Tractor Ownership Cycle

[MF 1532]

If its a business (farm) most get traded because they are depreciated out . With our tax codes saving money is a no no . Around here crop was fair , but grain prices are high so most are trading machinery . Several new or newer combines and tractors in the neighborhood . As far as compact tractors go , very few used ones I saw had many hours , unless from a rental center .

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I'm another of those "buy it used and run it till it drops" guys.

That's like our cars. My parent's drive a '95 Ford Explorer & a '93 Toyota Camry which were both purchased used. Although, we bought the tractor new.

 

[Soundguy]

i've only ever bought one new vehicle. someone decided they had to talk on their cell phone and ran into it while it was stopped when it was 9mos old. so now I'm back to used.

 

[TripleR]

My wife got her first and possibly last new car when she was 60 and agreed only because I wanted her to have one with side impact air bags.

 

[ModMech]

Commercial farmers (not us hobby types) will trade off small tractors (50-75hp) when they hit 6-8000 hours. That's 3-5 years for most. If machines start to act up before then, they are deemed "unreliable", traded off and that supplier may be shunned for a buying cycle or two.

I don't know of any farmer that puts 1000 hours a year on their tractor, year in and year out, much less one that puts on 2,000. That would be running the equipment 20 hours per week, every week of the year on the low side, and 40 hours per week on the high end.

Sure they work that much, but not on a single tractor.

 

[Denwa]

Coming at this issue from an (agricultural) economist's perspective, there are procedures for determining an optimal machinery replacement policy. Unfortunately, they require a lot of math.

Here's a link that provides a "quick and dirty" method for addressing the issue.

http://extension.psu.edu/scregion/Agriculture/Farm%20Management/aboutPubs.pdf

Steve

Steve,
The link is an interesting and logical look at how to deal w/ business machinery. However, not much here for the tractor bought for personal use and boy toy duty.

Thanks for the resource though, just in case...

Dennis