Feature

Don’ t wait until it’ s too late: Plan equipment replacements before breakdowns bring your season to a halt.

By Lauren Bongard

If there’ s one thing every farmer learns sooner or later, it’ s this: Machines don’ t wait for a convenient time to break down. Whether it’ s a tractor refusing to start during planting or a combine coughing its last breath mid-harvest, unexpected equipment failure brings everything to a halt— and the consequences can ripple through the season.

But with a little strategy and a few well-timed calculations, you can replace key pieces of equipment before they fail.

Planning means you can do this on your schedule, within your budget and without added stress. Here’ s how to turn equipment replacement into part of a long-term plan rather than a last-minute emergency.

Start With Equipment Life Expectancy

Every piece of machinery has a practical life expectancy. Tractors, sprayers, harvesters and more all have sweet spots where performance, reliability and cost of ownership line up. Push them much beyond that, and you risk higher repair costs, parts delays or complete failure.

Start by making a simple inventory. For each major machine, write down the following:

• Make and model

• Original purchase date

• Hours or miles logged

• Major repairs

• Warranty status

Timing equipment upgrades right will save you money and frustration.

Compare this to the average lifespan for that type of equipment. This will give you a working sense of which machines are nearing the end of their most productive years and which ones you can safely rely on for a while longer.

Add Up Hidden Repair Costs

It’ s not always catastrophic failure that gets you— it can be the slow bleed of parts, service calls and downtime. If you’ re starting to spend more each season to keep an old piece of equipment running, it might be time to stop patching and start planning.

A good rule of thumb is that if annual repair costs exceed 10 percent of the machine’ s current value— or what you’ d pay to replace it— it’ s time to reevaluate. That’ s especially true if breakdowns happen during critical windows, such as planting or harvest, when every hour counts.

Factor in Depreciation

You can lose more money by keeping old equipment than by replacing it. Why? Because of depreciation.

Depreciation isn’ t just a line on your accountant’ s spreadsheet. It’ s a real loss in value. Newer equipment typically loses value fastest in the first few years, then slows down. Older machines eventually hit a point where their resale value flattens or tanks altogether, especially if they’ re beat-up or outdated.

Planning an upgrade before your current equipment loses too much value helps you get more out of a trade-in or sale. In other words, you can recoup part of the cost before the value

16 | 515-574-2206 | 515-574-2189 | August 2025