[AT] High Old Iron Prices in Wed News Article

[hank at millerfarm.com]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't orchard model tractors rare in  
general.   The value of some oddball anything often has little bearing  
on the more common models that are almost identical.

That said, fads come and go.  If old tractors are becoming the fad,  
this isn't the first time, that has happened.   People will buy a  
bunch of them, spend money on them for a few years, decide it isn't  
for them, and move on.   A few years latter the fad will come around  
again.

If you enjoy tractors (and one or two of those getting into the fad  
now will enjoy it and keep at it - I make no predictions as to which  
person, but someone will), this is a time to sell (high) those  
tractors that don't interest you, or that you are sure you won't miss.  
   If some people are willing to pay a lot of good money, some of you  
should milk those people for all you can get.   (others will have no  
interest in that - to each their own)

This is also a time to spend the money you can't spend on new tractors  
in fixing details of your existing tractors.

Last, this is also the time to get to know some new faces.   They may  
not stick with the hobby, but everyone has some interesting side (I  
know some "mentally disabled" people who this applies to).   In the  
best case, they may remember you as the nice guy in their tractor  
phase - 10 years from now when you are in a situation where you could  
use their help in something they do well.  Even in the worst case, you  
walk away from them with nothing lost but some time.

Quoting Chuck Bealke <bealke at airmail.net>:

>
> Friends,
>
> So the monied folks buying small pieces of farms to get away from
> the city - and thereby converting remaining farmland to a solid grid of
> suburbia - have discovered a piece of our fun.  They are buying our
> favorite iron at auctions.
>
> Wednesday's Wall Street Journal has an article titled,
> "Old Tractors, Maserati Prices." The online paid version has
> some pictures taken at auctions.  One well known to us auctioneer
> claims to have sold a Deere 3020 Orchard for $160K.
> There is also a nice plug for a well known restorer from Sully, Iowa,
> and mention of a $50/hr or more rate for restorations.
>
> However rosy and fanciful the picture it paints for sellers, the stuff
> does indeed seem to be getting harder to take home.
>
>
> _|___\  __
> |_____/    \  ~ Chuck Bealke ~ bealke at airmail.net ~
> ( )       \__/
>
>
>
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