USA and Canada running older kit

[casemx 270]

We have been talking at work today about running older tractors. The tractor machanic I was working with said about farmers rebuilding older tractors rather than buying new. We got on to talking about this being more popular on American farms where out of season farmers would rebuild their tractors .So my question is why is this more popular over the pond ? Thanks

 

[SilliamWhale]

One reason would be not a lot of road work. And probably less spraying and with self propelled. So they don't mind sitting in a classic for a few days drilling corn n soybeans. Massive generalisations though - I'm sure they do buy new tractors there!!

 

[Lincs Lass]

They have the huge acreage to run the likes of Big bud ,the Steigers and the older JD artic models
The added bonus is diesel is much cheaper to burn in big engine than it is over here and no ad blue problems

 

[Barleycorn]

I was told of Claas Jaguar 800 series going strong at 30,000 hours over there. You've only got to look at lorry fleets over here, nobody gets rid of a lorry before several engine / gearbox overhauls.

 

[casemx 270]

I was told of Claas Jaguar 800 series going strong at 30,000 hours over there. You've only got to look at lorry fleets over here, nobody gets rid of a lorry before several engine / gearbox overhauls.

Yes but why keep overhauling old kit ?

 

[glasshouse]

Yes but why keep overhauling old kit ?

Cos its cheaper

 

[kiwi pom]

I think there's a wide range of machinery ownership over there. Some places run new, some older and some end of life stuff.
Perhaps a bit different to the UK because the older stuff stays in country instead of being exported to 'poorer' countries.
Many farms running old kit wouldn't actually put many hours on them. A bit of seeding/tillage but no transport work.
I think its the economics of the job rather than a love of workshop work that sees older kit overhauled.
Perhaps there's more money in the job in the UK?

 

[kiwi pom]

I was told of Claas Jaguar 800 series going strong at 30,000 hours over there. You've only got to look at lorry fleets over here, nobody gets rid of a lorry before several engine / gearbox overhauls.

Actually the 'Mega fleets' that buy thousands of trucks at a time change them regularly, whilst still in warranty and below 500,000 miles. They look at low cost of ownership with minimal servicing, then shift them on before any mechanical trouble. Obviously when you swap a thousand at a time you're not paying top price for them. Its the second and third owners that do the rebuilds as a way of staying in business because the finance numbers on new don't stack up for them. The price of a major breakdown has but many owner ops out of business.

 

[Barleycorn]

Yes but why keep overhauling old kit ?

Because you get repairs off the tax, and why buy a disposable kit? Years ago a man would buy a threshing kit knowing that his son would inherit it and use it. Nowadays your Fendt is traded in the moment one with extra toys is released.

 

[Tomr10]

After watching a lot on you tube recently. There is a lot of variance between farms. One benefit to older kit they can work on is mechanic can be miles away. There is also a lot of cases of brands not letting people work on new models.

From what I see they tend to spend on combines and drills age of tractor dosent make much difference especially when fuel is less than $2 a gallon

 

[Drillman]

Look at what the tractors do though. A lot of the time all there used for is to back up to a big drill, drop the pin in plug a few pipes in and away.

They don’t want to pick heavy implements up on a linkage at row ends, do heavy draft work or bounce all over the country hauling trailers on roads as they use trucks.

So all they need is something big simple with wide tyres, autosteer and air con that can pull something big and wide at speed.

 

[Tomr10]

If you watch mike Mitchell on you tube hes only doi g 6mph when drilling

 

[bazza3034]

All ways wondered how the biggest of the fendts would do on them big farms against the artic machinery they use

 

[David.]

When I looked at Canada in late 90s my overriding impression was that the place ran on Case/JD/NH finance same as everywhere else. The progressive chaps who were expanding their operations, and with the next generation entering the business, were the ones with the new front line tractors and harvesters too.
There is a sweet spot with all this gear when it is advantageous to trade, before the hours worked start to devalue it to the good used buyer. A good example would be the custom harvest gangs who (used to anyway) trade out new combines mid season sub 1000hrs.
You cant generalise.

 

[76masseyman]

Yes but why keep overhauling old kit ?

The older large tractors like Big Bud, Wagner, Versatile etc were component built, like the older trucks were. They took many off the shelf components, like Cummins engines, Rockwell axles, Fuller transmissions, that were well proven and widely available.
Big Bud pre drilled their frames to accept different engines, and made them service friendly.
If the frame is good, and components just worn, then why not. I shouldn’t think the wheat emerges any better just because a Fendt pulled the seeder.

 

[glasshouse]

Tractors like steiger were built to last with simple off the shelf components.
No laptops needed
Thats why they are still popular

 

[bluebell]

john deere home land, i believe they stock, make , parts for all or most of their machinery going back many years, also USA is very big many people dont have or need a passport ? judging by the you tube posts many new young people moving and building homesteads in the country looking for the goodlife ?that drives the demand for older kit and hobby style tractors ?

 

[adam_farming]

As mentioned before there is a big spread in methods. The custom harvest crew I worked on took 1 year old combines that had already done a harvest run, put about 750 drum hours on in a year, and then maybe kept them another season or traded them, depending on the offer available. Bearing in mind that the dealer has tens of that same model sitting on the lot ready to trade. Also combines and headers don't tend to go in pairs like here, mainly as they need more than one header anyway so they are treated as separate machines.

I did hear of one larger custom harvest crew that traded an 8R after a season having put 8 hours on it. It was bought for the season to run grain cart but never used so moved on at the end of season. These guys run 10 combines and 5 grain cart tractors all new JD every year though so I imagine this wasn't a big issue.

It is interesting how different farming systems in various countries use and trade machinery in different ways

 

[milkloss]

One thing I've noticed is that they tend to have mechanics and very rarely do they work on their own kit. Getting a bit like that here too, many won't even change the oil.

 

[som farmer]

I watch u tube, american farmers seem to have 1 or 2 modern tractors, and some much older ones come out in busy times !
A friend imports a lot of vintage machinery from Canada, he has a base over there, with 2 chaps finding the old kit, which in many cases, is just parked up, in a corner, and left, one reason, the distance to a scrap yard ! The market for vintage tractor restoration, must be enormous, as he brings in 8/10 containers a year, and since lock down, virtually emptied his yard/store, as most are broken down for spares.