Older, used pre-DEF equipment in good condition continues to hold its value on the farm equipment auction circuit. This week’s Pete’s Pick of the Week is a shining example of that trend.
On Tuesday in Mt. Sterling, Ill., a pair of 1980-era John Deere 4440 tractors brought solid returns to the Kerr Auctions Mt. Sterling 2025 Summer Sale.
The first 4440 to hit the auction block (shown above) was pushing just under 10,000 operating hours (9,183) and it fetched $25,500.
The second 4440 (shown above), which is this week’s “Pete’s Pick of the Week” selection, only had 3,163 engine hours on it. That tractor, which was purchased after the original owner won the Illinois state lottery, sold for $40,000, which Machinery Pete says is “very solid.”
“Todd (the previous owner) told me he was hoping for $35,000,” Pete says. “And Alex Kerr, the auctioneer, said he was hoping for high $30s. The older stuff in good condition, like we’ve been talking about, is holding very solid.”
Here’s video of the two John Deere 4440s selling at auction from Pete’s Facebook page:
And it’s not just older machines moving the needle on the auction circuit. Pete is also seeing sales data come in on late model, high-horsepower row crop tractors showing “some pretty good buys” for farmers at the moment. For example, Pete watched a pair of John Deere 8R tractors, one a 2023 model and the other a high-hour 2024 model, sell at auction last week for $333,500 and $280,000, respectively. Consider for a second what a brand-new John Deere 8R tractor costs off the dealer lot right now, and those are both actually very solid deals for the buyers, Pete adds.
Pete also shared a Deutz Auctions sale on Tuesday in Minneota, Minn., where he says a 2007 John Deere 9760 STS combine with 31,167 engine hours sold for $50,000.
“The pre-DEF combines are up in value because, again, there’s (price) pressure in green country on the 1-2-3-4-year-old ones,” Pete says. “There’s, you know, there’s just some good buys happening there, but the nice, older ones, it’s competitive bidding on those, too, no doubt.”
Upcoming auction to watch
After spending the bulk of last week on the road at farm equipment auctions, Pete will spend a week tending to things on the home front before heading off to Bronson, Iowa, on Monday, Aug. 11, for the Chuck Widman Family auction. That sale features four used Versatile tractors (three of them are 300 hp or higher) and two low-hour used New Holland CR combines.
You can check that sale out and get registered for online bidding here.
