As May arrives, bringing warmer weather throughout much of the country, two segments in the used equipment auction world are also heating up: lower horsepower utility tractors and unique antique tractors.
Machinery Pete says the utility tractor class (125 hp to 175 hp with a loader) has been fairly strong for the past two years now, and noted a recent sale that shows higher price upside coming into play for those machines.
A John Deere 6115M MFWD tractor (962 hours) with a H310 loader with grapple sold for a record $107,500 at an auction last week in Plano, Texas.
Another transaction that caught the eye of Pete and host Casey Seymour took place Tuesday evening at an Almond Vintage Power auction near Nicomas, Ill.
A 1911 Imperial 4070 tractor in beautiful condition sold for $955,500. Only three tractors in that year/model are known to exist.
“It’s a very extreme example, but it shows there’s no shortage of money in the market right now, whether it’s the right piece of land or a crazy collector’s item like that,” Pete says.
Seymour, who has over 20 years of experience in the used equipment space, then spent some time with Pete unpacking some of the best practices they’ve picked up over the years for visual marketing up-for-auction equipment.
“The more information you can put out there, the better opportunity you have to spark somebody’s interest,” Seymour says. “And it’s a way to set yourself apart, whether you’re an auction company or a dealership or even selling it privately, to show you’ve got nothing to hide.”
Hay Tool Technology Evolves
Kaylene Ballesteros, go-to market manager – hay and forage products, John Deere, talked about the company’s approach to technology and automation in hay equipment.
She says adding automation to hay tools is no different than the evolution from horses pulling steel plows to diesel tractors working the ground. The idea is the technology has to make hay producers lives easier and also bounce some ROI back into their operations.
Years ago, John Deere launched its baler automation technology, and it recently built onto that ecosystem with Weave Automation. The feature automates “the art of weaving back and forth over the row really carefully” to make sure you get a perfectly square shoulder bale every time.
“Now, the hitch of the baler does the weaving for you, based off bale size and threshold settings it will make sure that bale is a square shoulder bale,” Ballesteros adds. “So, they can sit in that cab with a little less to worry about or go to their kid’s basketball game and put somebody else in the seat. It takes the stress out of that situation, too.”
Is Demand for Used Combines and Utility Vehicles On the Rise?
Aaron Fintel, used equipment specialist, 21st Century Equipment, says 2025 is still the year of the last-minute equipment purchase. He had a farmer call him just a few days ago, on the cusp of full bore planting season, looking for a used planter. Fintel is also predicting higher demand coming into play on used combines and utility tractors in the 100 hp to 175 hp segment.
“It’s almost like everybody heard how cheap they were and said ‘Well, I suppose we should probably look into one,’” he says of buying behavior in the used utility tractor segment.
Another insight Fintel shares is the current tariff situation and uncertainty in the economy is stifling buying activity among livestock producers. Cattle ranchers, unlike their corn and soy raising counterparts, are riding a wave of strong prices for beef and other proteins.
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