US car trades 1/3 underwater is machinery next.

[farmaholic]

AF5.... I'm not arguing with that logic because you are right. Not alot of value in the stuff you mentioned.

But why is a monitor with proprietary programming worth a sickening amount of money when a generic computer costs much less. Or a module that will shut down a whole combine worth so much?

What are we actually paying for? The hardware or software? All too nuts as far as I'm concerned.


I just had to replace my 1995 farm beater with something. Instead of buying another piece of nearly wore out junk I opted for a private deal on a 2014 Chev 1/2 tonne with about 3200(yes, hundred) kms on it. Regular cab, long box, 4X4. No carpet on the floor... vinyl matting. No electric windows... crank windows. Has all the other creature comforts though... things that were once options that became standard equipment. Plain Jane to the max... I wasn't buying a Laramie or Longhorn to take to the field... and I still have the Ram(another plain truck) for pulling stuff. Too good a deal to pass up. Does it inflate my ego? No. Does it deflate my bank account? No... Perfect then!

[stonepicker]

Like! farmaholic.

[hobbyfrmr]

I struggle with buying newer anything. This farm is too small to cash flow any modern equipment for sure, but I really would like to buy better stuff. I have a high credit rating, lenders are favourable but the math bothers me. I fix up the old units, install air ride seats, radio and make sure the a/c is doing its job. Then we drive them all day until they break down, then I swear and fix and swear, then go at it again. Its not very efficient but sitting around wating for your dealerships laptop to tell you whats wrong is not efficient either.

[farming101]

Proprietary electronics is one of the biggest ripoffs going.

Lousy graphics
Archaic menus and navigation
Mega dollars to fix

[furrowtickler]

Short answer is yes
New pricing has up up too far too fast

[GDR]

New stuff has to keep going up in price to keep value in the used market. Hasn't been the same inflation in automotive that there has in ag machinery. My 03 farm truck was $44000 in 2003, I checked this week and with the black Friday deals I could buy the same 2016 truck for $45000. Not sure exactly the numbers in ag but I bet in that same time period the ag stuff has almost tripled.

I buy mostly good used equipment if you only keep it a couple years with a little luck we've been able to keep revolving it without much actual depreciation cost. Biggest problem is when you keep it too long or have big mechanical issues.

[MBgrower]

New S690, about 700k. Sell it in 3 years for 350k, thats 350k depreciation in 3 years. For that price you can have a fantastic heated shop and full time machanic on staff.

[mcfarms]

Watched that 2014 690 at ritchie bros today less than 400 Sep hours. 360 k.

[furrowtickler]

That truck went from 45,000 in 2003 to 32,000 in 2009 , now back up.
Farm machinery has done the Al Gore hockey stick curve