Tractor replacement policy.

[Pilatus]

For those of you who buy new tractors ,do you replace them when they have done so many hours e,g 5000hrs or do you replace them after e.g 5 years irrespective of hours. Many thanks for any info

 

[T Hectares]

For those of you who buy new tractors ,do you replace them when they have done so many hours e,g 5000hrs or do you replace them after e.g 5 years irrespective of hours. Many thanks for any info

I do as you suggest, my two current tractors were bought ex demo with 5 yr warranties and will be replaced at that point, simples and seemed to be my best best financially

 

[curlietailz]

I replace mine when they are no longer fit for our needs, when they start costing in repairs, when we have some money to spend and the budget can afford it, when we need something that our existing tractors don’t provide, and as the mood takes me
Irrespective of how many hours or how old

we just bought a new JD6215R to replace a Case. Swapped because it was a Case and it started needing repairs and because the new one has fast gear box, air trailer brakes and GPS ... oh and it was a Case

our oldest tractor is a JD2040 that does the hedgecutting. Without checking it’s got to be 30 year old
The JD7810 that does all the drilling is a decent age too.
How long is a piece of string

 

[Barleycorn]

I replace mine when they are no longer fit for our needs, when they start costing in repairs, when we have some money to spend and the budget can afford it, when we need something that our existing tractors don’t provide, and as the mood takes me
Irrespective of how many hours or how old

we just bought a new JD6215R to replace a Case. Swapped because it was a Case and it started needing repairs and because the new one has fast gear box, air trailer brakes and GPS ... oh and it was a Case

our oldest tractor is a JD2040 that does the hedgecutting. Without checking it’s got to be 30 year old
The JD7810 that does all the drilling is a decent age too.
How long is a piece of string

Funny around here Case seem to be perceived as cheaper to run / own than JDs.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Funny around here Case seem to be perceived as cheaper to run / own than JDs.

Cheaper to buy, I would say but are they worth as much?

 

[kiwi pom]

Trade em in the day before they have a catastrophic breakdown

 

[deleted user 837354]

Trade em in the day before they have a catastrophic breakdown

Friend of mine used to have the policy of buying used tractors and running them to 10,000 hours.

I personally think he is asking a bit much of modern tractors which are hugely complex these days.

 

[kiwi pom]

Friend of mine used to have the policy of buying used tractors and running them to 10,000 hours.

I personally think he is asking a bit much of modern tractors which are hugely complex these days.

I wouldn't be scared of buying them new and running them past that but I wouldn't buy someone else's cast off and try it, unless I was very good with the spanners, which I'm not.

 

[ARW]

Friend of mine used to have the policy of buying used tractors and running them to 10,000 hours.

I personally think he is asking a bit much of modern tractors which are hugely complex these days.

If they can’t reach 10,000 hours they aren’t worth buying

 

[melted welly]

Friend of mine used to have the policy of buying used tractors and running them to 10,000 hours.

I personally think he is asking a bit much of modern tractors which are hugely complex these days.

Dunno about others, but 10,000hrs would be the very least I’d be trying to get out of them, especially if you can be looking at 6000hr warranty from new, then take your chance on the last 4000 with a machine you know.

 

[Lewis821]

All ours are bought and generally changed at 5 years, around 10000 hours which ever comes first. But some lower houred tractors get put onto more seasonal jobs like hedgecutting or become spares for when others in for servicing or broke down etc.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

Being a growing business we don't really have a policy as such, we haven't really 'levelled off' yet. We have one that is about to hit 10yr old, only 7200hrs but rather than change it we're looking to hang on to it and add another as we have another more 'main' tractor at 5yr old 5200hrs.

Generally though 10yr old, 8000hrs is when we would normally look to move them on, but of course that is slightly off now. Of ourse our oldest one now will hopefully just stay on the trimmer and be more back up/lighter duties. We'll see.

 

[yorkie]

All ours are bought and generally changed at 5 years, around 10000 hours which ever comes first. But some lower houred tractors get put onto more seasonal jobs like hedgecutting or become spares for when others in for servicing or broke down etc.

must have changed again used to buy them ,then least buy the hour then buying again , can't see it being much fun in the middle of nowhere a 4.30 in the morning with a 10000 hour tractor tns won't be around for a few hours , was doing 8000 in 3 years when they ran case

 

[deleted user 837354]

If they can’t reach 10,000 hours they aren’t worth buying

So you would expect a modern tractor with electric spools, guidance, suspension and CVT etc etc to make it to 10,000 hours with what kind of annual maintenance cost?

 

[Cowabunga]

For those of you who buy new tractors ,do you replace them when they have done so many hours e,g 5000hrs or do you replace them after e.g 5 years irrespective of hours. Many thanks for any info

My policy is not to replace anything unless absolutely necessary. But when I do, I get the best kit I possibly can for the job at hand.

 

[Cowabunga]

So you would expect a modern tractor with electric spools, guidance, suspension and CVT etc etc to make it to 10,000 hours with what kind of annual maintenance cost?

£2/hour for 200+hp tractors and £1.50 for 150hp and less, very approximately. Split half and half between routine maintenance and repairs. Repairs come in big lumps in cash terms so at any particular point in time the cost allocated to repairs may vary between half and double the average, but over ten to 12,000 hours most will be somewhat close to my estimated figures if worked hard but respectfully. There are elements of luck and there are tractors that may be more or less reliable than average of course, so there will be lots of variations either side of those figures, but they are sensible realistic expectations for budgeting purposes.

 

[robs1]

Does that 1.50 include tyres ?

 

[Cowabunga]

Does that 1.50 include tyres ?

No. Tyre wear varies very greatly according to application and tractor size and top speed. Tyres along can cost up to £1.50 an hour. Yet my 5445 MF which doesn't do much road work is likely to reach or even exceed 6000 hours on its first set of reasonably budget 420/85R34. Around £0.50 an hour and no actual spending until around 6000 hours, so if someone was to ask me what the tyre cost was to 5000 hours, it would be zero. That's what I meant by lump spending.
If an accidental rip that might even write off a part worn tyre were to happen, I don't believe insurance would cover it, and just one incident could increase costs dramatically.

There's a lot more that has to be added to make a total running cost over time, but the question was specifically about maintenance and repair.

 

[deleted user 837354]

So as a rough guess, expect to spend £20,000 on a tractor over 10,000 hours, which will include the maintenance/servicing and any repairs. Sounds reasonable. Tyres on top.

Has anyone managed to significantly come in below that figure and if so what make/model of tractor?

 

[Ducati899]

Used to be every 4 years here then change but am running them on now as all part ex tractors have been pretty much sold locally by dealer and seem to go on for years with little bother so I have gone to conclusion I’ll just run them on myself