Combine and tractor replacement policy

[Spud]

its been cheap but i have a feeling hire of a similar sized replacement would be a lot more than we pay now

i say its been cheap but had we bought this current machine when new I think we would be better off today - however hire hasn’t tied up lots of capital and the risk has been someone elses

not sure which way to go on this in the future

Best start with a quote to buy and a quote to hire, consider risk, make decision.

Personally I prefer to own my combine - once it's paid for it doesn't cost as much as a hire bill in repair & depreciation, and if the jobs especially tight, it can stay an extra year if it has to.
But I'm the opposite end of the acres scale to you, so invariably the risk is less.

 

[Spud]

Similar conundrum here, got 2 mainline tractors, one 13 yo, the other 11. Both done around 6000m hrs.
One of them should be replaced by something bigger. Price to swap is huge.
Can’t get contract hiring to stack up either.

How big are we talking?

You can get a lot of 10yo horsepower for £50k

I bought a 2.5yo 200hp vario MF with 1200hrs on it for £70k last summer - which is £55k less than a new 8s the same size.

 

[EddieB]

I used to change a tractor once it was five years old. I can’t really afford to do that anymore, although I have kept that policy with my employees tractor. My tractor is now thirteen years old but only has 5000 hours on it, I think I will just keep running it, it does the job and has reached a stage where the annual depreciation is negligible.
I used to change our combine every four years, buying something around four years old, chopping in it eight. Again can no longer afford to do this and we have had our current one for nine years but low hours and fingers crossed can go on for a good few years yet.
I suppose the issue is that the cost of new machinery and the economics of farming are no longer aligned.

 

[Rob Holmes]

How big are we talking?

You can get a lot of 10yo horsepower for £50k

I bought a 2.5yo 200hp vario MF with 1200hrs on it for £70k last summer - which is £55k less than a new 8s the same size.

“Big” to us is 200 hp

 

[Spud]

“Big” to us is 200 hp

What do you want to change from, up to?

 

[teslacoils]

I'd be cashing that £10k roller

It's my most used bit of kit. And what's £10k in the bank going to do? And I'd pay tax on the ten grand. It's tempting but its also my favourite job. Mmmm stripey recreational grass rolling.

 

[Hampton]

“Big” to us is 200 hp

A six month old 7719 with 300hours on clock sold at a local farm sale for £63k. It was bought by a dealer, but I should have taken in home in hindsight

 

[Hampton]

i think i will wait for ELMS details before committing to any 500k machinery purchases

it could seriously alter the area we harvest (for food) potentially

I think I would do same thing at those numbers

 

[Spud]

It's my most used bit of kit. And what's £10k in the bank going to do? And I'd pay tax on the ten grand. It's tempting but its also my favourite job. Mmmm stripey recreational grass rolling.

If the jobs as tight as not being able to justify a set of rollers, maybe it's time to go do summat else and let someone else farm it?

 

[teslacoils]

The inability to justify changing big ticket kit was one of the main reasons I stopped contracting. Finding out that replacing like-fir-like combines was another hundred grand sharpens the senses.

 

[Spud]

i think i will wait for ELMS details before committing to any 500k machinery purchases

it could seriously alter the area we harvest (for food) potentially

A good case for hiring, if you really think ELMS will make enough difference to alter combine strategy

 

[Acke]

My policy , buy when it is a good deal you can aford.

 

[SilliamWhale]

we need to do something about our harvesting soon but can’t bring myself to even consider new big lexion prices

not sure whats best ! we need a big combine but do not want the big cost !

current machine is hired and cheap/ acre but wont last forever/ maybe sold

How much is per acre cost to harvest with a new lexion with a hire?

 

[T Hectares]

It’s a difficult one to manage with escalating machinery costs, I had the opportunity to restructure this place 5 years ago and we were able to downsize the main tractor, sell another and not have to short term hire one, by doing less we ended up reducing our costs
One of my tractors ( only 2 mainline tractors here ) will be due for a change in 18 months, the next one is looking like it will be more expensive to run due to it costing more but I will have an extra 20% to farm, so I’ll manage the extra land with the same size kit by dropping a bit of contracting and doing more DD, 10 years ago I would have probably bought a bigger tractor and cultivator to cope!!

2 main tractors bought ex demo with free 5 year warranties ( manufacturer terms to the dealer for exceeding sales targets ) will replace at 5-6 years @ 6000 hrs

Straw Walker combine bought for its lower running costs, simplicity and lower purchase cost with better resale value, bought new out of season as a cancelled order, will be on farm for 10 years minimum, same as the last one did

Sprayer, drill etc not expecting to replace for many years !!

 

[redsloe]

we need to do something about our harvesting soon but can’t bring myself to even consider new big lexion prices

not sure whats best ! we need a big combine but do not want the big cost !

current machine is hired and cheap/ acre but wont last forever/ maybe sold

Don't worry about it. Money's cheap. On another thread you said borrow as much as you can afford, inflation will actually make your loan make money for you. That will reduce the depreciation!

 

[Barleycorn]

Perhaps the time has come to employ more people on simple tractors? Always amazed me how people spend thousands of pounds not to turn a steering wheel when they're sat there anyway.

 

[nick...]

Dealers must be getting worried about lack of money to allow customers to purchase new machines.where will it all stop
nick...

 

[redsloe]

Straw Walker combine bought for its lower running costs, simplicity and lower purchase cost with better resale value, bought new out of season as a cancelled order, will be on farm for 10 years minimum, same as the last one did

So was it bought because it just happened to be a straw walker that was a cancelled order and the rep 'sold' it to you or you actually went out and looked for one and by luck there was a cancelled order floating around?
Going against the grain a little bit, that's all!

 

[BRBX]

Every winter I look at the combine sat under the shed and think why don't I sell it at harvest end and buy a shed full of stores and sell them on at turnout and look for another combine , that may become a reality going forward.

 

[Zippy768]

It's my most used bit of kit. And what's £10k in the bank going to do? And I'd pay tax on the ten grand. It's tempting but its also my favourite job. Mmmm stripey recreational grass rolling.

Sell the roller, splash out on a few lovely holidays - I'm thinking Maldives water bungalow - ; get a much more reasonably priced roller, albeit smaller, and spend EVEN LONGER doing your most FAVOURITE job.

I'm no financial advisor but I'm pretty sure that would be a good plan.
You cannot lose man