Flipping Tractors for Profit?

I have successfully flipped vehicles as an income producing hobby. By flipping I am referring to buying them cheap, fixing things up, and then selling for a profit. This has its limitations with tax, title, license, insurance, and quantity (since I am not a dealer). We were very fortunate to buy a few acres in the country last year and I bought a Ford 8N. It needed some work but its a pretty nice tractor now. I have no desire to sell it. On this site there seems to be a lot of experience and knowledge in the old tractor and implement markets. While I love the 8N, the profit margin for flipping does not seem to be there. I have grown fond of working on it and was wondering if anyone had a perspective on doing this with old farm equipment? I do not come from a farming background so the depth of my perspective is limited. Thank you for your thoughts.

Most everyone on this site will tell you that there is little money in flipping tractors or vintage farm equipment. There are of course exceptions but a Ford 8N is not very high on the list of profitable tractors to flip. There are just too many of them to make them a rare collectible. Now if you were to come across a Minneapolis Moline UDLX or similar tractor, you might just make a profit if you can buy it and the parts for the right price.

i am not interested in anyone that just buys a tractor to flip it. that spoils it for the ones that are interested in a deal so they can have a tractor. how many times i have seen tractors on trailers for sale before the guy even gets it unloaded. and the price is 4 times higher. not for me thank you.i have seen too much of that on auction.

I can buy almost any working, usable old farm tractor like a Ford 2 or 9, Farmall H or M etc. for under $2,000. If you buy one to fix and sell, it needs to be basically scrap price. Right now on our local listing sight, someone I know has a JD B in nice working condition and decent original paint for $1600. It could go to work on a mower or rake today without fixing anything. I sometimes see tractors like that listed for sale for $6,000 and up but they will never bring that money. Be sure you know the market, not just what people are asking. Selling price is most likely a fraction of asking price.

I will throw in my 2 cents, there are many less tractor owners than auto owners so I think demand works for auto flipping. It seems like inexpensive tractors are also junk tractor money pits. I have been to equipment auctions over decades and most of the time test driving is not allowed, so that could bite the buyer. If you have a truck and trailer, try it and keep us posted.

I jockyed tractors for 20 Plus years and son you will get and EDUCATION and you will pay tuition while learning , If you think your going to go to auctions and get a deal , ah NO it aint ah going to happen for a long time as the auctioneer will spot you right off and he will have a ball rolling you in the dirt , Next up tractor fixen is expensive . and when fixen one ya had best know what your doing . Then comes the Hauling , this ain't the old days and you will make ne w friends that demand a ton of money for your transgressions of Hauling . Then ya need that one guy to come a buy your iron . Today there are NO deals like we use to get . I use to buy out of the DEAD rows for chump change and i would buy every I H tractor with the T/A out , why because i was a dealer for T/A's and stuff and i bought what i needed at COST . Then it would take me three maybe four days of work to get it up and running along with FIELD testing and when i sold a tractor that i had did the work on i sold it with a WARRANTY that might be a two YEAR and up to four years 100% parts and labor on my work ya going to do that ?? . Now days there are a ton of flippers and myself i would NOT buy from one , if i am going to buy a cobbled up chunk of iron it would come out of the dead row . I was introduced into the world of buying Iron by two other old time Jockey's and introduced to a flock of auctioneers across five states and yup we ran a lot of miles going to sales . From Jan till May one whole week out of a month we spent on the road going from sale to sale and on the other three there was a one or two day sale some place . And once you start down the rabbit hole YOU have to Buy and you have to sell sometimes you BUY only to find out that that is why it was at the sale and what you bought to make it usable it is going to cost you more then you can get out of it and you put it in a sale and you HOPE your only going to loose 2500 and when the hammer drops ya lost 3500 not counting all the running and trucking . YUP BTDT that is the payment for your education in tractor buying

there is no longer any bragging rights for running old equipment on 5 acre farms. us older folk have all the junk we need. young folk make enough money to buy new equipment. besides, in my experience they don't have the mechanical ability to keep the old stuff running. find the tractor you like, and call it a day. maybe look for a better one and trade up. keep the old one for a spare.

Thirty or forty years ago you probably could make money buying fence row tractors at scrap price, get them running again and spray a Sherwin-Williams overhaul on them. Right now the late 1960s turbocharged diesel muscle tractors are the hot item: IH 1256, Allis-Chalmers D-21, Oliver 2255, etc.

The older tractor collector market is getting softer. The older tractors cannot compete with the convenience and features of modern compact tractors, so demand is dropping. More and more collections of nicely restored older tractors are now being liquidated at prices below what it would cost to restore them as the owners are getting to the age where they are ready to downsize and move to town, or they simply pass away.

It's been along time since I seen a tractor (say pre 1960 tractor) sold that I thought a guy could flip and make any money. There are plenty out there that are worth the money to fix up and then use. If you have a use for them. But to fix up and then flip for profit, the market just isn't there anymore. That ship has sailed on pre 1960 stuff.

In the right area, a guy might do OK on garden sized tractors. Might be better than doing nothing else with your time, but probably not going to support yourself at it, or get rich. Kind of like a hobby that 'might' put a few dollars in your pocket. Might be lucky to break even also.

The young guys want new stuff with all the modern stuff on them. The interest of the retired generation has moved up into the stuff after 1960. The bulk of the guys that 'were' interested in the pre 1950 stuff, have moved into the care homes or cemetaries. The remainder of that crowd otherwise, is getting to be few. Few enough that they are overwhelmed with the amount of it out there, and have likely accumulated as much of it as they need or like. Just because you have an interest in having 2 or 3, doesn't in anyway mean you'll be interested in owning 100 of them. You probably have this same feeling about your 8n. And that's about where everybody is at. If they have an interest in them at all. And the guy that already has one, isn't going to pay big bucks for another one.

The demand for old tractors is a different cookie than for old cars. More people have an interest in old cars. So bigger demand for them. But you can even see the same thing happening in that avenue. How big the interest has gotten to be in the later 60's early 70's muscle cars.

Ussually is what's hot in the collector world, is what the retired community remembers when they were young. Things that were new when they were young. Otherwise, it about has to be rare as hens teeth.
Everybody can relate to automobiles. Not everybody can relate to tractors. And if they are not living on the right type property, they might not have a desire to own even if they have an interest.

Is what's really needed, is more people like yourself that's willing to buy, fix up, and then use. Plenty of room for that. To much room for that for flipping to really make sense. Mainly because the desire to use just really isn't there.

i agree 100% with you. we think n see alike. cobble em up n shaft a sucker

My thoughts.
There are some on YT that make money buying and selling tractors. It is great they are saving YT tractors one tractor at a time.

I spent 2x more money fixing my Jubilee than it was worth.

I have no plans of selling it.
The Jubilee is retired and someday my boy will inherit it. It's in perfect running condition.
He could have it today, but he lives in a subdivision and HOA would not approve..

I have been buying and selling mostly tractors for 20 years. I keep a spreadsheet on the equipment so that I know where I stand. I generally make some money on them, but I do not account for my labor, only parts and fuel. I could never support my family on the money I make, but it does help pay for my tractor hobby.

There's nothing wrong with flipping tractors if you are honest and a good mechanic. I got ripped off by Marketplace seller on FB. He claimed to flip, and do all these repairs to the tractor that i thought was a sure buy. Im not a mechanic but have a minor inclination. I can learn and adapt but in this case, i got in a hurry because tractors were selling fast. I would look at an ad and the next day it was sold. I didn't know much about tractors until after I bought it and registered for this forum. I blame myself for not being patient and not doing more research, so a lesson learned. Don't judge a book by its cover and get advice from YT members! Had a member give good advice on what tools to take with you and what to do to Inspect the tractor. Of course I didn't see it until after I bought the tractor. Most members on this site care! I will never buy another part, tractor or make a repair again until I post on YT. Not saying you are dishonest!

Thirty-five years ago when I was getting started in farming compact diesels were just coming into their own, and population growth in my area was just getting going. Harry Hilltop had a good business going in the next town buying and selling all manner of hobby sized tractors and implements. He seemed to make a decent living at it, and he would have a big space at the county fair. As the compact diesels gained in popularity it seemed that everyone needed a front wheel assist diesel whether for hobby farming or property maintenance, and Harry's business seemed to taper off.

Dwd kind of hit on it in passing. If you make money at it, it won't take long for you to get a bad reputation. The chance that you'll buy one ''cheap'' that just needs one simple fix, then can be sold as a dependable tractor is about zero. By your third tractor, you'll have a reputation for selling junk.

The most important part of reselling anything is the price you buy it,to make money you need to buy under market value.That means constantly looking at ads,going to auctions to get the one bargain buy etc.
Of course first you need to know what the market value is on different tractors.Having cash on hand to be able to make a deal is important to getting a good buy as many times people will sell something cheap to get quick cash they need.

I have to echo most of the comments already posted. Its possible to make some money flipping older tractors but that's the exception and not the rule. I think its more likely to a successful venture if you concentrate on early or mid 80's units and up.

I have been buying and selling tractors and machinery since the late 80's. I like to buy fixer uppers. There is not near the money to be made as there was. Parts are very expensive. Before online auctions you learned where to buy certain items as they were cheaper (some areas IH might sell cheaper than Deere or vice versa) but today those advantages are gone. I still do buy a few pieces here and there and have developed a decent network of collectors that are looking for certain items. Few people want an 8n anymore. You need power steering, live hyds and live pto. Many people buy paint so you better be able to do that as well. Tom

Agreed - all profits are determined at the purchase - not on the sale. Pay too much or buy one with more hidden problems than expected and the loss is built in before the work even starts.

I flipped a couple that I bought and wanted to fix up and keep due to sentimental memories of using them many years ago. The profit was made by the guy selling them to me, and the parts guys I dealt with. I will never buy another tractor that needs fixing up!

As far as flipping, about the only thing I think would maybe be profitable is buying a roadside tractor from an old guy on a back road who does not use the internet, and selling it my front yard on the highway. Now that I have a nice trailer I could do that and am keeping an eye out.

Tim