(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

The price of repairs on 20-30 year old tractors.

Bruce from Can.

Bruce from Can.

Well-known Member
Location
Woodville, Ontario, Canada
After reading Allen in NE post about the repairs on his IH 88 series. And Talking with one of my buddies the other day, who has his 7710 Ford in the shop. It seems you can easy put the whole value of the tractor into repairs in one fix. Also parts for theses ,not so old tractors are getting tough to come up with. Dealers , for the most part say sorry no longer available. Repair parts have to come off wrecks, and you know most of the life is gone out of wrecker parts when you get them. Just seems some thing is not write here,perhaps resale values on older tractors is just too high.
 
You nailed it, shop rates on a 1950 tractor are not 1950 shop rates. Should be, ought to be some sort of rule, but they ain't.
 
Yup, the tractor manufacturers are just being mean by not keeping every part for every tractor ever made on the shelf at every dealership.

It has nothing to do with the economics and logistics of manufacturing the parts and stocking them when you may only sell 5 of a given part in 30 years. They're just being mean.

Oh and yes they should still be charging 1950 shop rates, even though they couldn't even afford to keep the lights on. They're just being greedy charging what they charge today.
 
IMHO the biggest problem around my neck of the woods is just finding a competent mechanic - and that includes dealers.

I wouldn't have a problem spending $$$'s on a tractor repair or rebuild - just finding someone to do it and getting it right is my problem.

I had the head gasket replaced on my MF 50 diesel and was not at all happy with the quality of work.
 

Now why would you guys want to twist 20-30 year old into 65 year old? you really don't make any point at all. I see Bruce's point very well. A twenty-thirty year old piece of equipment should have lots of life left in it yet, unless it is way high in hours. It appears to me that once anything is over twenty years old that the manufacturers artificially raise prices of parts in order to push the consumer towards the new models on which they will make a big profit.
 
As far as price the market for anything sets the price so that takes care of itself over time.Now I may or may not choose to get into that market at that price and I'm priced out of the 10-20 year old tractor market by choice.What I do is try to buy the oldest and simplest tractor and implement that will get the job done for me on the farm and usually thats the cheapest and easiest to work on piece too.I have a lot of brands of tractors but have moved toward Olivers and Fiat built tractors lately because 1)I've found several at a good price I could fix whatever was wrong with them and 2)They for me are some of the easiest to work on tractors around.I'm not interested in any tractor with a lot of electronics,my idea of electrical on a tractor is one wire alternator and a way to turn it on/off and start it from the seat(LOL).BTW if you walk thru any dealership shop these days you'll see many that are being torn apart to work on are the ones 5-10 years old and even newer.
 
Grain prices aren't all that far off of 1950 prices. I will guarantee that with 1950's inputs and 1950's returns, you would make a LOT MORE money then in todays market!!
 
From experience, most dealers will go out of their way to order the vintage tractor part if it is at all available. I've seen dealers to research and find aftermarket parts from other sources. That is commendable on their part as there is no profit for them in providing this service.
 
Well this is nothing new. I started repairing/restoring tractors back around 1976 and I easily put more $$ into many tractors than they were worth not even counting labor.
 
Another thing to consider is that the dealers pay property tax on their inventory in some states. So if something sits on the shelf for 30 yrs, they've been paying tax on it. I know this has been phased out in a lot of states and I don't know the current list.

Guys farming thousands of acres who need the big EXPENSIVE newer tractors like Allen can't afford down-time and it's unlikely he'll do a rebuild himself over an extended period of time like a guy who has a tractor as a hobby.

I've got a 1980 Ford backhoe that I haven't even started in a year or so. The pins are kind of loose and I wouldn't want to depend on it to make a living. There is no way I'd take it to a dealer for a repair. Same goes for my Ford 3600. If it breaks, it'll sit there until I can get to it. Again, no trip to a dealer for it. As for parts, both of those units have readily available after-market items for common pieces.
 
No body is saying anything about all parts being stocked at all dealerships. If they would just have the parts avaible if at 2 seperate locations to cover a disaster and have them avaible in a weeks time and at a reasonable price, No reason an OEM part needs to be 5-10 times an aftermarket part of same quality. Even slow moving parts if when called for could go back to the tooling to make them when the order comes in And I don't think too many would complain about a higher price to keep that machine in operation if they had to set up just to make it. It is the responce of NO LONGER AVAIBLE that makes people the madest.
 
I dunno,

When I first laid eyes on my fiasco, I fully intended to just trade the old pooper off. Went shoping and the only thing I could find was a 7140 that had 2000 hours more than mine at $44K.

Not to mention what they would give me for an old 5488 with a bad set of planetaries. Buying another unknown tractor at that price just didn't jell in my mind.

Everything is geared to push out the little guy and only deal with the BTOs. He!! with 'em, I fixed the tractor. :>)

Allan
 
CNH wanted more for a hyd pump than I paid for my Jubilee. I got parts and rebuilt it myself for under $200. So if you want to work old tractors, better know how to repair them or go to dealer and buy new.

Just putting new rubber on old tractor exceeds the value of the tractor.
 
Well you might with 1950 prices but not 1952-53 prices. There was a farm recession then. Many farmers went to factory jobs for the income. WWII had inflated prices while Europe rebuilt its Ag production. Then by the early 1950s they had them on line. So Farm prices fell.

As for Bruce's point. The current cost of parts and labor are at TODAY'S cost of production. The old tractor value is based on the value of when it was produced and it working value today.
 
I'd be willing to bet the repairs on newer ones is more,but as a percentage of the value of the tractor,it doesn't seem as high.
On my part though,I haven't run in to a situation where I just absolutely couldn't get a part. You just have to have contacts and know where to get them.
 
That's why a lot of the BTO's lease tractors and combines instead of owning them. If something breaks, it comes out of someone else's pocket.
 
Machinery is interesting. Do we look at it as an investement (financial considreations), or a tool (task ability). When you look at a tool in concern to its cost per unit of production, then repairs vs. buy new become a bit easier to figure out. The issue for me usually is if the newer tool can increase my production.
I recently traded up from a worn out 806 to a worn out 1486. Could've rebuilt the problems on the 806 for about the same amount of money I put into upgrading and fixing some of the problems on the 1486. But when it came time to start working this spring I was able to do more work faster. Cost per unit of production I'm ahead to spend more. (more work done, with more money, but less on a per unit of production basis).
Sometimes being cheap costs a lot of money.
 
We have all been there where a part is not available for something we are working on. The shop cost is getting to high not just for tractors but autos as well.

IMHO it is not always about how much it costs to repair but rather it becomes as much a labor of love and pride in being able to fix it yourself.

Take my current two projects that are getting close to completion (at least I hope). One is the Ford 960 that was given to me not running. Got the electrical to the point where it runs with just a few more electrical items to go and finish the carb rebuild. Two is the 1996 Jeep Cherokee that I bought from my Dad. Again only a few more items to replace before it too is road ready. Have done all of the work possible myself with friends helping.

Not only does this allow me to spend time with good friends but also I get to see the results of my labor. By doing these things ourselves I believe that we also tend to not abuse the equipment but rather use it as intended.

These are things that the youth of today seem to be missing out on (not all but most) as they would rather play video games or be texting than actually outside learning something useful.

Just my 2 cents on this one.

BJ
 
Most tractors around here are at least 30 years old. The personal property tax is way to high. A 20 year old tractor would be considered new.
 
Hi
From what i see everything is being done for a dealership or OEM profits, nothing is really being done to help the customer anymore, other than remove his money or put the small repair shops and farmers out of business.
I run a small shop here, it would not be unheard of to wait anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months for a part. This can be on a machine 10 years old or less to.

The horror story I just heard about a new Trackhoe and out of the 6 months they owned it it's only worked 2. With problems. The guy told me there is now a 2 month back order on a turbo!. I think he said this was a $450.000 machine and he is using a 10 year old dealer loaner scrap heap. While making payments on his.

Another guy had his big 4wd case IH written off after an accident no parts to fix it. That tractor was not that old!.
I just heard from another reliable source a brand new tractor was a bad one and the dealers had to take it back, get rid of it somewhere and give the guy a new tractor.
With the cost of new equipment and these $5000 upwards emission components I think the costs of machinery repairs will kill farming, equipment operations and the trucking industry in the next 10 years.
My shops busy but in the next 5 years everything I fix now will be done due to no parts, or I can't fix the computer in the newer stuff.
Regards Robert
 
(quoted from post at 11:24:31 04/02/15) You nailed it, shop rates on a 1950 tractor are not 1950 shop rates. Should be, ought to be some sort of rule, but they ain't.
Click to expand...

Not sure why you'd say that, the mechanics and the dealer/shop owner aren't paying 1950 expenses.
 
My brother was a mechanic for our local AC and Case-IH dealer...When they went out of business in 1987 he went out on his own..Lots of his customers farm some pretty good size acreages using 25-35 year old tractors....Right now hes rebuilding the engines on a customers 8030,8050,and 8070 AC tractors...Lots of money will be spent....A couple of years ago a customer had his 3020 JD diesel rebuilt and the cost equaled the new purchase price because it needed a block.etc..The man had bought it new and its his favorite loader tractor...Some parts are getting hard to find but my brother seems to come up with them..With my help he got some hard to find 5488 IH FWA parts from PA.
 
Not being a mechanic, I have had three Farmall M tractors overhauled and axle bearings replaced at Jacobi Sales and Service in Shelbyville, Ky. Needless to say I can't sell any of these tractors for what I have in them. Also add the price of rear tires and various other stuff and you have hit the stratosphere. Ellis
 
I always found it helps a lot if one can fix himself whatever needs fixing. Without that ability i would have never gotten to were i am today..farming my own ground and being debt free.
I have no problem putting 5 grand worth of parts in a 5 grand tractor as long as it is used to earn a living on the farm and not to just sit pretty on the lawn or occupy space in a barn(i have no use for those).
I work with mostly seventies equipment and all i ever bought are fixer uppers or steals of deals.
I made a lot of money with fixing everything myself, it gave me the ability to stay home and work full time on the farm instead of having to take stuff to a dealer or repair facility or buy new which would have required me to get a second and third job off the farm to try pay for it and no time left to farm.
 
We farm about 200 acres, hay equipment is less than 10 years old, all other at least 20-50 years old. We do all our maintenance, and it still costs a few thousand dollars a year. I think the bigger operators look at the downtime/maintenance costs and weigh the new equipment against it. I see a lot of bigger operators roll their equipment to keep it in warranty. I really do not know if I would want a 10-15 year old tractor and face the potential repair bills.
 
I do agree things are rather out of hand but look what you have on all these new machines compared to a basic 1950 model tractor or combine. I put three times the money in parts in the 52 Farmall H that dad bought new. No labor included. But when dad bought that tractor, a good crop of corn was 60 bu an acre, beans 18 to 20, corn was $1.05 and oats .72 cents and beans right about $2. I raised a few hogs and that is market value of the feed of his that I used to feed out the hogs. I worked hauling bundles for .75 cents, gas was .20 to .24 cents. When I started at the Dealer in '58 shop rate was $2.50. and I made .90 and hour. When I retired, I was making $11., car cost me a little over $10K and gas was $2. I have running water (well, we had it on the farm also as you ran like hell when dad told you to go get some) thermostatic controlled heat etc etc. We live in a totally different world. I also remember dad complaining about the new stuff just too darn complicated and would never last.
 
(quoted from post at 10:10:45 04/02/15)
(quoted from post at 11:24:31 04/02/15) You nailed it, shop rates on a 1950 tractor are not 1950 shop rates. Should be, ought to be some sort of rule, but they ain't.
Click to expand...

Not sure why you'd say that, the mechanics and the dealer/shop owner aren't paying 1950 expenses.
Click to expand...
think he was making a joke, but I would sure hate to go back to 1950s wage scales and living conditions.
 
New tractors are coming from Asia, I guess in time our food too. It's all about big money & profit.
 
(quoted from post at 05:54:12 04/02/15) After reading Allen in NE post about the repairs on his IH 88 series. And Talking with one of my buddies the other day, who has his 7710 Ford in the shop. It seems you can easy put the whole value of the tractor into repairs in one fix. Also parts for theses ,not so old tractors are getting tough to come up with. Dealers , for the most part say sorry no longer available. Repair parts have to come off wrecks, and you know most of the life is gone out of wrecker parts when you get them. Just seems some thing is not write here,perhaps resale values on older tractors is just too high.
Click to expand...

A sharp pencil and honesty is your friend.
 
Have a tractor I can work on. It's 72 yrs young and parts readily available :)
But then I'm just a broke lil guy
 
The economics and logistics of supporting old equipment is lost on most everyone here. Everyone thinks that someone at CNH or JD corporate rubs a magic lamp and a genie poops out an endless supply of replacement parts.

Those tractor manufacturers are just being MEAN by not supplying parts!
 
When you're making comparisons of the cost repairing an old tractor and the cost often exceeding the tractor's worth, don't forget to see how much a new tractor that would do the same work as the old one's been doing will cost. Often you will see you're not doing too bad fixing the old one.
 
(quoted from post at 18:56:45 04/02/15) When you're making comparisons of the cost repairing an old tractor and the cost often exceeding the tractor's worth, don't forget to see how much a new tractor that would do the same work as the old one's been doing will cost. Often you will see you're not doing too bad fixing the old one.
Click to expand...

What he says ^^^
 
(quoted from post at 08:20:01 04/02/15) No body is saying anything about all parts being stocked at all dealerships. If they would just have the parts avaible if at 2 seperate locations to cover a disaster and have them avaible in a weeks time and at a reasonable price, No reason an OEM part needs to be 5-10 times an aftermarket part of same quality. Even slow moving parts if when called for could go back to the tooling to make them when the order comes in And I don't think too many would complain about a higher price to keep that machine in operation if they had to set up just to make it. It is the
responce of NO LONGER AVAIBLE that makes people the madest.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't be feasible to try to produce just a handful of uncommon parts. I am a machinist, and my machine will bring $100+/ hour, probably closer to 200 with the size of it. You can't just save all the old tooling for every part around for ever. Fixtures take up room, and room is money. Not to mention the tools used to make that part even 10 years ago won't be the same ones I would use today to make the same part. If someone needed 5 parts made that used to be made 1000's at a time, and they originally were made in 10 minutes a piece, it's probably going to take atleast an hour a piece to make them, from setup to tear down. So now a part that once only cost $30 will now cost $300 simply because of the lower order size.

I've made parts barely bigger than a quarter that had several hours in each piece. Size doesn't always determine price. Those parts had to cost atleast $500/each to bring in a profit for my employer. You think some of these prices are high, just see what they would cost if they had to make just a handful because "some day, someone might need one of these"

If the parts ain't moving, the parent company isn't going to shell out the money to make slow moving parts for an old and not usually used to make a profit tractor a 50 year old manure spreader or hay rake.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
No no no Donovan! Logistics and economics have NOTHING to do with it! A magic genie poops out the parts, and he works for free. The tractor manufacturers are just being MEAN!!!
 
What's not right is it's a Ford. As far as parts support, Deere still owns it. It doesn't surprise me to find out that New Holland lacks in parts support. It's not so much their fault as it is FIAT. I think both Case IH and Ford have gone downhill since FIAT got involved.

I see the bills that customers have to end up paying day in and day out. I'm not directly involved in that aspect of it(settling the bill), but I know what the bill is when the repair is done. $10,000 power shift repairs. $35,000 combine repairs(multiple items repaired). Almost makes you sick. Just the parts alone can make you sick sometimes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

RedMF40
Third Cub's the Charm
Replies
7
Views
781
SweetFeet
SweetFeet
D
Discouraged
Replies
16
Views
1K
rrlund
R
B
the tractor list.
Replies
8
Views
2K
Brent Zappe
B
C
Deciding on first tractor
2 3
Replies
42
Views
2K
Leroy
L
J
State of the farm address!! LOL Long!!
Replies
18
Views
3K
chuck from neb
C
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top