Tractor Insurance for new buyers

[Frankenkubota]

Hi all,


Newby here giving advice but.......I might be new to tractors but, I've been around, a few times!!!

I just bought an M series Kubota tractor from a dealer. There is a story there but I will save me it for another time.

I paid cash so the transaction was simple. I shopped it pretty hard an earned an education.

Kubota has a great tractor finance program but its been 6 months so, excuse me if I have to details wrong.

I believe it's, no money down, "0"% interest, insurance included and I think the term was 5 years? The devil is in the details.

Regarding the insurance. My buddy, a licensed forester, bought a new L series and very soon after purchase submarined it, tried to cross a "shallow" stream and sunk it, total loss.

The insurance co responded immediatly, paid for the recovery of the sunken tractor and quickly delivered a brand new tractor to him, zero heartburn!

So far, in my opinion, Kubota has had the best customer service I've ever experienced. I could go on and on but, they are great! Their products are top shelf. I have no reason to criticize them but.........

Their finance package is attractive and well thought out. Nothing down, that's critical, "0"% finance? We all know better than that and their included insurance.

My only issue with the Kubota insurance is, if you suffer a loss they "replace" your tractor. What if you don't want a tractor. Your barn burned along with the tractor, you are 75 years old and want to retire, you might rather have the money. I don't think that's an option with the factory insurance, I could be wrong.

Again, I paid cash so I had to add the tractor to my homeowners with Amica. To add a new Mx 5800 valued at $42K and my 4 year old kubota rtv, full replacement coverage after a small deductible, well less than $100/year. I don't even remember, it was cheap! Amica is a first class company so I have no worries.

The Kubota deal is great, just understand the insurance.....and that the "0"% interest is buried in the price of the tractor.

Good Luck

After thought.....Is everybody aware there are no titles for tractors? When you go to buy a used tractor, try to search "the title" for liens. Then go read the horror stories about repossessed used tractors. I simply don't understand why a $50K tractor has no title and a the POS used camper I just bought does. I believe it's a property tax dodge put in place by farmers years ago. Anybody know why no titles?

 

[Jchonline]

No titles is because of property taxes. Can you imagine the taxes on a $300k combine lol. It is dangerous to buy used...you must be careful or really know the buyer. As for KTAC, well it is tractor insurance...its not property insurance. However if you want the cash I am sure you could sell the brand new replacement tractor for a reasonable sum .

Unfortunately you were misinformed. You could have still added KTAC insurance through Kubota on a tractor you paid cash for. In fact, you can probably add it right now. However it sounds like you have a great insurance deal so no worries. Just be sure if you take it off of your property for use you are still covered. Some private insurance doesnt allow for this, and they can weasel out of payment if you were helping a neighbor and you damage the machine.

 

[old and tired]

...After thought...

Since you are new to tractors, did you know that many models all have the very same key?

 

[YanmarFever]

I sold a new Mahindra to a customer a few yrs back, he also bought the insurance.
Fast forward 2 years and a tree fell on his tractor, the insurance paid !

 

[homesteader13]

In Nov of 2017 I bought a new overstock off the lot 2015 Massey 1742 Deluxe cab tractor with fel and backhoe.
Now I will say that I was looking at a 36 hp Kubota and a 35 hp Mahindra comparably equiped and both cab tractors, as I was not looking at a (Cadillac brand like Masseyl) and paying the premium price of the Massey.
But..... my best friends dad was a 3rd generation ag dealer who sold to Butler ag several years ago and stayed on with Butler for 5 years during the transition, so my conscience told me I had to at least give him a shot.
He called me the next day and offered me the 42hp with exact same price and term of the other 2 smaller tractors I was looking at, 0 down 0% intrest for 72 months, annual payments instead of monthly payments and they gave me $1800.00 more trade allowance for my 1022 JD than the other two as well.

So we bought it through Butler Ag and financed it through Agco and got the Agco insurance full coverage policy with a premium of $12.00 per month that covers fire, flood, theft, vandalism, accident, ect. With a $500.00 or 5% deductable, wichever was less. (It would have been right about $70.00 a month for the same coverages to have it added to my Farm Bureau farm policy with $1000.00 deductable)

Fast forward to March 14th 2019 and it had 80 hours on it and we lost it and our farm in the flooding in the Midwest. It sat under 5 feet of water for over a week. The tractor was a total loss, the backhoe (which had not even been used yet) was fine, just needed the seat replaced.

It did take quite a lot longer to settle than I am used to compared to a house or auto claim, but the midwest was an utter disaster, but... Butler found me a replacment tractor ( A Massey 1755 deluxe cab, UPGRADE up in Des Moine and had it down here and ready to deliver within a week) and Agco financed it on the spot.
In the end, Agco insurance paid off the 1742, we assumed the owed balance for the backhoe and kept it and they paid us a check for the difference of loan amount versus value minus deductable.
The only caveat was the backhoe frame would not fit the bigger tractor and we had to buy a new one and had to swap the power beyond and they were not adding that to the value of the tractor but in the end we split the difference on that.

So overall review.... I did go with Agco insurance again but it has gone up to $17.00 a month on this one. OK, still way less expensive than adding it to our farm policy for something that we hopefully never have to use again.
Also note that the insurance payment is included in the loan payment and after the loan is payed off the policy 'expires' and you have to renew it.

Oh, and the 1742, 80 hours in 17 months, the 1755, 350 hours in 13 months, flood recovery and cleanup is one **** of a job!

 

[kthompson]

There is a vast difference in the Kubota or JD insurance (know nothing of any other tractor companies own plans) and some of the other options. The true tractor insurance is more comprehensive and as expected for that cover higher price. For my L6060 Kubota was about $3,600 for the 5 years. A $250 deductible and 100% percent replacement. For think just over $200 per year bought a stand alone policy with a $1,000 deductible from Farm Bureau which is current value. Not as strong of coverage but coverage like an auto.
There is so much variance between the insurance outside of what JD and Kubota have the best and ONLY certain advice is to verify verify in detail what is available to you with YOUR homeowner company or any other source how it compares. I really doubt you will beat their coverage but in my case as insurance agent have always used a calculator to determine risk to price. When the price drops more than the risk rises I will recommend it. For me, saving about $2,500 in premium over 5 years but increasing my deductible and not replacement coverage is a smart "risk" in my case.
One point that keeps being mention on tractor insurance is being covered off property. Never had reason to ask or check on with Kubota or JD is their any liability coverage in it. You need to know what ever coverage you have does it provide liability coverage for driving on the road or work done...if not a great reason to not do work for any one. Especially for hire.

 

[aczlan]

My only issue with the Kubota insurance is, if you suffer a loss they "replace" your tractor. What if you don't want a tractor. Your barn burned along with the tractor, you are 75 years old and want to retire, you might rather have the money. I don't think that's an option with the factory insurance, I could be wrong.

Many insurance companies require that, you can have a "replacement value" policy but they will only pay something like 60% of the insured value unless you show receipts for purchase of the items to replace those that were lost.

After thought.....Is everybody aware there are no titles for tractors? When you go to buy a used tractor, try to search "the title" for liens. Then go read the horror stories about repossessed used tractors. I simply don't understand why a $50K tractor has no title and a the POS used camper I just bought does. I believe it's a property tax dodge put in place by farmers years ago. Anybody know why no titles?

Because the DMV has a hard enough time with processing paperwork for older vehicles that have non-standard VINs without throwing in tractors that have even less of a standard VIN.
Also as an "implement of husbandry" they are exempt from a lot of rules because they are intended to be used off road most of the time.

Aaron Z