Machinery Pete: Grain Trailers, Semis and Trucks ... Oh My!
God gave us two ears and one mouth. So, we must understand the importance of listening ... listening and learning. In my three decades of covering the used equipment markets, I hope I have learned this lesson.
Yes, compiling auction sales data, dealer- advertised price data and search traffic patterns is super vital, but it is also important to listen to folks.
GRAIN TRAILER GOLD
In late August, I found myself in central Iowa filming with two farmer brothers. After our filming was done, we chatted about the current used farm equipment market.
We walked and talked our way into one of their machine sheds. In it was a 1965 John Deere 4020. Let me tell you, it was a real beauty. Then I noticed a sharp looking grain trailer next to the 4020.
“Do you know you guys know are sitting on gold with that grain trailer?” I asked.
They smiled and chuckled. Yes, they’d been following my reporting on the rising auction sale prices on all types of used grain trailers the past year. In the past 12 months, I’ve seen 85 grain trailers sell for more than $40,000 at auction, with 11 selling for $50,000.
Four years ago, in 2018, only six grain trailers sold for more than $40,000 at auction.
“We’re not looking to sell the grain trailer,” the brothers said. “But we should tell you about the pair of semis we just sold.”
Each brother had a 2014 Peterbilt 389 semi with 55,000 miles on it. They sold each semi for $45,000 more than they paid new for them eight years ago. No joke.
That, my friends, is today’s used equipment market. Why would buyers pay such high prices? They want machinery — now.
SEMI PRICE SURGE
Like used grain trailers, used semis and grain trucks have also been hot commodities the past 12 months. Let’s talk semis first.
A 2006 Peterbilt 379-day cab semi sold during a Villa Grove, Ill., online farm auction on July 28. It had an extended hood, Cat C15 550 hp engine, 18-speed transmission, air ride, dual stacks, aluminum wheels, air slide, 218" wheelbase and 364,801 miles.
It sold for $262,000.
Yes, that price is for a 16-year-old semi. The same auction saw a 2006 Peterbilt 378 semi with 215,300 miles sell for $156,000.
These strong sale prices have been coming from all angles on used semis in good condition.
Another example is a 2022 Peterbilt 389-day cab truck tractor, tandem axle and 45,044 miles. It sold for $213,000 at a consignment auction in Finger, Tenn., on March 2.
GRAIN TRUCKS: OLD MACHINES, BIG BUCKS
Prices for grain trucks are even hotter. The five-highest auction prices in the U.S. on International 4400 grain trucks came in the six-month window from February to August.
This time frame includes the two highest prices, which were at the same Feb. 9 online farm auction in Mount
Sterling, Ill. A 2007 model with 269,519 miles sold for $89,500. Another 2007 model with 220,781 miles sold for $87,500.
Prices started to skyrocket on good, used grain trucks late last year. One particular Freightliner stood out. It was a 2004 model FL80 with 20' Kann aluminum bed and 205,604 miles. It sold for a record price of $85,000 at a Nov. 30, 2021, farm auction in Noblesville, Ind. We filmed the auction for ”Machinery Pete” TV.
Six months later, at a May 5 consignment auction in Indiana, another Freightliner FL80 sold for the second-highest auction price ever: $73,000. Prior to this pair of Freightliners, the highest auction sale price I’d ever seen was $59,000. It was from 15 years ago.
That was then. This is now.
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