I own a small farm and work in tech. We are struggling with this issue right now as we look at the options for a new tractor vs an older serviceable model. While many of the larger corporate farms are content to buy new equipment every 10 years, those of us at the small end of the scale have begun a push to keep older equipment up and running.
My tractor is from 1996, my hay baler from the early 70s and my hay cutter is even older. These all work just fine even if a little slow. The challenge of not being able to work on my equipment currently outweighs the marginal speed gains I would see on a farm our size. The same goes for nearly all of my neighbors.
The last "new" tractor in the local area was bought a couple years ago by one of the older guys who was buying the last tractor he will ever own and he thought it would be nice to have a top of the line, new, tractor just once.
My tractor is from 1996, my hay baler from the early 70s and my hay cutter is even older. These all work just fine even if a little slow. The challenge of not being able to work on my equipment currently outweighs the marginal speed gains I would see on a farm our size. The same goes for nearly all of my neighbors.
The last "new" tractor in the local area was bought a couple years ago by one of the older guys who was buying the last tractor he will ever own and he thought it would be nice to have a top of the line, new, tractor just once.