Buying tractors from relatives

RBnSC

Well-known Member
Bought this 4320 from a cousin after his Dad died. Had to dig it out of his shed had not run in a number of years. He wanted $5000 we offered $4750 cash and he took it. Now He wont even speak to us because we stole the tractor from him.Good tractor all it needed was a starter.
Ron
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Sad truth is if you didn't buy it, it would probably still be sitting there in their shed.

You cousin is only mad at him or herself for their own lack of knowledge on it's value before the sale.

PS. It's never a good idea to do business with a relative.

My one Uncle had a lot of horse drawn machinery, he gave me four beautiful pieces which I repainted. He is gone now, bless his soul, and there is still a lot of equipment there some new pieces too but I won't even ask for any of it.
 
You bought a pig in poke as they say. You had no idea what kinda shape it was in. That is a fair price as it leaves room for an overhaul.
 
If the buyer doesnt think he got enough and seller thinks it was too high it was a fair deal.I just bought a local tractor that seller didnt want to sell it to someone who might resell it for more.After two neighbors looked at it and expected a 35 year old tractor to be new He called and decided that selling it to me was a better idea.Sometimes family can cause more problems than they are worth.Been involved in some appraisals and that seemed to make everyone feel better.
 
He asked you offered he accepted.Sounds pretty straight forward to me.If it needed 5K worth of repair would he have been happy?He should have spent some money to see what was wrong with it before putting a price on it.Lesson learned!

JMHO

Vito
 
had 1 deal for a inexpensive tractor that was good, and one that was bad, i bought a 51 to 30 ferguson from a man i didnt know, he told me he had bought the place for a horsie farm the tractor was there, it "made a noise" he was told, tires were bad, i told him id give 350 as is where is, he took it, turned out it didnt "make a noise" it had been run without oil until the engine locked up, the rod and main caps were flat missing from the engine the crank was ruined and who knew what else, i resold that for 300 to a guy who needed some sheetmetal for his . the next one was my cub, i got the tip from a friend who had just bought a 48 ford pickup from the guy the truck had just been finished from a 10 year ground up restoration to original spec, he also had a cub i went over and here was a refurbished cub with the 1 bottom 194 plow, the factory grader/ snow blade and every manuel that came with the tractor new, his dad had bought both the truck and the cub new the same year, he asked if he sold the tractor to me for a good price if i was going to keep it or resell it and make money on it i told him i was going to keep it and mow with it , he told me give me 800 for all of it i still have the cub
 
I know how that goes!
Was GIVEN an old Allis and a corn mill that no one in the in-law family wanted and was going to the scrap man. Spent several years restoring both to like new. Suddenly everyone wanted it back. Told them no problem. 6 years of work at $50 per hour, cash only! No one came up with the cash, and most don't speak, win - win for me!
 
I had an Uncle who absolutely would not buy or sell from or to relatives, one of my brothers wanted a tractor he traded in one time and he had arranged with the dealer not to let him have it, I guess he knew what he was talking about.
 
biz of any kind with relatives is tricky.
As you were the one who "dug it out of the shed" he should be thankful you did.
I have no idea what its worth but this is how transactions with "unknowns" with friends or relatives where i know more about the item then they do.
agree what the price is if everything is in working order. List what we know isnt and what it will cost to fix. List anything we are worried about. Then come to a price we agree on. Agree to split the net profit after i get some labor IF i sell it afterwards. If i am keeping it then i expect some family goodwill.
where the resentment comes from is when the seller feels the buyer who is more knowledgable took advantage.
alot of effort but worth it if you want to keep on good terms with the selling relative.
Full disclosure, i avoid most of my relatives!
Pete
 
Anything I have ever sold to a relative seemed to have a lifetime warranty! Well it sure seemed that way. Every single thing that ever went wrong was brought back to be fixed for free!
Go back and tell him it needed a starter and you want a refund!
That should really keep him from speaking to you for a while if you are lucky!!!!!!
Wish some of my relatives were as easy to get rid off!!!
Sam
 
Best thing that could have happened. He more than likely was not worth much to start with. HE ask a price and you counter and he accepted. HE has the issue not you.

If this was years ago they where not the hot property they are now. I bought and sold a lot of real nice ones for $7500-8500 for years. Then about ten years ago they took off in value. Now they will bring up to 20K in original condition. More if restored.
 
Don't even get me started on family. Some of the pains in the azz lay the "we're family" crap on ya when it benefits them,but they'll stomp you right in to the ground when things are turned around.
 
The only two times I ever got screwed on a business deal in my 47 years was with family members. I was the seller both times....took years to get my money and both deals were relatively inexpensive. I think I just wrote the last one of to my stupidity. Nice looking old tractor!
 
At least Chris in Wesley, Iowa thinks they are worth that much. Not sure he is actually making sales or not.
 
Best course of action with relatives (especially with widows) is to have them set a price, then you either take it or leave it- if you bargain at all, then they feel taken advantage of.

Wife's dingbat cousin loaned us her old vacation trailer one time. We used it, fixed a couple of things on it, rewired the plug, and took it back in better shape than we got it. End of story? Noooo- Dingbat then lent it to another cousin to live in- she stayed awhile, then moved out in middle of winter, and the pipes froze. Dingbat thought we should give her the 50 bucks it cost to get the pipes fixed- no amount of explaining would convince her that it was the other cousins fault, not ours- after the third time she complained loudly to all who would listen at a family get-together, I pulled a 50 out of my wallet, and handed it to her, in front of many witnesses, and said "Now its done, right? No more complaining, right?" She agreed, and to her credit, never mentioned it again.
 
Sounds just like my brother the barber. Pain in the a-- wouldn't take my money for a haircut for nuthin. I did everything short of throwing it on the floor. But then twice,right in front of as many people as he could say it in front of,he complained that maybe he'd have some money if I'd pay for a haircut.
Now he complains that I go to a different barber who WILL take my money.
 
Red they will bring stupid money even in junk condition. I saw one just last week sell that did not run and it brought over 10K.

They are a good tractor but not that good. A JD 4230 has many features over the JD 4320 but the JD 4320 will out sell the JD 4230.

I have always wanted one and I am currently building one out of parts. I gave up finding one in fair shape for anything less than 15K. I will have 20-25K in this one but that will be with new tires and a complete rebuild front to back. That is zero labor cost.
 
Red that is not a Sound Guard body cab. Those did not come out until the 30 series tractors. The one on this JD 4320 was made buy some other company. JD did not make any of the cabs at this time. These where noisy.
 
I have been eyeing a rough 1978 JD 4240 with the soundgard cab. Needs new injector pump and injectors. Has around 7,500 hours on it. Only used on the grain bin augur these days. I planted soybeans with it 15 years ago.
 
You will never hear the end of it since you talked him down from what he asked. Why in the world would you shave off 250 lousy dollars and now have to listen to hem forever? Should have paid him the EXACT amount he was asking. Would have been the best 250 you will ever spend. When relatives offer to sell me anything, I either pay their full asking amount, or just say I cant use it. Never a bad feeling with this policy. Tom
 
their loss, your gain, they didn't have to take your money...
had a aunt [rip] accused me on making money on a truck i showed my cousin, that they bought from a body shop...
have a brother that borrowed from me,[rototiller]asked why not buy one, he says his wife doesn't buy any thing she can borrow..no more borrowing from me, never did like the 'B',lol
 
I would sell it back to him for $4750 cash and go buy a different tractor. There are thousands of tractors out there for $4750. Let them feel like big shots that got back the holy grail. I would bet they don't have $4750 to buy it back. Just a hunch.
 
Geez, you bought it from them and THEY agreed on the price. Sounds like "their" problem. Don't sweat it, Ron.
 
I got several peaces of old farm equip. from my Aunt she left me before she passed away. After A few years I decided to paint them. I did not restore them, just clean them up and paint. Any old paint I had.

I seen my cousin later and showed her some pic.
of them. She got mad at me for painting them. She said I should have left them the original look, old rusk. Maybe I should have, but I am not going to change them. I had 9 of them.
photo.

Hammer Man
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My rule is don't do business with friends or family and don't loan money to friends or family. Only ends up with hard feelings.
 
Red,the cab in question was made by Hinsen which was in Waterloo and installed at JD.They were available with air but the pictured 4320 has an after market A/C.The cabs themselves have the value of Roll-Guard as the canopy is not usable.They were nice at time but the SoundGuard made them obsolete.There are people that still want original cabs.The front weights on pictured tractor would bring $500 and it also has good rear tires.It turned out to be a good price but that doesnt always happen with non running tractors.[If it had problems I am sure he would have made it right.]
 

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