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What has happened to Hobby

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
I search around on here and there is not much happening, no tradeing stuff,selling,buying like it was before,Has it come to a end ? I can not even sell any parts.Is there no one working on the older tractors anymore or is it just myself. Just my rant for today
 
You mean locally, or on this forum?

There are two sections of classifieds for that sort of stuff, linked to the upper left of this page. Buying and selling are not allowed on the normal forums, though an occasional ad gets through because you can't catch them all.
 
I think site activity is down overall because many of these guys farm and are still trying to get crops in.
 
Funny you should mention this. Recently I sold my favorite John Deere that I expected might one day be used in my own funeral procession. Lack of interest? No, I just needed heat, food and to pay the property taxes. Let's not forget that my health insurance costs (if I'm not cancelled) will likely triple after the first of the year. Your priorities are what?
 
Paint it green and say its a ultra rare John Deere part! The cost of this hobby has gone to those who are better off than some, and can afford green paint! Not to mention, Joe Blow sold his JD for XXXXXXX amount so the guy thinks his is worth twice what a JD is worth, and so on.....Its not just you, nothing is selling!
 
There"s probably activity, perhaps just less talk of it. A local custom gutter installer is now advertising to clean out gutters. Lean times forced me to sell my old tractor in order to pay the doctor and eat.
 
Let me get this straight? The John Deere tractors have pushed prices and sales down of the other brands of tractors ?
Or are you just angry that you are too broke to afford a Deere and have to make do with brand X ?
What price of Deere? Brand new JD is every bit as competitive . Used, Deere still being in business after everybody else went bankrupt and merged. Deere still has parts support. Deere is still US based.
Any surprise that some brands retain their value better than others?
 
Wife sells honey products and other things made from our bees at craft sales, flea markets, farmers markets, etc. All the vendors are complaining about low sales. Her internet sales out of state and out of country are good, but the local folks buying power is way down.
 
Well every hobby has its ups and downs but couple that with the new economy and if your lucky to still have a job your cost of living is going up, fuel went up, food went up, taxes went up, health care costs going up (despite the promises) etc etc. So hobbies and luxury items take a hit - as do the people making them and selling for them. Its called trickle-down economics...
 
Other hobbies go in cycles too.

Harvest season, fall tillage season, hunting season, lack of funds, fewer bargains available, high expense of fixing something up, already have what I really want, don't have enough space for more, already have too many, health problems make it harder to the work on them, no longer fun, no longer profitable, found a new hobby, uncertainty about the future, etc. are some of the reasons people are pulling back.

Younger people have other interests, so fewer new people are taking up the hobby as older ones leave.

People with deep pockets are still buying and collecting. There are just fewer of those people interested right now.
 
JohnM: The collector stuff I've seen lately, NO MATTER THE COLOR is cheaper than it was a couple of years ago. I rather doubt that everyone is looking for an old JD to restore. I my self am a user, not a collector or restorer. I have Fords and IH tractors right now. The only ones I will not buy are the ones supported by AGCO. Not saying they are not good tractors but service and support around here for them is terrible. But at an auction I was standing in line to pay on my way out I was talking to a guy and his wife. Now this guy has about 10 old JD's and was there to buy another. He paid less than half of what he planned and his wife told him that he could have bought another that he had been interested in and still been within the budget they planned on for just one. So even the collectable JD's are down in some areas.

I know it's because of the current economical situation plus the older collectors going into assisted living/nursing homes/dying off and younger collectors needing cash for bills and so on. I've been looking for an old small dozer for some time and have noticed a sharp drop in prices over the last 2 years.

Rick
 
I can agree with the prices dropping. What Ive
seen, at least in my area, and others areas as
well, is simply the fact that it takes MONEY to
restore a JD to either working condition or
restore to show. An example, something simple like
the gaskets for the lights on Farmall M, again for
example. Brother bought 2 3 years ago, happen to
see them on the shelf at the local JD dealer,
these are the same lights Deere used, so they will
work fine, but the price is nearly twice what I
paid for me not 2 weeks earlier, including
shipping from the Case/IH/whatevertheyarenow
dealer. It was in a JD bag, so does that make it
worth more? I think not. I can go on and on. Im
sure theres examples that go the other way, Im not
denying that, but what I was trying to say is that
JD charges more, for the same part you can get
elsewhere, because its painted green or in a JD
bag. Guys out there with their high dollar parts
on their overpriced Deere have also contributed to
this with the "Mines better than yours attitudes"
for what I have seen around here, and can afford
to pay those prices, and run up the prices at
auctions have contributed as well. As I said
earlier, and Ill give an example - Guy up the road
sold his JD 70, to a guy who had cash rolled up in
his pocket. He ws smart, held out and probably got
a good chunk for, thats fine. His neighbor was
selling I think it was a Case, told one guy who
looked at it that it was worth his asking price,
since his neighbor just sold his 70 for near the
same amount he was asking. Needless to say, the
Case is still sitting there, and hes still asking
way too much for it. Use to be able to buy M
Farmalls a dime a dozen, now to get a good honest
M, its going to be 1500 or more, and in some
cases, scrap yard tractors. Im sorry if I offend
anyone, I really dont mean to, but I see it all
the time!
 
Agreed.

As the "collectors" age and die off their toys get cheaper. Restored model Ts and even cars from the 1950s are falling off in value as the people that grew up with them age out of the hobby. The big money is in the 1960s and early 70s muscle cars. The guys that grew up with them are coming into their own in buying power and are still young enough to enjoy them.

Tractors are the same way - the ld guys have theirs and the "younger" guys don't want a H or M - its more the 60s and 70s tractors that are "old" to them. Not to mention the fact that the number of people that want or need a tractor is decreasing every year as the number of farms decline.
 
We had a meeting at work 2 days ago.
Basically the owner of the company said that Obummercare is a tax on businesses......just that simple.
And........many think that there will be an overhaul of the Obummercare system.

My wife has to buy her own health care coverage insurance, $575 per month. It costs too much to put her on my insurance at where I work.
Can you say Fooked up !
 
(quoted from post at 13:07:11 11/15/13) I search around on here and there is not much happening, no tradeing stuff,selling,buying like it was before,Has it come to a end ? I can not even sell any parts.Is there no one working on the older tractors anymore or is it just myself. Just my rant for today
Click to expand...
A lot of people are just trying to survive right now and don't have money to spend on hobbies. I think it will get worse before it gets better.....
I know my discretionary spending is going to take a hit thanks to the "affordable" healthcare act. Our health insurance premiums are going from $6000 a year to over $12,000 a year.
 
(quoted from post at 15:35:30 11/15/13)
(quoted from post at 13:07:11 11/15/13) I search around on here and there is not much happening, no tradeing stuff,selling,buying like it was before,Has it come to a end ? I can not even sell any parts.Is there no one working on the older tractors anymore or is it just myself. Just my rant for today
Click to expand...
A lot of people are just trying to survive right now and don't have money to spend on hobbies. I think it will get worse before it gets better.....
I know my discretionary spending is going to take a hit thanks to the "affordable" healthcare act. Our health insurance premiums are going from $6000 a year to over $12,000 a year.
Click to expand...

I wonder about having money is what the priorities are. Interest rates for mortgages were in the teens during the 1980's-1990's when top prices were paid while collections were being built.
Tractors should be more affordable with interest rates at 3% or so.
It's just that there are very few people left in the 35-60yr old range with emotional ties to an old tractor. Most 35-60yr olds were raised off the farm and by a single mother.
Collectors now are looking for Science Fiction memorabilia and 60's-80's vehicles. Who has space in your suburban yard and garage for a field tractor?
 
(quoted from post at 13:06:30 11/15/13)
(quoted from post at 15:35:30 11/15/13)
(quoted from post at 13:07:11 11/15/13) I search around on here and there is not much happening, no tradeing stuff,selling,buying like it was before,Has it come to a end ? I can not even sell any parts.Is there no one working on the older tractors anymore or is it just myself. Just my rant for today
Click to expand...
A lot of people are just trying to survive right now and don't have money to spend on hobbies. I think it will get worse before it gets better.....
I know my discretionary spending is going to take a hit thanks to the "affordable" healthcare act. Our health insurance premiums are going from $6000 a year to over $12,000 a year.
Click to expand...

That's another thing a lot of people don't look at. Lot of folks who would like to own a tractor just can't because of where they live. No place to park it, store it and work on it.

Rick

I wonder about having money is what the priorities are. Interest rates for mortgages were in the teens during the 1980's-1990's when top prices were paid while collections were being built.
Tractors should be more affordable with interest rates at 3% or so.
It's just that there are very few people left in the 35-60yr old range with emotional ties to an old tractor. Most 35-60yr olds were raised off the farm and by a single mother.
Collectors now are looking for Science Fiction memorabilia and 60's-80's vehicles. Who has space in your suburban yard and garage for a field tractor?
Click to expand...
 
5 years since the banking collapse in the fall of 2008. And still hurting.

It was like a horrible economic car crash with lots of broken bones and internal injuries. It will take a long time to recover.

Farmers have actually had a good period compared to lots of other industries. High grain and beef prices have been good for parts of rural America. But farmers represent 2% or less of the population. Lots of us collectors are retired farmers or hobby farmers that have not benefitted much from the current high Ag prices.
Retirees are feeling the pinch of low interest rates on our savings as they try incentives to restart the economy.

We are paying a big price for our economic carelessness in the early 00"s.
 
(quoted from post at 13:43:47 11/15/13) 5 years since the banking collapse in the fall of 2008. And still hurting.

It was like a horrible economic car crash with lots of broken bones and internal injuries. It will take a long time to recover.

Farmers have actually had a good period compared to lots of other industries. High grain and beef prices have been good for parts of rural America. But farmers represent 2% or less of the population. Lots of us collectors are retired farmers or hobby farmers that have not benefitted much from the current high Ag prices.
Retirees are feeling the pinch of low interest rates on our savings as they try incentives to restart the economy.

We are paying a big price for our economic carelessness in the early 00"s.
Click to expand...

Edd yer pretty close here. Our economic carelessness started with Carter deregulating some banking laws trying to stimulate the economy. Followed by Reagan and Bush doing the same thing. Then came Clinton who created the master piece making so lenders had to consider welfare as income on loan apps. Then individuals made stupid decisions and started spending 110% of their annual income or buying home they really couldn't afford. The politicians from both sides set the stage, then the clowns took off with the show.

Rick
 
If you like your tractor,
someone else get's your tractor(period)

If you like your savings and retirement account,
someone else get's your accounts(period)

If you like your job,
keep your job,
many don't like jobs and need your support.
 
Carter was pres....35 years ago.

I was once given a very difficult job to repair a group in a big mess. After a year I told my boss...here are the problems we inherited...he said... look,,,I promoted you over a bunch of more senior guys to fix this mess. I know it is a mess, but I only wamt to know how you are going to fix it and see results. That is why we gave you a big financial raise when you got this job....now fix it!

Since Jimmy Carter was Pres. we have had 3 red Pres and 1.5 blue Pres. Which one looked us in the eye and said " this is a problem and here is how I plan to fix it!".....none!
 
This isn't new. Prices for old iron have been dropping since the 2000 or so. So has attendance at shows. I think it is the older guys are ageing out of this. And because fewer folks are farming now, fewer are into old tractors. If you look at the prices of the tractors from the 60's and 70's, they are up pretty good over the last 10 years. I don't see a lot of upside to this, there is a lot of land farmed around here, but very few farmers - local guys are farming 12K+ acres.
 
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