Back in ’79, I bought a new 16 hp B7100 Kubota tractor.
Over the years, it performed admirably, with only having to change out the rear PTO seal, oil filters, etc. As well as irregularly changing the oils and other fluids.
9 years ago, the wife gets transferred off to places where I really couldn’t bring it along. So I parked it at my bro’s house and he intermitterly used it. It hasn’t been started now for several years.
It probably could use it’s rings tightened up a bit as well as a new paint job.
It’s 1200 miles away. Should I leave it to continue to decay at his house, or should I send it to the shop for an expensive rehab? I have no need for it now (at least looking forward for a few years), and can’t store it at my current house. Although, It could be possible to store it at the stepkid’s house – whom could actually use it for a present project we’re working on. But I wouldn’t think I could get it rehabbed in time for that.
What would you do? I got a nice collection of toys to go with it. 4 way Dozer blade, rear blade, landscape rack, flail mower, back shovel, and more.
Is this older diesel technology too old to work with nowadays?
I really don’t need to sell it.
Replies
A couple of years ago I bought a new tractor & traded in a 1981 wd225 for an endloader to go on the new one. It looked really bad & I thought he was being nice on the trade & would junk the Kubota. He said no they would steam it & touch up the paint an probably get $1500-2000 for it to some one with an acreage.
Run an add in the paper where it is located.
Some Older folks I do work for have a 1947 Ford 8n in thier barn.
they asked if I thought anyone would be interested in HAVING it.
I told the DO NOT give it away!!!
Hooked em up with a gent who restores them.
they said they will use any $$ they make on it to have me work on thier house some more...
I have no comment...
You sell it just like it is .
Or leave it sit at your brothers.
Go to tractorbynet.com and ask this same questinon on the general or Kubota forums. Lots of very tractor-savy folks over there to point you in the right direction. Maybe even someone on that board who lives near where the tractor is today and can store or restore the rig for you.
A new kubota with the additonal toys you have might right $15-20k or more. Used machines in good condition - and low hours - are impossible to find. I'll bet your older machine all fixed and running is worth more than you paid for it.
Good luck. - Norm
Give it to me!
Give it to me!
Ya beat me to it!
Neighbor has one just like it, he is 85, but getting a bigger machine - sold the old one as is (very well maintained, also has rototiller/backhoe attachments) for $7K. He was surprised it sold for that much, as a full size use Ford tractor/loader/backhoe mostly rebuilt is less than that.
You both beat me to it !!Setting all else aside, I really NEED something small like that.Ok, now I am going to be scrounging the countryside for a really small tractor or creeper of some kind. Seriously.If you see anything small, please let me know. I mean even something as small as a 4-wheeler. That would take a big bite out of some of the major work I have to get done here. And later it may even help me make some money...
They were still selling the 7100 as a NEW machine in 95 - I know because I used to sell them alongside Cub Cadet. A Tractor from Pre WWII might be considered long in the tooth, but not yours.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I had a similar situation with my Kubota and attachments three years ago. Leaving a property with acreage, I had no projected use. I loved the tractor. I decided to ask a reasonable price for it and see if anyone was interested. I could just buy a new one if I ever got back on a large property.
It sold at ten o'clock of the day the ad appeared in the paper for my asking price, and I had several calls after that. I still miss having the tractor, but I think I did the wise thing.
Old iron is he!! of alot better than new plastic and I'm sure the value of that old diesel is still there too. Just freshen up all the fluids and filters and use it. One thing I'd do before anything is make sure it's not siezed. Turn it over by hand and if it's free, as much as it's a PITA, I'd pull the injectors and lube the cylinders. Then spin it over by hand again to purge any excess. Sure...it'd be nice if it was a cream puff, but it's just another tool. So use it as it was designed for...workin in the dirt.
"Old iron is he!! of alot better than new plastic..."
I don't think that's remotely true.
Newer tractors have better hydraulics, more gears, better engines, better lights, and better transmissions.
The only bad thing about newer tractors is that they're more expensive.
Bumpersticker: Its time to change the air in your head
"Newer tractors have better hydraulics, more gears, better engines, better lights, and better transmissions"
True, but...the newer also have alot of electronics that can croak at the worst time or place and leave you dead in the water. The old school mechanicals could usually be fixed...jerry rigged or not...and finish the job, even on a late Sunday afternoon of a long holiday weekend. Try doing that with a failed circuit board. ;)
If it's just sitting around, I'd suggest selling it. They don't get any better sitting around.
What you can sell it for depends a lot on the local market. You can probably sell it to a yuppie who has 2 acres and thinks they're a farmer and get decent money. But to a real farmer it won't be worth much of anything - It's not big enough to be useful.
Cleaning it up can make it sell for a lot more.
You can probably sell it to a yuppie who has 2 acres and thinks they're a farmer and get decent money. But to a real farmer...
C'mon Boss Hog, tell us how you really feel about yuppies w/land!
btw - are you the guy in Paxton IL?
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
Stan Foster lives in Paxton - Not me.The yuppies annoy me to some degree. Everyone around here who buys up a couple of acres in the country thinks they need a tractor. They tend to have lots of disposable income, so they pay exhorbinate prices for used small tractors. So guys like me that have legitimate uses for them have to pay an arm and a leg to get one.
Non-conformists of the world unite
When I bought my new Dodge RAM 1-ton diesel in 97, I had a desk job. I went to a local nursery to buy a load of dirt, and the owner, who loaded me up, complained that some people who bought big trucks didn't need them as much as someone like him. There was no really good response I could think of without being mean, so I paid for my load and left. I hope that since then he has been able to find a nice truck that he could afford. I still have my truck, although I don't need it.
And meanwhile they're also driving up the price of ground.
jt8
""The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." --Dave Barry
OK - I had a friend in Paxton once.
Does it give you any satisfaction that the yuppies look up to your lifestyle?
Still pushing a 21" murray to mow my 14 acres...
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
"Does it give you any satisfaction that the yuppies look up to your lifestyle?"
I don't really think they do. They want a storybook version of country life without the reality that goes along with it.
They want to live in the country. But then they start bitching about the country roads, the smell of livestick, the noise of farm mmachinery. They bitch about tractors being on the roads when they're rushing their kids in to soccer practice. They drive like somebody's dying in the back seat and they're on the way to the ER.
They want city water - Not a well. And they want a government grant to run the water line so they don't have to pay for it.
They want the snow ploweed off the road IMMEDIATELY. Then want the roads salted so they can make it to town in their $30,000 SUVs. But they also bitch if they have to wait for anyone who's out there WORKING on the roads for them.
They drive up the price of land to ridiculous levels. That dramatically raises property taxes on the people who have lived there all their lives. Sometimes it makes the nand so valuable it no longer makes sense to farm it.
They buy 4 wheelers for their kids and turn them loose to run around on other people's property with no supervision.
Are ya sorry you asked ???
Q: What is the definition of an optimist?
A: An accordion player with a pager.
You pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one.
jt8
"You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're RIGHT! I NEVER would've thought of that!' " -- Dave Barry
Are ya sorry you asked ???
Nah - I just ask you questions so I can read your taglines.
The county next to ours has had astronomic growth (yuppies) There were actual complaints about smells and tractors running during sleeping hours. They had to pass a "right to farm" ordinance.
Our neighbor was farming our land (no mowing for us) & we asked how much he was making on our tillable acreage - it turned out to be ~$40 an acre, plus whatever he could sell the straw for, but he threw most of his straw away last year - no market. I have no idea how he pays for fuel, seed, fertilizer, etc., let alone machinery.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
I don't think $40 an acre sounds bad, if that's net profit. I don't know how guys get by on what they get sometimes.I was talking to some of the farmers at the coffee shop the other day. They said one of the local seed companies is pushing their "triple guard" seed corn for next year. The stuff costs $190 a bag. That's about $75 an acre for seed alone. Straw certainly isn't worth much. It costs about $1 a bale just to bale the stuff. And people don't want to pay much of anything for it.You shouldn't get me started - I can go on for a heck of a long time.........(-:
We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out. [Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962]
"Straw certainly isn't worth much."check out the price of barley straw.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR
OK - I had a friend in Paxton once.
Stan posts a lot in the Photo Gallery section. Look for threads about flying (gyro) or stairs. Based on the size of Paxton, he might very well know your friend.
Does it give you any satisfaction that the yuppies look up to your lifestyle?
Seriously, BossHog's reply really described the situation very well. I grew up in the country and saw the "slickers" spreading the whole time I was growing up.
Still pushing a 21" murray to mow my 14 acres...
As a kid I had to do 2 acres with a 20" mower. Took hours mowing around all those trees, buildings, bushes, etc, etc, etc. With 14, I think I'd be tempted to put a fence up and get some critters to mow the grass for me. Sheep can give a manicured lawn look... if you don't mind the occasional landmine ;)
jt8
"You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're RIGHT! I NEVER would've thought of that!' " -- Dave Barry
Still pushing a 21" murray to mow my 14 acres...
Actually my tractor is big and green so I didn't want to admit it to BossHog
The city slickers took over my small town on the Chesapeake Bay... I moved to the country again & now they are trying to turn my rural county into a suburb of DC (1 hour away) Pretty much the same situation you described, so we bought land surrounded by the railroad and Park Service, hoping to stay rural.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
That's exactly what I have.Railroad on one side, national forest on the other.BTW: I like those taglines too. I've copied three of them in just the last 15 minutes.
Trade it in or sell it outright and buy something you can use or put the money in a CD and hang on to it until you need to replace it with another work toy. It's probably worth more than you think. I had an early 80's model bought it used for $6500 ran it for 6 years and sold it for $8000. One of the few deals I actually made out on as the Kabota brand holds it's value better than most..