Broken Tractor Equipment

[Qapla]

Anyone ever notice the vast amount of non-working tractors and/or equipment?

What I am referring to are the tractors and attachments that are sitting and rusting away in many fields and/or near barns. Funny thing is, if you ask the owner/farmer if they would like the "junk" removed they all seem to have the same mindset:

"I'm going to scrap that stuff myself one of these days."

However, year after year the "stuff" just sits there and rusts into oblivion.

There are those who could benefit greatly from the income from selling the scrap and are willing and able to remove and transport such things to a scrap-yard. People with small amounts of scrap, like a few bikes or old roof metal, will give that stuff to someone asking, but those with large hunks of rusting metal (like old tractors) will not turn it lose even for a portion of the proceeds.

Your thoughts ...

 

[mitch becton]

i see your from gainseville fl i am from south ga valdosta to be exact i still deal alot with small repair shops in this area. alot of the lost memories are being reclaimed and put back into use. some of them are coming back as show tractors but are farm useable and some are being mechanically fixed and put to use basically because NONE of us are sure what the economy or the government is going to do in the near future but as most of the people on the site can do with a little dirt and a few seeds we can feed ourselves and other if need be. and never ceases to amaze me the ODDBALL parts we get to looking for sometimes for some of these old farm tractors and all can be found either new or used and the old saying beggars cant be choosey really fits here. getting back to your original thought had a customer just outside of ft payne al had about 30 acres tractor junk yard he was already talking of retiring a few years ago a scrap company come by and and offered him some where about $500,000.00 yes for all he is now retired and probably fishing alot so some do part

 

[D7E]

Tends to be an older generation that remembers buying it new . We have 10 to 15 odd dead pieces at the back of the yard but only items that we run several of so certain parts could be worth 5 times more than we would get scrap for the whole machine. Cultivators are our speciality can buy one for 500$ yet a whole new single shank assembly last year cost me $470.
When ever it dgoes over $180 a ton i always find a few loads to haul in .

 

[DJ54]

I had a buddy that had more than several pieces setting around. Someone asked him one time, why he didn't scrap it. He said he didin't keep it around for what it will do, but rather for what it HAD done. That was his answer for those he thought the matter was none of their business, why it was setting there.

In reality, it was his "ace in the hole" if things got a little thin, and basically instant cash if needed.

Guess I have a bit of a tendency to do that myself, but rather wait until there is enough to make it worthwhile hauling in. Used to be, a load of scrap would buy a couple loads of limestone at the quarry, which was on the way back from the scrap yard. Kind of an even trade now...

 

[crazyal]

I know of 3 dozers all of different sizes that are just sitting in a field or woods. I think they broke and the owner just never got around to repairing them. But I suppose that's why a lot of farms have old equipment sitting in the weeds. Probably good intentions to get it running again only to never find the time or the need. I'm also sure that some feel the same as they would with an old dog. How do you crush something that has worked it's heart to death for the farm?

 

[flusher]

I know of 3 dozers all of different sizes that are just sitting in a field or woods. I think they broke and the owner just never got around to repairing them. But I suppose that's why a lot of farms have old equipment sitting in the weeds. Probably good intentions to get it running again only to never find the time or the need. I'm also sure that some feel the same as they would with an old dog. How do you crush something that has worked it's heart to death for the farm?

Yep, there's a lot of that.
And there are some guys out there who are collectors (actually hoarders) of junk ag equipment. We have one of those here south of town. He has at least two acres of stuff, all in various stages of rust and decay. But he won't part with any of it no matter what price is offered. I know--I've tried to get him to sell me several pieces of old equipment (plows, disc) to restore. No luck in getting him to budge.

 

[dfkrug]

Yep, there's a lot of that.
And there are some guys out there who are collectors (actually hoarders) of junk ag equipment. We have one of those here south of town. He has at least two acres of stuff, all in various stages of rust and decay. But he won't part with any of it no matter what price is offered. I know--I've tried to get him to sell me several pieces of old equipment (plows, disc) to restore. No luck in getting him to budge.

Sadly, there are many hoarders out there. "Collector's disease" is
manifested by folks with preferences for trinkets or tractors. All too
often in rural areas, everyone gets to see these collections.

In driving across America, what pains me is seeing valuable excavators
rotting in fields. Lots of folks would pay good money to repair and use
these machines, let alone scrap them for $200/ton.

A friend just took an old 1931 cat 28 dozer to SIMs for $900.