“Pricing Opportunity on Older Sprayers” was originally published in December 2019 Issue of Successful Farming Magazine – Republished with permission
After years of sluggish new sprayer sales, a slug of late-model self-propelled units hit dealer lots this fall, offering the potential to make a deal of such late-model applicators. On John Deere’s dealer website, machinefinder.com, there are 429 1- to 3-year-old sprayers listed. Both R4038s and R4045s are in particularly high supply. Looking just at 2018 model year sprayers available, there are 201 machines listed (models R4023, R4030, R4038, and R4045); their average use tallies up to just 352 hours.
Similar healthy listings of late-model Case IH, Ag-Chem, Hagie, and Apache applicators being offered by dealers are also found on websites such as ironsearch.com, tractorhouse.com, and fastline.com.
What is noteworthy of [a set of recent] listings of R4030, R4038, and R4045 applicators (which are the most popular models sold by John Deere) are not only their low hours but also how well equipped the machines are. For example, 100- and 120-foot booms are all but the standard. In Fact, 120-foot booms appear to be becoming a standard width selection. Also, many of these applicators are feature-rich, offering stainless steel tanks, hydraulic tread adjustment, AutoTrac guidance, Traction Control, boom leveling, and ExactApply individual control nozzle control.
PRICING OPPORTUNITY ON OLDER SPRAYERS
The pricing opportunity mentioned before is that a 1-year-old applicator with low hours represents a depreciation windfall. David Davidson with Iron Solutions says self-propelled sprayers suffer as much as 24% depreciation loss of value after their first year of use. All machinery does get hit from an initial value decline. However, it appears that self-propelled sprayers are particularly hard hit in value loss right out of the gate.The good news, according to Davidson, is that depreciation losses level out considerably after the first year.
“For you sprayer bargain hunters out there, the data suggests that purchasing a 6-year-old sprayer would result in the highest percentage of retained value in the four years to follow,” Davidson points out. “Or, in other words, the 6-year-old unit would have the lowest percentage depreciation for the four years to follow.”
The article to the right provides a good example of Davidson’s research. Note the gradual step-down in values during the incremental four-year spans of the Deere sprayers analyzed.
Sprayer size has an impact on average prices, as would be expected. Yet, price ranges begin to spread widely, particularly on the largest applicators; they see more use as commercial sprayers and run far more hours during the year.
Examples of this price spread are the 2014 models 4940 and 4830. If you are considering such sprayer applications, find out who owned and operated them.
Buyer’s Price Guide on 17 Years of John Deere Sprayers
As David Davidson points out, there is a sweet spot of depreciation with sprayers. After taking a big hit in their first year, sprayer depreciation levels out in the next nine years with average depreciation of 5% to 6% in years two through five and then around 3% in years six through 10. Tipped off by Davidson’s research, following are price and hour averages and ranges on Deere applicators from 2002.
2002
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John Deere 4710 Sprayer
Average Price: $60,600 Price Range: $43,000 to $70,000 Average Hours: 4,545 Hours Range: 3,736 to 6,480
2006
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John Deere 4720 Sprayer
Average Price: $78,400 Price Range: $72,500 to $109,900 Average Hours: 2,231 Hours Range: 1,283 to 2,858 -
John Deere 4920 Sprayer
Average Price: $75,900 Price Range: $52,900 to $78,900 Average Hours: 4,750 Hours Range: 4,053 to 5,732
2010
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John Deere 4630 Sprayer
Average Price: $90,660 Price Range: $69,995 to $129,900 Average Hours: 2,986 Hours Range: 1,655 to 3,670 -
John Deere 4730 Sprayer
Average Price: $116,750 Price Range: $87,500 to $159,900 Average Hours: 2,463 Hours Range: 1,130 to 3,295 -
John Deere 4830 Sprayer
Average Price: $117,500 Price Range: $99,000 to $127,900 Average Hours: 2,549 Hours Range: 1,788 to 3,314 -
John Deere 4930 Sprayer
Average Price: $121,000 Price Range: $68,100 to $129,000 Average Hours: 3,156 Hours Range: 2,106 to 4,747
2014
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John Deere 4630 Sprayer
Average Price: $119,750 Price Range: $92,500 to $159,900 Average Hours: 1,911 Hours Range: 606 to 3,355 -
John Deere 4730 Sprayer
Average Price: $149,250 Price Range: $119,500 to $179,500 Average Hours: 1,327 Hours Range: 513 to 2,750 -
John Deere 4830 Sprayer
Average Price: $158,100 Price Range: $107,300 to $212,500 Average Hours: 1,859 Hours Range: 841 to 3,331 -
John Deere 4940 Sprayer
Average Price: $164,150 Price Range: $79,500 to $255,900 Average Hours: 2,168 Hours Range: 728 to 3,955
2018
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John Deere 4023 Sprayer
Average Price: $186,800 Price Range: $182,500 to $195,000 Average Hours: 558 Hours Range: 250 to 640 -
John Deere 4030 Sprayer
Average Price: $258,700 Price Range: $209,000 to $314,500 Average Hours: 551 Hours Range: 120 to 1,352 -
John Deere 4038 Sprayer
Average Price: $316,930 Price Range: $215,500 to $520,100 Average Hours: 432 Hours Range: 171 to 1,302 -
John Deere 4045 Sprayer
Average Price: $372,590 Price Range: $271,000 to $440,250 Average Hours: 624 Hours Range: 251 to 1,600