and fabricating?

 

[cdaigle430]

I would say no because buying my tractor was a must. Why, because I bought an old run down small ranch that should have been condemned-it has turned into a money pit. The tractor helped some....but I would not have needed the tractor if I could have afforded a proper home.

I will never get back what I am putting into the house (built in 1968 and owned by two stupid familes before me). I bought it in 2004 during the housing bubble...got scared because houses kept going up and up. Paid 40,000 more than it was worth....will never be worth much because its small. Infrastructure is almost done....one thing left is the basement. New windows, vinyl siding just completed, new furnace. Added some perks like a 16kw generac, 7kw solar panel system and a 13,000 dollar hot tub.

Positive note is it did help me to stop spending on geek crap like software, games and computers which become worthless in a year. Instead Ive been buying tools....

 

[Thomas]

Older I get dang I like my tractor. :thumbsup:

 

[RalphVa]

Wife says it was the gate on the driveway. No one can just drive in a find me naked working away.

Tractor is a good one, too, the 4wd ones anyway. Gravely not so great.

Did all our travelling while I worked for a large oil company. Have no desire to do so any more and difficult with me low sodium and her non gluten. Can't really eat out.

Ralph

 

[ctgoldwing]

Interesting fun thread to read. I too am a homeowner owner. We have 6 acres here, almost all wooded and a 500' gravel driveway.
In the 32 years we have been here I have had 3 Kubota. The 1st in 1990 I believe was only 17hp with a loader and backhoe. After I sold it I ended up buying an L3400 with BH and 2 years ago sold that and now just picked up an L3800.
From a strictly investment standpoint they are all going to be a break even or slightly positive.
How much I enjoy working on them, with them and the things I accomplish - priceless

 

[Carl_NH]

For material things, worst value per hour was a boat, best are the cordless tools for efficiency vs a wrench or screwdriver, then the Kubota BH for saving time, back and body over the years.

It's the little things - like the log across the driveway after a storm, the bush/tree to be replanted, or the rock that needs to be moved, or wood cut and split and at one time these were all manual labor and with the tractor and BH it has saved countless hours and wear and tear on the body.

 

[dragoneggs]

For material things, worst value per hour was a boat, best are the cordless tools for efficiency vs a wrench or screwdriver, then the Kubota BH for saving time, back and body over the years.

Hard to argue that... other worst values that quickly come to mind:

1. Tuxedo rental
2. Pretty much any purchased. extended warranties
3. Exterior perimeter pest exterminator services