Evaluating self-propelled sprayers and floaters for trade-ins

Each asset type has its own wear points and likely failure points. Knowing where to look on each different type of equipment for problems can make the difference between a proper valuation and a costly error. We asked Bill Albaugh what he looked at when evaluating self-propelled sprayers.

Self-propelled sprayers — you know, you get up to that 2,000 hour mark and one of the things you really want to take a look at is wheel motors because the hydrostatic driven self-propelled sprayers have wheel motors, four of them. Hydrostats in sprayers, especially because of the way they're used, create heat so at about 2,000 hours, maybe longer depending upon how it has been serviced or how it has been operated, you possibly could have wheel motor issues. Well, if you have wheel motor issues you're looking at $7,500, $7,500, $7,500, $7,500 — it's $30,000. So pulling oil samples might be something you want to do with self-propelled sprayers.

But the other thing to look at is what type of application it's been doing. If it's been doing 28% work, or liquid nitrogen type of work, it's highly corrosive. So on the booms you're going to see the paint peeling — those types of things. Those are the other things you're going to want to take a look at. 

Then you also have mechanical drive sprayers which don't have wheel motors and they're like a regular transmission and they don't have near the — those are traditionally smaller in size and they don't have near the wear so their longevity may last a little bit longer because you don't have wheel motors. Fertilizer application equipment like — let's call them TerraGators or floaters — whether they're Ag-Chem — or AGCO, I should say — or CaseIH, you know — that type of equipment, traditionally speaking  COOPs — CPS, CHS, Wilbur-Ellis — you know, all those types of customers, they all buy new ones for the most part. So the used ones, you don't really have much of a secondary market because not very many farmers will go buy a used floater unless they can steal it, so to speak. So you have to tether that with your thought process on taking a floater in on trade is who's going to buy that next because the majority of the custom applicators buy new so who's going to buy that used one? So that affects your valuation of that as well.

The HeavyWorth platform handles all types of farm and construction equipment, as well as fleets of trucks and inventories of industrial machinery. By offering a single system to keep all information about used equipment trade-ins, dealerships look to HeavyWorth for a streamlined valuation process and fewer errors along the way. Learn more at https://heavyworth.com/software