The cost of a new combine?

Dick2 · Nov 29, 2013

What is the value of a new combine?

How do you measure the value? By the bu/hr that the machine will harvest? By the number of service hours that it is capable of?

Is the price of a new machine proportional to the increase in bu/hr capacity? Or substantially out of proportion of what it used to be on older models?

Has the hours of service life of new machines increased proportionally to price increases?

Just what does an owner get for paying the high price of a new machine? Do the new machines depreciate faster or slower than models of 10-15 years ago?

I was at an auction a few years ago that had an IH rotary with 7500 hours on it. It was really in bad condition; I was told later that it went for scrap.

IaGary · Nov 29, 2013

The combines are measured for size by a class number. This class number relates to HP and capacity of the machine. I think the largest combines are up to a Class 6 or 7 now. These are capable of 12 row corn heads or bigger.

I have a Class 5 which is consider a 6 or 8 row machine.

A new Class 7 machine will list for $350,000 to $425,000.

The first year of deprecation is big, maybe 20% or more. Every 200 to 300 hours of use after the first year will take it down another 10% in value.

I try to buy with 1000 to 1500 hours and take them to 3000 hours. So I trade about every 7 years. A combine with 1500 hours is 1/2 price of new. A 3000 hour machine that is 12 years old or so will still be worth 25% of new.

Most machines over 4000 hours are pretty well used up. All the tin work gets thin.

Some guys trade for a new one every year or two to stay ahead of repairs.

Then you have the guys that like a 500 hour 3 year old machine to eliminate that hard first hit on deprecation. Then I fall into the next category buying the 1200 hour machine that is 6 years old.

Just my thoughts, others may vary.

Gary

Jerry He · Nov 29, 2013

Years ago when our local Cat. dealer started selling AG equipment our construction salesman could not believe a combine would not last at least 10,000 hrs no harder than they had to work.
I wonder if Cat ever built a combine that lasted 10,000 hrs.

MN Scott · Nov 29, 2013

Well, Cat has never built a modern combine. They were re-badged Claas combines. If Cat were to design and build one it might very well last 10000 hours.

Bruce from Can. · Nov 29, 2013

Bigger combines cost more to buy, will do more acres per hour, but will be wore out with less seperator hours. Teir 7-8 combines are not worth much with over 2000 hours.

flying belgian · Nov 29, 2013

In the 60s,70s,80s,90s average price of a new combine was the same as average price to build a new house here in Mn. That is way out of whack the last several years.

IHC Red · Nov 29, 2013

From my local dealers website...

$464,365.00 2014 John Deere S690 base machine (no Autotrac,base tires, standard auger, etc.)

$106,988.00 12 row header.

$74,947.00 35 foot draper platform.

A few options like Rear wheel assist, Autotrac, longer auger, etc. can easilly add another $50,000 bringing the total to well over $700,000.

Some other 2013 prices from Farm Industry News (assuming base machine cost)...

$453,703 CIH 9230
$417,700 Challenger 560C (Corn)
$377,948 Gleaner S77
$659,500 Lexion 770TT (corn package - including header!?!)
$453,703 Deere S690.

Interesting that the high-end CIH and Deere base machine prices are identical.

GreenEnvy · Nov 29, 2013

Claas/Lexion has a class 10 combine. JD and CNH both have class 9 combines.

Straw Boss · Nov 30, 2013

What is the cost and what is the value are two different questions.
Most operators I know look at their machinery as an input just like seed or fertilizer. So they will figure it out as a cost/acre.

Example 1. You trade for a new 500,000 machine. You pay 100,000 cash to boot. You run it two years on 3000 acres/year before you trade again. Your cost/acre is 16.67/acre.

Example 2. You trade an older 100,000 machine for a newer 200,000 used machine. You run it five years on 700 acres/year before you trade again. You make 20,000 dollar/year payments to the creditor during the same five year period. Your cost /acre is 28.57/acre.

So as you can see, the cost is far different than the value.
Depreciation should also be figured into the equation.
If comparing to hiring the harvesting, you also need to add the cost/acre of the truck, cart, repairs, fuel, lub., labor, etc.

The whole name of the game is keeping the cost/acre as low as possible while doing a balancing act between the dependability and capacity of a newer machine compared to the repair cost and downtime of an older machine.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 30, 2013

If Cat built a combine they blame the operator for break downs and void their warranty if you drove it into a field.

flying belgian · Nov 30, 2013

Very good analogy straw boss.

ss55 · Nov 30, 2013

Dad used to compare the price of a new tractor or combine to the product of (the weight of the machine multiplied by the price of T-bone steak in the local grocery store). Quite often the equipment was close to the same price per pound as a top steak. He pointed this out to a local equipment dealer and the dealer was not amused.

gbs · Dec 1, 2013

if cat built it you could not afford the parts or their repair services, been on the receiving end of a couple of those fiascoes

The cost of a new combine?

Dick2

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IaGary

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Jerry He

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MN Scott

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Bruce from Can.

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flying belgian

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IHC Red

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GreenEnvy

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Straw Boss

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Anonymous-0

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flying belgian

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ss55

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gbs

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