The machinery void

[DrWazzock]

For whatever reason the price of kit is way out of line with the present economic reality of farming.
Presently putting fertiliser on with the DB1394 having rebuilt the final drives. Tractor cost me £3k about 10 years ago. Also needs a recon hydrashift but the one high range gear it has left does 10k, which is fortunate. It has fronts wheels off eBay for £60 as it arrived without any. They hold air but wouldn't like to have to take the tyres off as they look as though they spent the last decade in a slurry pit.

The focus of the arable side has turned away from agronomy towards refurbishment engineering as that has become the best way for us to maximise profit on a small acreage. Even secondhand kit is now out of our price range though we will buy old discounted kit with known problems that we can fix. What we don't like is newer secondhand stuff with electronics that we can't fix.

As my brother says its like Cuba here.

What happens when emission standards get tighter or retrospective I don't know. That would definitely finish us, though the old 135 still runs smoke free as far as I can see.

 

[Goweresque]

I've said for some time the ever increasing cost of new machinery, particularly the bigger stuff, is going to mean there comes a point when its more economic to refurbish the old kit than buy new. Its what happens everywhere else in the world, one suspects its only the subsidies that have allowed farmers to say 'Sod it, I'll have a new one!'. Its easier of course, old tractor disappears, new shiny one appears, often on the same day. Whereas fixing the old one takes time and effort, not necessarily literally doing the spanner work, but organising things such that while the tractor is unavailable another one is, sourcing parts, making decisions etc etc. But now the free £££ is disappearing I think thats what the future holds.

 

[TomD]

Currently rebuilding the trans in a 10 series deere with 14k hrs. As the customer said : its cheaper to fix this than to buy a new machine "...

I hope it would be cheaper to fix a transmission than buy a new machine bit of a pointless comment....

 

[Scholsey]

How long until businesses start up offering non genuine parts to ‘dumb down’ got a 7250 hour 2010 JCB 536-60, 55k to change to a less capable machine.

If I could send it to someone to have pump, engine, bushes and rams all redone and ‘dumbed down’ if it would help I would definitely consider it!

 

[Blue.]

Do you have 1 or no some1 that has had 1 and had problems? If not how would you possibly know? Ther a bit of an unknown and therfor ppl are sceptical about them but that doesnt mean they are a bad product. If no1 was willin to try the first touchscreen smart phones how would we of knew if they were good or not and now nearly every1 has 1

As a rule of thumb it doesn't take long for word to get about that somethings decent,my experiences are a decent well known 2nd hand tractor is a better buy than bargain basement new tractors.

 

[milkloss]

I hope it would be cheaper to fix a transmission than buy a new machine bit of a pointless comment....

Not really. Loan repayments on a purchase could be more affordable to some compared to one big hit for a new box and 40hrs labour.

 

[balerman]

I agree fully with all this.I am currently having rebuilt the transmission on a very hard worked NH T5070,it has been my baler/loader tractor for 10 years,it has probably baled 70000 bales with a chopper baler and stacked and hauled a lot of them.It will be a £10k rebuild,but how far would that go to replacing it? A like for like replacement would be a T5.120 which im guessing with a loader would cost maybe £55k,mine before rebuild is worth £15k?,so£40k to change versus £10k for rebuild,no brainer to me.Im not even sure a T5 would be an improvement on what I have....

 

[Flintstone]

I have one tractor on 1,100 acres and it does everything. If it goes down I’m screwed, so rightly or wrongly I buy a brand new one every three years.

In fact, I picked up a new one yesterday. For me, it’s peace of mind and it gives me almost guaranteed reliability which I need because I have zero back up.

 

[Moors Lad]

No idea why it did that

Hope your new one isn`t too "technical" then....

 

[Against_the_grain]

I have one tractor on 1,100 acres and it does everything. If it goes down I’m screwed, so rightly or wrongly I buy a brand new one every three years.

In fact, I picked up a new one yesterday. For me, it’s peace of mind and it gives me almost guaranteed reliability which I need because I have zero back up.

View attachment 857330

Very nice.

But wouldn't you be better off owning two tractors that cost 50% of that one? Then you have back up if one breaks down and can leave one one the sprayer one on the drill etc.

 

[Johnnyboxer]

Exactly its stil achievable at that money. An average beef sheep milk farmer could make the payments on that and have anew tractor way warranty but how could ye justify 100k+ just to spread bita slurry fertiliser and stuf round the yard. Its not on anymore

Indeed
All the tractor most stock farmers need for trailer work, muck spreading, fert spreading and mowing etc

 

[Johnnyboxer]

You'd still be better off with a 6000hr Deere or similar for £28k

Would you?
Why?

 

[Hooby Farmer]

I have one tractor on 1,100 acres and it does everything. If it goes down I’m screwed, so rightly or wrongly I buy a brand new one every three years.

In fact, I picked up a new one yesterday. For me, it’s peace of mind and it gives me almost guaranteed reliability which I need because I have zero back up.

View attachment 857330

Health to enjoy it man.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Would you?
Why?

Probably because the deere will still be worth most of that 28k in 5 years time whereas the "cheapy" will be worth 1/2 or less.
That's not to say the cheapy isn't any good, or otherwise a good buy (I've no idea) but that's the penalty of "unknown" brands.

 

[mixed breed]

We and our sort of farming have been priced out of the new tractor/machinery world for quite a number of years. As such, the gap between my trade in's and new is now vast. Buying secondhand and make do/mending is all part of survival, but I've noticed it doesn't seem to help much from a tax point of view

Also I've noticed main dealers seem to want a lot more for some of this second hand stuff, and I do wander if they are offering more for the trade ins to help push sales of new tack.

I was at a sale yesterday and nearly brought an oldish plough (not that I needed it but you know how it is), auctioneer was stuck at 700, looked cheap so I bid up to 1000 he was clearly running me, but they wouldn't let it go. I went to talk to the seller afterwards to see if I could get a deal. He said it had come in straight off a farm, against a new kuhn, and he wanted 4k for it, wouldn't budge from that, he said it was worth that "all day long"... clearly yesterday wasn't that day.
Good luck to them I say

 

[ifindoubtflatout]

I have one tractor on 1,100 acres and it does everything. If it goes down I’m screwed, so rightly or wrongly I buy a brand new one every three years.

In fact, I picked up a new one yesterday. For me, it’s peace of mind and it gives me almost guaranteed reliability which I need because I have zero back up.

View attachment 857330

Hey
We are about to buy the same 6215R
Will be putting a 200hp Case in as PX
And decent or zero finance charge
Over 4 years
I see it as a good choice.... and even though next year will be Shiite in cash flow terms, this will be the only thing on finance... so I’m comfortable with that
Discussing options with the Mach rep right now
I want all the shiney knobs and bells and whistles, my business partner mother doesnt
Bit of negotiating at home first

 

[Nearly]

Very nice.

But wouldn't you be better off owning two tractors that cost 50% of that one? Then you have back up if one breaks down and can leave one one the sprayer one on the drill etc.

That was my thought, running 5 now.

 

[njneer]

How long will these cheap/basic tractors last?

Most look like they'd be wrecked after 5k hours hard work.

All down to the operator,
Problem is if the operator ( not buyer) deems that the inferior brand , in their mind, is not worthy of their ego , and not the brand the think they are entitled to, then they will abuse it to death to prove a point that they should have been bought the shiny green ( choose shade of your choice) one .
A top operator will run any brand of machine within its limits and look after it regardless , do the same job , to the same standard albeit it may take a little longer . He may still want a different brand and not entirely like the one they have but will get the job done regardless.
Far too many “ operators “ now think they should be stepping straight into a bells and whistles too spec top marque and have never had to “ make do and mend” with an older machine and work their way up to a top spec machine.
Staff ego is a dangerous and expensive thing for the guy writing the cheques.

 

[Deutzdx3]

Nothing is free on a new tractor. Warranty costs in the price of the tractor. 0% finance comes at a cost to the buyer. Not the dealer, manufacturer or finance house. The only people making money on tractor sales are the manufacturers.

 

[michael N123]

Not many people get a quote for a standard tractor anymore...

all the the emission crap to deal with..
full suspension air 50k+ gearbox Larger tyres and enough GPS equipment and electrics to Control a small aircraft.... there’s a lot more to these tractors than what there was in the 90s

and yes you can still order basic tractors but not many people want to