Tractor and Equipment Speculation

[Green Mountain Slim]

Over the last week I've seen several 15 to 22 HP diesel tractors listed on Craig's List in my general vicinity. From my own town to up to 125 miles away. They are all Japanese made tractors that look to be in pretty good shape and they ranged in price from $1100.00 to $2800.00 with the more expensive being 4 X 4s with attachments.

I have learned that these tractors should not be taken for granted at lower prices, but would you consider buying two tractors for $2400.00 a good deal if you could probably turn around and sell one for $2000.00 on its own? Take into consideration a 250 mile round trip to retrieve them.

Or would you think a 15 HP tractor with two attachments that you could certainly use, (Tiller and york rake) only 50 miles away would be the better deal although it's $2500.00 that you don't expect to recoup any money from?

Yeah, I think you see my dilemma. I would like an inexpensive diesel tractor to mow the yard and back up my B8200, but I will need to find one with a belly mower and hopefully a couple of other attachments that I can use, or sell of to buy what I need.

The first one I missed had the belly mower was 4 X 4 and also had a Back Blade and 3PH Snowblower I could have sold off. The whole package was $2800.00 and it was almost in my own town. I hesitated and it was gone. Today the two tractors for $2400.00 or less. (I didn't call because of the distance involved) Now also gone.

If I got into a decent Yanmar, Mitsubishi, Hinomoto (Now Hitachi), or Iseki, would you think a trade for a good used Kubota would be out of the question? How about a straight sale to actually make a few $$? The point is not to invest too much in a deal if I can end up even or ahead and with the equipment I want. (I have a few other assets I can sell off (fingers crossed) to make up part of the investment)

What would you do?

Also, I've seen a couple of really great deals on a box blade, a rotary tiller, Kubota FL1270, and a york rake, but they seem to be hunted to a 5 minute reply time. Is this the same in your area?

 

[cmorningstar01]

The deals like that that I see on craigslist are generally scams to get your personal info and money.

They steal photos from legitimate ads and them post an ad showing a fully loaded tractor or an almost new tractor at a low price and they usually have a link or email address in the listing for you to contact.

 

[Green Mountain Slim]

cmorningstar01

I've seen those as well, but these are not of that caliber. They are older (Classic) small diesel tractors in my State or a contiguous State (New Hampshire). There is nothing special about them like "Only 100 hours", or "Used only 1 summer". They are posted with average pictures, not the professional looking calender shoot photos usually associated with those Scam CL posts. As a matter of fact I have thought their biggest problem would be that they actually don't run as that isn't mentioned in the ads.

They are actually linked to an account unlike those of the Scammers who usually leave an e-mail to contact. As a matter of fact I have seen one of these small tractors at my local Kioti dealership as advertised on Craig's List.

Since this one is still up, and I know it was sold as I called about it and talked to the owner, I'll give you this example. http://burlington.craigslist.org/grd/2346060047.html

I don't know about your area, but right now people are getting desperate for cash around here. I think that accounts for the lower prices than I've typically seen.

 

[Green Mountain Slim]

Here's an example tractor found on Craig's List.
As seen on Craig's List, Burlington, Vermont:

Yanmar Diesel Tractor - $2000 (Milton, VT)
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Date: 2011-05-12, 9:33PM EDT
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Nice little Yanmar 18 hp diesel tractor. 8 speeds forward 2 reverse with differential lock. Tractor has meter with just over 900 hours.
3 point hitch is strong and PTO has 3 speeds. All sheet metal is clean, tractor runs as it should and has lots of power. This is a very strong little tractor and ready to work on a small farm.

If interested call Dan at 802 XXX-XXXX or 802 XXX-XXXX

This post is for informational purposes only. Nothing is being sold by the poster. This is strictly to prove the point made in the original post.

 

[284 International]

I'm not sure I fully understand your question. That's probably my fault, not yours. To answer what I think you're asking: Yes, you could buy a tractor or two and potentially sell or trade your way up. There are some people who need money NOW, and will sell things for less than what they could get otherwise. I've bought a tractor that way that turned out to be a decent deal for me.

Sometimes people don't know how to repair things that are otherwise simple or straightforward repairs, and with some sweat equity you can repair the thing and have a unit worth more than you paid. I've bought a machine like this, too.

I have also bought a tractor that seemed to be both of those things at once, and got deceived into buying something in much worse shape than the seller told me.

If there are tractors being sold at some price in your general area, then that is the going market value for them. Prices plus or minus 10 to 20 percent are normal allowances for varying condition and convenience, I would say.

If you're looking for the amazing deals, be ready to jump on them as soon as they post. Have cash at home, ready to meet the guy at any time. Someone else will be doing that, too. The greatest risks, in my view, are also in the "amazing deal category." The seller may say it needs a little work to run, but it won't start now. If it were so simple to fix, why don't they do the repair, and get more for the machine?

The other issue is whether you want to get involved in buying and selling stuff over the internet. Craigslist purchasers are notoriously flaky. One of the reasons sellers list things a bit low is because they know the first person to call will come buy it, and it will be out of their hair. It's a nuisance to set up an appointment and have the person no-show. How comfortable are you advertising something and having strangers show up at your house to inventory what you've got in the way of equipment, tools, guard dogs, or other factors that make your house a high value burglary target?

If you are ok with turning a profit of 100 bucks plus an implement or something, then this may be a good avenue to pursue. I'm not trying to discourage you. But, make a realistic assessment of what you can sell things for vs what you can buy for the money. Figure out what your time is worth, as well as your convenience.

What I have found is that if you're lucky enough to make an astonishing deal on a tractor, especially as a package, you'll end up not wanting to get rid of it, because "I've only got _____ into it, and it's worth it to me to keep and not have to change implements, but be ready to go whenever." It ends up being a money taker rather than saver, but helps out in terms of convenience. The prices that are fair to both parties are easiest to sell, because it's a replaceable commodity at that point. Amazing deals cannot be replaced, that's what makes them amazing.

Figure out your strategy, then do it. And take pictures, so we can see what you buy! Good luck.

 

[Green Mountain Slim]

284 International, you are absolutely right about keeping a good setup if it is more convenient then swapping equipment back and forth and that's one thing I figured I might have to deal with.

Ideally I'd love to find a B6100 or B7200 to do the 3PH work so I can keep my backhoe on my B8200. If I can find a decent package with tractor, box scraper, rotary tiller, and York rake for a little more money then I could reasonably buy a resale tractor with maybe one or two usable implements for use with my B8200 then why sell anything? And why buy a slightly higher priced tractor with implements if the resale margin might not be as good?

The example I posted I'm 98% sure was bought with two good implements for $2500.00 and as you can see the tractor alone is being resold for $2000.00 by the new owner. He's probably going to end up $1000.00 to $1500.00 better off for it. It's not really making money, but you're way ahead because now you have the implements and you get 4/5ths of your money back on the tractor alone.

 

[284 International]

I understand your thinking. I don't disagree. But if you don't plan on buying those implements, you aren't really ahead, you've just spent more money on something you wouldn't have bought otherwise.

If you can make it work, then go ahead and do it. In my area, I don't think I'd be able to make myself any money; I also have virtually every implement available except a root rake, actually. So if I had to shell out the money to get the tractor and it had some implements, especially a new one to me, I know that I'd end up just leaving the tractor attached to the new implement, or putting it onto an existing implement, and then be stuck with the rest of them and try to get rid of them to cover some of the cost. Around here, non-PTO implements seem to go for something like double their scrap value when you can find them. Your area may be much different.