While the big iron is undoubtedly the star of the show at used farm equipment auctions, there are often miscellaneous-but-still-useful machines that make their way onto the auction docket.
Utility Task Vehicles (UTVs), also known as side-by-sides, four-wheelers, etc., are one such machine that you’ll encounter, because farmers and ranchers use these versatile, lightweight Swiss Army knives for a wide range of tasks around the farm.
And even if you’re not farming, if you’re into outdoor activities like hunting, fishing or trail riding, UTVs are a great tool to get into some spaces and places where a full-size pickup truck can’t venture.
Machinery Pete recalls a pair of UTV transactions that stick out from his recent travels around the Midwest covering farm equipment auctions.
About six weeks ago, he says, a still-new-in-the-box 1984 Honda 250R ATC in New York sold for $200,000. And another Honda from the mid-80s, this one a 200 Series three-wheeler (shown above), sold for $14,500.
Besides Honda, Kawasaki, and John Deere with its iconic Gator series, Polaris is another manufacturer that Pete says is gaining traction selling four-wheelers to farmers and ranchers.
And if you consider yourself a bit of a UTV aficionado, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn MachineryPete.com tracks sales data and search traffic on used UTVs.
Pete says that data shows back in 2023, there was a big oversupply of the machines on the used market, but today that trend has flipped, and it’s actually a good time to sell a used side-by-side.
“One of the cool things about a side-by-side is that they have a big (depreciation) hit up front, but their mid-range life, that middle of the road dollar value that you see, it tends to linger a lot more than I think other pieces of equipment do,” adds Casey Seymour.
Pete has looked at the data on UTV sales and he’s found that sales and values at auction tend to spike when times are good in agriculture.
“If I were one of those ( UTV) companies, I would watch the price of corn and beans, and as soon as there’s a jump man, shift your ad spend into the ag space,” he says. “That’s what I would do, that’s my Machinery Pete recommendation.”
Our hosts then pivoted to a little fun and spent some time talking about anything other than used equipment values. If you’re into fishing, all of the different styles of bidding that farmers exhibit at auctions, or just having a laugh with two good ol’ boys like Seymour and Machinery Pete, you don’t want to skip the opening segment this week.
The Rest of the Episode
Economic analyst Rich Posson, RFPCO Group, gave an update on the state of the economy. He expects inflation to continue to trend higher going into 2026. Right now, we’re at about a 2.5% inflation rate compared to prices last year, Posson says.
Used equipment specialist Aaron Fintel, 21st Century Equipment, took the last segment to take a deep dive alongside Seymour into the used farm equipment export market. The guys agree that one of the largest export markets for American machines, Ukraine, is down at the moment due to the conflict with Russia, while China is starting to come on strong as a buyer.
Head on over to YouTube to watch the full episode, and please give it a “Thumbs Up” and hit the “Subscribe” button to get new episodes as soon as they drop.
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