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All the recent attention on late-model tractors, whose inventories were bursting out of dealers’ lots until late, has drawn the focus away from one of the better buys offered on horsepower these days – the decade-old four-wheel drives.
Representing some of the cheapest horsepower available in used tractors today, the marketplace offers a good supply of 8- to 12-year-old 4WDs that consistently sell for a fraction of tractors 6 to 8 years younger. Case in point is a 2011 Deere 9430 that was, at press time, sitting on a dealer’s lot in Sigourney, Iowa. Having clocked up 1,239 hours, the dealer asking price on the tractor was $151,000. That tractor is the first 9430 listed in the Pocket Price Guide.
I checked on the appraised value of a 9430 with 1,200 hours, and it was listed at $154,585 at IronAppraiser.com. This confirms that the $151,000 being asked was reasonable.
Now compare that price with the $249,000 to $270,000 being asked for on three 2016 model 9470Rs with 1,460, 1,500 and 1,925 hours, respectively. Equal hours and five fewer years tacks on around $100,000 to those dealer tractors.
True, those later models offered some technology advances not seen on the 9430.
Also true is the fact that there aren’t large numbers of 9-year-old tractors with as few as 1,200-plus hours waiting to be sold.
“Low-hour four-wheel drives do pop up at our auctions,” says Tim Myer of the Steffes Group (steffesauctioneers.com). “You can always ask auctioneers to be on the lookout for lower-hour machines and alert you.”
You can also search the internet for dealer listings for low-hour tractors. Some websites even provide a service that will alert you to a tractor that fits your particular needs.
Case IH Steiger 385
Auction sales
Average price: $98,880
Price range: $49,300 - $132,200
Average hours: 3,692 hrs.
Hours range: 1,884 - 8,065 hrs.
Dealer asking prices
Average price: $97,585
Price range: $69,000 - $139,585
Average hours: 4,621 hrs.
Hours range: 1,856 - 8,010 hrs.
Case IH Steiger 435
Auction sales
Average price: $115,100
Price range: $42,500 - $166,500
Average hours: 3,472 hrs.
Hours range: 1,428 - 8,825 hrs.
Dealer asking prices
Average price: $114,900
Price range: $68,000 - $145,000
Average hours: 4,732 hrs.
Hours range: 3,800 - 6,100 hrs.
Case IH Steiger 485
Auction sales
Average price: $91,266
Price range: $50,700 - $145,000
Average hours: 2,868 hrs.
Hours range: 1,476 - 6,125 hrs.
Dealer asking prices
Average price: $146,860
Price range: $125,900 - $195,000
Average hours: 2,737 hrs.
Hours range: 1,750 - 3,323 hrs.
Case IH Steiger 535
Auction sales
Average price: $92,806
Price range: $65,000 - $157,200
Average hours: 4,581 hrs.
Hours range: 2,591 - 8,754 hrs.
Dealer asking prices
Average price: $119,042
Price range: $43,200 - $179,000
Average hours: 5,614 hrs.
Hours range: 3,499 - 9,950 hrs.