New Tractor Sales Are Declining

[rScotty]

Nothing was worse than 18% mortgage rates in the '80's.
Early '60's gas was .15cents. by late '70's-early '80's... $1. That is an enormous rise in price.

Interest rates killed a lot of self employed people. In the farming community where crops are planted using borrowed money it was devastating.

Ah yes. If you think today is a problem, better first look back only 40 years to the 1980s. That 18% was for a secured real estate mortgage - just about the lowest rate on the best loan package available. Vehicle loans were higher, personal loans much higher. Machinery and farm loans were pushing unaffordable. Any loan typically required required equal collateral value to be pledged as part of the contract. Student loans required a co-signature by someone with financial backing who was willing to risk it.

A lot of today's type of loans just didn't exist yet.
By comparison with then, today looks pretty good.

To give the president at the time his due, he was a good guy who honestly thought his "trickle down" economics would work, and seemed surprised to find that those who were being "trickled on" weren't so happy about it.

But in less than a decade it all changed around for the better. Possibly not so much because of anyone's effort as simply because it's the nature of economics to have ups and downs.

 

[ovrszd]

Ah yes. If you think today is a problem, better first look back only 40 years to the 1980s. That 18% was for a secured real estate mortgage - just about the lowest rate on the best loan package available. Vehicle loans were higher, personal loans much higher. Machinery and farm loans were pushing unaffordable. Any loan typically required required equal collateral value to be pledged as part of the contract. Student loans required a co-signature by someone with financial backing who was willing to risk it.

A lot of today's type of loans just didn't exist yet.
By comparison with then, today looks pretty good.

To give the president at the time his due, he was a good guy who honestly thought his "trickle down" economics would work, and seemed surprised to find that those who were being "trickled on" weren't so happy about it.

But in less than a decade it all changed around for the better. Possibly not so much because of anyone's effort as simply because it's the nature of economics to have ups and downs.

I don't remember who the POTUS was. I was trying to survive it and never thought to associate it with the POTUS.

 

[rScotty]

I don't remember who the POTUS was. I was trying to survive it and never thought to associate it with the POTUS.

It seems that most POTUS are either actors or professional politicians... I don't remember which one this was. Maybe it was one pretending to be the other.

 

[ovrszd]

I thought this thread was about Tractor sales declining. Not Gretta Tread lightly stuff. Start a new thread if you want to talk about stupid people tearing up trails.

Move to a different thread if you can't handle thread drift. Pretty simple actually.

 

[jyoutz]

We'll just agree to disagree. SxS tear up mountain trails horribly. And it has nothing to do with weight. And it has nothing to do with dozers.

You didn’t read my other post. I said they do tear up ground when repeatedly traveling over the same path. Jeeps and trucks do the same, only worse. Anything, even foot or game traffic compacts and ruts the ground with heavy repeated use. But when not beating down the same path repeatedly, UTVs are lighter on the land than trucks and Jeeps.

 

[rScotty]

I thought this thread was about Tractor sales declining. Not Gretta Tread lightly stuff. Start a new thread if you want to talk about stupid people tearing up trails.

Move to a different thread if you can't handle thread drift. Pretty simple actually.

Yeah, but Sarge has a point. The debate about tearing up trails is all opinion without any answers. It's not like discussing the economics of the decline in new tractor sales where we have such insight and impact.

BTW, we use an old LandCruiser for our SxS. Very Nice, but then so was the old jeep where comfort meant a new driver's seat cushion. Either SxS can be as easy or hard on the land as you make it to be.

 

[TimberFarm]

Interest rates killed a lot of self employed people. In the farming community where crops are planted using borrowed money it was devastating.

That was when "Corporate Farms" started to takeover.

 

[TimberFarm]

Ah yes. If you think today is a problem, better first look back only 40 years to the 1980s. That 18% was for a secured real estate mortgage - just about the lowest rate on the best loan package available. Vehicle loans were higher, personal loans much higher. Machinery and farm loans were pushing unaffordable. Any loan typically required required equal collateral value to be pledged as part of the contract. Student loans required a co-signature by someone with financial backing who was willing to risk it.

A lot of today's type of loans just didn't exist yet.
By comparison with then, today looks pretty good.

To give the president at the time his due, he was a good guy who honestly thought his "trickle down" economics would work, and seemed surprised to find that those who were being "trickled on" weren't so happy about it.

But in less than a decade it all changed around for the better. Possibly not so much because of anyone's effort as simply because it's the nature of economics to have ups and downs.

Oct. 1984 ordered my 1985 Dodge D150 pickup.
Dealer told me I had the "best" credit rating so I was lucky...my loan was at 12%.

 

[ArlyA]

We'll just agree to disagree. SxS tear up mountain trails horribly. And it has nothing to do with weight. And it has nothing to do with dozers.

I think we need to realize that Geo trackers, CJ5's or the like, are not the same nor are they replacements for UTV's and ATV's. You have not convinced us to trade ours in.

 

[jyoutz]

Oct. 1984 ordered my 1985 Dodge D150 pickup.
Dealer told me I had the "best" credit rating so I was lucky...my loan was at 12%.

I bought my first house in 1987. My mortgage was 10% with FHA.