Buying Advice Prices seem up for both new and used...

[ultrarunner]

Forget Wall Street... invest in quality Tractors and Implements!

For the record I have virtually no holdings in Wall Street... but a tractor is a thing of beauty and ability to get things done.

Nothing brings a smile to my face like pulling out the 1953 NAA Jubilee... just how well it runs is a testament to it's design.

This morning SF Chronicle Newspaper has a 2005 Deere Model 5205 with 200 hours for $3600 and picture.

Call me skeptical but I though scammers only used Craigslist and Online venues???

Maybe I should give the number a call to find out... basic tractor with loader and rotary cutter.

Just called the number and the message says state your name and Google Voice will try to connect.

Do a lot of farmers use Google Voice???

 

[ultrarunner]

They just got a lead on this near where they live...

2016 Kubota L3301 4x4 35hp diesel 4x4 tractor, shuttle drive trans, 3pt, pto, only 630hrs, tractor is in outstanding condition!....has front loader and brand new box scraper with rippers 15k

 

[rScotty]

I think you said that this couple has zero seat time and are building on a hillside. That scares me because it means they have yet to make all the steep country mistakes that you and I both made and survived.... and we are both motorheads who understand these things.

Any tractor will do enough work for them to be a tremendous help. But living through the tractor-on-a-hillside mistakes that are sure to come should - to my mind anyway - be the single most important feature.

The L3301 seems priced OK and has the decent size and attachments - but in common configuration it is a narrow top-heavy tractor. Definitely worth checking out; but I wouldn't encourage them unless it was first fitted with industrial tires and rear wheel spacers to make it safer.. But it still no backhoe or thumb - both things that are a huge advantage to a person doing new building.

I can understand you not wanting to part with your JD 110TLB - good 110s are hard to find and I think that they are going to be a bit of a specialty collector item. In fact, they are already.

I would rather see them on a BX23 like you have/had.... It will still do real work, and it is inexpensive, hard to roll or turn over. In short, it will do work for them while also being something affordable they can learn on and survive while gaining the experience to make an informed choice on a larger tractor. Popular little machines that are NOT high dollar ollector's items.

In all probability they can use one of those tiny TLBs for years and still get 90% of what they paid for it. They are that popular. But it's the safety that I would like to see your relatives develop, and that is something best done on a small tractor.
Thanks for considering my opinion,
rScotty

 

[coobie]

A relative is getting ready to do site work and looking for a tractor.

I have not bought anything modern in some time.

Looking around it seems asking prices for some old Kubota tractors are close to what they cost new.

Even price checking the D3 dozer I sold indicate it has appreciated nicely over the last 5 years.

Craiglist 200 mile search has not helped... lots more big iron than anything else.

I'm thinking a L series would be ideal... L35 or L39 better or even a B26...

I have not used my Deere 110 much the last few years but am always being asked to sell...

My BX23 out the door was under 15k and I am seeing these 15 year old BX with asking prices of 12 to 13k...

Aside from Craigslist... any other avenues to check here in California?

I'm guessing anything new comes with Regen and software???

Emailed my Dealer and got an auto reply closed through Thanksgiving... hard working guy with little family time so can't blame him.

I believe used tractors sell so high because buyers don"t like regen/emissions on newer tractors.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Supply and demand coupled with increasing new prices and added EPA controls has led us to increased used prices...
That is a good deal on the 3301 but it is a Tier 4 unit with regen...
I advised a friend several years ago and he bought a 3301 with the dreaded regen...
Two years later and he has had zero issues...

 

[JimRB]

The hay farmer down the road keeps new Deere tractors. He hopes for reliable equipment and does not want to do maintenance. 60-100 something HP tractors. Indeed he had one go into limp mode/dead where it sat because of a sensor. He had another one he traded out that left him because of a defective sensor or switch. He found out later that the fired dealer mechanic did not change out the warranty switch. Limp mode/dead mode is a problem just like with pickup trucks when it happens to you. Pretty reliable unless you are the one who has the defective sensor.

 

[prof fate]

Get a horse then.

I remember folks saying that about cars too - first electronic ignitions, then catalytic converters and evaporative emmissions, etc.

HOWEVER, I remember adjusting points twice a year, changing plugs annually, wires every other year. I remember exhaust fumes (never liked them personally).

Cars today are a lot like refrigerators - change oil and drive 100,000 miles and do nothing else besides maybe brakes and tires.

My DPF equipped kioti runs clean - very clean. Kioti redesigned their engines to meet tier 4 - the benefit is they are SOO clean running their testing shows them lasting 20,000 hours! Oil change is 400 hour intervals. Yes, 400. Ye Olden days it was what, 50 or maybe 100?

My tractor regened at 34, 72 and 141 hours so far. Just keep on working, takes 10 minutes. Filter said to be good for 3000 hours, costs $300.

And there are NO fumes - which this time of year is handy as it needs to warm up in the barn a bit - no stink AT ALL, no smell at all. None.

"...I would not want to own anything with complicated emission controls ???"

DITTO...and DOUBLE DITTO !!!

 

[rScotty]

I believe used tractors sell so high because buyers don"t like regen/emissions on newer tractors.

Lots of people don't like the regen/emissions, but I wonder if it alone is big enough to be a major cause for high used prices??
It seems to me that for anything to affect something as large as the entire used market, the reason has to be something that applies to all used tractors - not just some.

My guess for a more universal reason would be that people are beginning to realize that tractors last much longer than other types of wheeled machines, and that most compact tractors only get used a few hundred hours per year instead of thousands of hours like farm machinery did. Then that compact tractor longevity gets multiplied because inflation affects the price of a new tractor but not used ones.

The result is that as each year passes, those older tractors keep on working just fine for their owners, while the price of new ones has to go up 3 to 4% each year just to match inflation's cost to manufacturing and dealerships - and that % is a compounded rate. I believe that's enough all by itself to explain the high used prices.
rScotty

 

[prof fate]

I work for a school bus contractor and he buys brand new 90,000 dollar buses. They DO NOT retain value for crap - a 15 year old bus with 100k miles is $5k, if that, at auction. 100k on a diesel is nothing.

Why buy new I asked? Down time and maintenance costs, pure and simple. Down time for a school bus means you need a back up bus - costly asset to be sitting around a lot of the time. Maintenance on 3 buses, no big deal. on 20? Now you need more than 1 mechanic, more garage space, bigger parts inventory - costs begin to rise rapidly. New buses are under warranty so there are no repair costs (and repair costs on a bus is very costly - we have a few old units - one needed a radiatior - $1200 plus our labor)

I have a farmer friend, cheap like many, his baler went down during hay season (duh..they don't break when parked!) and he spend an afternoon working on it - and said F'it, i need to get may hay in and when and bought another. The old one has been sitting for 3 years now - $300 he tells me I can have it.

When it's your living, your business, the economics change, the demands change. Your up-time needs to be damned near 100% on equipment or you fall behind schedule, lose money, lose customers, etc. the loss is more than the savings on used 'rundown' equipment.

The hay farmer down the road keeps new Deere tractors. He hopes for reliable equipment and does not want to do maintenance. 60-100 something HP tractors. Indeed he had one go into limp mode/dead where it sat because of a sensor. He had another one he traded out that left him because of a defective sensor or switch. He found out later that the fired dealer mechanic did not change out the warranty switch. Limp mode/dead mode is a problem just like with pickup trucks when it happens to you. Pretty reliable unless you are the one who has the defective sensor.

 

[rScotty]

Get a horse then.

I remember folks saying that about cars too - first electronic ignitions, then catalytic converters and evaporative emmissions, etc.

HOWEVER, I remember adjusting points twice a year, changing plugs annually, wires every other year. I remember exhaust fumes (never liked them personally).

Cars today are a lot like refrigerators - change oil and drive 100,000 miles and do nothing else besides maybe brakes and tires.

My DPF equipped kioti runs clean - very clean. Kioti redesigned their engines to meet tier 4 - the benefit is they are SOO clean running their testing shows them lasting 20,000 hours! Oil change is 400 hour intervals. Yes, 400. Ye Olden days it was what, 50 or maybe 100?

My tractor regened at 34, 72 and 141 hours so far. Just keep on working, takes 10 minutes. Filter said to be good for 3000 hours, costs $300.

And there are NO fumes - which this time of year is handy as it needs to warm up in the barn a bit - no stink AT ALL, no smell at all. None.

Yep, professor...what you say there strikes me as all worth repeating. There is a surprising amount of resistance to the regen/emissions equipment, but us tractor guys also have to keep in mind that more people want emissions control than don't - that's why it happened in the first place.

I don't like the complexity, cost, and loss of efficiency that emissions controls add to my tractor, but I do like the results. Frankly I never did like the smell of diesel exhaust myself, and I am still a little embarrassed when I think about how my machines are inflicting those fumes on other people. After all, it's their air too, and they have every right to ask me to clean up my contribution to the stink. With that in mind, I think anything that helps out is is worth giving a try.
rScotty