Posted on 01/10/2020 8:59:45 AM PST by DUMBGRUNT
Tractors built in 1980 or earlier cause bidding wars at auctions.
...last bought a new tractor, he opted for an old one — a 1979 John Deere 4440.
He retrofitted it with automatic steering guided by satellite, and he and his kids can use the tractor to feed cows, plant fields and run a grain auger. The best thing? The tractor cost $18,000, compared to upward of $150,000 for a new tractor. And Folland doesn’t need a computer to repair it.
“They cost a fraction of the price, and then the operating costs are much less because they’re so much easier to fix,”
“The newer machines, any time something breaks, you’ve got to have a computer to fix it,”
“The main reason we do this is to make money,” Folland said. “Older equipment is a way to reduce your cost per bushel to become more profitable.”
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
I prefer analog cars for the same reasons.
Yep. A tenth the price of a new tractor and just as capable. And the farmer can usually fix it himself.
Also, the manufacturers are copyrighting the firmware and making it almost impossible for anyone besides them$elves to keep it up to date.
In effect, you’re not buying a tractor, you’re buying a yearly license to operate a machine.
Not only that, but the manufacturer dealers are the only ones with the computer programs to diagnose the problems that come up with all this new shit.
Saw a video where a farmer said he has to send his modern tractor to the company because it was impossible to fix it on his own due to all of the software and electronics that only a authorized tech can access. His vintage tractor, he points out, could be repaired in an afternoon
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better vanished time
Those would be Clunkers in Obamaspeak.
I’ll be looking for a basic Jeep. I wonder if they can be found anymore — standard transmission, crank windows, manual 4WD, etc.
I had worked in the garage for a local electrical utility back in the late 90’s early 00’s.
As soon as the electronics began permeating the diesels (emissions) we watched reliability go straight down the toilet.
And my dad makes fun of me for not wanting the newest, most expensive tractor.
I’m keeping my two CJs even though they are project vehicles.
I’m keeping my two CJs even though they are project vehicles.
He has to wait for a Deere authorized diagnostic tech to come out and tell him what's wrong with it, and lose his farm if he tries to hack the diagnostic software, because he is looking for a bad limit switch and can't wait for a Deere factory man to charge $300/hr plus travel mileage to make a field call.
John Deere went 100% Harvard business school model, renting/leasing farm machinery instead of selling it, and is whining about how Kubota is stealing their business.
What are the eco regs like for these?
That’s what drives the price and repairability of autos and appliances.
Good. I am hoping for something new and without the bells and whistles — adds cost and increases the likelihood of failure.
My dad and uncle have I don’t know how many fixed up Massey Ferguson tractors.
There is a small AC they use for gardens.
TESTABILITY
The Engineering world calls it Testability.
Farm tractors and Semi tractors are trash because they are not designed testable, so a layman can test and fix it.
Trash.
Rent, not Own.
They own it, not you.
None of that for me nowadays.
I converted the Willys to electronic ignition. A real difference.
Dad’s 65 Willys has points but he will probably convert. I hate points.
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