I think that my original intention has somehow become lost.
Hopefully, I can clear that up.
PARTING OUT TRACTORS
I am not dead set against this enterprise because I agree that it serves several purposes. First of all, it makes used parts available for those in need, regardless of reason. TWO: It is much better to have a tractor parted out than it is to have that tractor end up at the scrap yard to be cut up, shredded or crushed. At least, some people will make those parts live again in another machine.
What I don't like about the enterprise is that there are people in it who have a single objective and that is to make the most money out of each tractor with absolutely no thought about the tractor being parted. These are the opportunists who know absolutely nothing about the tractors they find and they have zero interest in educating themselves. Ask any diehard collector of any specific brand if he has a certain model that he would love to get his hands on but simply cannot find. If we were to put that question to someone who collects Colt tractors for instance, how would he feel if one of the prototype gear drive tractors made by the Johnson brothers surfaced and got parted out? Would the entire Colt and Case community consider this a major loss of a piece of important history? How about the prototype Colt 2 + Tools that preceded the T-90 or even a T-90? And then we have the Black Knights, some of which are really rare. I can also toss in the Golden Demonstrator tractors that followed, the Spirit of 76 or one of the Torq tractors.
Yes.... on some of the examples, I am over the top but only because I want people to understand why this sort of flagrant destruction troubles me. Right now there's a guy on e-bay that says right in his listing that there wasn't a thing wrong with the Case 226 Anniversary tractor he's parting out. He just "decided" to do it. I have seen beautiful examples of Cub Cadets and Deere tractors suffer the same fate, all for the almighty buck. There are often good reasons to part out a tractor thanks to blown or missing engines. But I'd hate to see a 180 Case get parted for those reasons. It's just not that hard to find a good home for it but that's not the mindset of these individuals.
I have seen some listings on e-Bay that just make no sense to me at all and they clearly demonstrate that the Seller has no clue as to what he is doing. He has it in his mind that the more individual pieces he creates from the tractor as a whole, the more money he will make. REALLY? Well, tell me this. Who is going to buy a set of bolts that hold the end cap of a hydraulic drive motor onto the main body of that motor? Who will buy the end cap or the bits and pieces from inside the motor along with the motor housing? I saw this happen on e-Bay and the listings kept re-appearing because he had no buyers. I pointed out the rear PTO for that very reason. I want the members here to understand that the rear PTO was sold as a complete kit, just as wheel weights, Flow Control valves, three point hitches, sleeve hitches and Holding Valves were. When you buy an incomplete kit, then that usually turns out to be a major financial mistake because nine times out of ten, you end up buying brand new parts to make it useable. Invariably, that puts your total cost for that item, much higher than if you had waited for a complete item to come along.
I agree that times are tough and that some people cannot see their way right now to purchase some items new....... but when the price disparity between a well-used cooling fan on e-Bay is within a few dollars of a brand new fan, then that is false economy. Suppose you buy that fan, put it on, put the tractor back together and the first time you try to slip a belt between the cooler and the fan, a blade snaps off. Then what? The Seller did no wrong. He told you the fan was used. He delivered it in the same condition that the photo showed it to be in. You have no recourse. Now.... you buy a new fan and write off what you paid for the old one. One of the worst crap shoots on e-Bay are used hydraulic pumps. A guy buys a tractor thanks to a Craigslist ad. He brings it home, gets it running, drives it around for 5 minutes and then parts it out. Does he know anything about that tractor other than the five minutes of exposure? Did he try to climb a steep hill? Did he mount a tiller on it to see how well it would perform? Don't be silly. He removed the pump, drained it and put it up for sale. But for some reason, buyers take these guys at their word and plunk down hard cash to try and get their tractor running again as cheaply as possible. Maybe he gets lucky and lands a pump that was replaced only 200 hours ago but what if that pump has 1000 hours on it? Or more?
I'm not saying that all e-Bay sellers are dishonest. What I am saying is that you need to open your eyes and realize that some of these items for sale are called "wear parts" that have a pre-determined lifespan. They begin to deteriorate slowly from the day the tractor is first started up. A fender or a hood can be easily assessed by viewing them. A cooling fan can be assessed by bending the blades. If none of them crack or snap, then the blade still has life in it. A pump must be tested on special apparatus to know how good or bad it is.
Some of you are feeding this market by purchasing parts for way too much money. High demand forces up prices. Your first line of defence is to ask for advice on this forum. You 2nd line of defence is to contact an Ingersoll dealer that can be TRUSTED and price the item you need. An educated owner is a smart owner and the main purpose of this thread was to give you some education.
