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| Very interesting conversation. There are pro and cons for both like everyone has mentioned. The best advice is to what makes you money! Like Jeff Outwest you have to manage your equipment. Big farms that put lots of hours on need the reliability and peace of mind that their machinery will be working virtually everyday. That's how that justify the costs and expenses - covering more acreage. But there are smaller farmers that can justify new also - most are specialized or budget their equipment expenses - we are seeing more and more part-time farmers with off farm jobs - these farmers demand the reliability of newer machines. New machines not matter what color can breakdown. IF humans put them together there is always a chance for failure but normally a new tractor is less prone to failure that can cause work stoppage. But on the other hand tractors are very well built - we still have WD45's and Oliver 77's being used everyday in our area - yes they aren't the primary tractor but how many 50 year old auto and other items still running and in general easy access to most common parts. There still has to be a demand for used machinery be it a spare tractor for the big operator or the primary tractor for others - without a demand for used product the values would depreciate fast. Look at combines how fast does the resell drop on 5 to 10 to 20 year old machines. A used tractor can be used as a primary tractor for some but you also run the risk as the older it get the higher the maintenance costs can become and the higher the chances are for downtime. You have to weight out the costs downtime and maintenance costs versus new cost. There's not a simple answer but the best guideline is can you be profitable with what you have. | |
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new versus old tractors?
