Help with a tough situation

[spacechem]

Hey everyone. First post here so if you'll allow me a little backstory and the opportunity to ask for some help I'd appreciate it. I'm located in central NC and didn't grow up around tractors but I'm pretty handy when it comes to working on cars and equipment and for the past 3 years I've been working as a welder for my friend's business. He was a welder and also had a couple tractors that he enjoyed running and working a little. Unfortunately, about a month ago, he turned one of the tractors over by getting too close to a soft creek bank and passed away from the accident. I'm now in the position of trying to help his wife sell off his business and most of his equipment.

Included in this liquidation is at least one of the tractors, the one that he turned over, a Minneapolis-Moline M670 diesel. In-between some of the other work I had to do, I pulled the tractor up out of the field and got it back running and driving. It appears that nothing was damaged mechanically, but most of the body panels are dented up or bent badly. From what I can tell, these tractors were not very common in our area so I'm wondering what the likelihood is going to be that I can sell it? As I said, it runs and drives so it could easily be driven up onto a trailer but I'm a little out of my depth when it comes to knowing where to list it and what to ask for it.

I'm sure its bad form to just show up and start asking "what's this thing worth?" but I really am struggling to find helpful resources for listing this for sale. I wasn't sure if yall maybe knew of a MM group I could post this to or some other avenue that would be more appropriate but I would appreciate any help you could give.

I realized today that I havent actually taken any pictures of the tractor since the accident so I will try to do that on Wednesday when I'm at the shop working on some stuff. What other kind of information should I be trying to gather? I assume serial no, but I'm not sure where to find that. Also if anyone has a diagram detailing the controls on the tractor that would help me a lot to determine what shape the hydraulic system is in. I'm assuming that it needs fluid as every other system did after being upside down, but I dont want to go pulling levers without knowing what they're supposed to do.

I really do appreciate any help you can provide. And I have a little work on his Farmall M to do to get it ready for our church fall festival so I may ask a question or two if I run into difficulty on that. For now though any direction on where to go next with this M670 would be very helpful. Thanks.

Kind of a strange thing- trying to put a value on this particular tractor. You haven't posted any photos, but I guess it looks pretty shabby and that would weigh heavily on buyers' interest. Letting people know about the situation should lend more confidence, as they would know that mechanically it's much better than it looks. However, as one poster was honest enough to state, some folks would never buy a machine involved in a fatal accident. Condolences to the widow and Good Luck to you!

 

[np307]

I will say as well that if there is a local auction that does consignment, list it with them. if he is an honest auctioneer you will get top dollar. sorry to here about the accident. my neighbor just had a child roll a skid steer down the hill and get killed. I know how the tragedy feels.

Thank you. Sorry to hear that, thats tragic.

Sorry for the loss of your friend. Post some pictures of it. I know a MM collector that might be interested.

Thank you. I'll definitely post some pictures when I can.

 

[np307]

Kind of a strange thing- trying to put a value on this particular tractor. You haven't posted any photos, but I guess it looks pretty shabby and that would weigh heavily on buyers' interest. Letting people know about the situation should lend more confidence, as they would know that mechanically it's much better than it looks. However, as one poster was honest enough to state, some folks would never buy a machine involved in a fatal accident. Condolences to the widow and Good Luck to you!

Thank you. Really the worst of it is the fenders are smashed up and the exhaust and intake are laid over. His wife also found a video going through his phone from last fall showing the tractor running and all the gauges working and showing good pressures. Hopefully that plus the fact that its currently running and driving will help testify to its mechanical condition.

 

[joeysmith]

. I only remember seeing 4-5 of them at the Old Thresher's Reunion in Denton this past year (biggest show in our area) and none were m670.

Any chance of contacting them?
Usually those groups are good people an would help steer you in the right direction if you explain the situation

 

[spacechem]

Thank you. Really the worst of it is the fenders are smashed up and the exhaust and intake are laid over. His wife also found a video going through his phone from last fall showing the tractor running and all the gauges working and showing good pressures. Hopefully that plus the fact that its currently running and driving will help testify to its mechanical condition.

I guess if it were me I'd be up-front with the facts and let the superstitious do what they normally do- miss out on a good opportunity.

 

[np307]

I guess if it were me I'd be up-front with the facts and let the superstitious do what they normally do- miss out on a good opportunity.

Oh for sure, I was just saying theres at least a little evidence to help show what kind of condition it was in before the accident.

 

[NoDakInMN]

I would never buy a tractor that was involved in a fatal accident.

While trying not to be unsympathetic to the tragedy, most fatal tractor accidents are due to operator error or the fault of the driver of another vehicle, the tractor itself is rarely to blame. So you are saying that you assign no value to the tractor based not on the mechanical condition or other physical attributes of the tractor, but on personal emotions or superstition. Not exactly helpful to the OP.

 

[NoDakInMN]

Honestly you kinda need to just pick a number and go from there. Look at what others are listed for, compare to what you've got, and adjust that number up or down. Valuing a tractor is more of an art than a science. You step back, hold up your thumb, sight over it, and say, "That looks about right."

What a tractor is worth, is the amount it sells for, so it behooves you to start high and gradually reduce the price until it sells. In your case the numbers you're finding are for tractors that haven't been rolled so you should be asking for less.

Remember you can always lower your price. You can't (ethically) raise it.

"You can't (ethically) raise it."

I've always felt that raising the asking price was a perfectly reasonable response to an unreasonably low ball offer. Guys will do this to try to justify a significantly lower "meet in the middle" price. Raising the price calls them on their BS and you quickly find out if the guy is serious or just pulling your chain.

 

[caterpillar guy]

To list it.There are several options. Tractor house ,Fastline,local consignment auctions and then just having a regular auction for all things being sold .The last is the easiest way to not have a bunch of tire kicker around and not selling anything. If sold on auction I would follow some auctions before selling. There are a couple auction sites that get better prices around me here than one other so I would want to sell through one of them and I buy from the other that seems to be a bit less known. Just me .I suppose that is a not so nice way of telling it but facts are facts. Then you can also have some auctioneers look at things and give some input also. IF you could get a piece of intake pipe and paint to match and fix the exhaust it would go a ways to increasing sales price along with the fenders. Remember hammers make dents when straightening but pounding on a block with the hammer does not dent so much. Just the better it looks the better it will sell. Does depend on your time availability to this.

 

[np307]

I guess I didn't see all the "super" lettering before, looks like this is actually an M670 Super. Here are the pics I took of it today. I also took a video of cold start and driving it a little but I cant upload that with the service I have here.

 

[flying belgian]

I guess I didn't see all the "super" lettering before, looks like this is actually an M670 Super. Here are the pics I took of it today. I also took a video of cold start and driving it a little but I cant upload that with the service I have here. View attachment 126488View attachment 126489View attachment 126491View attachment 126492View attachment 126493View attachment 126494View attachment 126495View attachment 126496

A month of weekends for a father-son team and they will have that thing ready for next summer parades. I'm still thinking auction.

 

[Larry H.]

Hey everyone. First post here so if you'll allow me a little backstory and the opportunity to ask for some help I'd appreciate it. I'm located in central NC and didn't grow up around tractors but I'm pretty handy when it comes to working on cars and equipment and for the past 3 years I've been working as a welder for my friend's business. He was a welder and also had a couple tractors that he enjoyed running and working a little. Unfortunately, about a month ago, he turned one of the tractors over by getting too close to a soft creek bank and passed away from the accident. I'm now in the position of trying to help his wife sell off his business and most of his equipment.

Included in this liquidation is at least one of the tractors, the one that he turned over, a Minneapolis-Moline M670 diesel. In-between some of the other work I had to do, I pulled the tractor up out of the field and got it back running and driving. It appears that nothing was damaged mechanically, but most of the body panels are dented up or bent badly. From what I can tell, these tractors were not very common in our area so I'm wondering what the likelihood is going to be that I can sell it? As I said, it runs and drives so it could easily be driven up onto a trailer but I'm a little out of my depth when it comes to knowing where to list it and what to ask for it.

I'm sure its bad form to just show up and start asking "what's this thing worth?" but I really am struggling to find helpful resources for listing this for sale. I wasn't sure if yall maybe knew of a MM group I could post this to or some other avenue that would be more appropriate but I would appreciate any help you could give.

I realized today that I havent actually taken any pictures of the tractor since the accident so I will try to do that on Wednesday when I'm at the shop working on some stuff. What other kind of information should I be trying to gather? I assume serial no, but I'm not sure where to find that. Also if anyone has a diagram detailing the controls on the tractor that would help me a lot to determine what shape the hydraulic system is in. I'm assuming that it needs fluid as every other system did after being upside down, but I dont want to go pulling levers without knowing what they're supposed to do.

I really do appreciate any help you can provide. And I have a little work on his Farmall M to do to get it ready for our church fall festival so I may ask a question or two if I run into difficulty on that. For now though any direction on where to go next with this M670 would be very helpful. Thanks.

A halfway decent body shop person could make that look good in a few hours.
With few hammer marks & no paint needed.

 

[np307]

Here's the cold start video from this morning.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

"You can't (ethically) raise it."

I've always felt that raising the asking price was a perfectly reasonable response to an unreasonably low ball offer. Guys will do this to try to justify a significantly lower "meet in the middle" price. Raising the price calls them on their BS and you quickly find out if the guy is serious or just pulling your chain.

I'm more talking about the situation where you price it too low, get a whole bunch of "I'll take it" responses, so you raise the price.

Another piece of advice: Don't get upset if you sell it too cheap. She's still in the black on the deal. I know you want to get the most money possible, but that rarely if ever happens. Be happy with what you get.

 

[G1000VISTA]

One question I would have is ,how long did it run upside down and starve the bearings? Like was said, a good body man and some time.

 

[np307]

One question I would have is ,how long did it run upside down and starve the bearings? Like was said, a good body man and some time.

Hard to say for sure. The timeline I've pieced together from people he had talked to that afternoon to when his wife found him only leaves about a 30 minute window it could have happened in. I also have to imagine the fuel pickup would starve itself before the bearings could be starved for too long.

 

[wore out]

Here's the cold start video from this morning.

Those engines are cold-blooded and like a SNIFF of ether for the first start of the day.

 

[np307]

Those engines are cold-blooded and like a SNIFF of ether for the first start of the day.

That explains the can of ether in the toolbox on the fender.

 

[wore out]

Hard to say for sure. The timeline I've pieced together from people he had talked to that afternoon to when his wife found him only leaves about a 30 minute window it could have happened in. I also have to imagine the fuel pickup would starve itself before the bearings could be starved for too long.

Downside up it may have emptied out the fuel filter(s) before stalling.

 

[flying belgian]

Here's the cold start video from this morning.

That old girl sounds good. I wish you the best of luck getting it sold.