Ingo
Member
Been trying in my mind to justify buying a tractor and thought I'd share my cost/benefit analysis with y'all...
$17,000 for a B2910 w/ loader, ballast, tooth blade, etc.; rotary cutter $600; offset tilting blade $750; road boss grader $1800; trailer $3000 (what good's a tractor if I can't help my friends?); larger truck to pull it $10,000 (trading in my 4 cyl. Toyota); build a barn to store it in $5000; now I need a post-hole digger to set the posts $1000 (I'll try to do it w/o a backhoe); tools to maintain it $1500 (compressor, impact wrench - don't want those wheels or blades to fall off, larger sockets, wrenches, grease guns, etc.).
1st yr cost $40,650 + 6% tax = $43,089.
Some rough guesses on what the costs over 20 yrs might be....
Tractor maintenance $200/yr = $4000; lost retirement investment $172,356(assuming 7% interest); a couple of replacement windshields as my neighbors go whizzing by while kicking up gravel $1000; increased property tax, on the barn AND the tractor AND the trailor AND the truck in NC $250/yr = $5000.
20 yr. cost = $182,356 (w/o assuming inflation).
And then the savings/benefits....
$100/yr = $2000 on road maintenance (which I share with neighbors anyway - not that we've done anything in 3 yrs); $200/yr = $4000 on tires and alignments (fewer potholes and washboards); $100/yr = $2000 in 'gratuities' for helping friends; $2500 savings not replacing my 9hp Honda (though it's 15yrs old and going strong); $8,592.80/yr for the satisfaction of owning a tractor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.
20 yr. savings/benefits = $182,356. Plus I'll something to do in retirement. Works for me (so long as my wife never sees this post).
$17,000 for a B2910 w/ loader, ballast, tooth blade, etc.; rotary cutter $600; offset tilting blade $750; road boss grader $1800; trailer $3000 (what good's a tractor if I can't help my friends?); larger truck to pull it $10,000 (trading in my 4 cyl. Toyota); build a barn to store it in $5000; now I need a post-hole digger to set the posts $1000 (I'll try to do it w/o a backhoe); tools to maintain it $1500 (compressor, impact wrench - don't want those wheels or blades to fall off, larger sockets, wrenches, grease guns, etc.).
1st yr cost $40,650 + 6% tax = $43,089.
Some rough guesses on what the costs over 20 yrs might be....
Tractor maintenance $200/yr = $4000; lost retirement investment $172,356(assuming 7% interest); a couple of replacement windshields as my neighbors go whizzing by while kicking up gravel $1000; increased property tax, on the barn AND the tractor AND the trailor AND the truck in NC $250/yr = $5000.
20 yr. cost = $182,356 (w/o assuming inflation).
And then the savings/benefits....
$100/yr = $2000 on road maintenance (which I share with neighbors anyway - not that we've done anything in 3 yrs); $200/yr = $4000 on tires and alignments (fewer potholes and washboards); $100/yr = $2000 in 'gratuities' for helping friends; $2500 savings not replacing my 9hp Honda (though it's 15yrs old and going strong); $8,592.80/yr for the satisfaction of owning a tractor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.
20 yr. savings/benefits = $182,356. Plus I'll something to do in retirement. Works for me (so long as my wife never sees this post).