tractor hours

[haven1279]

When looking at a used tractor, what is considered high hours ?
Thanks

[Timburr]

As a rough guide, 12 to 15,000 hours.   You could be flogging a dead horse chasing repairs, depending on history.   Although, some tractors are still going strong at 20,000 hours.  Below 7,000 hrs, it's barely run in.

[Dave Shepard]

In compact tractor terms, 5,000 is probably pretty high, altough they can still be in good working order if properly maintained. My Kubota has almost 1500 on it, and is still in great working order. Compacts are not usually run as hard or as long as large farm tractors, so they seldom reach very high hours. We do have tractors with over 20,000, and they show it, they are also 40 years old.


Dave

[Polly]

  i agree anything under 4000 hrs8)  i wonder if it is possible to reset the hours my brotherinlaw bough a used jd low hrs looked awful ruff 8)

[Handy Andy]

  Polly, some of the hour meters turn over at 10,000. hours.  Like old cars started over at 100,000.  And some have just had a hard life.  Way I look at it, if it has been used hard,at 3000 hours needs to go to less hard use.  Most tractors will run to 7000 without major repairs, then it is time for a reconditioning.  Talking field tractors that have pulled for their keep.  Loaders are something else, cause they only pull hard when you get against something tough.  And maybe in road gear going uphill. 

[thecfarm]

Some peole are real rough with thier tractors and some wash and wax them every time they use it.Mine looks kinda rough.I work it mostly in the woods.It has not really lived an easy life.Probaly no one would want to buy it.I put the grease to it and thier is grease built up on and around every grease fittings.Some of the metal is bent up on it.Trees and rocks don't give much at times.I brouight it to use,not to look at.I'm on my just about every day that I have off.Some people can let thier sit for a week or 2 without using it.

[ErikC]

  When dealing with heavy construction equipment, 10,000 hours is plumb wore out!, A rare exception exists of course. Machiney that takes a beating, undergoes a lot of vibration, etc. will develop stress cracks here and there after a certain point, and that is that. Then they become farmer or homeowner units, still good but not when you need them every day to make a living. A worn out piece of good heavy equipment will still do an awful lot of work compared to a compact homeowner tractor though. Just don't get one if you aren't mechanically inclined!!


Erik

[Polly]

   8)   it used to be the brand of the tractor had a lot to do with how long it would last example being a 8n ford  jd a or b massey ferguson 35 among others it is not uncommen to see these units still running even though they were manf in the 1950s or before  now days i really dont see mutch difference in them except the john deere has got pretty paint :D :D

[Handy Andy]

  Polly, JD's new tractors are pretty durable units.  If you just headed down the road with a plow, you might not believe how many miles you could plow before the tractor is worn out.  The difference between the old and the new is called productivity.  These new tractors would plow from Denver to Kansas City before those old ones made it to Kansas. 

[scsmith42]

I view 6000 hours on most pieces of equipment as equivalent to 100,000 miles on a vehicle.  Once you get above 6000 hours, you unscheduled maintenance costs will increase, as will your downtime.

10,000 hours is probably pretty worn out.

There are exceptions to this - skid steers seem to wear out much more quickly.

Scott

[RSteiner]

I was told the rule of thumb is that one engine hour is equal to about 50 miles.  I have a Kubota L3000DT that I purchased new in 2002 which now has just under 500 hours on it. On compact tractors the hours are a little misleading, one engine hour is only an actual hour on most compacts when the engine is at PTO RPM which is around 2,200 to 2,400 RPM.  I do a lot of work in 1,500 to 1,800 RPM range which takes almost 2 actual hours to record one engine hour.  That is probably why 4000 hours on a compact tractor is a lot.

I average a little less than 100 hours a year with mainly weekend use.  I would reason a guess of 200 engine hours a year would be a fair amount of use for a compact tractor.  I really all boils down to how well the tractor was maintained, oil changes and not overheating the engine.

Randy

Randy

[ellmoe]

   My Chevy 3/4 ton has an hour meter, and I've never reset it. I just turned 3000 hrs. and now have 102,000 miles on it. This works out to be about 35,000 miles per thousand hours. My loaders have about 20,000 hours on them. That's a bunch of miles!

Mark

[Polly]

 8) 8)   you might be right about the new john deeres problem is they dont go put put put  :D :D :D

[Dave Shepard]

You could always get a recording of an old Deere and play it on an Ipod when you are driving around. :D


Dave

[Polly]

 8) 8)    i keep making fun of the john deere tractors i must level with you i got one  8)