While the market for late-model, used equipment for row-crop operations has softened this year, that’s not necessarily the case for hay and forage equipment and midsize loader tractors.
Take round balers for example. At an Aug. 1, 2024, farm auction in Solen, N.D., a 2022 New Holland Roll-Belt 560 Specialty Crop Plus round baler (1,810-bale count) sold for $53,975. That was a new record auction price by a whopping $10,465.
That record price lasted one day.
On Aug. 2, at a farm auction in Hospers, Iowa, a one-owner 2021 New Holland Roll-Belt 560 Specialty Crop Plus (102-bale count) sold for $56,000.
A March 9 consignment auction in Stamford, N.Y., produced the highest auction price ever on a Massey Ferguson round baler. A 4160V model with 698 bales sold for $59,000.
Modern hay rakes aren’t your grandfather’s hay rakes. A 2014 Claas Liner 4000 49' rake sold for $50,000 at a
Feb. 1 farm auction in Mount Vernon, Wash. Eight weeks later during a March 28 online auction in Copeland, Kan., a 2020 Rowse Ultimate V-rake, 27-wheel size went for $49,500.
Loader Tractor Records
Even more pronounced the past 18 months have been the solid auction prices on mid-horsepower loader tractors. The July 27 auction we filmed for our “Machinery Pete” TV show in Paris, Mo., by Wheeler Auctions & Real Estate was the largest auction I’ve seen in my 35 years. They sold equipment for more than 12 hours.
Somewhere in one of the many long rows of equipment that day was a 2008 John Deere 7430 Premium tractor with 1,354 hours and a John Deere 741 loader that sold for $160,000. That’s a new record auction price by $3,550, which was set three years prior.
When it comes to pre-DEF, pre Tier IV tractors, I have many examples of high prices in the 100 hp to 174 hp range. On the red side, a 1990 Case IH 7110 2WD with 2,562 hours sold for $72,000 at an Aug. 22 farm retirement auction in Rock Valley, Iowa, by Zomer Company Realty & Auction. That was $11,000 more than the prior record for that model.
Four days later, at a farm retirement auction in Wayne, Neb., by Creamer Auction Company, a 1995 Case IH 7220 front-wheel assist with 2,844 hours and one owner sold for $79,500. That’s the second-highest price for the past eight and a half years.
A trio of green time machines sold for big bucks when the gavel fell at an April 29 retirement auction for R&M Motors in Berlin, Wis., by Wilkinson Auction & Realty.
The tractor in the middle of the photo at right is a 1992 John Deere 4055 with 22 actual hours. Prior to that day, a 1989 2WD model with 215 hours that sold at a Dec. 19, 2016, farm auction in St. Edward, Neb., held the record at $93,000. What did the John Deere 4055 with 22 hours sell for earlier this year? $275,000. Yes, you read that right.
Next to it in line that day was a 2002 John Deere 7510 with 13 actual hours. I saw this exact same tractor sell at auction in Kentucky almost 10 years ago to the day for $100,000. At the Berlin auction, the tractor went for $192,000.
The third green tractor that sold was a 1992 John Deere 4455 with 2,260 hours. It brought $160,000, which is $62,150 more than the prior record.
I expect strong prices on good used loader tractors for the rest of 2024.
