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My experience with old cars, motorcycles, boats, and RVs had always been that the vehicle is always worth "about half what you have into it" - if you are lucky! So you see a lot of ads for old cars or whatever, where the guy says, "$5,000 invested, will sell for $2500". That's about right. The original premise of this thread was a tractor bought for $1200, with $2000 invested, and the seller wanted $3500 for it, for a $300 profit. That's going the wrong way. I suspect if he has $3200 invested in it, it may be worth that, or less. Unfortunately. I feel your pain! Thus, I have found that it is best to buy someone else's restored vehicle rather than restore your own, as it cost a lot less and you can have fun with the vehicle and not spend all your time getting dirty (for some, though, that IS the fun part). I paid $3000 for this 1941 9N three years ago and probably paid too much. I was the only bidder on eBay. It runs like a champ, though, and I have only tinkered with it (rebuilt carb, added tract-o-lite headlights, new tires, etc.). The previous owner spent a lot more time and money on it. I use it to mow the lawn, about 50 hours a year or less of use. That is probably all it is good for, that and some light box-blading. I note that many highway departments seem to favor Fords and New Hollands for lawn mowing. Maybe they know something. I figure I can use this and take care of it for several years and sell it for about what I paid for it, or not a lot less. A heck of a lot less depreciation than a $20,000 Kubota (which despite what everyone says, are not "bulletproof"). As others have noted, some vintage Ford attachements such as a bucket loader are not really robust, and some old timers have advised me to just plain stay away from a 9N with a bucket loader. "They never worked right" they say. Most I see for sale have weld patches on them, which says something. So the utility of these tractors is limited. So who is the AUDIENCE for these tractors? Collectors and tinkerers, mostly. Serious farmers might have an old 8N or 9N in the barn for occasional use, but it was probably grandpa's old tractor. They ain't about to go out and BUY one. The farmers around here use these huge articulated John Deeres, even for tiny 10 acre fields. When the economy goes south, toys are the first thing to be sold on the auction block, and the only folks who can buy them are folks like us, who pay cash for vehicles. Small audience! And there is the over-restoration problem. I've looked at a lot of older 1946-1949 CJ-2A jeeps. Some guys do a stellar job of restoring these and the old military MBs. The problem is, they are so nice and clean and straight, you'd never want to drive them anywhere. The first time you hop in, you scratch the pristine paint on the floor, not to mention getting mud on those cadmium-plated body bolts. Your 10-point restoration drops 3 points right there. So you see them a lot for sale, right after the last nut is tightened in the restoration. "only 150 miles since restoration". Poor guy, he restored the thing and doesn't know what to do with it. It only goes 45 mph and is not really very useful for daily driving or even off-roading, if you can't get it dirty. When I got my tractor, I was a bit paranoid about scratching up and dirtying this 66 year old antique. Then I realized that they made a LOT of these tractors, most of them (it seems) are still around in one state or another, and they can be had all day long on eBay in good shape for a few grand at most. That's the other frustrating thing for a restorer - oftentimes a restored vehicle sells for only a little more than a complete junker. A "basket case" 9N sells on eBay for $1000. A restored tractor sells for only a couple of grand more. Which is the better bargain? I think the latter. I am looking at a mid-1980's Bluebird Wanderlodge right now. Same thing. The total restorations sell for only a few grand more than the basket cases. It makes no sense! One fellow is selling his, as he says "there is nothing left to tinker on, I've rebuilt everything". That's the one I want to buy! You can buy these all day long for $35,000. But most folks opt for a $175,000 brand new motorcoach with triple slides, with low, low monthly payments... because they can "afford" that. Who comes out ahead in the long run?
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