Used tractor buying?

[DrewL]

Many are lightweights but not all. You are right though, weight does need to be considered and matched to the tasks when buying

 

[Farmwithjunk]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( keep in mind that the 51 yr old 32hp tractor mentioned early has little in common with a modern 32hp compact. Old tractors had big bore gas engines, with lots of torque; and the tractor had a lot of weight to get work done. Many of these new compacts are very light, and the hp is achieved at high rpm which doesnt deliver the torque. My 9n and a Massey diesel compact had the same hp on paper, but the 9n had twice the displacement and could pull way more in terms of plowing soil. )</font>

Exactly my point. To me, "new" represents anything less than 20 years old. The 50 year old tractor that are around now will STILL be plugging away 25 years on down the road. TODAYS new generation of tractors will be lucky to see another 10 years IMHO.

Also, those tractors of yesteryear were models that stayed in production for 10-15-even 20 years. Todays crop will change designs every few months. What about parts availability in 20 years. With little commonality in parts, who's to say they won't be deadlined over a $.20 gasket that isn't available anymore.

 

[DrewL]

TODAYS new generation of tractors will be lucky to see another 10 years IMHO.



I wouldn't go that far but do use the attributes of an older tractor when looking for your machine