Do sellers/dealers actually expect people to believe that a 10+ year old tractor only has 300-600 hours, or that a 40+ year old tractor only has 800-1000 hours? I'm sure it's within the realm of possibility, although I believe it would very unlikely, depending on the circumstances.
Hour Meter
- Thread starter MasseyWV
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Opti-Mist
Platinum Member
A lot of units only see light usage. My 14 year old tractor only has 800 hours on it. Its only used for mowing except for a few years of winter snowplowing. O.K., it also gets some backhoe hours and some other dirt moving.
JimRB
Veteran Member
My tractor has 484 hours on it and it has been in service 14.5 years. I could walk a 1/4 mile and touch another tractor that I bet has less hours per year than mine. I use it when I need to. Sometimes I make work but for folks like me that have mini ranches (9.3 acres), there isn't a need for me to run more than I do. Now if I never mowed down the road or graded the gravel road then I would have even less hours. 2 hours today moving the manure pile. I do that 3-4 times a year and some mowing. Not hard to rack up 34 hours a year.
dex3361
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Bought a 1964 era IH424 tractor and it had 1800 hours on it. It looked it too. You can get pretty at spotting the real deal if you know what to look for. That works out to be less than 50 hours a year so it wasn't used much. If it had had power steering and had been a diesel I would have kept it. But I traded it in on my Kubota. I use my Kubota a lot more than the IH because it has 4WD and a FEL and I put less than 100 hours a year on it.:thumbsup:
newbury
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And what is an "hour"? My B7610 can run below PTO (2,000rpm?) speed and not rack up the hours as an hour passes. And even using my backhoe I rarely run it full out.
DKCDKC
Platinum Member
I bought a John Deere 2030 in 2001 with 2,600 hours on it... And it was made in 1974. It had been used for moving chicken litter and kept inside. It had beautiful new-looking paint and very little wear on much of anything. Indeed, my tractor farming neighbors said it had been barely broken in. I traded it in, for almost what I paid for it, two weeks ago on a CUT. I'm approaching 70 and it was just too hard to get on it - and my wife could not drive it at all. But it was a good tractor in great shape.
some zilch
Gold Member
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a mechanical hour meter is not going to count idle hours at the same "rate" it counts rated operating speed hours. it only counts an hour correctly at rated operating speed. my tractor only shows 150ish hours, but in reality it probably has 500+
Guess I could believe it.
I own some land and need a tractor to maintain it but still use it just about 20 hours per year. If I bought a brand new tractor after 10 years it would only have 200 hours on it. I am not the only one in this position, you need a tractor but it sees limited use.
I recently bought a 1999 that had 134 hours on it. It came from someone who was in a postion like mine except that he sold his land before he sold the tractor so then he put even less hours on it. You can tell by looking that the hour meter is pretty close when the tractor looks like new.
I own some land and need a tractor to maintain it but still use it just about 20 hours per year. If I bought a brand new tractor after 10 years it would only have 200 hours on it. I am not the only one in this position, you need a tractor but it sees limited use.
I recently bought a 1999 that had 134 hours on it. It came from someone who was in a postion like mine except that he sold his land before he sold the tractor so then he put even less hours on it. You can tell by looking that the hour meter is pretty close when the tractor looks like new.
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
While not "common", it's not out of the realm of possibility.....I have a 1987 Deere 2755 sitting in my shop right now that I bought to re-sell. I've decided to keep it for a while, putting it on the mowing crew this year. It has 1140 documented hours (Came from a bourbon distillery, used to move snow and some limited mowing work. Came with a VERY detailed maintenance and use log book.) Owners decided to replace it with a cab tractor after 25 years.
Look at pedals (ie brake, clutch, ect) They'll almost always show wear after a lot of hours. If low hours showing and a lot of wear on pedals, expect the hours to be inaccurate. No wear showing, low hours just may be the real deal!
I agree that it's entirely possible for an older tractor to have very low hours. It's just that I've developed a habit of looking at used tractor ad's and couldn't help but notice that a lot of them (almost too many) seemed to have very low hours for their age.
Being one who is somewhat skeptical of anything which is offered for sale, I seldom trust anything a seller/dealer has to say, unless they have proof. Knowing that an hour meter is a relatively simple mechanical device, I generally don't consider it trustworthy because of the possibility for it to be tampered with, disconnected, or replaced.
Knowing what to look for is very helpful. I never thought to look at the pedals, which is a great idea because they aren't likely to be replaced like other components such as leaking seals. Even if the pedals were painted, excessive wear would probably still be evident. Are there other tell-tale signs to look for?
jonnyc1999
Silver Member
My 2008 bobcat is just reaching its 50hr. servicing this week. The math would indicate that it has been used an average of 12.5 hrs. over the course of its life. Of course, I bought it "new" from the dealer with 24 hours on it in 2011. I would think that the majority of homowner used tractors would have fairly low hours.
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
Look for unusual wear @ the hitch pin hole in the drawbar, lower link balls on 3-point, knobs on levers, steering wheel. Also, seat cushion. It's hard to wear out a drawbar in just a few hours.....I've seen some with elongated holes, indicating a LOT of use.
DK35vince
Super Member
My 33 year old JD 850 only has 1830 hours.
An average of around 55 hours/year.
An average of around 55 hours/year.
bigbull338
Elite Member
im going to say this an i dont mean it to offend any1 here at tractorbynet.most of the people here has the lil tractors to maintain 2 or 3acs.an they dont put meny if any hours on their tractors.we put about 100hrs a year on my tractor.alot of farmers put 300 to 500hrs on their tractors.
TigerfaninAR
Gold Member
Wow, can't believe the few hours others use their tractors. Guess mine would be what others are saying if didn't use to mow with. Had mine for 10 months and sitting at 130 hours. Thought about a dedicated mower but really didn't want to maintain two.
LastSTRAW
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I was also amazed at how low the hours were on the tractors I bought from my uncle. He had a 1986 with 985 hours and a 1985 with 1200 hours. These were used a lot on the dairy farm but it still takes a while to rack up the hours. I am told that Ford only counts hours at the equivalent of 2,000 RPM so the amount of hours may be considerably more than the gage shows without any dishonesty intendended.
Soundguy
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that's when you look at the rest of the machine.
I have bought 50-60 yer old machines showing 5xx hours on a functioning oem proofmeter.. clutch and brake pedals still had crisp 'new' tread on them.. same with deck paltes, andall wear parts that you normally touch.
that one I 'believe' was low hour.
if you see one with 3xx hours on it.. meter is clean, and brake and clutch pedals are worn smooth like knife blades.. well..
Eagle09
Member
My Kubota is a 1999 model and as of today it has 331 hours on it. It has never sat out in the weather either so it looks very "new like."
Good quality tractors with low hours are out there, but as others have said look at all of the signs and not just the hour meter.
Good quality tractors with low hours are out there, but as others have said look at all of the signs and not just the hour meter.
The kid
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Many older tractors I've found the clock, counter or "proof meter" had failed and was disconnected like mine. The "proof meter" acted as a guestimate amount of time on the tractor be it motor or actual use.
I'm trying to roundup parts to get my tach/proof meter working again not to monitor but because it's there and it should work. Modern equipment use hall effect input or magetic pulse into a tiny counter. Then some are mearly digital clocks that run when the engine does. They are normally accurate and maintenance free.
In the case of a fourty year old tractor, I don't put much stock in a counter, but more emphasis on it's condition. Your 66 Massey had/has a tach/proof meter that ran off the delco generator rear end. They where common to fail, because the owner didn't grease the cable as often as they should, so it was easy to disconnect. So a dealer making something of a big deal about low hours to me is something that can't be proven. At any rate, the eye doesn't lie on the condition.
whodat526
Veteran Member
i bought and sold a 2155 jd last year that had 671 hours on the orginal working tack i is more common than you would believe i just bought a 3000 ford from the orginal owner that only had 1500 hours on it
