Is the John Deere 990 for me?

[VictorD]

What a great forum! I have been reading and learning a great deal from everyone on here. Thanks.

A very good friend of mine is selling a JD 990 and I would like help with two things. We were discussing price, and I want to make sure that we agree on a fair value. I do not want to take advantage of him in this deal. The tractor is a JD 990, 4WD, with R-4 tires, 5' FOL (with teeth), Backhoe with 24" bucket, forks, and a 7' snow plow. No mower. It is an '04 with 220 hours on it. He said he would like to get $16,000 for it and I think the wife and I are willing to pay that price. Is it a fair price for the machine? Again, I don't want either party being taken advantage of. I have compared to others on tractorhouse and machinefinder and it seems to be fair but not a total steal.

The second question is more a confirmation that anything else. We have about 7 acres of mostly mountain ground. There is very little mowing to do, thus no need for a mower. Some of the terrain is rocky and rough. No super-steep areas. We would like to put a 1/4 acre pond on the site, and the tractor would be used for building walls, hauling rock, digging and moving rock, digging stumps, etc. We would use it for snow removal, too. We cut a lot of firewood.

Is this an appropriate tractor for our needs or too much / too little tractor? (buying new is out of the question.) The backhoe is a frame mounted 8B. Is it a pain to unhook? I am just looking for a little brainstorming. Thanks in advance.

 

[thatguy]

$16k for a 990 w/ FEL and backhoe sounds like a great deal to me.. The backhoe alone costs about $6k.. the 990 is the bigger brother to the bullet proof 790 - both basic hard working tractors..

brian

 

[therebarely]

The price seems more than reasonable. Depending on the condition, it is certainly a good buy. As long as you are satisfied with a gear tractor, it should do everything you want, and the 990 is bullet proof. Not sure about building a pond though, especially with rocky soil.

 

[Champy]

BUY IT!!!!

If I could have found a deal like that it would have been gone already. I ended up buying my JD990 new from a dealer for a lot more.......

 

[jbrumberg]

VictorD

Welcome to TBN ! Buy it and then post pictures; we like pictures . Once you get the tractor use it safely and well. Jay

 

[daTeacha]

Based on the responses so far, maybe you should pay him $16500 and ask for lessons on how to dig a pond with the backhoe!

That seems like a very good price. I would buy it in a heartbeat if I needed another tractor. The snowplow and forks are a few hundred each, the hoe several thousand, same for the FEL. It's a good deal for you.

Just make sure your selling friend thinks the price is fair to him, which he must since he set it. What does he have in it, moneywise? How big a hit is he taking by selling it at that price?

 

[VictorD]

He did not say exactly what he paid for it, but he had said that he got it for a good price. He is building a new home and, after the excavator went over budget, he decided to buy his own machine to finish things off. He put almost all of the hours on it. He figures the money he saved NOT continuing to pay the excavator more than paid for the 'depreciation' that he is taking on the machine.

Again, he is such a good friend that I want to make sure it is a fair deal for him, too. We do a lot of hands on work around here and I cannot wait to see how this machine helps us.

We will not be building the pond ourselves, but would use the tractor to do the final grading and finish work after the dozer leaves.

If we get it I will certainly post pics of the new baby. I am sure that I will frequent this site as I service it, add tools to it, etc. Thanks to everyone so far for the help!

 

[putt_putt_green]

Does your friend expect to borrow the tractor from time to time? If if so, are you OK with this. This may be part of the low price offer.

 

[Ken Cunningham]

Sound like a fair deal as long as it hasnt been abused. Be carefull on those slopes!

 

[N80]

About three years ago the 990 with 4wd and FEL around here sold for right at $20k without back hoe. If the back hoe is worth $6 then he probably paid somewhere around 25 or 26.

To me, that makes 16 a really good deal for a tractor with low hours. I wouldn't say he's giving it away and he knows what he paid for it. He could probably get more for it, but it would take more time and hassle.

I'd buy it. Its a good, basic machine. It has a time tested Yanmar engine.