The value of and reasons for spending large sums on road vehicles not for business use is complicated and varied. An old Corolla will move your butt from one side of town to the other as effectively as a new Ferrari but it won’t assist you in attracting members of the opposite gender or impressing people. My plain Jane work truck model Tundra ain’t impressing anybody but I like it and it will move me and a 5 ton trailer wherever. For many cars and light trucks, substantial portions of their value is not purely transportation. With few exceptions, non-business road vehicles are an expense and nothing else. For most of us, there’s no viable alternative so they’re also a necessity.
There is a little bit of “cool factor” with tractors but the vast majority of a tractor’s value is pure utility, which is why they hold their value so well as long as they’re functional and reliable. Whether using it for business or not, the cost of ownership is at least majority, if not all, a money decision for all but a very few owners. I don’t use mine for business but if I’d hired out all the jobs I’ve done with it in just the first year I’ve owned it, I’d have spent about 75% of the cost of the tractor, implements, maintenance, fuel, insurance, etc. already. I also have ongoing routine jobs such as gravel driveway maintenance, bush hogging, trail maintenance, firewood work, tree lot maintenance, etc. Hiring all that out would be totally impractical and very expensive.
Long story how we got there and this is already too long, but we were on 55 acres that had been neglected for several years. My wife and I discussed our options and it came down to let the property continue to decline to its natural state and just keep the yard tame; sell out and move somewhere without land maintenance; or buy some real equipment to give us the capability to maintain the place. I had experience running equipment just didn’t own any. We set a budget of around $40k and started researching.
If it’s a business tool it makes money. Otherwise it’s about as simple as you have 1/4 acre you need a push mower, a couple of acres you need a riding mower, more serious acreage you need a tractor and a smattering of implements. Hiring out or renting equipment for a one off project once in a while may make sense, but you have to own the equipment for the routine stuff. Didn’t spend the full budget on the purchase of the tractor but adding some implements later plus all the miscellaneous costs, in it about $40k +/- total for the first year. I’m not apologizing for it, not ashamed of it, no regrets.
And my wife’s Highlander cost more than my tractor so if she has anything to say about equipment costs, I got that going for me.
as said above tractors at least hold their value, worth the money!
