It’s a question I’ve been asked for 30 years. Back in the early 2000s, pre-internet, we’d stand and watch a sharp, used tractor or combine sell for $200,000. We’d say, “Can these prices go any higher? Feels like they can’t.” But of course, they always did.
The first tractor I ever saw sell for $300,000 or more at auction in the U.S. came in December 2012 in Mason City, Iowa. It was a 2011 Case IH Steiger 600 Quadtrac with 758 hours that sold for exactly $300,000. The first combines I ever saw crack $300,000 at auction came two years later in Washington Court House, Ohio where a pair of 2014 John Deere S690s with 219 and 225 engine hours sold for $340,000 and $335,000, respectively. The same sale saw a 2014 John Deere S680 with 211 engine hours go for $310,000.
“Pete, these prices can’t go any higher, can they?” Yes. They did.
Those prices seem quaint now. The good old days, which feels crazy to say. What’s always driven used farm equipment values over the decades has been the price of new equipment. Rising new and used values have always been connected at the hip. Over the years, I made a Machinery Pete rule on the rising cost of new equipment: roughly 4% higher per year. Talk about quaint.
The End of the Plank
At one of the big farm shows this spring, a new tractor was introduced with the price tag of $1.3 million. That number had me envisioning a pirate ship with a plank. You inch out farther and farther until finally: splash. The end of the plank.
Have we hit the collective end of the plank for new equipment prices? It sure feels like it with sub-$4 corn. But, of course, it’s felt like that many times before.
In this profit-challenged ag environment, I do find a pair of data points to be very telling. At the 2024 Farm Progress Show, my folks on the ground reported a distinct vibe of farmers focusing in on the simpler equipment options and solutions.
At the same time, recent auction sale prices are continuing to show farmer buyer emphasis on very good condition older, simpler, pre-DEF, pre-Tier IV tractors, combines, sprayers and skid steers.
Here are a few examples:
- A 2009 Buhler-Versatile 2180 tractor with 525 hours sold for $103,250 at a Sept. 14 farm auction in Platteville, Wis. The previous record high auction price was $73,000 17 years ago.
- A Case IH MX245 tractor with 1,501 hours sold for $142,000 at a Aug. 26 farm auction in Wayne, Neb. That’s $26,000 over the previous record high auction price from 10 years ago.
- A 1997 John Deere 8300T tractor with 2,862 hours sold for $72,000 at a Sept. 24 farm auction in Luckey, Ohio. It was the second-highest auction price ever, and the highest in 14 years.
This is proof that with the rising price of new equipment, very good condition older, simpler, used equipment is still very much in demand. It has been a truth over all my 35 years tracking prices, and even more true when times are tight.
Your Next Read: The Used Machinery Sweet Spot: How To Get The Most Bang For Your Buck
