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Long: End Of Antique Tractor Market

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Dean

Well-known Member
Folks, I've thought for over ten years that the antique tractor market is over and will not come back (ignoring a few exceptions). Indeed, I (sort of) predicted that this would happen 15 or so years ago.

That said, I was an antique tractor enthusiast (mostly Ford) for 25+ years, though all of mine, restored or otherwise, earned their keep.

A few years ago my barn started turning orange. This process is now complete. I now own 5 Kubotas, which I use for all of my land related projects. I do not farm but I do a lot of mowing (only my property) in various conditions and do not like to change implements.

Over the last 2 or 3 years, I have divested myself of some of my collection of antique tractors, parts, and equipment but saved most of the best and most unusual things, thinking that I would use some of such stuff as my retirement project.

Recently, I retired for the second and final time and have been pondering what to do with my new found time. Folks, the antique tractor project is not going to happen. I have more money invested in the project tractor, parts, equipment, etc., than the project would be worth once finished even after the investment of considerably more money and countless hours. Though I would like to do this, the engineer, accountant, etc., in me is putting the foot down.

Bottom line: I will likely start divesting of my stuff within the next year or so. I have already tested the market a bit by posting a couple of ads. I have also been watching CL, etc., to see how old tractor stuff is selling. Generally, old tractors and old tractor stuff just sits there without selling (few exceptions, of course).

The antique car market waxes and wanes for various reasons, but generally, the market changes each time that it recovers. Among other things, the buyers become younger. So do the cars.

Frankly, I do not expect the antique tractor market to recover much, if at all. Primarily, the antique tractor market is MUCH smaller than is the antique car market. Moreover, unlike car buyers, tractor buyers have been a shrinking market segment for decades. I have not seen any waxing and waning.

What do you folks think? Should I just dump everything now or hold on a bit longer. Don't see much to be gained by holding.

There really are no other options. Each passing day makes it less likely that I will tackle my planned retirement project, and I have no local family. Moreover, I work alone and many tasks require another hand or (hopefully younger) back, which is not easy for me to arrange. (This is why I turned the barn orange with working machines.) Finally, even if I finished the project, if would be valuable to an exceptionally limited and diminishing number of folks.

Anyone think that the antique tractor market is going to recover?

Anyone, anywhere?

Dean
 
My two antique tractors are not an investment. They are working girls. I couldn't care what they are worth to someone else. I keeping mine. Most likely they will still be working girls long after I'm gone.
 
The car market will go the same direction.

Millennial do not have a love for cars, the several energy crisis' and EPA has killed the muscle car.

Very few people under 30 would understand the movie 'American Graffiti.'

People like to restore and tinker with the stuff they grew up with, it brings back memories of the parents and grandparents while thry tinker, memories of their youth.

Lot of 20-24 year olds are just thinking of getting a drivers licence, it's no priority. Back in my day getting the farm licence at 15 was a coup, and you went to the drivers bureau on tour 16th birthday day so you didn't waste a day before getting your ability to be free and go cruising.

That isn't out there any more.

Cars will got the same way as tractors. Who is going to want to tinker on a 1980s box car, or a 1990s electronic and pollution controlled $$$$ nightmare.

Kids in their 30s and 40s, the few farm kids that age and younger, will remember the 1980s tractors, and will be restoring them when they retire.

And that will be the last real generation of farm restoring.

We are in the golden times, if the back side, still in the golden times.

I'd give cars an extra 10 years and they will contract as well. Need an example? Jay Leno, if it's on wheels and can go on a road, he has worked on it or wanted it. His late night replacement, talked about a pickup once, was kinda a running joke, he really didn't know the difference between a V6 and V8....

Paul
 
Another point that should also be figured into the equation is that most farming done these days is done by BTO's using big time equipment.

It seems most antique/classic tractor enthusiasts had a grandfather or father who used to farm with a tractor, and they remember using the machines, or maybe just riding up in Grandpa's lap. Nowdays, most fathers and grandfathers are using riding lawn mowers. And those machines are mostly unchanged over the last few decades - not nearly as much change as with tractors.

People who live in/move to the country and need a tractor, for the most part, don't have any ties to the older machines. Many people think the old machines can't do a decent job -- otherwise, why wouldn't they still make them? Many others want a newer machine for reliability purposes. Many other reasons. Yes, I agree that the antique/classic tractor market is becoming smaller and smaller. One day, there will likely be just a handful who basically dominate the "collections" market. Hopefully that will be [b:2673b9ca8e]long[/b:2673b9ca8e] after I'm gone from this world!
 
Hello Dean,

You answered your own question. "There are really no other option", so take the money you can get out of what you don't want or need and run,

Guido.
 
Kind of an echo of what Paul had said. In engineering terms, I see each generation as a "half life" of a chemical reaction. Each generation, there will still be those who carry on but equal of which will move over into the ranks of not.

Myself, I have always loved antique tractors and equipment. I am younger but not so young and was really excited when I finally had the space and means to have a "hobby" antique tractor at my house (I haven't lived on the farm since I was 18). But then I realized that this really neat Farmall F14 I had was cool, but too slow for driving and I personally couldn't find a use for it so it sat in my garage, only to be driven once or twice a year.

Fast forward (to save time), I've been through a few tractors now. I am working on a recovery/restoration that will cost me 3-4x what I could actually sell the tractor for but this one I am doing "for the love of the game". I have a John Deere 70 with power steering and live PTO that I can take over to the farm and use for making hay. I have the desire to own so much more, including older tractors equipment. Certain brands are falling faster than others so I have been really selective in what I purchased. Heck, there is a late 1920's Farmall Regular I know about that would need a full going over. In the past, I was dying to get the opportunity. Now, I just don't know if I could.

As was said previously, suddenly those 1970's and 1980's tractors are getting restored. But most of those sure take a lot more space an a 1930s narrow front end tractor.

To collect tractors, it takes space. Space costs $$$. To display tractors, it takes a truck and trailer. Trucks and trailers take up space and cost $$$. The days of keeping a tractor in grampa's barn don't exist much anymore. The old small farms are gone and having a farm to "tinker on" takes a perfect combination of things to go right. I looked into buying 30 acres of average land to have an "antique tractor farm", but once I priced that out, I went home and used my JD 70 to pull some trees out of the woods and parked it next to the garage again.

I don't think the market is going to crash, but it'll slowly fade into the sunset. There are still enough good people to keep pockets of it alive. I would say, keep something you enjoy and part ways with the things you don't get as much enjoyment from. Its always nice to have a project no matter how weak the market gets!
 
After Labor Day people start thinking about wrapping up the summer and moving their toys into their limited storage space. Buying another large unit to store for the winter isn't very appealing unless the price is very low.

Like working tractors, antique tractor sales might be strongest in late winter and spring when people are looking for something to use or work on in the near future. An exception might be tractors with loaders and snow buckets, their best selling time for a snow mover might be a month or two before to a couple of weeks after your first snow.
 
To me the antique tractor market went way high for what was being sold,then it started to drop off pretty hard sometimes.But really in practical terms how much is a AC WC,IH H or JD B really worth? They
are worth something but not thousands.I see a whole lot of tractors advertised at crazy high prices and likely they will never sell but reasonably priced tractors sell and there are many people out there to buy them.Also the value between and old tractor like a WC Allis Chalmers and an Allis Chalmers D17 series IV like I just picked up is quite different.The D17 will do about anything a new tractor would do for me at a whole lot less money.Every time the price drops say $500 on an old tractor it picks up way more potential buyers.I have yet to be at any auction where there was a complete tractor that didn't get a bid of some sort so there is a market out there just not for as many dollar$ as it was a few years ago.And that might be a good thing as now more young people may be able to get back into the antique tractor market.
 
You raise some interesting points. As the population has moved from mostly rural to mostly urban/suburban many folks whose family farmed at one time are now one or two generations removed from the farm. Some now choose to move back to "the country" and hobby farm and they seem to want the new models with the FEL, mower, blade, etc package deal. While classic tractors can still do pretty much all that needs to be done on small acreage, these folks often don't have the mechanical ability, tools and most importantly the interest to restore and maintain the old ones. That leaves those interested in saving the history of farming. That is a small market indeed. The club I am in has a number of young members but we haven't had anyone take us up on our program to provide financial support to a young person working on an ag mechanics project at school for the past 2 years. I did not look to make money on any of mine and do use one for work but it is sad to see the hobby aspect of maintaining and restoring old iron fading.
 
I build, rather try to build antique pulling tractors. Have been offered a profit on my 435 JD. Racketty Boom. Building a D 17 Allis now. Hopefully it will be enough, to run with the Olivers, and IHC's. Will it be worth what I have in it. I doubt it. Do I care. It will be worth it the first win!
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Amen, I like old tractors and have 3 M Farmalls that look pretty nice for working tractors. I have too much money in them to sell but I don't want to. Occasionally I get aggravated and think about selling out for one Kubota utility but I never do. I am 73 and I guess in a few years they will be my son's problem. Ellis
 
I believe old tractors will be around for quite some time, as long as parts can be bought to fix them then some folks will keep fixing them up and using them. Look at old trucks for comparison, the price of a new truck is outrageous so people are hanging on to the older trucks and running the wheels off of them, I envision old tractors the same way, with what a new tractor costs these days there will always be a demand for old tractors, stay positive....
 
Whether tractor collecting is in a state of decline really depends on one's point of view. I don't have money to the tune of 5,000 dollars for a tractor that is not a diesel and is not a worker. People such as myself and others would like to be more active in collecting but the market prices that have been up until recently have put everything but the most basic and not so good condition out of reach. The situation is even worse for those who live in a podunk town making 12-15 dollars per hour and have to make a mortgage payment, vehicle payment, food, utilities, plus support kids. Tractor collecting to some extent is a microcosm of what is going on economically in America. We are watching one generation exit the scene who made a good income for a majority of their wage producing career. The generation coming in that is collecting is not as well heeled as the previous so prices have to come down to where tractors are affordable for the new guys. And yes with fewer farms and fewer people having a connection to farming that will mean fewer tractors at a given show and unfortunately more going to scrap. But that is far from the hobby being on its death bed.
 
I don't think the market will recover. The market has been on a down hill slide for 4-5 years now for the common run of the mill models. The tractors still bringing decent money are the low production models,the shed kept, low hour originals,the early FWA versions, and the last of a model year( ie 72 side console powershift 4020's or 3020/4020console FWA versions)
Craigslist around me here in Md has 8N's for $7-800,H and M Farmalls for $1000 or less and they are listed for months with no takers. The people buying tractors now are looking for something to mow their acreage,,push some snow and work around the yard or put in a deer plot and not have to work on them.
They go to the Kubota or Deere dealer, get no money down, 60 or 72 month financing with a maintenance program figured in the cost, and they are good to go.
 
The way I see it, the old tractor collecting hobby and interest has been driven much more by sentiment and nostalgia than by continuing need for the old machines.

The tractors I have are all similar to ones that we had when I was growing up, and they allow me to continue to relive the memories of those times.

My kids did not have the association with tractors that I did. Hence they do not share the sentiment that drives me to desire the tractors I have. When I am gone I doubt that they will have much interest in keeping them.
 
As a farmer I can compare this to marketing grain. Many times I have held on to cash grain hoping the market would go up, then end up selling for less than I would have sold it for if I wouldn't have waited. I think you should dump it now and get it over with. The current collector tractor market isn't going anywhere anytime soon, just like the grain market. If you sell now and put the money in a savings account you won't make much interest but at least you are protected on the down side.
 
The next generation does not collect like we did. Estate auctions are the same....down down down. Beautiful furniture, china and the life time collections of people are bringing almost nothing. I've seen sets of Lenox china bring less than $100. Beautiful Henredon dining room sets bring $500. It has made me realize it is time to enjoy my "stuff" because it won't be worth much in my estate sale.
 
Agreed, Paul.

American Graffiti is my single most favorite movie.

He was beating me, man....

I was there.

Dean
 
Previous posts from the past few years state that antique tractors are not investments. However that is not the reason I no longer have any, just no longer have the personal desire or physical ability to work on them. I do have a vintage pickup truck that I totally enjoy, it stays.
 
Bingo, MSM, which is why my (user) barn has turned orange.

Today's yuppie Kubota buyers will never buy antique tractors.

Dean
 
As part of the next generation in the hobby (Im 24) heres what I see going on. I run around with a group of guys between the ages of 16 to 25 that are all still active in the hobby. Each of us has anywhere between 2 and 10 tractors we tinker around with. Heres where things get different though. We all are also actively farming with them. Most of our collecting has started to focus on the heritage era muscle tractors and equipment that we can actually use in the field. I personally have been picking up more ground every year and I keep finding myself in need of more power to cover more ground while still working a full time job. I dont have much interest in small gas tractors anymore and after I bought my first diesel, for me to drag another gas tractor home it will have to be something super original or super special because I can get more work done in a day with a diesel for less money. Pretty much all the tractors on my future someday list are 100 horse and bigger. None of us own any that are 100 percent better than showroom condition new but they all run and operate like a million bucks. We all still like to play around with the old stuff but in order to get the power we need the old iron had to get a little younger and a lot bigger. If you look at the equipment market right now the prices of the pre 1960 stuff is falling while the post 1960 stuff is holding its own or increasing. I think fewer guys around my age are looking to buy trailer queens and more are looking to buy toys they can get out and really play hard with. Just look at tractor shows because they are changing to. At least around here the static shows are slowly dying out. I cant even remember the last time I took a tractor to a static show. After a while looking down rows and rows of A and B Deeres and H and M Farmalls gets old. On the other hand, working shows like Penfield and Rantoul are growing so fast they are almost getting out of hand. Then when you go to those shows, whats the most common era of tractors you see showing up, the 60's and 70's muscle tractors, and guys arent bringing them to sit and look at them, they are bringing them to work them. Plus when you go to those shows you will see off the wall stuff you never even dreamed existed anywhere except in a picture, and its out in the field making dust. We plan the trip to The next Rantoul show almost as soon as the last one is over because that is about the most fun I have ever had off the farm. The antique tractor market isnt dead, it isnt even dying, its just shifting eras.
 
I agree, Guido.

Don't need the money and won't give my stuff away, so I think I'll just dump it on my 47 year old son who is 1,800 miles away and cannot change his own oil.

Easiest thing to do.

Dean
 

I must agree with you Dean. I see it at the attendance at tractor shows as well. It seems that only the parts I am looking for that
still bring a higher price than I am willing to spend. Most people today are looking for a compact tractor with all the bells & whistles
& with the proper attachments will get the done. Many today panic if they see points & condenser inside a distributor. We all fell in love
with what we grew up on, or a bigger model the neighbor had that we could not afford on our farm but had the chance to run it a few times.
I grew up on 42 B 46 John Deere A & a 48 A, later a 730 & a 630. Today the 730 & 630 are still being used on the farm , We've added 2 60's
another 730 diesel 620 & a 530 , M John Deere & I've been piecing a 44 John Deere A back together for the past 7 years that No One on earth
will ever give me back what I have in it, but it is now a running use full tractor & runs perfect, after way too much work & I don't have it
completely done? Yes we have new'er 4wd Deeres with cabs & A/C on the farm, but it is still a joy to me to run an Old 2 cylinder in the open air
to do farm work. I have always said I won't own a tractor to look at, I've restored the 630 , the 42 B & the 620 but if you use them they will
not stay restored, all 3 really look good but can't be compared to some of the show pieces we see at shows. My Son could care less about any
tractor, my girls wouldn't know the 1st thing about one. I figure I am a dyeing breed when I comes to tractors.

I've been to show's where the owner when asked a question about his tractor will climb up on it, put on his leather gloves just to start the
restored tractor, that alone tells me this machine hasn't done a days work since it was finished. I have a friend who owns Deere's that are covered
up all the time with a Sheet clear coated and waxed & when I think mine are clean & look good he feels they are filthy. It seems every year I am
called to do something to one of his to get it running, sometimes it's just running a 5 dollar bill threw the points. Granted I still wash & wax the hoods
& grills of our own & to most they feel that is a waste. The last 3 show's in our area I've been too have been slim on tractors & people....
 
"Today's yuppie Kubota buyers will never buy antique tractors."

I know Kubota buyers that can't or don't want to work on their tractors. They want someone to do it for them. They want to make payments too.

I work on all my tractors, so I don't need a dealer. All I need are parts.
 
Dean,

Need a swallow before reading warning on that one but could be easiest option. I got a pile of stuff around here I should try to get rid of . Mostly common stuff so is it worth the aggravation to put on CL or haul to dump? I guess I will think about it for a few more years.

Vito
 
Well I have tractors and cars both. Fourteen tractors and four classic cars. In my opinion the old tractor market is dying because the fellows that are in the age group that grew up with them are dying off. The car market seem to be strong, I go to a lot of car shows and cruise nights and more people are showing up with classic cars. A good example is the back to the 50s show in Minnesota in June. They typically have over twelve thousand cars show up and they don?t admit anything made after 1964! The epa is not killing the muscle car when you can buy a new Dodge demon or Ford Mustang with six to seven hundred horsepower! As far as the tractor market, I think it?s just moved to a new generation of tractors! Young guys are not interested in A and B John Deere?s or H and M Farmalls ,
 
And the guys buying Magnum 310s and 7290Rs are not going to be buying antiques versions of those tractors in 30 years either. To busy making a business run to play with toys.
 
Modern youth (for the most part) does not want to collect or use antique tractors. The older generation who did is dying off. Attendance at local shows is down...way down.
So....with the exception of some specialty models, such as a MM UDLX or an Oliver Super 44 (just examples here), prices will not go up.
With less demand, there will be less incentive for anybody to make replacement parts for them.
JMO.
 
I'd say you nailed it really, I looked at a tractor a while back,guy was asking $3000 for it or offers.So I went and looked I said well you said offers he said sure make me and offer.So I said
$1800 he got all huffy well I'm not going to GIVE it away,told him I didn't see him getting $1800 was giving but that's the offer.I see its still for sale.
 
dean I have to agree with oliverkid, I have recently picked up 2 mm m5's for my little haying operation, I have one up and running, both 1961 models, both gas, and NO electronics or computors :lol: I can work on them myself (and enjoy doing it) like oliver said the market is moving from the 30's and 50's to the 60's to 80's. I also own a 1959 case 310b for raking and chores around the acerage. here's a pic of my 1961 m5 pulling a 1961 ih-100 sickle mower cutting hay :lol:
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I really don't see it recovering and I'm not in the market for any more tractor projects. After spending the last 20 years putting together my families small collection together all but two of them are for sale and I've already sold three this year and have seven more I hope to sell by the end of the year. The antique tractor hobby was something I enjoyed with my father. He would go buy one and I would fix it up for him. My father passed away back in January and I no longer have the desire to work on them like I did when he was here to enjoy them. I'll keep the 4000 Ford that my grandfather bought new in 63 and the old rusty 8N that I still use around my place but the rest are going. Just hope I can find someone who is willing to pay anywhere close to half of what I have invested in them. But that's getting harder to do these days.
 
If you noticed over say the past 1o years at shows, the tractors dudes collected were often ones they had or dad or grandpa had years ago but those days are getting OVER as dads n grandads die off. I restored a few over the years and showed and paraded them all over and hauled them around but I sold out as it was getting to be more work (not to mention the care and maintenance and expense) and less fun so now I just go look at other gents tractors and have as much fun and a lot less work and expense. I see it as a dying hobby but still go n have fun as long as shows exist. Its the cycle of life, theres no young dudes who are interested or a tractor that dad or grandpa had.

John T
 
Same thing happened with the farm toys. Folks in the know back when that hobby was on fire advised to just "collect what you like",but there were those like me who thought they had to have everything. I'll still buy a few toys that I like and some real ones that I want,but I don't expect any of them to ever pay me back with a profit.
 
I only have bought old tractors to use on the farm. I have sold three 50?s letter series IH tractors because my boys didn?t want to ride the old things anymore, and neither did I. My 30 series Case tractors are modern enough to still fit into my fa operation, and burn diesel. Can?t afford to feed a gas tractor. And really don?t have much productive work for a tractor under 80 hp. So yes I believe that most antique tractors are going to be selling for much less in the future.
 
1. You are either into old tractors as a hobby, or as an equipment jockey. If you want to make money you have to deal in what people want. Some Kubotas could now be considered antiques. How often do you meet someone that makes money with his boat or chasing women?

2. Steamers and prairie tractors still bring good money. How's the model T market lately?

3. I'm still adding to my collection, but am pretty particular. Anything that comes home with me is going to be original never painted. So if you fix up and paint your tractor, it is now worthless to my little segment of the market.
 
As long as you enjoyed yourself along the way in terms of collecting the toys is what counts. I could not give a darn as to what some other person deems worthy of collecting or not.
 
There was once a time when antique tractors were both a hobby and a way to get the work done around here. During this time, old tractors did the work and did not depreciate much. Some appreciated. Some significantly.

I've never been a jockey, and have never been associated with such things to make money. I have always invested money but these days, I'd rather put my money in new Kubotas and let the warranty fix things when and if anything happens.

These days, I need fewer headaches and more space.

Dean
 
Dean I figured out a few years ago that I could make more money buying and selling good quality firearms than I ever could with antique tractors. I used to sell a few tractors to the hunters looking to put in food plots but they soon found out they could have someone local do it for them a lot cheaper than trying to do it with a 50 year old tractor especially if they were hauling it back and forth from Florida to Georgia or Alabama.
 

As long as there are folks buying 5 and 10 acre tracts, there is a market. Hang a shredder on the back of any 3 cy or 4 cyl and you should do ok, unless your in ny city. Now 6 cyls are a horse of a different color. I always post a picture of the $4999 zero turn lawnmower with the price tag on it right next to my tractor picture.(tractor supply) And say,,,, you can buy this for $4999 and it will be worn out in 600 hours, or..... You can buy this... and your grandchildren will be using it. It makes the 8n tractors sell really fast as they are cheaper, and makes the 3000/3610s sell quick also. But season and rain do have a big decision on what sells and when.

Bottom line if your not in a hurry, you can sell it.
 
George by and large you may be right but within our 450 customer base I have three multi KUBOTA owners that share 67 antique tractors, so yes some KUBOTA used collect old tractors. Back to this thread , maybe not dying just slowing down and like someone said moving ut to things like 560 farmalls or tractor built and used in late 50/60 s. Just like a clean 57 chev will bring more than (or sell faster) a model T. Most of the folks that remember a model T are dead and gone.
 
There are a couple good size auctions with right many antique tractors coming up in my area,will be curious how they sell.I probably won't get any but there are about 10 at one sale I
won't let go for nothing either.
 
(quoted from post at 14:22:44 08/20/18) My saving account makes a huge 0.1% interest. That doesn't keep up with inflation.
Click to expand...

George, I know that measly interest doesn't keep up with inflation, but I see more of a loss by holding on. It's a matter of cutting the losses, not a matter of making a profit.
 
For me at least it’s not about the tractor market. If I can get on one of mine and drive it down a field road after a long week on a Saturday night with a beer in hand I’m all smiles. Simple pleasures after working all week with modern headaches .
 
We sold my deceased Dads restored 2N to fund a school bursary in my Sisters memory this spring. Dad really enjoyed it while he was here ,we restored it together but it felt like the right thing to do and given the cause it brought good money,fairly close but not quite what Dad spent on it. We still have the 333D MH that we restored together that won't be being sold no matter who would offer what and the good running but not restored 66 Oliver that belonged to my Moms father that were not selling either. I can't see us spending the money to finish it at this point mostly because the hobby is really slowing down but we do plan on keeping them both running. Most guys my age (44) seem to have other interests for some reason. Most middle age and younger people focus more on new vehicles and equipment and many either don't know how or don't want to repair antiques from any era.
 
I'm only 47. And never owned any tractor until about 3 years ago. Bought our Ford 640 to bushhog an acre and half that we bought next to our house. We own 3 acres total. Currently we have 4 old tractors. In the last couple years we have bought and sold 4 others. We just bought a MM r last weekend and we are wishing we could go buy the old guys MM z. We love to load up our working tractors and go to shows. We always enjoy visiting with the old timers but when young couples come by asking questions we are happy to talk to them about old tractors too. Some just want a cheap tractor to keep up a few acres, or a hunting club. Some are starting hobby farms. But they want working tractors not fancy , expensive restored ones. Alot of folks are gonna be stuck with those pretty ones.
 
And after they sit for a few years even inside they many times aren't real pretty.Just my opinion a real expensive paint job on an old tractor is a total waste of money,give me one painted with 'tractor paint' or better looks original.I like my old tractors but want them so I can take them to the field.
 
I think the tractor collecting is just like anything antique. Like the antiques sold at those shops or estate sales or yard sales, ect. I'm 29 years old and when I think about it, there's always going to be a group of people that keep an old falling down barn with "stuff" in it. Or an attic with stuff. Think about all the antiques out there. Most everything being found today was in someones old house, or old barn that was just being collected. It's a big treasure hunt to find what your looking for. The treasure hunt is going to go on for generations. Yes some might be yard art, some storage, some in museums.
I've thought about your topic for a long time, and all the what iffs. But you know what????? The more I think about it, at the end of the day, It's just "stuff". I mean, no matter what we all believe in or don't believe in, we can't take it with us when we pass. I think the Big Barn in the sky will have everything we could ever imagine. Thanks for your post, this is a topic we can all relate to. It's a tough one, though. But the world has and is always changing. Bob Dylin, sang that song-- the times they are a chann.n.gin
 
Chiming in here a bit late.

Guys look at the members here and on other old tractor sites. Most of us are older. We ain't going to be here forever. Many younger folks haven't had the opportunity to learn any mechanical skills. And no, it's not just the youngsters that don't have the skills. Tons of folks that are a bit older don't have those skills either. I grew up in NJ, Red Bank. The high school out there graduated more kids than a lot of small towns total population. They graduated about 1000 a year. By the time we left NJ in 1971 none of our neighbors did their own tuneups or oil changes. Several years later I was a young married soldier. 1974 is when I joined. I made a lot of extra money working on people's cars off duty. I was on tanks (armor crewman). Lot of my fellow tankers could check the oil and that was it. So it isn't us older guys that learned all this stuff, just SOME of us LUCKY older guys and gals did. Now the ones who never learned it? What could they pass on to their kids?

So when these no 50-60 year old's buy a piece of property out in the country they buy something new with this thing called a warranty. If they do buy something older it either never works or they spend way too much paying someone to keep it running.

So that segment of the market is about gone. And as others have mentioned you have the old guys who collected and restored tractors they grew up with of that grand dad had. Lot fewer farms today so fewer people with a connection.

Now add in the other problems brought up about transport and storage with lack of interest, lack of space and lack of knowledge.

So yea it's dying. Going to be sad to see it go but it's dying. I don't think it will ever go away totally but it is going downhill.

As far as users? Lack of implements is going to be the killer there. The only 1 and 2 bottom plows available new today that I know of are Cat 1 3 point. Same with the other small implements. So as more and more implements go to the scrapper and or are raided for parts to fix another the older tractor will become less useful. Right now I don't personally know any farmers using real old stuff. Most are running augers that require 60 or so HP. Haven't seen anyone cutting hay without a haybine in 20 years. So there really isn't much of a future market because of the implement issue. Fact is I don't see much equipment on farms around here older than mid to late 60's still being used. And then it's tractors.

Yea, if a guy is thinking about getting out IMO now is the time.

Rick
 

I have a number of older tractors that I use and enjoy. Their "cash value" means nothing to me.

If you've got newer replacement tractors, and no longer use (or enjoy) the older ones, BY ALL MEANS, put 'em up for sale.

Who knows, a few might find new homes where they are USED and ENJOYED.
 
I love the old stuff. Anymore I buy things to use and enjoy and know it will be someone else?s problem when I am long gone. I farm with newer tractors (late 70?s and 80?s) but have old Farmalls to grind feed and run the auger and old grain trucks all the way back to 1935 that do daily chores and hauling. I use my semis to do nearly all of my grain hauling so the five straight trucks do things like haul water to the cattle. They all mean a lot to me but I bought them for me knowing that the next generation will likely just see them as something old they don?t know how to operate. One was my grandfathers and one niece has claimed it when I am gone. It?s the only thing specifically named in my will. Everything else just gets auctioned

Years ago I bought an M Farmall with a loader as my first loader tractor. It was my chore machine as a young farmer just getting going. It had been restored at some point and has live hydraulics and power steering. I paid $800 for it and haven?t so much as adjusted the points in all these years. That just goes to show you how the market had fallen. Just a couple of years earlier it could have fetched nearly 10 times that.

I have four collectible cars. The market has soften on them a bit but was still a good investment (I?ve owned them about 25 years). This year I decided I wasn?t showing my winning car anymore so it needed to just be driven. I have used it as the ?good car? since June. Today I ran to town to get something in a downpour - something I wouldn?t have dreamed of doing 10 years ago. It?s just a car. It needs to be used as one. The chances of a younger generation appreciating it for the engineering and reliability it is his slim to none. So I will just enjoy it my way
 

A bunch of us got together at a friends house for a cookout last night. The couple hosting the event had about four acres and owned 8 Texas Longhorns. He was known for loving Farmalls & Internationals, he had 4 of them parked in the shed. He drove the one Farmall in the record breaking classic tractor parade at the Nebraska State Fair a few years back.
Anyway he also had a smaller Kyoti tractor with loader and scraper in the rear. Wow, did I give him crap about that. 4 red tractors just setting there and the Kyoti doing all the work keeping the cattle lot clean and doing the work around the acreage.
 
I figure you are right about the market. You might get lucky and attract someone with a particular interest but that's about it. Really doesn't matter to me whether there is ever a market for the ones I have as I bought them only for my own use and pleasure. They don't eat anything and will stay here till I'm gone. Doesn't matter what happens after that.
 
here in c.n.y. the market seems dead already.lots of old tractors just sitting-rusting.yes i'm older.now downsizing.thinking of a tractor with live pto/power steering.maybe trade my 2n for one?dunno.hands/shoulders are tired.maybe I will keep the mc though.....
 
I'm sorry but it's pretty darned foolish to look at this from an "accountant" perspective. There's no profit in working on old tractors. Never was. Never will be. It's something you do because you enjoy it.

If you don't enjoy it, dump the stuff for whatever you can get, and don't look back.

If you do enjoy it, quit looking at the cost, the state of the market, or the profit/lack thereof, and get to wrenching.
 
That's the way it has to be with the tractors too. Collections like the Keller collection for example,don't impress me at all,but they seem to like it,so more power to them.
 
No one said that there was, Barnyard, but it remains one of several factors to consider.

Dean
 
I don't think the market is completely dead and there will always be some interest out there.

That being said, too many got in on the hype in the last 10 to 15 years, spent a bunch of money, are now either getting too old to want to mess with the tractor/or lost interest and they are trying to sell them for way over the current market value.

Saw a guy this summer with a 39 hand start B for sale, decent condition, but nothing special and not restored. Wanted $2,200 for it. I told him I sold my 40 B that looked just about the same last spring for $1500. He thought I got robbed, I asked him how many guys out there really want a hand start B. He then said I could have it for $1750 if I was really interested. I walked away.
 
I suspect the market eventually will bottom out at around the value of the battery and tires plus one to four times the scrap value of the metal. That's about the same as they were worth when the collecting hobby got popular thirty or forty years ago. The most common un-styled hand start tractors might be getting close to those prices already (Fordsons and 1930's tractors?). It was a good run, lots of people enjoyed the hobby for a long time.
 
I restored my '44 2N from what should have been scrap metal. I didn't do it for an investment, I did it as a hobby. It was built the same year I was born. I know I will never get back, what I put into it, money wise.
 
I sold my 1964 David Brown 880 a few years ago to buy a Kubota l3400...I was and am very happy with the Kubota, it starts, runs, does everything I need it to do on it's six acre home. The DB was just too large for this property. That being said, the David Brown would outwork this Kubota any day of the week and use less fuel while doing it. Just yesterday I bought another old tractor to supplement the Kubota and to play with. It's a 1947 Empire Model 90 with a three point. I'll have to bring it back to life, but it'll be a fun project and easy to work on. I think that's what most hobby farmers/property owners would want, something simple, something reliable and gets the job done.
 
I am a collector of all things powered. I have vintage cars, boats, a 1973 Kawasaki 500, and a 1947 Beech Bonanza.

Collecting for break-even or profit in money is not a task for the faint hearted. I can say that I make a little money on pretty much all transactions, but the key is to buy it right. I just bought a 1988 Porsche 928 in running condition for $1400. When I finish it, after spending around $8000 in materials and some labor, it will sell for ~$14-17,000.

It could be done with vintage or antique tractors too - but I have to agree that the tractor market is much more fractious than cars, or boats, or planes. The market for them is much smaller, and those that are in the market are looking for the special item. The Ford 8Ns, Allis D17, and Farmall 400 series just aren't going to make it.

My bro-in-law is a good example. I have a Ford 8N, and an old JD 2010. Both are in servicable but not restored condition. He just bought one of those small Kubotas with the FEL on it. He tells me how much it does, and how nice it drives, etc. Either of my tractors will do the same job as his, but I have a total of $3800 invested in BOTH my tractors. He spent $15,000 plus out the door. And yes, he does have a warranty. But - I could spend double the price on my tractors to keep them up and still be half the price of his one little orange tool.

Sell or give what you have now. Don't bother trying to make money after the fact. Money is made on the purchase and refurb work end, not on the sale end.
 
I have a 60 JD and a 1972 F-600 that I own because I occasionally need them but mostly because I love tinkering with them. I don't play golf or fish, don't go to casinos, seldom eat out, and don't drink. I know several people who spend more on any one of those activities than I do on my tinkering. It's my therapy. Spent more money on my wife's sewing machine than I will ever spend on these two projects. Inexpensive past time in my estimation. And it's healthier than eating chips and watching NFL games. But each to his own.
 
As I see it......
A couple things are happening here the older folks are dying off or going into homes which means 1) one less buyer and 2) their tractors are forced onto the market. So it gives the market a double whammy. I think the old tractor market was over inflated anyway. The second thing is that the economy never returned to where it was before 2008. There is not as much money floating around. Being of the "younger generation" or at least the rural percentage of it. We have very different priorities. While many of us still have a connection to the land and old tractors. When a two cylinder JD at auction brings three quarters or more the price of a New Generation Deere. Quess which one we are going to buy? Its a no brainer when you can get more options for not much more. In an age when evet nickel in the budget must be accounted for. You have to consider it was the "young generation" that got hit the hardest in 2008. And many are still trying to dig their way out of that mess. It is nice to see old tractors back down to a price where you can afford to buy and work them again. Also I cant help but to think if the inflated cost of used tractors drove up sales of new ones. Especialy when easy financing is taken into account.

Sod Buster
 
American Grafitti did not hide our innocence ,it exposed it .And It WAS Fun that movie was was as close to any Truth that was a picture of WHO we Were , "He was beating Me Man'.I loved the way that line was delivered .LOL..I hear You Guys about the antique market. I like What all was said by nearly everyone , And dont disagree with those facts i Dont Like that are being stated .Afterall They are Truths... my nephews are the exception to the rule , ,.One is going to take My 300 massey to combine corn next Fallat his place 15 miles away . Because of my health issues, ,Another is combining for me This Fall,. While my machines sit,Another nephew is tinkering on my brothers IHC H . One of My sons is looking forward to going to Portland Ind this Friday with me to see Allis Chalmers . Another son goes "camping"as often as he can with his family in a 70,000 dollar truck and trailer that is used equipment . This son helps Me because He loves Me ,But His plate is full and headaches aplenty from his business . The others are part of My life Because they Love what we do and like being a part of it .Regardless , I Love them all , because i know there are worse things they could be doing.

All in All.I think The computerized electronic modern tractors over the last 30 yrs will fail and become too expensive and complicated to keep up.This will drive the market for makes that are currently underpriced but valuable and much simpler such as 430 CASE, 3000 Ford , Massey 165 ,and D-17 a very much sought after tractor over the next 50 yrs.And there are other makes that will be among those. I think the 10 acre tract people are not going away. Time will tell.If Agriculture Remains basically unchanged as we have been over the last 30 yrs. One thing for sure is thatthe next 30 yrs , the 30 series CASE,the 4020, and any simple big dry clutch 100 hp diesels will be a viable work horse on the bigger farms. The parts will be there .
 

The typical collector of anything is in thier prime earning years with sole spare cash. Usually age range 35-65.
Collectors collect something that was a big deal to them as children, teens or in their 20’s .
That leaves anything from 1960 to 2000.
The typical 35-65 year old was raised in and resides in a village, town or city . Many were raised by a single Mother . These boys were not taken hunting, fishing, to sports events or repairing cars on the driveway. These boys are not collecting farm equipment .
As previously stated the extra whammy of collectors becoming ill, moving into town or dying. . With a flood of tractors entering a depressed market .
The only “antiques “ that “hold value” are tractors that can be used on hobby farm, a peak season extra/spare tractor for a real farm or to work a hunter’s food plots . This means anything without a real three point hitch , live pto, SCV outlets , a real drawbar with power steering a nice to have .
 
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