Unwanted Horses

[Wheel-N-It 2,968]

Its a haul for me too. Plus I have run out of room for anything else. Really I am going to have to construct another building before I can buy another thing with wheels and tires.

[HorseWhisperer 243]

Phew,I was beginning to think my ugly ducklings had cooties or something.I wondered if I was asking too much or that I may be the only unibody enthusiast.I am gonna bring the heavy grills to the show and not coming home with them.The ranger I have had sellers remorse before it left.I am takin it off the market.I had too much time to think about it!You guys know how to make a wheel horse feel pretty!Shucks

[bo dawg 516]

what was you asking for the C-120?

[HorseWhisperer 243]

550 With a perfect 42" deck,450w/out.good.

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330]

there is a reel mower for sale here on rs in the classified section for $250. think he is willing to deliver to the show too.

[47JDG 65]

Really good prices IMO.

[littleredrider 409]

Don't feel bad, you were the 2nd person that ever came an looked at my stuff. I had it listed here and on craigs, couple nibble but that is it. IMO I have some decent stuff, and somewhat rare. I don't anymore, but would look all over on craigs for ones that I have, and only found an 854 a couple times. Once there was a ranger like mine, but was rough, looked like it sat in a swampy field for the last 30 years and still wanted alot for it. Like was said already, it doesn't cost anything to let them sit anywhere, and they don't eat or drink much, so I'll just let them sit, eventually I'll get to them. I put the mower and small tires back on, and mowed the field out back. Grass was easily over a foot, tho it took a couple passes to get it to cut it all, it did good. Just need to fix the stupid belt.

[MalMac 1,331]

Same story here, I had a couple of tractors listed here and CL, not one nibble. I priced them what they were worth in the real world and was even prepared to drop the price. I think no matter how the News and are government says it's getting better economic wise, people are still very strapped for money and have to pay bills first with no extra for hobbies. I have been lucky that the last couple of years I have thinned out the herd and have been able to sell a few attachments It's just getting to tight for people around here. Also you will always have people looking for something to mow their yard with and will look at a used Wheel Horse and say "I can go to whatever Big Box Store and get a tractor with that's new with twice the Horse Power." I don't even try and talk to those people not worth the time. I just took the Horse's and put them back in the barn for spares or if worst came to worst use them for parts.

[HorseWhisperer 243]

 Joe,you ready to let go of that ranger that doesn't eat much?

[rmaynard 15,418]

I have never been to the Big Show (like to someday, when I can afford it). My question is: Do you go to the show to find what you are looking for at a fair price or do you want to walk away with a steal?

It's a little of both. If you go to the show with something specific in mind, you can look, feel, touch, and then find the best deal if there is more than one. It's always better to buy when you have choices. You don't always get the lowest price at the show, but there is nothing like shopping there.

 

I listed my Horses on CL and here on RS and on FB.Only one single person in a 4 week span has shown any interest...

 

Just my 2 cents worth on why things haven't sold. Unless someone has money to burn (and how many of us do?), only necessities are being purchased by the average guy. The economy is not getting better in my opinion. Just look at the price of gas and more than that, the price of groceries. Since I retired, I have been doing more of the grocery shopping. I refuse to pay $5.00 for a loaf of bread, or $4.00 for a can of shaving cream. . The cost of healthcare is going up, and the real unemployment rate is closer to 14% than the reported 7.6%. If someone can honestly tell me that $3.50 for a gallon of gas today compared to $1.70 in 2009 is a sign of a better economy, I will eat my new linen beige RedSqaure hat.

 

So having ranted on the economy, I will say this. Look the comments. "I am just hard pressed for cash", or "unfortunately, I don't have $400 I can spare right now", "if I could figure a way to justify a 200 mile road trip", "times are real tight with cash right now". These are all signs of the times, and I don't think it's going to get better any time soon.

 

So don't feel insulted that you haven't gotten any offers. Just take a look around and you will see the reason why.

 

Good luck. I hope that someone with big bucks comes your way!

[HorseWhisperer 243]

Before I say anything else I'd like to Thank all you veterans for our freedom!Bob,you are right on.I believe more people are focusing on necessity but mowing your yard and gardening is one of them? Lol 

[Forest Road 594]

It's not you. 2-3 years ago I could all anything WH in a couple weeks here in NJ. The last year nothing seems to be selling. I see the same stuff on CL locally for months. Hang in there.

[dsholler 54]

Illiquid Market

A market in which that is difficult to sell assets because of their expense, lack of interested buyers, or some other reason. Examples of illiquid markets include real estate, some stocks with low trading volume, or collectibles. Assets in illiquid markets still have value and, in many cases, very high value, but are simply difficult to sell. See also: Liquid.

 

 

These tractors probably come under the heading of "collectibles"..  
It is not the economy, although that certainly does not help. Relative to other things, stuff like this will always be more difficult to sell compared to other kinds of assets.

 

I have never been to the big show, but this is probably why it is so good, because for that period of time, there are a lot of buyers and sellers all in the same place.

[sscotsman 148]

Here is an idea you don't see talked about much, and im wondering it could be a factor in the selling difficulties that the OP is seeing..

 

I think in this hobby, there are a lot of people who want to get into the hobby so that they can restore tractors themselves..

which means for those people, the "rougher condition", less expensive tractors are the ones they want!

I am in that category..

I bought a 854, a "rough runner"..I paid about $250 for it..

The same model, in better condition for $500 or $600, I would not be interested in!

because I wouldn't want to pay that much, and I want to restore the tractor myself..

 

I am also looking for a Cub Cadet "original"..

I am only looking for "rough" originals in the $250 or less range..For two reasons:

1. I cant afford much more than that right now.

2. I want to restore it myself! so I dont want a machine that doesnt need restoring..

I have a seen a bunch of very nice cubs, in better condition than I can afford, selling for $500 or more..

sure, they are probably worth it! but I dont want to spend that much..I am simply not in the market for those machines..

So that is one category of buyers..they simply dont want "good condition antique tractors"..its not what they are into..

 

Buyer Category 2:

Someone who is just looking for "a cheap used tractor or riding mower"..

They dont know, or care, about brands and the quality differences between brands, they dont care about antique..they just want something cheap that runs..

For those people, why would they buy a 40 year old Wheel Horse for $500 when they can buy a 10 year old Craftsman for $100?

They are clueless about quality differences between brands, and they aren't interested in learning..

 

That leaves only Category 3:

The people who *do* know about brand quality, want to collect good condition antique tractors, and have the money to spend on them!

Do those people exist? yes, of course they do..but are they very common?

probably not..We see a lot of them here on RS, but this a "specialty forum"..

the amount of these "Category 3" people on this forum is *way* out of proportion to the "real world"..

For any given tractor being sold on Craigslist, there might be one of those people in a 200 mile radius,

while there are probably dozens, even hundreds of Category 1 or 2 buyers..who simply are not in the market for a "Category 3" tractor..

 

IMO, the tractor prices (in the original post in this thread) are fine! the prices seem perfectly reasonable..

the problem, IMO, might be finding that elusive "Category 3" buyer..

I think there are a lot less of them than we think there are..being on a forum like this makes us think they are more common than they are.

On this forum, they are all gathered in on place, from all over the world..

in the real world, they are few and far between..

We see it all the time here: "I would love to buy that tractor! if only it wasn't so far away.."

 

just something that came to mind..I might not be right!

but its a theory anyway..

 

thanks,

Scot

[305 380]

i would have gladly given you $400 for that lawn ranger it it was closer to me in Minnesota. it seams like any good deal i see advertised is in either Indiana/Ohio area or in the northeast states

[HorseWhisperer 243]

Here is an idea you don't see talked about much, and im wondering it could be a factor in the selling difficulties that the OP is seeing..

 

I think in this hobby, there are a lot of people who want to get into the hobby so that they can restore tractors themselves..

which means for those people, the "rougher condition", less expensive tractors are the ones they want!

I am in that category..

I bought a 854, a "rough runner"..I paid about $250 for it..

The same model, in better condition for $500 or $600, I would not be interested in!

because I wouldn't want to pay that much, and I want to restore the tractor myself..

 

I am also looking for a Cub Cadet "original"..

I am only looking for "rough" originals in the $250 or less range..For two reasons:

1. I cant afford much more than that right now.

2. I want to restore it myself! so I dont want a machine that doesnt need restoring..

I have a seen a bunch of very nice cubs, in better condition than I can afford, selling for $500 or more..

sure, they are probably worth it! but I dont want to spend that much..I am simply not in the market for those machines..

So that is one category of buyers..they simply dont want "good condition antique tractors"..its not what they are into..

 

Buyer Category 2:

Someone who is just looking for "a cheap used tractor or riding mower"..

They dont know, or care, about brands and the quality differences between brands, they dont care about antique..they just want something cheap that runs..

For those people, why would they buy a 40 year old Wheel Horse for $500 when they can buy a 10 year old Craftsman for $100?

They are clueless about quality differences between brands, and they aren't interested in learning..

 

That leaves only Category 3:

The people who *do* know about brand quality, want to collect good condition antique tractors, and have the money to spend on them!

Do those people exist? yes, of course they do..but are they very common?

probably not..We see a lot of them here on RS, but this a "specialty forum"..

the amount of these "Category 3" people on this forum is *way* out of proportion to the "real world"..

For any given tractor being sold on Craigslist, there might be one of those people in a 200 mile radius,

while there are probably dozens, even hundreds of Category 1 or 2 buyers..who simply are not in the market for a "Category 3" tractor..

 

IMO, the tractor prices (in the original post in this thread) are fine! the prices seem perfectly reasonable..

the problem, IMO, might be finding that elusive "Category 3" buyer..

I think there are a lot less of them than we think there are..being on a forum like this makes us think they are more common than they are.

On this forum, they are all gathered in on place, from all over the world..

in the real world, they are few and far between..

We see it all the time here: "I would love to buy that tractor! if only it wasn't so far away.."

 

just something that came to mind..I might not be right!

but its a theory anyway..

 

thanks,

Scot

I personally would push them back in the dark barn before I would exchange Horse for money with a Cat 3 person.I prefer good homes over cash.Same reason I can't part out a complete tractor I guess <3 of the species!

[sscotsman 148]

 

Here is an idea you don't see talked about much, and im wondering it could be a factor in the selling difficulties that the OP is seeing..

 

I think in this hobby, there are a lot of people who want to get into the hobby so that they can restore tractors themselves..

which means for those people, the "rougher condition", less expensive tractors are the ones they want!

I am in that category..

I bought a 854, a "rough runner"..I paid about $250 for it..

The same model, in better condition for $500 or $600, I would not be interested in!

because I wouldn't want to pay that much, and I want to restore the tractor myself..

 

I am also looking for a Cub Cadet "original"..

I am only looking for "rough" originals in the $250 or less range..For two reasons:

1. I cant afford much more than that right now.

2. I want to restore it myself! so I dont want a machine that doesnt need restoring..

I have a seen a bunch of very nice cubs, in better condition than I can afford, selling for $500 or more..

sure, they are probably worth it! but I dont want to spend that much..I am simply not in the market for those machines..

So that is one category of buyers..they simply dont want "good condition antique tractors"..its not what they are into..

 

Buyer Category 2:

Someone who is just looking for "a cheap used tractor or riding mower"..

They dont know, or care, about brands and the quality differences between brands, they dont care about antique..they just want something cheap that runs..

For those people, why would they buy a 40 year old Wheel Horse for $500 when they can buy a 10 year old Craftsman for $100?

They are clueless about quality differences between brands, and they aren't interested in learning..

 

That leaves only Category 3:

The people who *do* know about brand quality, want to collect good condition antique tractors, and have the money to spend on them!

Do those people exist? yes, of course they do..but are they very common?

probably not..We see a lot of them here on RS, but this a "specialty forum"..

the amount of these "Category 3" people on this forum is *way* out of proportion to the "real world"..

For any given tractor being sold on Craigslist, there might be one of those people in a 200 mile radius,

while there are probably dozens, even hundreds of Category 1 or 2 buyers..who simply are not in the market for a "Category 3" tractor..

 

IMO, the tractor prices (in the original post in this thread) are fine! the prices seem perfectly reasonable..

the problem, IMO, might be finding that elusive "Category 3" buyer..

I think there are a lot less of them than we think there are..being on a forum like this makes us think they are more common than they are.

On this forum, they are all gathered in on place, from all over the world..

in the real world, they are few and far between..

We see it all the time here: "I would love to buy that tractor! if only it wasn't so far away.."

 

just something that came to mind..I might not be right!

but its a theory anyway..

 

thanks,

Scot

I personally would push them back in the dark barn before I would exchange Horse for money with a Cat 3 person.I prefer good homes over cash.Same reason I can't part out a complete tractor I guess <3 of the species!

 

 

Did you mean Cat 2 person??

based on what I wrote, I would consider the Cat 2 buyer the "bad" buyer..the person likely to leave it outside or otherwise junk it up..

nothing wrong at all with the Cat 3 buyer IMO..

 

Scot

[papaglide 542]

All of your prices are reasonable. I would like the C120 and the 953/1054's but I really don't travel much farther than my immediate area for tractors. Honestly,I get nervous transporting them! If I was a traveler I would be interested.

[HorseWhisperer 243]

 

 

Here is an idea you don't see talked about much, and im wondering it could be a factor in the selling difficulties that the OP is seeing..

 

I think in this hobby, there are a lot of people who want to get into the hobby so that they can restore tractors themselves..

which means for those people, the "rougher condition", less expensive tractors are the ones they want!

I am in that category..

I bought a 854, a "rough runner"..I paid about $250 for it..

The same model, in better condition for $500 or $600, I would not be interested in!

because I wouldn't want to pay that much, and I want to restore the tractor myself..

 

I am also looking for a Cub Cadet "original"..

I am only looking for "rough" originals in the $250 or less range..For two reasons:

1. I cant afford much more than that right now.

2. I want to restore it myself! so I dont want a machine that doesnt need restoring..

I have a seen a bunch of very nice cubs, in better condition than I can afford, selling for $500 or more..

sure, they are probably worth it! but I dont want to spend that much..I am simply not in the market for those machines..

So that is one category of buyers..they simply dont want "good condition antique tractors"..its not what they are into..

 

Buyer Category 2:

Someone who is just looking for "a cheap used tractor or riding mower"..

They dont know, or care, about brands and the quality differences between brands, they dont care about antique..they just want something cheap that runs..

For those people, why would they buy a 40 year old Wheel Horse for $500 when they can buy a 10 year old Craftsman for $100?

They are clueless about quality differences between brands, and they aren't interested in learning..

 

That leaves only Category 3:

The people who *do* know about brand quality, want to collect good condition antique tractors, and have the money to spend on them!

Do those people exist? yes, of course they do..but are they very common?

probably not..We see a lot of them here on RS, but this a "specialty forum"..

the amount of these "Category 3" people on this forum is *way* out of proportion to the "real world"..

For any given tractor being sold on Craigslist, there might be one of those people in a 200 mile radius,

while there are probably dozens, even hundreds of Category 1 or 2 buyers..who simply are not in the market for a "Category 3" tractor..

 

IMO, the tractor prices (in the original post in this thread) are fine! the prices seem perfectly reasonable..

the problem, IMO, might be finding that elusive "Category 3" buyer..

I think there are a lot less of them than we think there are..being on a forum like this makes us think they are more common than they are.

On this forum, they are all gathered in on place, from all over the world..

in the real world, they are few and far between..

We see it all the time here: "I would love to buy that tractor! if only it wasn't so far away.."

 

just something that came to mind..I might not be right!

but its a theory anyway..

 

thanks,

Scot

I personally would push them back in the dark barn before I would exchange Horse for money with a Cat 3 person.I prefer good homes over cash.Same reason I can't part out a complete tractor I guess <3 of the species!

 

 

Did you mean Cat 2 person??

based on what I wrote, I would consider the Cat 2 buyer the "bad" buyer..the person likely to leave it outside or otherwise junk it up..

nothing wrong at all with the Cat 3 buyer IMO..

 

Scot

 

Cat 2,thanks for the clarification!lol

[squonk 41,016]

We all want the "cheapest possible" and we never get out of our tractors $$$ wise what we put in them.That being said,what I have seen a lot of around me is this: I love my hobby I don't do a lot of other things because of it. For instance. Over the past few years I have bought a lot of tractors and resold them along with individual attachments. for the sole purpose of funding my hobby. I try to buy them in the $150 -$250 range and try to sell them under $500 so they would go reasonably fast. I don't try to get a big profit. usually $100 is about average after I figure in gas and upgrades. Sometimes I buy a tractor because of something that was with it like factory weights for example. I keep the weights for myself and resell the tractor for what I paid and I figure the weights as profit. This year I've seen rough non-running tractors that I wouldn't even dream of selling for $500 after I got it going with asking prices in the $6-$700 range.Reality antique shows I think have a lot to do with this. People think junk is worth big bucks. Also this time of year I tend to hold back also because with the show coming up, I'll be looking for a couple of big ticket items and don't want my money tied up in something I'm trying to sell

 

                The next thing is room. I have 4 tractors including my Power King loader and they all work. I don't have any more room for one except maybe an RJ. I had one last year but it was rough and after getting it going a guy saw it in my driveway and had to have it! I have no desire to get more tractors except maybe a nicer RJ then the one I had and I  have no desire to start stacking them and then they never get used. If I was in a market to buy a tractor to use I would rather buy one of yours then take a chance on a fixer upper.

[HorseWhisperer 243]

Mike,your speakin my language!

[Wheel-N-It 2,968]

 

I listed my Horses on CL and here on RS and on FB.Only one single person in a 4 week span has shown any interest...

Just my 2 cents worth on why things haven't sold. Unless someone has money to burn (and how many of us do?), only necessities are being purchased by the average guy. The economy is not getting better in my opinion. Just look at the price of gas and more than that, the price of groceries. Since I retired, I have been doing more of the grocery shopping. I refuse to pay $5.00 for a loaf of bread, or $4.00 for a can of shaving cream. .

 

 

The Price of Groceries!!!  Last night on my way home from Jay-in-NC's house I stopped at the local food store. Got to the first isle, looked at the price of bread and thought "THIS IS B.S. !!!"

I was so angry I bought the wrong 1/2 & 1/2 (stupid fat free) and could not find the other thing I was looking for. This was of course after paying $3.65 per gallon for gas to go visit Jay..............    This Country economically is in bad shape

[Cutlas3391 776]

Well I have connections in Binghamton I like the 1054 if you give me a deal I can't resists I'll get get my buddy in Binghamton to swing over with the cash. He will then bring it to me in June. Let me know thanks

[AMC RULES 37,125]

 

 

I listed my Horses on CL and here on RS and on FB.Only one single person in a 4 week span has shown any interest...

Just my 2 cents worth on why things haven't sold. Unless someone has money to burn (and how many of us do?), only necessities are being purchased by the average guy. The economy is not getting better in my opinion. Just look at the price of gas and more than that, the price of groceries. Since I retired, I have been doing more of the grocery shopping. I refuse to pay $5.00 for a loaf of bread, or $4.00 for a can of shaving cream. .

 

 

The Price of Groceries!!!  Last night on my way home from Jay-in-NC's house I stopped at the local food store. Got to the first isle, looked at the price of bread and thought "THIS IS B.S. !!!"

I was so angry I bought the wrong 1/2 & 1/2 (stupid fat free) and could not find the other thing I was looking for. This was of course after paying $3.65 per gallon for gas to go visit Jay..............    This Country economically is in bad shape

 

 

On top of that...it's hard to pick up new horses when you're using Govt cheese.  

They don't like the taste of it.    

[boovuc 1,090]

Another thing to think about is "time" as well as money.

From Central PA, to Conn takes time and gas money for me. I need to head south toward Virginia to trade for a KT-17 series II and there just isn't any time to do it. Your prices are right where they need to be and you know the machines are worth it.