EPISODE 607 BUYING TRACTORS — DID I MAKE A MISTAKE?
alan skeoch
July 5, 2-22
We paid $2100 for a 1946 Case Model D tractor. That must have made some eyes roll
Stupid is as stupid does, as Tom Hanks said in the movie. Keith Seabrook was the last owner
before us but there were many owners in the past. Originally this 1946 Case had been
use to drive the great steel blade of a sawnill distantly north of us. It was still running smoothly
and son Andrew put it to work right away setting up his bee yard.
Who cares? Well I care. This Case D cost about $600 in 1946. Does not sound like much, does it?
Well in 1946 a good wage was $2,600 per year Enough money to buy more than 4 tractors if
a person did not eat, pay a mortgage, dental bills, taxes…the whole ball of wax.
Models vary in price
Then Serendipity happened yesterday. Tractor seredipity. An unpredictable coming together of disparate events.
1 ) I Dropped in to pay a local farmer for a
sack of red clover seed for andrew’s bees. $212. Just to pass the time I mentioned the
old 1946 Case.
“Cost us $2,100…USED, really used for …76 years ”
Then Bert got really interesting.
“We just bought a used Case tractor too”
“How much did you pay?”
“65,000…one year old”
“What would a new Case cost?”
And Bert disappeared for a moment then came back with a FIGURE
“Brand new, it would cost you $105,000 for the model we bought.
…other models go up as high as $150,000 I would guess.”
2 ) Review of Facts
-Cost of Case D in 1946 – $600
-Price paid for Case D in 2022 – $2,100
-Price paid by Bert (farmer) in 2022 for 1 year old 2021 Case Tractor
-Price Beret would pay for new Case tractor in 2022 $195,000
3) How could a farmer afford to buy a new tractor?
Average annual income in Canada in 2022 is $54,630
Average FARM income in Canada in 2022 id $38,250 per year
Value of crops $3,000 per acre (Optimum)
4) How does Bert, manage to buy tractors, combines, grain trucks
…food, electricity, cell pones…the whole ball of wax.?
“How much land do you harvest each year?
“About 12,000 acres”
‘Wow! How is that possible?
“We rent land from owners.”
“Why is so much land available?”
“No farmer can live on the old 100 acre farm. Yes there are a few exceptions, But most Farm owners rent the land to us
because they can no longer afford to farm. Better jobs in the city.””
THE BIG QUESTION
Was a Case Tractor cheaper in 1946 ar $600
than a new Case Tractor today at $105,000 ?
OF course this is a stupid comparison….the old
Case was …. (you finish it)
The new Case can…(.you finish it)
alan