Deere R value?

Have a neighbor retiring & wants to sell me his R. hasn't ran in 5 or so years, has good rubber & is fairly straight. Looking for a starting point on value. Thanks!

So you have 2 engines that you dont know what they need. How much are you willing to gamble. See if he can start them for you and go from there. That would be a cool tractor to have though. Sorry if that wasnt much help but I dont know what you want to do with it.

it's a VERY cool tractor, he pulled it a few times when he was younger, I just don't know if it's $1000 or $3500. But I'm thinking in between??

I would let him price, then go from there. Is his not yours.

My neighbor sold her husbands R for $5,000 after he passed away. It wasnt fully restored but it ran. That was 5 years ago.

He is selling a non running tractor so he needs to set the price, then you can determine if it's worth the risk or not. But that's not always how things work, and since it's a neighbor, I suspect you want to keep good relations. So see if the two of you can work together to better appraise the condition of the tractor. If it has just been sitting and only needs to be woke up, then it should be a simple matter of cleaning the points on the mag and a battery for the starter for the pony to get it running. Once that's running, try firing up the diesel. If those simple measures don't work to fire the pony, you know you got some work ahead of you. In that case, try pull starting the diesel, success or failure there will tell you a lot about that motor's condition.

Downside to this is, if you get it running, he may want more for it but you will then know what you are paying for. But if it doesn't run, you will also know more about what you are paying for. A non running R is more of a challenge than say, a non running B or A, mostly due to the fact that everything is just a lot bigger and heavier. Not that is a huge deterrent, but should be taken into account when accessing whether this is a project you want to tackle. Parts are also a little harder to come by, not impossible, just not as common so sourcing them may take a little more effort.

I brought one back to life a couple years ago, mostly pony issues, big engine ran, and I gave $3,200 for it. In hindsight, that was maybe a little too much considering everything, $2,500 probably would have been about right. But live and learn.

Have you asked him why it was not run? Was it having problems that he left it set or that he just did not have a reason to start it? He should be able to give you a reason for not being run. Did he not have any use for it? Did his health keep him from using it? May be a simple answer for a question that he did not think would come up. Was he using it to farm with and got a newer tractor? Things you need answers for befor saying it is a parts tractor. Stored inside or setting out in the weeds?

(quoted from post at 01:20:00 05/19/23) Have a neighbor retiring & wants to sell me his R. hasn't ran in 5 or so years, has good rubber & is fairly straight. Looking for a starting point on value. Thanks!

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If it has been kept inside, 5 yrs. or so without running should not be a big issue. Of course, if it has been setting because of mechanical issues, that is a different story. 70 yr. old pony engines can be a real pain. I have a '51 & '53 that will be here when I'm gone! As far as value, too many variables w/o more info.