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Pierce county WI | When we get a winter thaw, I always like to fire up the combine and run it and move it. So that got me thinking... guys are always asking about trade numbers, and what year is a good one for that model, does it have emissions, etc. So here's my question: has anyone ever thought about buying a fleet of old combines and running till they break, and junk it, and grab another one? I'll use 9500 John Deere combines as my example. You could use 1660s if you like red, or r50s if you don't like paint, or tr87s if you're a yellow guy. So guys are talking about 100K trade difference for the same model, so that's the budget. I think you could get a good 9500 for 20000. I'm not talking about a one owner low hr 97 model, just a decent plain old 9500. So you could buy 5. Newer heads will work on a 9500, parts are plentiful and relatively cheap compared to some new machines. So you definitely give up some capacity, but 2 9500s running all the time have lots of capacity. So you will have the cost of an operator, but combine drivers aren't too hard to find, and a 9500 is simple. So if you bought one that was in good working order, how many acres will you get out before it is junk? You might have to hire a bearing or belt fixed, but anything major, junk it. Down time for the small repairs isn't a big deal, cause you have 3 spares if you are running 2. I think 5 9500s will last a long time. Plus you will have the residual salvage value, which depending on how shot it is may be what, $7-8K? So I think 5 9500s are a better investment than boot on the one new s670 or s680. What do you guys think? Oh, and this is not a knock on anybody with a newer combine that does these trades, I like iron too! I'm throwing in a picture of my 9510, just because it made me happy that it has been sitting for 2 months, and fired right up yesterday.
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Warm weather made me think about combines. Got a question about combines (all colors).
