OK, So here’s the long story short: We’ve outgrown the little Ford 1720 and we need to make our “small” tractor a little bigger.
This is a unique and strange market space. The demand for 40-60 HP modern-ish tractors is low, but so is the supply. The manufacturers have it well figured out and the supply pretty much exactly matches the demand (plus rate of attrition/loss). The result is that the used market is HOT! HOT! HOT!.
In order to keep our operating costs low (we raise Sheep afterall...) I do pretty much all my own mechanical work on all our equipment. My labor saves us literally multiple thousands of dollars a year. We may be small, but we’re a REAL farm, not backyard tractor owners. Please take this into consideration when opining....
I’d love to get something with air conditioning too, as it Just Keeps Getting Hotter®
Enter the Tractor That Was Broken In Half:
it’s a 2011 New Holland Boomer 3045 CVT. It has all the features we want (4x4, loader, remote hydraulics, working A/C), the hours are low-ish (1300), and the price is $19,500. This is more than $10,000 below the going used rate for a machine like this. partly that can be blamed on the cosmetic damage, which is ENTIRELY cosmetic, but mostly it can be blamed on the fact that tractor was, at one point in time broken partly in half.
The story I have is that the mid-housing was partially separated from the rear axle housing due to the use of an oversized backhoe attachment breaking some of the connecting bolts. In the process the reverser clutch mechanism was damaged. Upon being quoted a retail repair cost (and time for parts availability) the owner choked, passed out on the floor, and after regaining consciousness, and getting back up (some details made up) said “fuck it. what’ll you give me for it in trade as it sits?” the dealer lowballed him, he said “whatever”, shelled out for a new tractor and went home with it. The dealer waited the two months for parts to come from Japan, tore the tractor entirely apart (seriously, first time I saw it, it was a pile of parts on the shop floor), replaced the broken reverser, reassembled it and offered me a test drive.
This tractor has a known engine to me, a Shibaura N844l. This is a simple, reliable, 2.2l indirect-injection diesel made in Japan by craftsmen who give a shit about making stuff right. I know how to fix it, don’t need a computer to do so, and more importantly know it is extremely unlikely to break in the first place. The Boomer 3045 is mostly made from Japanese parts, and aside from the CVT I know what to expect and how to handle most anything that comes up in the driveline and hydraulics.
We are not made of money, midsize tractors are expensive and the market is tight... The dealer says “hey, we fixed it, and it’s cheap!” I say, “well, the second part is certainly true...” This particular dealer has a pretty good reputation for It’s shop. In fact the machine was actually taken in by another outlet in the chain and sent to the one where it currently is to be fixed because their techs are good and have experience with the Boomers.
I’m not expecting tractor expertise per-se, but I am seeking opinions about buying a “vehicle” that has had ~$7000 (retail value) of repairs performed by a shop with a good reputation and is being offered at a price that essentially unbeatable.