HuskerJ - 10/31/2025 08:35

To use your example of the $40,000 Steiger vs the $400,000 new 4WD, I will say this:

One of the most successful farmers I know of would have 3 of the $40,000 Steigers. Between them, he would have less downtime than the one new one (assuming he only needs one to do the ripping). On top of that, he can have a second one hitched to - say his grain cart - and on the foggy days when it doesn't go to pick beans, he can rip the fields that he already picked without having to rehitch.

Going with the old tractors, he does have more repairs, but the cost of repairs is pretty low, and he is not captive to the dealership to get them fixed.

I think strictly by economics, that would be the way to go, but you also would be giving up convenience and comfort of the newer tractros, as well.


Heck, I know a guy with 2 1680 combines (Ok, one is a 1688), one of which is always going. If one goes down, he just jumpe in the other, and fixes the first on days it doesn't go to harvest. When both going, he does beans with one, has cornhead on the other. Has less than $40K in both machines, and I have never seen him have both down at once yet.