David P. from Minot, ND: “Hey Pete I was just wondering your thoughts about a tractor my dad owns, he bought it from my mom’s dad, who bought it new. It’s a 4240 quad range, two hydraulics, has a rock shaft, the tractor has 3883 original hours. We use the tractor on the auger some times and what not, I’m just wondering your opinion if a guy should continue to use it or kinda keep it as low hour as possible?”
Here’s a picture of David’s family John Deere 4240 with 3,883 original hours:
Very interesting question here. Shelve it keep the hours off and retain max value, or keep using it not worry about the additional hours. Here was my reply to David:
Pete’s reply: " Hey David, thanks for reaching out. Wow, that is a beautiful 4240 you have there! Very good question you ask here. You’ve seen all the examples the past 12-18 mo. of original low hour tractors like this selling very strong. I think folks just now beginning to think of classic late ‘70’/early '80’s model tractors as inching toward “Collector Items”. So valid if you decide to keep additional hours off it. That said, I think if used lightly you will still be in very good shape value-wise going forward as in 3-5 years you’ll still have a “1-owner in the family” 4240 with still low hours at say 4,200 hours, or 4,500 hours. One trend that has become more apparent the past year or so is that of buyers placing more value on the “original-ness” of '70’s/'80’s/early '90’s tractors. So even if used lightly going forward you will still have super original always in the family relatively low hour 4240…and I think that will continue to be very much desired and hold its value well. I would say this…if your 4240 had 2K hours or less, then I think I’d put it in the shed and not use it. Did you see the 1990 JD 4455 MFWD with 1,904 hours sold for $90,500 on 12/8/18 consign. sale in southeast MN (here’s link to Youtube video of it selling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Mr6YV1aB4&t=11s). Standing there on sale day watching it sell, listening to folks talk about it…the < 2K hour “1 owner” factor was really resonating and I think drove the collector premium price. I hope my ramblings here are somewhat helpful 
Pete
Machinery Pete
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