Interesting tractor story

[NY 986]

I was talking to a fellow about how much things cost today and he recounted a story about somebody considering a tractor purchase back in 1976. It seems this person was in the market for a tractor and was talking to the local IH salesman. The 66 series was phased out by the 86 series at that point. Anyhow, his dealer has a new 766 open station that the dealer is willing to make a good price on. The farmer really does not have an exact requirement for power on this purchase but is open to 60-90 HP. The farmer prices a 686 as that is within the range he is looking at. The dealer at this point shaves a little more off of the 766 as the demand is fairly low versus the higher HP models in the 66 series line. The final take it or leave it deal has the 766 only barely 650 dollars above the 686. The farmer opts for the 686 based on the 650 dollar savings. Not a right or wrong answer in this but how many here would go with strictly the price and how many would opt for the extra power for 650 dollars more? To me it would be hard to pass up the extra power for less than a thousand dollars more.

 

[47fivewindow]

650 dollars was a lot in 1976.

 

[johnofnewhaven]

Put it into perspective. That $1000 in 1976 would be about $4450 today. That could influence your decision.

 

[johnofnewhaven]

Ooops. $650 in 1976 is about $2900 today

 

[NY 986]

No doubt price and money are the most important to quite a number of people but the 766 was being offered at an excellent price. My understanding is that the 686 was offered with little discount. Also, the 766 is over 15 HP more than the 686.

 

[johnofnewhaven]

You can never have too much horse power. Lol

 

[moresmoke]

If the 686 was an adequate tractor for the job, why pay more?

Think of it in today's terms with cars. You can save $500 on a closeout last years model vs the same car 1 year newer.
Which would you buy?

If you keep your cars for 10 plus years, you might as well put the $500 in your pocket. If you like to trade every 2 years, that $500 savings will cost you $800 trading in a 3 year vs 2 yr old car.

 

[jm.]

More like $2500 to $ to 3000 for that year.

 

[NY 986]

All depends on one's priorities. Some guys buy a tractor with the intent of owning it for quite a long time. If you were considering adding acres but wanted to hold the line on equipment the 766 would pull a 4 bottom plow or a one row chopper faster.

 

[DoubleR]

I'm thinking of upgrading my 52hp tractor to one with a factory cab. I will be using the new tractor for the same duties I currently use the 52hp tractor for, which it has no problem handling them. I use to do it with a 40 hp tractor. Two salesman are trying to get me into 70 hp tractors which I don't feel I really need. My line of thinking is I will be burning more fuel with the larger engine that I don't really need. Maybe the guy in your story also took that into consideration not to mention the cost to upgrading some of his equipment to accommodate the larger tractor.

 

[NY 986]

My understanding is the equipment could have been easily used by either tractor. The larger tractor would pull any given piece faster completing a given job sooner. Might make the difference between getting a crop in or out in a timely matter in a wet year. We all have different ways of looking at it hence the thread.

 

[Mike M]

What I remember from that time period tractors were hard to get new or used. My uncle ordered a JD 4230 open station and resold it in a short time for more than he paid for it.
That was also right before the influx of compact tractors. At that time we were looking for a small tractor and used was really hard to find. Ended up with a new AC 5040. I never really did like that tractor.

 

[Determined]

Low HP and working it to it's limit versus higher HP and taking it easy makes a big difference on longevity.

With the hills we have to deal with there are jobs my 970 really struggles with, my 1070 with a few more HP makes the same job seem like a walk in the park.

When a low HP engine is half wore out it can no longer do the job you got it for it becomes useless, a bigger machine half worn out can still be quite useful and still have marketable value to it.

All depends on the individual, some trade in for new every few years, others will run a machine into the ground five times over before deciding they got their moneys worth out of it.

 

[NY 986]

Hills are one reason why you saw 130 HP tractors on one row choppers and 4 bottom plows in some parts of New York.

 

[INCase]

back in the day. even in the 1970's every dollar mattered and there was a lot less borrowing available and a lot fewer borrowed money anyway.... certainly not like folks borrow borrow borrow today.

so if he only had the price of the 686 in his checking account, quite likely that's all he would have spent regardless of the deal/options.

yeah, today, it would have spent the extra $ on the 766.. if i was raised in a different time and was back in the 1970's i might not have???

 

[NY 986]

Actually, there was plenty of borrowing available during the 1970's. FHA was at its bat-crud craziest making poor loans then. Anyways, I don't think that borrowed money factored in and he did inquire about up to 90 HP which most people would realize would be more expensive than a 66 HP tractor. If he was adamant about pricing 60-65 HP only then I would see your point.

 

[ed12345]

It all depends on what you want to do with the tractor

The 6xx to 7xx was where the frames went from medium to large. The 686 was an excellent rowcrop tractor that could pull a 3 bottom plow if need be. The 766 was more like a underpowered 966

The better tractor was the 686

 

[oldtanker]

What's missing here is the very much alive attitude at the time held by many older farmers that you don't buy more tractor than you need. And a lot of em not really understanding that lugging an engine was bad actually bought a little smaller than needed. Farmers back then too expected to be in the field 10 or more hours a day 6 days a week, week after week, to get crops in out out. Now I hear guys farming more land and expecting to have the planting or harvesting done in a much shorter time frame.

Rick

 

[NY 986]

I don't know about that. Farmers like my grandfather bought a little larger with an eye on the future. He bought a Farmall M when an H would have done for his
immediate needs. Around here farmers bought with the idea of keeping a tractor for quite a long time barring catastrophe. Buying a given size and then replacing with
the same size in the span of a few years was fairly uncommon in these parts. Probably why dealerships here from the 1960's onward bit the dust faster than the
Midwest. Also, a lot of that low hour/acre choice Midwest equipment came to the East including New York via the jockeys who bought at Midwest consignment sales.