It Shouldn’t Cost the Farm to Fix a Tractor

The movement away from machinery that you can't fix is underway. You find evidence for that by watching auctions of farm equipment. Some auctions are dominated by John Deere machines, many of them nearly new.

When older equipment from other manufacturers is available at auction, the prices for it have been rising steadily.

I have been looking for a Massey Ferguson tractor myself for about a year. I just need a parts tractor so it doesn't need to be running. Last year, I had several opportunities to buy what I needed for less than $1000. Today, since auctions are mostly online now due to Covid, it is more difficult to get the one you want since there is usually a lag in the audio from the auctioneer. This has cost me several opportunities and in addition a similar parts tractor has been selling for $1500 or more. That is for a tractor that doesn't run and needs work and parts and...

Well maintained equipment is bringing a premium this year too. I think people want to have control over their own fates and you lose that when you risk the success of your operation on the availability of a trained factory tech to diagnose and correct software issues.

Mahindra is playing it correctly by advertising the ease of maintenance for their new models.

Here’s how evolved John Deere has become. There’s a John Deere Labs office a block away from the LinkedIn office in downtown SF. It’s pretty big and would fit a medium sized company fairly well. Looks like they’re trying to cash in on SV talent for their products.

Time for Open Source Tractors.