question on hours and pricing

[Anonymous Poster]

Been looking at used tractors again. Gives me a knot in my stomach, something about the price....
Anyways, how do dealers figure what is the average hour use per year on compacts and subcompacts? According to Machinery Link it makes a difference on the pricing (makes sense, it does w/autos w/ mileage). Any help would be greatlay appreciated.

 

[thcri]

Tabby,

Welcome to TBN. Your question is a tough one. Automobiles have somewhat of an average based on statistics. Each year more and more people are driving more and more. The Department of Transportation gathers this information. The average at one time was 12,000 miles per year. Now it is more like 20,000 miles per year. Don't quote me on them.

Tractors are now being used for so many different things. Very seldom did use them for mowing lawns like we do today for example. But there really is not organization gathering this information that I am aware of. I have had my tractors for two years. I have put about 80 hours each year on the tractor. Some farmer or construction company may put on 200 hours per year or even more.

This would be a scientific wild guess but I would think about 100 to 150 hours per year would be average. I would think if you would call a couple of dealers or kind of look around at used rigs and make an average of all of them. You would probably come up with a number pretty close to the big boys.

Rest of you TBN'ers though out your average. Hours divided by years owned. Lets' help tabby here. Mine is 80 hours for each year.

Murph

 

[mopar]

<font color="green">my garden tractor was about 50hrs per year,i would imagine that my new tractor will be a bit more than that closer to 80 or so,this is home owner use no commercial. </font>

 

[Casimir]

Hi Tabby-

Welcome to TBN. When I bought my used Ford 1520 about a year ago, it had 700 hours on it. Since it is a 1995 model, that works out to about 100 hours a year that the previous owner used it. I know he used a finish mower, but I don't know how much property he mowed or what else he used the tractor for.

I have put 150 hours on it in about a year's time. This was just cleaning horse pens, doing some gravel work on driveways, cutting and hauling firewood, re-doing some of the landscaping around the house, clearing snow from a 450 ft driveway and parking area, etc. We have 19 acres, and recently cleared about 5 acres (hired a big rig to do the clearing). Haven't yet started mowing the pasture.

For a "Weekend Warrior" to use the tractor an average of two hours every weekend, you would be looking at 104 hours per year. Those lucky enough to work close to home and have time to use the tractor in the evenings or in their work will put on more hours.

However, the real issue is how well the owner kept up the maintenance (changing oil, filters, hydraulic fluid, and fixing the little things right away before they get more serious). A desiel engine with 500 to 1000 hours on it ishould be just getting broken in if the maintenance has been performed on time.

As for hours vs. price, there are a lot of other variables, such as geographic location, brand loyalty, personal preference, appearance (was it parked outside or kept garaged when not in use?), etc. Probably not much help, but keep reading the stuff in this forum and buy Muhammad's book if you want to learn before you buy. It is packed with good information for new tractor buffs. Shopping and learning is part of the fun. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif (even if it can be mind-boggling at times /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif).

 

[Will_C]

I am coming up on the 3rd anniversary of buying my BX. I am sure that by that April date, I will have 500 hours on the tractor. That would work out to 167 a year. I maintain two three acre properties, and plow snow from a 300' driveway in the winter.
Will

 

[bartman]

Tabby

Have two tractors in different places and Iaverage about 100 hours a year on them. I just maintain property with them and a little farmin to feed the deer

Bartman

 

[frank_f15]

bear in mind that not only the hours but what kind of hours. can u give us alittle more info?

 

[cowboydoc]

Unfortunately unlike autos the tractor and implement prices are pretty secret. It's very difficult to get ahold of the dealer books on prices. As far as how they figure it just depends on the tractor, the condition, records, etc.

 

[markct]

T I have put about 80 hours each year on the tractor. Some farmer or construction company may put on 200 hours per year or even more.



Murph )</font> 200 hours a year, i doubt any construction company or even farmer would put that few hours on a peice of equipment in a year, the machine would never pay for itself that way, an average work week is 40 hours, so in 5 weeks you could easily put on 200 hours. i remember a place i was working for part time had a volvo loader and there was ceartain maintenance that it would tell you needed to be done, it would show up on the onboard computer screen on the dash and it was based on the hours the machine was run,i had been doing some work on the machine in the shop and took care of all the services at the time, then a few days later i had to fix one of the headlight gaurds that had gotten broken,well i looked at the screen and it said it needed servicing again, in the mater of 4 or 5 days they had put over 60 hours on it, so ya gota realize construction and comercial stuff gets run long and hard in most cases compared to homeowner use

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

My Kubota dealer is very happy to look up whatever I want or just hand me the book to look it up myself. I guess I don't see it as that big of a deal since that book is never going to buy one or sell one, anyhow. It's only a guide and you can't see the one they saw to guage that price. It still takes a ready and willing buyer and seller to create a transaction.

 

[JTD]

Tractor hours can vary significantly depending on what you do. I spent approx. 600 hrs on mine last year working on my new property. I looked at the record and the tractor was used about 180 days averaging 3+ hrs per day. This year I expect usage to be between 200 to 300 hrs. (34 hrs/2 months so far).

 

[cowboydoc]

My 4600 has been averaging 600 hours a year. Put 700 hours on the 4020 last year and about 500 in half a year on the 4430. If we only had one tractor we'd probably put about 2000 or more hours a year on one. Just doing chores we average 2-5 hours a day on one. That's not even counting planting, haying, harvesting, etc. In the spring and fall we will put 80 hours on a tractor in a week or less. We're running 16-20 hours a day at times on them. During haying you'll put 20-30 hours straight on one. At home we farm over 5000 acres and they will run the tractors 24/7 to get crops in and crops out. Guys will run in 12 hour shifts. They never sit except to get serviced. Same with haying season. When you have the weather and you have that much ground to put in you get every minute in that you can.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for the input. Since it's compact tractors we have been looking at I did not really expect the useage on one that a commercially used or big farm tractor would have. Right now I am looking at four different ones and wishing we could just go new. I have really been looking at the new Kioti tractors. I don't think a new one will fit in the budget. A used one is enough to make you ill.

Machinery Link offers pricing giudelines based on model, year and use. That is why I wondered about the hours. It does affect the price. I also would like to trade the lawn "tractor" (HATE IT!! JD 300 Series) I don't know how to talk to the sales rep on it. We have dealt with him before and I question the last "deal" he gave us. I do think it still makes a difference as to your gender with some people and since I do most of the dickering, knowledge is power.

The four we are looking at range from the mid 80's to about 91. All are 4wd and have FEL. They range in size from about 20 HP to the JD 955 which is about 27 hp. The hours useage varies greatly among them. I think they are all gas ecept for the JD and one is hydrostatic (JD). I wish they were diesel. I would give some teeth for a tractor, I do not want to do fencing or firewood w/o one. We took a bath on a tractor we bought several years ago but, that is another post on another website. I just do NOT want to go there again!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[MarkV]

Tabby,
Welcome to the forum and I feel your pain as you search for a used tractor. It is tough to find good low hour ones, as you are finding. For the most part the compacts are so reliable that people don't tend to trade until their needs change. If it is any help, I average about 150 hrs per year on my tractor.

I am not sure how others feel but I have had a gas and diesel tractor and feel the diesel has been less maintenance per hour of use. If it were me I would narrow my search to diesel powered compacts. These little diesels will run with for several thousand hours before major repair work is required as long as the normal maintenance is done. That being said, a neighbor of mine has a Ford gas tractor that was new in 1954 and is still running strong.

MarkV

 

[bartman]

Tabby
What area of the US are you located in. The Northeast has higher prices on used compacts than the midwest for example

You may want to even hire a tractor mechanic to look over a used tractor for you,sort of like a home inspector
Anyhow keep us posted and we will try to help out

I have purchased two used tractors over the last few years a 70 HP with 3500 hours and a 25 HP 4WD FEL with 1400 hours
They both needed a few minor repairs but I havehad very good luck with both of my mid 80's tractors
Good luck

Bartman