What Would Low Hours Be On A Garden Tractor

If you're anything like me, you never want to get ripped off when buying a used tractor. So understanding the importance of how many hours on a tractor is considered a lot is key in making your buying decision.

Tractors that have been well maintained average about 8,000 to 10,000 engine hours before requiring more unscheduled maintenance. Compact tractors with diesel engines average 6,000 to 8,000 hours, while gas engine tractors average 6,000 to 8,000 as well.

Whether you're thinking about purchasing a used tractor or just curious about the engine hours on your current tractor, knowing how many engine hours are on a machine and how it has been used in the past play a big part in the remaining useful life.

How Many Engine Hours Is A Lot?

The age old question that everyone asks themselves especially when looking at used tractors is, how many hours is too many? This is obviously going to vary case by case since there are a number of different factors that play a big part in the remaining life of an engine.

Generally speaking, the amount of hours on the tractor really doesn't matter as much as how well it's been kept up and what kind of use it's been through. If you're shopping for a compact tractor that's 4 years old and has 500 hours on it, and you're thinking to yourself, "is this too many hours on a tractor that's only 4 years old," just do the math.

500 hours divided by 4 years is 125 hours per year. Then divide 125 by 52 weeks in a year and you get about 2 to 3 hours average per week on that tractor. That's hardly any at all! Three hours a week is not much at all especially considering the fact that tractors like to be run and ran often. For this example, that tractor is just getting broken in good.

I typically hear people recommend buying a used tractor that has less than 2000 to 3000 engine hours on it, especially if you are a hobby farmer and in the market for a compact tractor. Around 4000 to 5000 engine hours is when you may have to start spending some money to maintain that machine.

Two of the biggest factors when making a buying decision are going to be how hard the tractor has typically been used and the level of maintenance by the owner. If the tractor is used for light duty operations and the owner takes good care of it, you should have a pretty good chance of getting more than the average amount of engine hours out of it.

Usage

When it comes to usage, the difference in a tractor that is run at constant high output opposed to low output is huge. Many savvy tractor buyers will even say that they will pass on a low hour, heavily worked machine for one that has more hours but has only been used to haul small loads to and from. Be sure to ask this question when interviewing an owner about the tractor they are trying to sell.

You can typically expect a tractor from a small hobby farmer to last longer than a machine that is used in a commercial operation. However, owners of large commercial equipment tend to stay on top of their maintenance more often. Small compact and sub-compact tractors normally don't make it to the end of their useful life with only one owner, that's why there is such a good secondary market for smaller machines since most people will trade up well before they really need to.

Maintenance

Another key variable is maintenance. I think this is pretty common for anyone that owns anything with an engine nowadays, but you will be surprised at how many tractor owners neglect their machines. Simple maintenance like oil changes and a good washin' can go a long way.

If you're shopping at a dealer then they will more than likely be able to tell you how well the machine has been serviced over its lifetime. But if you're shopping for a machine that's "for sale by owner", then make sure to know how often they serviced it.

I currently own a John Deere 1020 and to be honest, have no idea what year model it is, but it still runs like a champ! Why, because it's been taken good care of and serviced properly.

Storage

Something that I think novice tractor buyers tend to overlook when buying a used tractor is how it has been stored. Was the tractor parked inside when it was not running or was it left out in the elements to get cooked in the sun, rained and snowed on?

Proper storage is crucial, especially if you live in a climate that has harsh summers or winters. Parking it under a covered location is key, so be sure to know where the tractor you're looking at buying has slept at.

If it has been parked in a covered location, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. If it's been left out in the open, then you'd typically like to at least see that it's got a cover on it or been covered with a tarp.

Leaving any kind of machinery out in the open increases the likelihood of damage and the need for things to be replaced.

Calculating Engine Hours On A Tractor

Consider our previous example of the 4 year old tractor with only 500 hours on it. You might have wondered, how exactly does the hour meter calculate or determine what one engine hours is?

This question still gets thrown around a lot and it ultimately will depend on the make and model of the tractor that you have, as well as the year built. Generally speaking, if your tractor has an electric hour meter on it, then it will begin counting up the hours whenever the key is turned on regardless if the motor is running or not.

Some hour meters might be based on the engine speed, pto or other factors similar to that. So determining exactly how many hours your engine has truly been running is pretty hard to do.

A good way to look at engine hours is to determine how many hours on average the tractor has per week. Just take the number of engine hours and divide by how many years old the tractor is, then divide again by 52 weeks in a year.

For example: 6 year old tractor with 1900 engine hours

1900 hours / 6 years = 316 hours per year
316 hours / 52 weeks = 6 hours per week

You can make your own assumption as to whether you think 6 hours per week on a tractor is a lot or not. For a small sub compact tractor it could be, for a larger utility tractor, it probably isn't.

Base this number off the amount of hours that you assume you will use the tractor for each week and you can get a pretty good idea of the remaining useful life left on that machine.

For Example: Assuming you plan to run 10 hours a week on that same tractor and get 7,000 hours out of it before needing major maintenance.

10 hours per week x 52 weeks = 520 hours per year
7,000 hours – 1,900 current engine hours = 5,100 remaining hours
5,100 remaining hours / 520 hours per year = 9.8 years remaining useful life

Miles

If you are trying to take the amount of engine hours on a tractor and determine how many miles that would equate to, then good luck. The hour meter is in a sense counting engine wear, so you can do maintenance based on engine hours.

I honestly think trying to measure miles is not very important, since there are many operators who operate in confined spaces or are not moving at all. If you use the backhoe, then the tractor isn't moving at all, although you might run up 8 engine hours in a day.

Look at what kind of usage the tractor has been through when making a purchasing decision, then you take into consideration the amount of engine hours to ultimately determine whether or not it is worth buying or not.