I think there is a middle ground.

There was a very wealthy home builder/remodeler I knew years ago who always drove a clean, nice looking but 3-5 year old pickup truck around town.  The guy could have probably bought any dealership in town, let alone a new truck.

But because he never ran a brand new pickup people always thought of him as fair in his pricing, but his reputation and superclean but older truck looked like he took care of things....details and quality but not over priced and over leveraged at the bank.

In farming I think a nice line of well-cared for but maybe not brand new equipment might convey the same message.

Just a thought that came to mind about this "carpenter" when I read your post.

Jim at Dawn