Are tractors and equipment a good investment right now?

[Paystar]

Missed the boat to buy them as investments. They are already way overpriced. Only good thing is, they will still hold the value you paid because they are only going to keep going up now. The pandemic opened the flood gates and we'll never return, because no matter the cost, people seem to still enjoy buying everything.
And the manufacturers are going CHA-CHING SUCKERS!

 

[jyoutz]

Missed the boat to buy them as investments. They are already way overpriced. Only good thing is, they will still hold the value you paid because they are only going to keep going up now. The pandemic opened the flood gates and we'll never return, because no matter the cost, people seem to still enjoy buying everything.
And the manufacturers are going CHA-CHING SUCKERS!

I’ve heard people say that the pandemic made many people think that life is short and fragile, and now they want to eat dessert first.

 

[ultrarunner]

I’ve heard people say that the pandemic made many people think that life is short and fragile, and now they want to eat dessert first.

Lots of reasons... pent up demand... today's price may seem to be a bargain looking back... might not want the new and improved... dollar confidence low... living in a time of uncertainty.

Those that experienced the Great Depression never forgot shaping their thinking to the end... just as those serving in combat...

 

[jyoutz]

Lots of reasons... pent up demand... today's price may seem to be a bargain looking back... might not want the new and improved... dollar confidence low... living in a time of uncertainty.

Those that experienced the Great Depression never forgot shaping their thinking to the end... just as those serving in combat...

The pandemic period may be this current generation’s Great Depression.

 

[ultrarunner]

Lots of injustices pandemic related that soured me on many things.

Being a residential property manager and working in a hospital put me at ground zero... no options to get paid for staying home.

The residential part still has lasting effects into 2024.

Imagine tenants under no penalty for non payment of rent and still not obligated to settle back pandemic rent?

But... the property owner must continue to maintain with no relief.

A renter's teenaged boys busted a toilet... there was not a plumber to be hired for love or money yet the city via virtual sent the owner 48 hour notice to repair under penalty... just one of dozens of examples like being ankle deep in sewage because tenant flushed tampons and ALL the rooter companies closed even being they did not have to as plumbers deemed essential.

3 years and counting of the greatest fraud on mom and pop housing providers.... add that to emergency legislation of max 1/2 of CPI for rent increase yet the cost of real estate and building sky rocket.

 

[Hay Dude]

Well I think they are good investments….well kinda.
Paid $41,000 for my old Magnum 270 in 2021. Might be selling it next week for $45,000.
Problem is, what I want to buy to replace it is $60K +

But I still will be selling for more than I paid, and get 3 years of use out of it “free”.

I think tractors are good investments.

 

[Paystar]

I’ve heard people say that the pandemic made many people think that life is short and fragile, and now they want to eat dessert first.

Good analogy. You could be right there.

 

[mikester]

Tractors and equipment are only “investments” when they are used in a business to produce income. Otherwise they are expensive consumer goods that many of us are willing to pay for. And their depreciation is less than many other depreciating assets, so the ownership costs are reasonable over time.

Don't confuse "investments" with "consumables". Three-ply toilet paper is still toilet paper.

Curb-siding is speculation and not much better than going to the casino to make money.

 

[WinterDeere]

Missed the boat to buy them as investments. They are already way overpriced.

Whenever I hear this, not just WRT tractors, but all things... I think that people forget how little money they were making, and how little free cash they had to spare on such things, in reminiscing about their past.

 

[WinterDeere]

Well I think they are good investments….well kinda.
Paid $41,000 for my old Magnum 270 in 2021. Might be selling it next week for $45,000.
Problem is, what I want to buy to replace it is $60K +

But I still will be selling for more than I paid, and get 3 years of use out of it “free”.

I think tractors are good investments.

You're in good shape either way, if you used that machine to generate profit for your business. But if not, then you have to consider that $45k today is actually worth less than $41k in 2021 dollars, due to massive inflation the last two years. Indexes vary, but the average indicates that $41,000 in 2021 would be $46,100 today.

The average return on a CD over this time period is just shy of 17%, so if you had just put that $41k into CDs, you'd have $48k today. Of course, you wouldn't have had that nice tractor to use 3 years in-between.

jyoutz already nailed it, that they're depreciating assets, even if that depreciation comes from inflation alone. If you're generating profit from it, then it's still a good investment, like any piece of capital equipment. For the rest of us, at least they're depreciating far slower than almost anything else we buy.