New hobby farmer - chance to by JD 820

jasong

New User
I found this site and it was helpful. I thought you all may be able to give me a little counsel on a tractor that I have the option of purchasing. I have attached a picture of what I see from the decals as being a John Deere 820 tractor.
My wife and I have recently purchased 20 acres of land, most of which will require bush hogging. We plan on planning a few acres of Christmas trees as well someday in the future.

A friend of mine at work mentioned that his father had recently sold his farm, and had an older tractor that has always served them well and, but was no longer needed.
He said that they had downsized to a 5-acre site closer to town, and that he had just used the tractor to bush hog some last week, but they will be using a zero turn going forward.


The info I have is below.

For sale:
- he has asked $5,000 for everything
- tractor
- bush hog implement
- box blade implement
- auger implement
- fork lift implement

He has told me that it will need
- a new seat,
- a tie rod
- possibly some new tires in a season or two.

I am new to agriculture, and I do not know if this is a good deal or not. Any advise you may be able to offer me on the 820 model would be great.
From what I can find online the tires, seat and tie rod could cost as much as 2,000 dollars. so I may counter offer $4,000.

Thanks

mvphoto6533.jpg

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Their offer sounds fair to me, provided the tractor is in good-running condition. Are the tires still holding air? Seats don't cost much - can always start off with a chair cushion, or even an old tarp.

You're going to pay a little more as it has the JD name. Outside of that, all those attachments will quickly add up as well. Try pricing all those attachments separately.

...But then, I'm not one to dicker. If I feel someone is too high, I'll move on. If they're anywhere close to a price I have in mind, then I'll look the equipment over and see how I feel about it.

Maybe you live in an area where used equipment is plentiful and sells on the cheap, but looks like a fair deal to me.
 
Nice tractor, but then I am biased toward green tractors. I cannot tell from the photos if it has power steering which
is a definite plus. Since you know the owner it would be helpful to find out what maintenance has been done on it. If
its unknown and you buy it, change the coolant.
A loader would be benefit as well but you can purchase that later.
 
I think the one thing that would be the most important is not there- a loader. Those are good tractors, but you're paying some for the JD name. I think you could get a suitable tractor with loader for less,
and have money left over for the only one of the implements that will really be useful to you- the brush hog mower.
 
That would be a good tractor for your size farm. I have its big brother 1520 check all the fluids
especially trans hydraulic make sure its not white or grey as you sit the dip stick is behind your right
heel unscrews. check the brakes they can be expensive to replace. great engine lots of common parts with
newer tractors.
 
It could be good, I don't know. What I do know is there are very few of them around. Just were not sold in my area. I have been with tractors all of my 74 years and have never seen one. I thought when they were new according to sales lit they would be a nice small tractor. The thing I would wonder if as few as there were if parts situation might be a problem. Just check with the JD dealer about things. If they do not know anything about them, they might question you on if it is just a garden tractor or if you are talking about the BIG-Big 2 cylinder tractor of the late 50's. If they do you need to find a different dealer that does know about them. Also what is an auger implement, a post hole digger? A fork lift implement, a I don't know what? Just do your homework.
 
Far as I know these were Mannheim tractors sold in Canada. I have seen a number of 920 tractors around which were the big brother to this
tractor.
 
Brother has one. In it's first life it mowed a cemetary for 30 years. They now
brushhog and mow with it. They have had good service from it. The pictures look
like it was well cared for. Nice weights and ROPS. Brother's has neither of those.
Price sounds fair. If it runs well 4k is not bad even w/ o pictures of the
implements.
 
No, they're American. I have a JD 710, the largest of the 510-610-710 series sold in Canada. Maybe the 920 was subsequent to that.
 
They can be both American built and German built. Later and better series than the 510 or 710. Ben
 
The 820 was the first German built tractor that Deere sold in the US. It evolved into the 830 then 2040. Dad had a brand new 1968 model and used it hard and never had any problems. Many 820 do not have power steering and if that one does not the $5000 is to much.I have owned several over the years and they are much more plentiful on the east coast than the midwest. Today at an auction I bid on a 1020 gas with a 48 loader with 3500 original hours and a Deere blade. The tractor was perfect, the original paint was to nice to even touch up and it sold for $7,000. A 1020 is very close to the same as a 820 but was US made. Many parts interchange between the two.It should be a nice unit for what you want to do. Tom
 
Hi, once you have a tractor, you can't have too
many implements. Every thing is handy to have.
$5G seems okay but you could make a reasonable
offer.
You might get a few jobs around the neighborhood.
Ed Will Oliver BC
.
 

JD 3 cyl 820 tractors were the 1st Mannheim built tractors to be marketed by JD in the N America. I remember selling them & normally it was deliver them then never see them again IE no warranty required. Did I state they were very good tractors. I enlarged photo & I think I saw the line that supplies the Power Steering valve. Keep in mind this model has ""open-center hyd's"". I think $5K is too high.
 
Looks like it work 5K to me. For the age it isn't beat up. With what goes with it it's worth the $$..
You don't need NEW tires to Brush hog your property the 1st time, Seat would be good for your bottom.
After you know the property is clear & free of things that will go threw tires then put the tires on.
 
You can get a whole new seat like that, suspension and all, for about $100 at your local Tractor Supply store. I don't know why they're so cheap because they're pretty good seats, all metal, good suspension.

I would not lowball too much. An offer of $4000 might get you excommunicated from the family.
 
FWIW: My opinion is it would make a nice tractor for what you need. The price sounds reasonable as does your offer given the rear tires look original. If they are holding air and not got any rips in them they just could last a long time ? Then you could search out some used ones in time. If it had power steering that would be a big plus ! I'm not sure if those are the proper front weights or not ? the stack seems a little off as in not stacked together very good ? But if those are JD weights they might be worth $300 to $400 for all of them ?
 
(quoted from post at 06:23:34 11/22/17) FWIW: My opinion is it would make a nice tractor for what you need. The price sounds reasonable as does your offer given the rear tires look original. If they are holding air and not got any rips in them they just could last a long time ? Then you could search out some used ones in time. If it had power steering that would be a big plus ! I'm not sure if those are the proper front weights or not ? the stack seems a little off as in not stacked together very good ? But if those are JD weights they might be worth $300 to $400 for all of them ?


THANK YOU ALL FOR THE INFO ABOVE. I HAVE BEEN OUT OF POCKET FOR A FEW HOURS AND I WAS JUST ABLE TO READ ALL OF THE POST. VERY, VERY HELPFUL, ALL THE WAY AROUND.
I JUST TEXT THE MY FRIEND WHOS DAD IS SELLIMG IT AND HE CONFIRMED IT DOES HAVE POWER STEERING.
Also
I DID NOT MENTION IT, BUT HE HAD TOLD ME THIS TRACTOR WAS IN GOOD RUNNING CONDITION AND HAS NEVER NOT STARTED, THEY USED IT ON A REGULAR BASIS.
THANKS EVERYONE
I WILL KEEP YOU ALL IN THE LOOP.
 
Don't let it get away ! Maybe they will counter offer with $ 4500 ?
Even at $5 K it should be good. I guess it depends on where your at but the stuff I see for sale has crazy asking prices on it. I'd sure rather have one like this one than one from an auction !
 
Very good tractors but 5000 is way out of line given the current market for 2 wheel drive tractors
and especially the apparent condition of the rear tires on that tractor. Its a good time of year to
tractor shop, they tend to get cheaper between now and the 1st of March.
 

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