# Tractor Hours



## jr in va (Apr 15, 2015)

Is there a rule for hours on a tractor before major repairs start.I know there would be a difference in hours from one operation to another just like the types of miles on a car


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Nothing set in stone. Different makes, models, uses, upkeep, etc all impact life expectancy.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

As deadmoose stated a lot depends on maintenance performed. My JD 4255 is very close to 11,000 hrs with no overhaul. I had it under-hauled(new rod/main brgs) at 6000 hrs.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

Basically I was always told 5000 hours was getting up there then after that all the individual aspects of care and use kick in. I asked kubota salesman and he said kubota is making 4000 hr tractors. Now that adds up fast now on the new digital hour meters and may not mean anything as the old mechanical meters measured a full hour of use based on rated engines pot speed I believe, so basically 5000 hrs on a older tractor could indicate much more use.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

deadmoose said:


> Nothing set in stone. Different makes, models, uses, upkeep, etc all impact life expectancy.


I agree. I think the real issue is predictability and the comfort factor. The more hours a tractor has, the greater likelihood that something will go wrong. How comfortable you are about dealing with it usually depends on how much money you've got in the bank and/or how handy you are with tools. How well a tractor is built, maintained, and operated contributes to higher predictability and moves the likelihood of a failure event further into the future. Sadly, I'm afraid that only applies to older iron 'cause the weakest point in the modern tractors seem to be cheap circuit boards and sensors that are expensive to replace......if you can figure it out in the first place.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

A rule of thumb I use for anything is: After the first major repair, start looking and planning. After the second major repair, replace it. A major repair is anything over roughly a $1,000.

Planned obsolescence is a major part of our economy and a good engineering firm will design a product to so that all components within that product have the same life expectancy.

I once had a Pontiac Sunbird that fell apart when the odometer turned over 50,000 miles. Within two months, the inside door handles on both sides broke, the transmission started leaking, the driver side rear view mirror fell off, the cigarette lighter burned out (as a 3 pack a day smoker, this was *serious*), the trunk lid wouldn't latch, etc.

I negotiated a trade-in (another brand obviously) and on the way to the dealership to pick up my new car, the left front A-frame snapped. I drove into the dealership with the front wheel going more sideways than forward.

Ralph


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

hayray said:


> Basically I was always told 5000 hours was getting up there then after that all the individual aspects of care and use kick in. I asked kubota salesman and he said kubota is making 4000 hr tractors. Now that adds up fast now on the new digital hour meters and may not mean anything as the old mechanical meters measured a full hour of use based on rated engines pot speed I believe, so basically 5000 hrs on a older tractor could indicate much more use.


The 5000 hr mark was what I thought also. The type of hour meter makes for a wide variable of hours. Such as we had a 2440 that had 6000 hrs on it and it had to be ran at rated pto speed to make an hour. Most of the work it did it never ran at rated so I would think doubling the hours would be more accurate. Same with the 4040, when new it was the main tractor so the hours would be close to accurate then later led an easier life and was not ran at rated as much. It is about to turn over 7000 hours and is probably closer to 8000-9000. If you look at the hours listed on tractor house comparing a 40 series to a 50 series there can be quite a difference in hours.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

Wow Pontiac Sunbird that's a piece of junk from the past that's when America was really making some junkie cars .


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

hayray said:


> Wow Pontiac Sunbird that's a piece of junk from the past that's when America was really making some junkie cars .


Yepp! Only Pontiac I ever owned. Wonder why?

Ralph


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

America still makes some 'junkie' cars. Just assembled from parts sourced worldwide....


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Well, even if they are junk they can be kept running. Go to Cuba, it's like an automotive museum.....or most 3rd world countries. You'd be amazed what they can keep in operation with a little ingenuity. Often times I think we are too quick to pull the trigger on a piece of equipment.....but I readily admit to having replaced my rake and tedder last year even though the relics still work.


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## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

deadmoose said:


> Nothing set in stone. Different makes, models, uses, upkeep, etc all impact life expectancy.


My Ford 7610 is on it's third hourmeter. Who's counting? True hours unknown.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

This thing is way past 5000 hours since its last overhaulit has a rough life ice mud sleet or snow everyday of the year on a jaylorTMR mixer.Keeping the service up goes a long way in these applications


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Depends on maintenance. Poor care will put a 2000 hr machine on equal footing with a well maintained 10,000 hr machine.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

rjmoses said:


> A rule of thumb I use for anything is: After the first major repair, start looking and planning. After the second major repair, replace it. A major repair is anything over roughly a $1,000.
> 
> Planned obsolescence is a major part of our economy and a good engineering firm will design a product to so that all components within that product have the same life expectancy.
> 
> ...


 I would say $3000 might be a major repair any more. $1000 doesn't do much anymore especially if a dealer repair.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

New alternator from the dealer would hit that 1000$ limit on both my tractors. Same with a starter. I consider both those items normal wear.



Teslan said:


> I would say $3000 might be a major repair any more. $1000 doesn't do much anymore especially if a dealer repair.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

slowzuki said:


> Depends on maintenance. Poor care will put a 2000 hr machine on equal footing with a well maintained 10,000 hr machine.


The other thing is how its ran. A motor that is started warmed up and ran all day can have a huge amount of hours before major repairs. Compare that to something that is started ran for a few minutes and shut off. Motors were made to be ran for lenght at operating temperature. Go somewhere to get the oil changed in your vehicle its either so many miles/kilometers before next oil change or so much time - months.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

rjmoses said:


> Yepp! Only Pontiac I ever owned. Wonder why?
> 
> Ralph


Former co worker of mine used to have a gravy UAW job for GM in Wilmington, DE where they built Chevettes. Remember those POS cars? Anyway, he said they actually put a small "timer" in the car hooked up to a light on the dash. At about 50k miles, the timer would turn the light on in the dash. Of course the light was a "service engine" type of light. So no matter how little or how much care the car was given, the light would go off at 50k, forcing all the dumbkopfs that owned them to the dealership for repairs, some necessary, most unnecessary.


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## hay rake (Dec 31, 2011)

i agree with most everything that has been said here but it all comes down to your needs. we need a number of tractors going at the same time so we have stayed with what we can fix and buy cheap. 56,66,and 86 series ih are mostly what we run and would continue to run except the 56 and 66 are starting to have problems with the new implements, hydraulics are the problem. new implements need more hyd power than what the old tractors are capable of. the next step will be 71 or 72 series magnums. newer but still what we can work on. i disagree with getting rid of it because it had a high price repair. i want to get that money back and i would rather totally rebuild something i own and know what iv'e got than buy something i don't know then have it blow up. of course this being said we do all of our work and find our parts where we find them from here to iowa.


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## Bazooka (Sep 17, 2013)

Where I grew up, the common line on the John Deere row crop tractors was 8000 hrs. when you started thinking major overhaul.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

hayray said:


> Basically I was always told 5000 hours was getting up there then after that all the individual aspects of care and use kick in. I asked kubota salesman and he said kubota is making 4000 hr tractors. Now that adds up fast now on the new digital hour meters and may not mean anything as the old mechanical meters measured a full hour of use based on rated engines pot speed I believe, so basically 5000 hrs on a older tractor could indicate much more use.


Sounds like the salesman has been hitting the green beer a little too much.


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## gearhartfarms82 (May 10, 2015)

Got one tractor with 17000 hrs and one over haul on it and another with 15000 hrs and nothing done at all but some tranny work. We have a few others at 7-10000 hrs on them and nothing really done to them. Just fyi had a 4455 redone on a motor and cost was 22000$ through deere for a complete motor over haul. Even if you do all your own work motors are not cheap to rebuild


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## CaseIH84 (Jun 16, 2013)

I agree. I would think that 7 to 10 thousand hours on motor would be more likely. Growing up the farm I worked at always ran white tractors. Had either cummins or Perkins in them. 2 105 was rebuilt first time at 8200 hours. The white American was real close to those numbers. 4 to 5 thousand I would wonder if pushing tractor too hard or not maintaining it. Just rebuilt my old Ford 5000 couple of years ago and had over 10000 hours on it.


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## hay rake (Dec 31, 2011)

that is true. there are a lot of aftermarket suppliers for red and green,but i have not found one for ford/new holland. their engine prices are just down right scary. i hate cummins engines but the parts are everywhere.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

We consider replacing a piece of machinery when it can no longer be serviced. And that's why we just don't seem to throw crap away....

I have to disagree with rjmoses. $1000 repair isn't really a repair anymore. We just call that fluid and filter change.

Just put $8k worth of tires on the spraying tractor. It's a different world anymore.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

stack em up said:


> We consider replacing a piece of machinery when it can no longer be serviced. And that's why we just don't seem to throw crap away....
> 
> I have to disagree with rjmoses. $1000 repair isn't really a repair anymore. We just call that fluid and filter change.
> 
> Just put $8k worth of tires on the spraying tractor. It's a different world anymore.


$8000 just for tires is why it's hard to find a used tractor at lower prices. I don't know what your spraying tractor is, but it's probably not to large of one?


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Mike120 said:


> Well, even if they are junk they can be kept running. Go to Cuba, it's like an automotive museum.....or most 3rd world countries. You'd be amazed what they can keep in operation with a little ingenuity. Often times I think we are too quick to pull the trigger on a piece of equipment.....but I readily admit to having replaced my rake and tedder last year even though the relics still work.


Yeah but those Cuban cars were built in the 50's and weren't full of plastic parts, computers and electronic circuit boards. With a little brain power they have been able to fabricate most everything they need.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Teslan said:


> $8000 just for tires is why it's hard to find a used tractor at lower prices. I don't know what your spraying tractor is, but it's probably not to large of one?


Ummmmm, that was for 2....

Michelin Agribib 320/90/R54 are $3845 each.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

stack em up said:


> Ummmmm, that was for 2....
> 
> Michelin Agribib 320/90/R54 are $3845 each.


Ummm...$3845 a tire is still expensive.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Teslan said:


> Ummm...$3845 a tire is still expensive.


Yah, Father bought 8 new ones for the White he sprays with, was pretty salty but they were also still 38's. I bought fell over when he actually bought enough to have new duals as well.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

mlappin said:


> Yah, Father bought 8 new ones for the White he sprays with, was pretty salty but they were also still 38's. I bought fell over when he actually bought enough to have new duals as well.


 I bought a new tire for my NH stacker and was actually surprised it was $700 including mounting on site. Pleasantly surprised that is


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

stack em up said:


> Ummmmm, that was for 2....
> Michelin Agribib 320/90/R54 are $3845 each.


Ouch. What is the tractor?


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

As far as hours go, like most have said it all depends on how the tractor was used, taken care of, and how much maintance was done on it.

When I look for a used tractor, I consider anything under 5000 hours low hours if the tractor looks good and looks like it was taken care of. Now I've seen some 5000 hour tractors that I wouldn't touch as they looks beat to hell.

We've got 4 5088s here. One has 16k hours (did put a reman engine in it at 14k hours, oil filter loosened up and took a lot of life out of it. If that hadn't happened it'd probably still be on its original motor. Another one shows 11k but the hour meter hasn't worked in 4 or 5 years. The other 2 have a bit lower hours, around 7. We use em all but dont' pull the snot out of em, always warm em up before use and cool em down when done. Always been a 100 hour oil change guy but have switched to a 150 hour interval.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

IHCman said:


> We use em all but dont' pull the snot out of em, always warm em up before use and cool em down when done. Always been a 100 hour oil change guy but have switched to a 150 hour interval.


Agree, agree, agree....when you work a tractor long and hard, it helps tremendously to let them idle off the oil and water temp.

I go a little longer on my oil now since I started using "Plus 50"....on my old school Deeres I go 200 hours....newer Deeres....500 hours.

Regards, Mike


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

deadmoose said:


> Ouch. What is the tractor?


2002 Challenger 665. Unfortunately, these tires are only used for spraying and side dressing. We put the 18-4R42 on for field work in spring and fall, then take all the wheels off and install the duals on the front, minus the inner tires and the 54" tires in the rear in the dual locations so the sprayer and tractor run in the same tracks. Problem with that is the tires dont wear for crap.


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## Brncntry112 (Jun 8, 2015)

We still run a JD 3020 diesel with over 40,000 hours on it. My father bought it new in 1971. The engine has had 2 major overhauls, one in 1985, and one in 2013. Both times it still ran and was useable, but was tired. The tranny has been rebuilt only once and it still shifts great! Our 2940 has its share of hydraulic issues(they are known for that), but has 14,500 hours on the original engine and still runs strong. Two keys getting long hours on them...........change the oil roughly every 100 hours, or sooner if it's seen heavy use. Basically, if it looks black, get it out of there. And keep the hired help off the tractors as much as possible. It's makes a difference. We use Rotella engine oil, and JD Hygard hydraulic oil. When the JD dealer last rebuilt the 3020 he asked what we were using for engine oil. Thinking he had found a problem, I sheepishly told him Rotella. Then he said...........keep doing what you're doing......it looks great, just getting lots of hours on it that's all.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Good to hear. I use Rotella, too. 
40,000 hours.....that's really something special.


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## Shetland Sheepdog (Mar 31, 2011)

Brncntry112 said:


> We still run a JD 3020 diesel with over 40,000 hours on it. My father bought it new in 1971. The engine has had 2 major overhauls, one in 1985, and one in 2013. Both times it still ran and was useable, but was tired. The tranny has been rebuilt only once and it still shifts great! Our 2940 has its share of hydraulic issues(they are known for that), but has 14,500 hours on the original engine and still runs strong. Two keys getting long hours on them...........change the oil roughly every 100 hours, or sooner if it's seen heavy use. Basically, if it looks black, get it out of there. And keep the hired help off the tractors as much as possible. It's makes a difference. We use Rotella engine oil, and JD Hygard hydraulic oil. When the JD dealer last rebuilt the 3020 he asked what we were using for engine oil. Thinking he had found a problem, I sheepishly told him Rotella. Then he said...........keep doing what you're doing......it looks great, just getting lots of hours on it that's all.


Thatt figures out to 2.5 hours a day for every day for 44 years!  That 3020 must be on the manure spreader!   :lol:


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## 1oldphart (Aug 20, 2014)

try a radial for a 988c cat loader $20,000.


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