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cyclone
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Post by cyclone »

I'm with snarl when it comes to big ticket items there is nothing like paying cash for them you can negotiate the price down there and then, most big items i've paid cash for cars, motrbikes, etc, the only exception was house which was repayed in 3 months.
I only use credit for smaller items that i don't feel like losing intrest on savings for when i've got 30 days grace on my credit card. The only time I ever needed to rack up a debt was after buying 2 cars at the same time and most banks in Australia have in there policy if you have a "working relatioship"(ie your savings total or debt total or the gap between them with a bank is a certain total) they waive your monthly account fee's.
where i got caught out was the cars ate 100k out of my savings but i needed 10k more to keep this "working relatiship" otherwise id pay fees that month and lose my higher intrest rate for not maintaining it, the only choice i had was to go 10k in debt on my credit card to keep the margin. They either want you in serious debt or to have a wad of cash in their coffers.
Banzai-Tron
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Post by Banzai-Tron »

Glad you mentioned the "30 day grace" period, cyclone. Watch out for those! Why?

Example A: You have a "30 day grace" period. Say you always pay your c/c bill on the 5th of each month. You pay your bill in the morning on March 5th. You then go out and buy $200 worth of stuff. If you pay your bill again on April 5th, you CAN be charged interest (a FULL 31 days worth!) on those purchases, because 31 days has elapsed. The easiest way to avoid this is twofold: Pay your bill on a set date each month, AND remember to NEVER charge anything on the day you pay your bill.

Example B: I personally have a "28 day grace" period. This gets even more complicated if you're trying to avoid paying any financing charges and only make one payment per month. It's pretty much impossible to keep track of (which is what they count on). However, the simplest thing to do is pay twice per month (I pay on the 5th and 20th, when I process my restaurant's payroll), which insures that there is NO way that a purchase doesn't get paid for before the 28 day grace period is up.

The c/c companies can be tricky bastiches, but if you play your cards right, THEY pay you.
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Post by Overlord »

Wheezel wrote:
And Overlord, I now have some odd sort of nerdy economic mancrush on you... :oops:
ha, you may have scared everyone away from this thread
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Post by Commander Megatron »

Overlord wrote:
Wheezel wrote:
And Overlord, I now have some odd sort of nerdy economic mancrush on you... :oops:
ha, you may have scared everyone away from this thread

Looks like it!! LOLOL!
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Grimlock
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Post by Grimlock »

The time has come to replace the International 5150, however we are undecided how to go about it.

Putting it as shortly as possible, Derrick has been away with it for the last week or so and it has now paid for itself. BUT it has developed a problem with the front axle which means that it is stuck in four wheel drive and that in turn is causing steering problems. I have taken the 7840 down to him and driven the 5150 back ( VERY slowly and stuck to the country roads ). The above problem will cost us the price of a new front axle which is around £900 GBP, if we were to sell it with this problem, we would get about £1200 GBP less for it than if we buy the axle and repair it.

This means that we will get about £ 7000 GBP rather than the market value of £8200 GBP if it were sold with the problem. The cost of the New Holland that is replacing it is £9000 GBP.

The problem is, does Derrick take the time off work to replace the axle so we can get the full value, or do we just cut our losses and get rid. It will take about one and a half days of work to repair it properly, then we would have to buy the oils and gaskets to fit.
Derrick earns between £20 and £30 GBP per hour between the hours of 6am and 4pm, which is a working day at this time of year.

I want to fix it and sell it, but he says that he has had enough of repairing the damn thing just sell it as is. He thinks that it will cost more than we will get back if you count the time it takes to do it.

We would be paying cash for the New Holland , but that will be bought with its own problem, namely a faulty towing hitch. This tractor likes to let go of the trailer that it is towing ( I speak from experience, having tried it out :roll: ). This fault makes it unsafe to use with trailed equipment until we have fixed it. However, even though this tractor is a 7740 rather than a 7840, all of the parts are interchangable and we do have a spare towing hitch that can be fitted in about three hours, if we both do it.

Now the big question, the original deal was done before the axle problem developed so if we sell it with the problem, we will have the extra £1200 GBP to find all in one lump sum. Alternativley he will give us a weeks grace to either fix it or get a replacement axle to him and then he will charge us to fix it.
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Rattrap
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Post by Rattrap »

The real question is how much will the guy you're selling it to charge you to fix it. If you were just selling it for £7000 it would be simple. It would take about 15 hours to fix, if Derrick earns the £20 per hour, you would come out even. The lost work would be equal to the gained value of the tractor. If his job is paying the £30 per hour, fixing the tractor would cost £150 more than you would gain back. However, if the guy is going to charge you more than the £1200 for the fix in order to buy it for £8200, its a different story. It would probably be worth it to find a new buyer, or just fix it outright.
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Grimlock
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Post by Grimlock »

The dealer says that he will charge us £30 GBP per hour, but his team of spanner turners will do it in half the time that we could, about 8 hours.

Also The New Holland has developed a problem of its own, a nasty clunking sound when I pull the hydraulic levers to lift the three point linkage and that could cost a lot to fix, so the dealer suggested that we do a straight swap, but Derrick is not to sure. Worst case it can cost £1100 GBP to fix, that would be a complete overhaul of the hydraulic system.
But again it would mean that Derrick would have to have time off work to fix it, and that could take upwards of two days.
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Rattrap
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Post by Rattrap »

I would suggest you take the straight swap. If it takes you £1,100 in parts and 20 hours in labor to restore the tractor to £9,000, you still come out ahead anywhere from £300-£500. This way the New Holland only costs you the International (£7,000), plus up to £1,100 in parts, and the £400-£600 in lost labor time. In the end you pay £8,500-£8,700 (only £1,500-£1,700 out of pocket) for a tractor worth £9,000.
Sale Price of the International: £7,000
Repair Cost for the International: £0
Purchase Price of the New Holland: £7,000
Repair Cost for the New Holland: £1,500-£1,700
Net Cost of Transaction: £1,500-£1,700

Alternatively, you could sell the International for the £8,200 and pay the dealer to fix it for £900 in parts and £240 in labor. You could then have the dealer fix the New Holland, and purchase the repaired tractor for £9,000.
Sale Price of the International: £8,200
Repair Cost of the International: £1140
Purchase Price of the New Holland: £9,000
Repair Cost of the New Holland: £0
Net Cost of Transaction: £1,940

If you decide to repair the International yourself, sell it for £8,200, and purchase the repaired New Holland for £9,000.
Sale Price of the International: £8,200
Repair Cost of the International: £1,200-£1,350
Purchase Price of the New Holland: £9,000
Repair Cost of the New Holland: £0
Net Cost of Transaction: £2,000-£2150

If you decide to do both repairs yourself.
Sale Price of the International: £8200
Repair Cost of the International: £1,200-£1,350
Sale Price of the New Holland: £7,000
Repair Cost of the New Holland: £1,500-£1,700
Net Cost of Transaction: £1500-£1850

In this situation, I would certainly suggest you do the even trade and repair the New Holland yourselves. This is assuming that the most you'll pay in parts is £1,100 and than it takes less than 30 hours to repair (at £30 per hour) or less than 45 hours to repair (at £20 per hour). If you can do that, you can minimize your costs.
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Dirge
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Post by Dirge »

The mind boggles :lol:

you are quite right and that is what we have done, however i went one better by buying a second 7740 with a dead gearbox and engine for £500 GBP and i will rob the parts to fix the other one and then store it and use it as a spare parts tractor for both the 7740 and the 7840 as the only difference between the two is that the 7740 has a 4 cylinder turbo engine and the 7840 has a straight six pot. everything else fits both tractors. i do not know if it is a wise move but time will tell
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Rattrap
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Post by Rattrap »

That sounds like an excellent decision Dirge. :D
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Grimlock
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Post by Grimlock »

The only problem I can forsee with that is that the tractor with a dead engine and gearbox is currently in south Wales ...................

HOW THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO GET IT HOME ???????????????? :x
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Post by Time Traveller »

1. Trailer.
2. Tow bar.
3. Hired hauler.
4. CATAPULT
5. Go to the tractor, get the parts, bring those back.
6. CATAPULT
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Grimlock
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Post by Grimlock »

It will have to be one hell of a catapult and one hell of a shot.... :lol:

* TWANG ....................... KERRRRASH *

Well I never, I missed............... :lol:

We will probably tow it home with the big towing chain, you could anchor the QE2 with that thing.
Failing that, he will spanner the engine back to life and hope it does not blow up on the way home ........... :shock: [/quote]
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Post by Commander Megatron »

If it blows up on the way home...BAH, just kick it and leave it at the side of the road!! LOL!!
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Grimlock
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Post by Grimlock »

He has been and started it today.

If it makes it home I will eat hay with the cows.

We have money on it so he can not leave it at the side of the road, if he did he would rob all the parts that are any good and call the scrap man for the shell.
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Dirge
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Post by Dirge »

It has just made it home :lol:
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Grimlock
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Post by Grimlock »

If it makes it home I will eat hay with the cows
Of course, I was joking ................ :cry:
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Kup
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Post by Kup »

do you want some salt with that?
The past is the greatest teacher
Grimlock
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Post by Grimlock »

I refuse to eat hay twice in the same month ............... :lol:
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Post by Commander Megatron »

Ok, you can eat it in November instead! :lol:
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