Interesting story. Less technology is better.
Kris Folland grows corn, wheat and soybeans and raises cattle on 2,000 acres near Halma in the northwest corner of Minnesota, so his operation is far from small. But when he 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.

“This is still a really good tractor,” said Folland, who owns two other tractors built before 1982.

“They cost a fraction of the price, and then the operating costs are much less because they’re so much easier to fix,” he said.

Tractors manufactured in the late 1970s and 1980s are some of the hottest items in farm auctions across the Midwest these days — and it’s not because they’re antiques.

Cost-conscious farmers are looking for bargains, and tractors from that era are well-built and totally functional, and aren’t as complicated or expensive to repair as more recent models that run on sophisticated software.

“It’s a trend that’s been building. It’s been interesting in the last couple years, which have been difficult for ag, to see the trend accelerate,” said Greg Peterson, the founder of Machinery Pete, a farm equipment data company in Rochester with a website and TV show.

“There’s an affinity factor if you grew up around these tractors, but it goes way beyond that,” Peterson said. “These things, they’re basically bulletproof. You can put 15,000 hours on it and if something breaks you can just replace it.”

BigIron Auctions, a Nebraska-based dealer that auctioned 3,300 pieces of farm equipment online in two days last month, sold 27 John Deere 4440 tractors through 2019.

The model, which Deere built between 1977 and 1982 at a factory in Waterloo, Iowa, was the most popular of the company’s “Iron Horse” series of tractors, which used stronger and heavier internal components to support engines with greater horsepower. The tractors featured big, safe cabins, advancing a design first seen in the 1960s that is now standard.

A sale of one of those tractors in good condition with low hours of use — the tractors typically last for 12,000 to 15,000 hours — will start a bidding war today. A 1980 John Deere 4440 with 2,147 hours on it sold for $43,500 at a farm estate auction in Lake City in April. A 1979 John Deere 4640 with only 826 hours on it sold for $61,000 at an auction in Bingham Lake in August.

“Those older tractors that had good care and good maintenance, that’s good property,” said Mark Stock, co-founder of BigIron.

The tractors have enough horsepower to do anything most farmers need, and even at a record price like the $61,000 the tractor in Bingham Lake fetched, they’re a bargain compared to what a farmer would pay for a newer tractor with similar horsepower.

The other big draw of the older tractors is their lack of complex technology. Farmers prefer to fix what they can on the spot, or take it to their mechanic and not have to spend tens of thousands of dollars.

“The newer machines, any time something breaks, you’ve got to have a computer to fix it,” Stock said.

There are some good things about the software in newer machines, said Peterson. The dealer will get a warning if something is about to break and can contact the farmer ahead of time to nip the problem in the bud. But if something does break, the farmer is powerless, stuck in the field waiting for a service truck from the dealership to come out to their farm and charge up to $150 per hour for labor.

“That goes against the pride of ownership, plus your lifetime of skills you’ve built up being able to fix things,” Peterson said.

The cheaper repairs for an older tractor mean their life cycle can be extended. A new motor or transmission may cost $10,000 to $15,000, and then a tractor could be good for another 10 or 15 years.

Folland has two Versatile 875s manufactured in the early 1980s in Winnipeg and bought a John Deere 4440 last year with 9,000 hours on it, expecting to get another 5,000 hours out of it before he has to make a major repair.

“An expensive repair would be $15,000 to $20,000, but you’re still well below the cost of buying a new tractor that’s $150,000 to $250,000. It’s still a fraction of the cost,” Folland said. “That’s why these models are so popular. They’ve stood the test of time, well built, easy to fix, and it’s easy to get parts.”

He also said the modifications to newer diesel engines on tractors can cause mechanical problems, and the carbon footprint of an older tractor can be mitigated by using biodiesel, which is produced from soybeans grown in Minnesota and extends the life of an engine because it includes better lubricants than conventional diesel fuel.

Combine all that with nostalgia for the tractors of a farmer’s youth, and 30- or 40-year-old tractors are in high demand. That’s a shift from 30 years ago, Peterson said.

In 1989, 30-year-old tractors really were antiques. A 1959 tractor at that point would have sold for $2,000 or $3,000 and looked like a different species from the tractors in operation in the 1980s.

But tractors from the 1970s and 1980s aren’t so dramatically different from tractors produced in the 2000s, other than the irksome software, and at a time when farmers are struggling financially, older tractors can make a lot of business sense.

Folland said his corn crop was better than the Minnesota average in 2019, despite the fact that he farms on the Canadian border and uses 40-year-old equipment.

“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.”

LINK: http://www.startribune.com/for...commodity/566737082/

We used several 1950s Allis-Chalmers until we stopped farming tobacco in 2000. I think there is still one running at my dad's. Other John Deers and Deutz from the same era.

They still use a 1960something John Deer crawler/bulldozer. Rebuilt it a few years ago.

Stuff just works.

In my brief stint on a dairy farm in the early 80s, the tractor we banked on was a 56 Ford 950.

You can, of course, blame the EPA for this mess. If the T4 emissions sh** didn't exist, this problem would not exist.

Running an auger or feeding cattle, sure an older model tractor meets the basic needs. Now, if I’m ripping 5,000 acres of corn stalks I will take a Quad Trac with air ride over the 1979 four-wheel drive that I ran as a kid.

The alarms and safety measures on some of today’s tractors while well intentioned can be annoying.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
You can, of course, blame the EPA for this mess. If the T4 emissions sh** didn't exist, this problem would not exist.

Or right to repair https://www.caranddriver.com/n...ying-older-tractors/

Growing up we had 3 JD 4020's, a JD 2020 and a super C, got everything done we needed to with those, no problem.

I was thinking about this concept except I applied it toward brush chippers. I just bought a 2020 brush chipper for $63,000.00. It is loaded with computers that control the engine, feed system, emissions system, and who knows what else. It has so many safety systems that slow down work flow that my employees prefer using a 15 year old chipper. I was thinking of buying an old chipper and refurbishing it. No computers to worry about and no adding diesel exhaust fluid or waiting for the exhaust to clean itself.

I know dire predictions are frowned upon here, but how long before John Deere solves the "problem" by making all the parts for the old stuff NLA?

Mahindra got popular, at least for the smaller tractors, around Dads house because of their simplicity and relative ease of repair.
Parts pricing could still get ya.

Tractors, gotta love tractors

The real issue, as I understand it, is that John Deere has made the software propeitary and won't share it or make it open to others.

That absolutely screws the farmers.

My Sis and bro-in-law just retired from farming a couple of years ago and sold their 2,000 acres.

Enough is enough.

I manage a sod farm. 1000ac of sod 30,000ac of ranch. I have lots of tractors, 6000 series - 9000 series John Deere tractors on a lease program. Tier 4 is a nightmare. It's inevitable that an operator will disable the auto regen and run the machine until it needs a forced regen. As soon as I pick up the phone to call my servicing dealer, I'm already into it for $500 for the call, not including the "service". It's a joke. Today's small farmers can't survive with modern tech...and they can't survive without it.

Grew up on a 4440.

While not a farmer I have two John Deere tractors - a 1965 1020 gas and a 2003 tractor/loader/backhoe (110) diesel. I like them both and both have 3 point hitches and loaders.

Both are good, basic machines.

My concern with the 2003 is the complexity. Safety sensors, small computer, etc. It works well, but I want to be the one to fix it. The 1020? I could draw out the electrical diagram on a napkin AND explain how it works. That diagram is the most complex thing on the whole tractor.

Just like it is with semis the key is to try and keep the older stuff going. Anything with an EGR isn’t too bad but prior is preferred. Some electronics isn’t bad. It’s when the trucks started having DPF and DEF that things went really bad for the truck owner. Not to mention the computers controlling everything. We have 2011-2019 International’s and now when the AC acts up I send it to the dealer. The ac is controlled by the body controler. Last one cost me just over $500. Ac would work great for about 30 minutes then blow hot. Dealer diagnosed it and all it needed was a software update. New machinery makes money but unfortunately not for the owners of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
While not a farmer I have two John Deere tractors - a 1965 1020 gas and a 2003 tractor/loader/backhoe (110) diesel. I like them both and both have 3 point hitches and loaders.

Both are good, basic machines.

My concern with the 2003 is the complexity. Safety sensors, small computer, etc. It works well, but I want to be the one to fix it. The 1020? I could draw out the electrical diagram on a napkin AND explain how it works. That diagram is the most complex thing on the whole tractor.

Yesterday, I watched my 1976 John Deere 1020 get hauled away by it's new owner. I had it for 30 years. We did a lot work together. But I am not a mechanic, and the twenty year old that bought it is. I am sure it will end up in great shape and remain productive for many more years.

It was a great tractor. One of the last gasoline engine utility tractors.

Good story and I am not at all surprised by it. I have an old 12 foot trailer that was made in the 1970's and I will tell you that thing is made much stouter than my other newer trailer. Much more steel in the old one.

My tractor was made in 2001 and I love that thing. The new tractors over 25HP (think that is right) all have emission requirements that requires auto-regeneration after so much use. Major pain in the ass.

Oh, I seriously doubt that your average farmer is all that concerned about his carbon footprint as the article suggests.

WTF? Last night in Ohio the President told farmers to go buy a bigger tractor....

Seriously my basic open station 65 hp 2000 John Deere diesel is still going like new. It is simple and easy to maintain. The 2005 120 HP New Holland I had was a big powerful beast and a joy to ride in,(and very thirsty), but there were so many computers and sensors on board that maintenance was a mystery. It got a whole lot of work done, though. Some days I miss the hay business, but then I lie down until the feeling passes...

I've always been amazed at the dairy farmer I know, who at this point is probably only technically a farmer, probably just enough to keep the county from changing his tax rate and keep any subsidies... anyway. It's always amazed me at the many many hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe million dollars worth of equipment it takes, to just barely scratch out a living.