I think a lot of this is false economy. If you like doing mechanical work then make that your line of work.
Comparing old to new:
1. New tractors get much better fuel mileage
2. New tractors have technology that can go a long way to making the payments on them
3. New tractors have a lot more operator comfort and if you're putting in eighteen hour days that's important.
Lets say you're a writer. Why not keep an IBM XT around to do your work? Granted finding those 5.25 inch floppies are a chore;<). But that XT can still write and print your work. You can even use Microsoft Word version 1.
The smartest play that I've seen farmers use is to buy gently used equipment. A three year old tractor has depreciated 30-40% and as long as you're able to make repairs is a steal over new. You get most of the benefits of new at a lower price.
Some do, some don't but this is mostly true (which is why the farmer in question is re-powering the old tractors).
> 2. New tractors have technology that can go a long way to making the payments on them
This is pretty flatly false. Whatever monitors, guidance, and steering technology (which is all I can think of that you might be referring to) is available for these tractors as well.
> 3. New tractors have a lot more operator comfort and if you're putting in eighteen hour days that's important.
This is also addressed with new seats and making the cab air-ride in the article.
But then these upgrades are why I think this in particular is a false economy, he is spending a lot on these old tractors!
Gently used is still pretty pricey, newer year but high-hour tractors are where I always feel the sweet spot is, a 9,000 hour 2005 model tractor is pretty cheap and is also pretty good in most cases.
>The smartest play that I've seen farmers use is to buy gently used equipment.
This is the "just buy a used 4Runner" way of doing things and like a used 4Runner it tends to only make economic sense on paper because everyone else who's read a blog about not making terrible financial decisions is trying to do the same, supply and demand works its magic and prices go up to the equilibrium where this method of doing things doesn't actually make economic sense. There is no free lunch.
There is no free lunch but you can make strategic choices that fit your needs. We ran an 85ish John Deere grader for years because it worked great for the kinds of jobs we did. It would break down but we usually had downtime between road jobs where we would do other work and fix the grader on the side. Turned out to be our best value piece of equipment in terms of dollars+labor in vs. dollars out.
We had a 70s Kenworth truck tractor that had been converted to a dump with a 12 yard box. It was practically invulnerable and while it lacked many modern bells/whistles it met all our needs. Paying for new equipment would've been paying for features we did not need.
Our main backhoe however was always new. This was for various reasons. At the time there was a lot of innovation happening with small backhoes and that included features we used. Often we were using our backhoe for residential work wherein new equipment makes a big impression. Also, a backhoe failure can be much harder to fix onsite it made sense to have low hour equipment.
IMO, this is how equipment purchasers should make buying decisions. Match the purchase to your need.
Which brings us to the frequently-on-hn topic of manufacturers loading up tractors with DRM crap so if it breaks you or the neighborhood shop can't fix it, you have to take it to the official dealer shop. Good luck booking a slot there during harvest season.
But yes, maybe slightly old machines are the solution rather than spending a lot of time and money to keep ancient rustbuckets going.
Comparing old to new:
1. New tractors get much better fuel mileage
2. New tractors have technology that can go a long way to making the payments on them
3. New tractors have a lot more operator comfort and if you're putting in eighteen hour days that's important.
Lets say you're a writer. Why not keep an IBM XT around to do your work? Granted finding those 5.25 inch floppies are a chore;<). But that XT can still write and print your work. You can even use Microsoft Word version 1.
The smartest play that I've seen farmers use is to buy gently used equipment. A three year old tractor has depreciated 30-40% and as long as you're able to make repairs is a steal over new. You get most of the benefits of new at a lower price.