Used combines for sale numbers!!!! WOW!!!

I just looked at Tractorhouse. It is interesting to see how many machines are for sale. A few years ago one that stuck out was in CIH they had over 1000 2388s for sale. At the time that was almost half of ALL the CIH combines listed for sale.

So here are some interesting numbers for today's date:

John Deere total combines for sale (6025)
#1 model JD S680 with (1191)
#2 model JD S670 with (1032)

CIH total combines for sale (2855)
#1 Model CIH 8230 with (301)
#2 model CIH 2388 with (270)

So if your selling a JD S680 or S670 I think you will be facing some stiff competition. I always hated selling a model of anything that every dealership had several/lots of. 99% of the buyers will go off of price FIRST. So if your machine is really nice you have a tough time even getting a customer to listen to why yours might be a better buy than John Doe's that is less money.

Do you think the number of newer combines for resale is going up because they are at the end of lease and the number of people leasing has risen so there is not the same market for used new off lease machines because they themselves are leasing instead of owning also?

Truthfully there are not that many combines on lease programs in the Midwest. I can not speak for other parts of the country. The lease cost is too high in most instances. The cost of owning is usually less than leasing one.

What I think your seeing is that a whole lot of dealerships did not realize how fast the market was going to react to the declining grain prices. The JD S680 and S670s would more than likely be 2-4 year old machines. Much of the buyers/owners want to replace big combines at around 1000 separator hours if they can. The reason is this is about when your going to have to do the first wave of replacing worn thrashing parts. I would bet that if you track used combines sales this bulge is about normal as for age/use. What is making there be more units is two fold. 1)A lot of combines were sold new 3-5 years ago. So a lot of units being traded in on new machines. 2) Hardest combine to sell is the not real low hour high value one. There are more new combine buyers than buyers for the trade-ins. Also the trade-in buyers reacted faster to the income down turn. They are holding on to their current machine rather than buying a high dollar machine. There is already lots of bargains for the larger combines.

I was at Ted Everett?s auction in October and they couldn?t give a combine away. The nicest one was a super low houred 9570 and it was the top seller at $79,500. Out of 10 or so 9500 and 9600?s I think the highest bid was $11,500. Several went for under $8000

We role fleet customers yearly as you might do also, and S670's & S680's are the most popular, but I'm starting to see a trend of S790's as it gets harder to find people to run them.

I think a lot of it too is that smaller operators are moving away from owning combines and just hiring it out.

We farm about 200 acres, all parties work more than full time jobs, it just does not justify having a combine when you can hire it out.

I think that deal you mentioned of all the Red combines for sale from one dealer was the place that leased a boatload of combines, and would roll over the leases. He got trapped in lease situation/ Ag economy where his business model fell apart and he went under, liquidated all those machines?

Paul

Are Deere 9400 to 9600 series combine close to 25 years old now?

Try almost 30 years. They came out in 1989. I have a neighbor who bought the very first 9600 that any dealer got in around here. Traded in a 7720 and 105. They ran it up until last year. Engine was starting to use oil so they parked it and bought a used 9770 STS. It had over 5,000 hrs.

From what I was told Titian was in money troubles due to all the rentals coming back to them when the farm program changed a few years back, I heard this from some ND guys who had bigger farms,, the ones I know all rented equipment then tractors and combines, one guy ran 16,000 acres then,, have not talked to him in several years no clue what he is doing now,, I was also told by the Titian dealer here they had hundreds of combines coming back in then from rentals,, different areas I guess different ways,, my friend said the program paid for the rentals 100%,, I know when I was in the wheat program, I had to pay back 100% of the pmt in taxes every year as I did not buy New equipment nor did I rent any to offset the pmt as soon as I could drop that "loan" which it was in reality but not name I Did,, you could not get me to sign up again for any of their wonder programs,, for me it was a total waste

Works good when you can find a custom operator to do it in a timely manner. Not always the case.

Where I grew up, the only custom operators were other big farmers who were looking for help to make their combine payments. They would do yours, but only after their own acres were done.

Was okay in a good year, usually could count on mid-November or so.

In a bad year, you would see crops sitting in the field in January or February waiting for a custom operator.

Your absolutely right, the market here in Indiana went off a cliff. Interesting thing happening around us, wind came and blew a lot of the corn down a few weeks ago that was still out. Many machines with reels pulling it rootballs and guys plugging combines with dirt and parts wearing fast with all that dirt. Buyer beware, check for dirt very carefully if you buy used this winter/spring!

The market is saturated with newer combines and they are still way over priced.
I used to work a manufacturing job bending John Deere and Case IH combine parts(yes they are made in the same plant).
Nobody makes their own parts anymore and it's all outsourced.
I could look up the price of the finished product for the customer and it was something like 10x more than our cost to make it.
Then I could look up a part on the customers website and the part would be usually marked up 400-700% from there.
That explains all the new fancy dealership's going up and why they can afford to keep these combines on the lot for months or even years.