Every piece of equipment farmers are running in their fields seems to be bigger and faster than ever today.
“That’s just the world we live in, and obviously there’s no difference when it comes to the world of farm equipment,” notes Greg Peterson, aka Machinery Pete.
The Lowly Disk Gets Elevated
Newer tractors, combines and planters are all examples that prove Peterson’s point. Now, he sees farmers showing tremendous interest in high-speed tillage tools – and for disks in particular.
“Over my 33 1/2 years of tracking auction prices, with over 25,000 sale prices on disks specifically, in the past couple months we’ve seen the three-highest auction prices ever on disks,” he reports.
Here’s a quick look at each of the record-price setting tillage tools.
First – $141,000 was clinched for a 2021 model John Deere 2680H that sold on Nov. 16, 2022, in Emory, S.D. “That is the all-time record-high price right there, folks,” Peterson says.
Second – $140,000 was the winning bid in April for a Degelman Pro-Till 36. BigIron recorded the sale on April 20, 2023, in Allegan, Mich.
Third – $116,250 was the bid that captured a 2021 Kinze Mach Till 302 High-Speed Disk. It sold on Dec. 19, 2022, in Laurel, Neb., with BigIron recording the sale.
“Those are the three highest auction prices ever on disks,” Peterson says. “And no, if you’d have told a young Machinery Pete 33 years ago, “Young man, someday you’ll see a disk sell for $141,000 at auction,’ I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Frame Of Reference Matters
What’s driving farmer interest in these high-speed tillage tools? Peterson says the biggest driver of values continues to be availability, along with the right piece of used equipment on the market.
Manufacturers point to a variety of benefits high-speed tillage tools offer as part of the rational for high prices. Here are four:
1. These tools are able to function at top levels at faster speeds. Some run at 10 mph and up to 14 mph, making them capable of covering a lot of ground in a hurry.
2. These new, high-speed disks are often offered in a wide range of widths, making them able to match farmers’ acreage and power requirements better than in the past.
3. These disks tend to be heavy built and versatile, allowing farmers to use them in both spring and fall.
4. Safety and ease of transport are also factors. At least two of these tools offer a narrower transport width than their predecessors, making them an easier and a potentially safer tool to transport on the road from the farm to the field and for travel between fields.
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