Working the Land: 6 Factors to Consider When Buying Spare Parts for Your Tractor

For farmers, landscapers and those in construction, the tractor can be a vital piece of equipment. Like most vehicles, tractors sometimes need maintenance or repairs – including the replacement of parts.

When these issues occur, it’s important to be sure that you make the right choice. Choosing the wrong part or a bad quality part can leave your tractor out of order and can cost you serious cash. Remember, there are plenty of people who literally can NOT earn an income without their tractor being functional!

Let’s take a look at the 6 factors you should consider before buying a part.

1. Is it Needed?

This is an important consideration. If your tractor suffers a breakdown or needs a part replacing for some other reason, get it properly checked and make sure the part you’re looking to buy is the part you actually need. There’s already a lot of horror stories out there about owners or mechanics who replace the wrong parts and the hassle this causes. Get it right first time and you won’t waste any cash on unneeded parts or labor. Sometimes the fault is only in one area of a ‘part’, meaning you can replace just the one thing instead of the whole part. For example, spending on a replacement reflector is much cheaper than buying an entire new light unit.

This applies to upgrades as well, if you’re looking to add an extra piece of machinery or upgrade a part, make sure you’re making the correct choice AND that you choose the right part. Do your research and talk to some mechanics if needed. Remember it isn’t only cash you could save, but time too.

2. Condition of the Part

Think carefully about how long you will need the part for and how any wear or tear might affect it. There are times when a part in worse condition will still be usable for your needs, so you can save some money by going for a used part with a little more wear. There are other times when you’d get much better value for money from a new part though, in these cases it’s better to spend a little more and get a new part in great condition.

3. What Brand?

Like a lot of other mechanical parts, the brand matters when it comes to tractors. Some brands are known for reliability or quality above others. Using the same manufacturer as your tractor brand can help with compatibility too,

4. The Cost

Cost is important to most people. It can work against the other factors you should consider though. There are people who’ve bought cheaper parts just because of their budget and have had to either go with an older/more worn part, or a lower quality one. You have to consider all the factors and see which are most important to your situation before making a choice.

5. Type of Transmission

The transmission type of your tractor will affect which parts are compatible, so make sure you know what transmission yours uses and which parts are compatible.

6. Power Take-Off Systems

Most tractors use a PTO (power take-off) shaft. This is what provides power to attached machinery. Remember that different tractors have the shaft in different locations. There are also different types of power required by different attachments, such as hydraulic or electronic. Check where your PTO shaft is and what it can do before spending on any additional parts.