One of the hottest segments of the used farm equipment market continues to be tractors 15 to 25 years old.

I recall last summer, standing in the blazing 90 degree sun at a large consignment auction, filming segments for season one of the "Successful Farming Machinery Show" on RFD-TV. One of the segments (Play the video link below to view the segment.) I did focused on the trend of how values for tractors in this 15 to 25 year old range continue to hold strong.

Or even appreciate.

Well, since late last fall values on these tractors have zoomed higher. Older, but worth much, much more money. Amazing. A perfect example are CaseIH 7110, 7120, 7130, and 7140 tractors, made by Case IH from 1987 to 1993. They're squarely in the age range I'm talking about.

Let's start with some quick facts.

Average auction price this year: $47,583

Average auction price last year: $36,013

Average auction price two years ago: $31,025

Average auction price three years ago: $30,900

Average dealer advertised price this year: $40,306

Average auction price this year: $38,536

Average auction price last year: $35,135

Average dealer advertised price this year: $37,951

Let's digest these figures for a moment: CaseIH 7140s selling for a whopping 32.1% more money at auction so far this year and 54% more vs. three years ago. CaseIH 7120s up 9.7% so far this year. Both models actually selling for more money than the corresponding average dealer asking price on the lot.

There's very real danger buying, selling or trading tractors like this if you aren't right on top of these rapidly rising values. For example, a farmer from central Minnesota called me yesterday. He was a former subscriber to our www.machinerypete.com Web site. He needed current values on a couple Case IH tractors, a 1993 model 7120 and a 1998 model 8910. Both were two-wheel drive models.

He hadn't been using our Web site for a year or so. The 8910 tractor had around 1,800 hours on it. I asked the caller what he thought it was worth. He said he was thinking maybe low $40K's. Then I told him about the similar horsepower, but older 1991 model CaseIH 7110 2WD tractor with 1,568 hours sold February 29, 2008, on an auction in east-central Illinois. It sold for $40,400.