I don't understand something.

[DK35vince]

Is that in your manual?

My hour meter is cable operated.
The faster the engine spins the faster it turns the cable.
At idle speed it takes twice as long to = 1 hour on the meter.
My previous tractor (JD 850 worked the same way)

 

[2manyrocks]

OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but that's another thread.


My little squirt is approaching 4 years old (wow, has it really been that long?) and it approaching 500 hours, or around 125 hours a year.. I don't use it very much. It sits for weeks sometime between tasks if I don't have to mow.

But I keep seeing threads and posts about 20, 30, 40 year old tractors with hour readings that work out to 20 hours a year or less. Is it that they have more than one machine and each gets lesser use than if they only had one? How do you spend $20,000 or so on something you use so little?

Tractors used to be less expensive. I bought a small tractor years ago that has beenly used to keep the road graded and do minor cutting of areas that the bigger tractors missed. It doesn't have a lot of hours on it, but it was the right tool for the small jobs that needed to be done here and there.

 

[friendlywithbears]

Well be run around taking care of livestock on the quads, they are the go to transport on the property. I do fair bit of hunting and foraging on my Rancher and use it to tension fencing, haul stuff,etc. It's almost a mile around the pond, so it all adds up. Everyone has their own including our Grandkid, little 50 for now. The ATV are quicker and cheaper to run than the tractors.

I'm jealous, ATV is top on my list of things I don't have but could really use. Would help to not have to squeeze the full size through the woods and loading up the tractor or swapping implements over to "carry" implements is a real chore.

 

[ljjhouser]

I think some of us buy some sort of power machine to solve a problem. (enter the tractor).
I bought my tractor to solve a problem. I have a gravel road (about 800') and maintained it with a shovel. I used a small trailer, filled with 30 5 gal buckets. Shoveled them full, put on trailer, repaired the road filling ruts and washouts.
I had to work on the road anytime there was a downpour 3" or more. The last load of rock I shoveled was 22 tons.

On time it rained hard and washed out. I repaired it - took 2 weeks, everyday. It looked pretty good.

2 days later, it happened again. I told my wife I am too old for that. I was 73. We bought a tractor.

The day they delivered the tractor (wanting the use the tractor) I put on the box blade and started work on the miserable road. I added rock, formed the crown, and it looked GREAT. I sat there near the top of the road, and thought it never looked better, I then looked at the dash of the tractor and realized the hour meter showed only two hours of work - best buy I have made.

Now, 5 years later, the road does NOT wash out and needs finishing maybe one time a month. I no longer need to buy 20 tons of rock each month. 400 hours on the tractor.

But I use it for many things. But I bought it because I could not maintain the road.

I never expected to break even on cost on the maintenance and cost of the tractor. But still, I could not do without it.
Besides, I love that damn tractor!

 

[4570Man]

An hydraulic chainsaw running of the remotes.

Not gonna lie, I've almost done it but end up putting that project on the back burner.

That would only appeal to me if I was working in a bucket truck. And even then not really. Gas saws are better then they used to be and battery saws are way better then they were even a few years ago. Dragging around a hydraulic saw on the ground would really suck.

 

[Thomas]

Not waiting on contractor list or rental equipment also planning on the weather.

 

[ArlyA]

We'd love to have a tractor plus this and that tool and accessoires for it. Nothing like the feeling of getting some job done and you didn't need to return the tool to the rental location or hoping some volunteers might do it (they don't). If we can afford the tools, we get them. If anyone is interested in price points, our 6x6 Outlander with various accessoires needed for winter operations with cost us about 30K. Ya, it is worth every penny to us. (all work, not a play atv)

 

[Gordon Gould]

22 years ago I bought a new tractor, rear blade, and logging winch for $18,000. So that's $2.25 a day. Independent of the hours, it's been worth it just from the enjoyment stand point. And the cost is probably less than most people spend on lunch or coffee in that time.

gg

 

[Williy]

Anyone who owns a tractor should
have a parts list for their tractor so
is someone tells them about a part
they can find it. Also a parts list has
part numbers so if need be you can
order or find the part you need.

willy

 

[hornett22]

For me there is no $$ return on my tractor investments. They currently lose me money, though they give me and my two grandsons a GREAT deal of pleasure.

I have three, including my MILs since she is 77 and will never operate it, it might as well be mine. I have a dedicated ZTR for mowing, I do bushhog with my small tractors sometimes because they are easier to get in tighter spots than the MILs large tractor. I also just enjoy bushhogging in the open air (no cab), even if it takes longer.

I don't put a lot of hours on a tractor and I have bought tractors, used them for a year, two or five and sold them for almost what I paid for them. So that is a pretty good investment if you ask me. They save my back, my time and $$ since I don't have to hire a lot of things done.

Also, I get to help all of my tractorless neighbors out here, they get snowed in at least once or twice a year and I take my MILs heated cab tractor and dig them out. She likes that she feels like she is helping her neighbors at 77 years old, she just uses me to do it, and I'm happy to oblige. : )

When we tell people we live in the country on 5 acres they say "oh that would be so nice". They never think of what it takes to maintain acreage. But we really maintain more like 8 acres with my MILs property and a couple hundred acres (rented out as farmland) but my wife and I maintain barns, waterways, ditches, large driveways, and the equipment to maintain all of that. It is a Lot of work, sometimes I do complain that the list never ends.. but I wouldn't trade it.

It would not be possible without the tractors and with all of that said, I still do not put more than probably 160 hours a year on all combined tractors. That does not include the two ZTRs we use to mow ditches, yards and barn lots. Probably another 150 hours a year on those.

Even if it costs me money, I enjoy it and it beats the snot out of city livin'!

It costs me less than what some people pay for cable. Now THAT is a piss poor return on your $$

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but that's another thread.


My little squirt is approaching 4 years old (wow, has it really been that long?) and it approaching 500 hours, or around 125 hours a year.. I don't use it very much. It sits for weeks sometime between tasks if I don't have to mow.

But I keep seeing threads and posts about 20, 30, 40 year old tractors with hour readings that work out to 20 hours a year or less. Is it that they have more than one machine and each gets lesser use than if they only had one? How do you spend $20,000 or so on something you use so little?

I got on a tractor with 497 hours on it and hauled chicken poop for 3 days from 5:45 am till 9:00 pm. Has 500.9 hours on it now. How fast you run an engine determines hours on meter. Not like a watch. It was 105 HP tractor so it was easy work. I'm easy on it. Hours are low. I use my other tractor a lot, but maybe 20 hours on meter per year. No wide open throttle around here.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I guess you could sell the farm. Move to public housing in town. Sell your vehicles and ride the bus.

 

[paulfun9]

OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but that's another thread.


My little squirt is approaching 4 years old (wow, has it really been that long?)

Thought you was going to ask something about your child

and it approaching 500 hours, or around 125 hours a year

Then saw this and got confused

Need to put the wine away and sleep it off!

A very tipsy
Janet

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I don't know how a black cow eats green grass and makes white milk and yellow butter.

 

[oosik]

My main tractor use - winter, plowing snow - - spring, chipping all my small thinned pines - - summer, driveway maintenance. Otherwise - projects for upkeep of the property. The accumulated hours on my tractor - it is what it is.

 

[The Deerslayer]

I think a lot of people are in the mindset that if they want a tool and can afford that tool then they buy that tool and use it as they see fit.

....precisely this in most situations I suspect. Only thing I could add is the enjoyment/therapy factor that accompanies said purchase=priceless

 

[lman]

I noticed that I haven't been using my tractor as much this year because the price of diesel fuel makes me nauseous.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

I run between 80-100 hours/year. Since gas is cheaper than diesel at the moment--by quite a bit, I have been using a smaller mower for part of my yard; but the bulk of the mowing is still with the tractor. I also cut my brush, clear driveways, haul some wood and other FEL work. All this on 13 acres.

 

[royyme]

OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but that's another thread.


My little squirt is approaching 4 years old (wow, has it really been that long?) and it approaching 500 hours, or around 125 hours a year.. I don't use it very much. It sits for weeks sometime between tasks if I don't have to mow.

But I keep seeing threads and posts about 20, 30, 40 year old tractors with hour readings that work out to 20 hours a year or less. Is it that they have more than one machine and each gets lesser use than if they only had one? How do you spend $20,000 or so on something you use so little?

 

[JWR]

OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but that's another thread.


My little squirt is approaching 4 years old (wow, has it really been that long?) and it approaching 500 hours, or around 125 hours a year.. I don't use it very much. It sits for weeks sometime between tasks if I don't have to mow.

But I keep seeing threads and posts about 20, 30, 40 year old tractors with hour readings that work out to 20 hours a year or less. Is it that they have more than one machine and each gets lesser use than if they only had one? How do you spend $20,000 or so on something you use so little?

People will reveal themselves for the strangest reasons...

My farm is 100 acres and 330 miles from my home. And another place I have is 3 acres 80 miles from the farm. I'm there for a few days once a month. The 1954 MH Pacer we got when I was 11 no longer covers my needs (though we keep it usable.) When I retired 21 years ago "farming" was a euphemism for my most expensive hobby. So I bought a real tractor new and spent 3 years getting the bugs out of it. It now has 550 hrs on it. That was expensive. Then Pap's barn that stood just fine since 1921 was destroyed in in a micro twister and I built a new building. Somewhere before retirement I found an incredible deal on a compact 4WD tractor which I have had for 29 years and is still the best tractor I ever saw. It has 545 hr on it. On price, 3 of the 4 tractors I own (not counting the glorified lawn mower here at home nor the family heirloom Pacer) averaged $5000 each, used. Will these things ever pay for themselves? Good heavens NO !

So how do you justify this? You can't and I don't have to. I leased out the 100 acre farm and I agreed to cut brush and pasture on 56 acres of it usually twice a year while the renters agreed to build fence, put in gates, do drainage ditches, etc. I can't do my part with an heirloom Pacer nor a garden tractor so I spent a fool's fortune on a new 81 hp tractor in 2011 plus half that much on attachments. "I needed it." Sure I did.

Every tractor I own is worth more now than when I bought it. My kids will not have to start from scratch when they take over.

Hours per year ? Who cares. Not a relevant variable in this equation.